Mal's Father

POSTED BY: teethgrinder
UPDATED: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 02:41
VIEWED: 20250
PAGE 5 of 6

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SpaceAnJL:
I've never quite got over Gary Cole as Sheriff Lucas Buck. Seriously scary. Given the idea floating about that Wash had an abusive father (he is the space-Xander, after all) evil!GC would do as Washburne Snr.

Other Cobb types - Jason Statham, Ron Perlman, Kurt Russell.

How about Charlize Theron? She does steely intelligence. Or Felicity Huffman? Or, of course, Lena Headey? Older ladies, we can give you Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins.

My take on Mal - his father was a city boy, sent out to teach school in a rural area. The daughter of the area's biggest rancher fell for the man, and married him despite protest. He didn't last too long - nothing to do with being weak, and everything to do with being principled - but nobody ever saw Etta Reynolds cry for him. She raised her son to do as his daddy did, and follow his own idea of right. 'Course, that led to a showdown, when she had set aside a stack of cashy money to send him off-planet to a fancy college, get him following his father's footsteps, being a teacher. And he went and enlisted. (NF vibe...) I think Mal inherited his father's ability to teach and inspire - he was good with the troops. And he inherited Etta's strength, too. 'Cos it took burning the gorram planet to bring the Independents to their knees, and even then, that woman sat in her rocker on the porch and watched the firestorm come. Ain't nothing in the 'verse could make her leave her home.

---

I differ only in the picky details of Mal's family. Having Mal's Pa from a wealthy Core family gives all sort of possibilites for interesting Core cousins (and perhaps grandparents?) to pop up and if the Reynolds were Alliance it could make things REALLY interesting.

BTW Margaret(Meg)Reynolds is the daughter of the local general store owner and learned the business well from her father.

When Tom Reynolds landed on Shadow with a half baked plan to start a ranch and access to a respectable Credit account her Pa helped him as much as he could. They were thrown together many times and he proposed right after the house was finished.

But Tom was shot and killed by a drunk ranch hand who had just been fired. It just a week before his son was born. Then very pregnant Meg killed the ranch hand.

And I agree Charlize Theron would be fantastic as Mal's ma/

I have it all down in one of my first fics.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/

NOTIFY: Y  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME

Love everyone else's... but my take:

Elmarie Jacobson was the ranch owner, a no nonsense woman who could rope a steer with the best of them.

Then Hershel Reynolds rode in.

He was younger, a bit of a showboat, charming through and through with a rather handsome cut to him. Their relationship started in a rubbing-her-the-wrong-way sort of way, but he grew on her and soon they were deep in the throws of careless romance, hiding it poorly from the other ranch hands. One day Ellie wasn't feeling to good, and the bad feeling happened every morning for a few days till she road to the town doctor to learn of her expectant condition. Determined to do the right thing (Shadow was a bit more old fashioned than those other planets), Hershel dropped to one knee, they wed and did their best to settle into wedded bliss.

They hated one another.

Elmarie and Hershel fought like cats and dogs, even when hormones weren't invovled. They had different views on nearly everything, and day after day they fell out of love. Hershel stood strong though, he took the flack he best he could and tried to hold his tongue. One day his son was born, little Malcolm Reynolds, as cute as a button. Hershel hoped that since the boy was out everything could be smoothed over, but that wasn't the case. He and Ellie just were't in genuine love. One night Hershel made a decision as Elmarie would never divorce regardless of their disaster of a marriage. He didn't want her to be miserable with him, and he didn't want Mal to be caught in the crosshairs. So when they slept he left a note, saddled his horse and road out of their lives.

Elmarie never told Mal though, as far as he knew, his Pa died in a stampede before he was born. She figured it was for the best.

***Hershel Reynolds being Tom Selleck (ala Quigley Down Under)

Your Indian Pirate Lord,
Ash

NOTIFY: Y  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME

I've got even more back ground on Mal's family now.

A steely grandmother who rules with an iron fist. She even picked the wives for her sons.

Good thing Tom was more than a bit independent and left Londinium on the eve of his marriage to Louise Fou, the daughter of Fou Wang, head of Fou Industries. It would have been her best "merger" yet.

She was so mad with her son that she disowned him and cut him off financially. She even invented a face saving story to explain his sudden absence.

What she didn't know was that her son had already stashed away quite a bit of money and had inherited quite a bit of the audacity that served the Reynolds family well in the corporate board rooms.

She was more than angry when she found out that he had married a "no body" on some god forsaken rural planet and even refused to come to her son's funeral when he was shot and killed while protecting his pregnant wife (she picked up the gun her husband had dropped and killed the drunk ranch hand that was threatening them) or acknowledge her grandson who was born a week or so later.

Judy Dench would be awesome in the role.

I'll go into Meg's family later.


http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/

NOTIFY: Y  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SpaceAnJL:
My take on Mal - his father was a city boy, sent out to teach school in a rural area. The daughter of the area's biggest rancher fell for the man, and married him despite protest. He didn't last too long - nothing to do with being weak, and everything to do with being principled - but nobody ever saw Etta Reynolds cry for him. She raised her son to do as his daddy did, and follow his own idea of right. 'Course, that led to a showdown, when she had set aside a stack of cashy money to send him off-planet to a fancy college, get him following his father's footsteps, being a teacher. And he went and enlisted. (NF vibe...) I think Mal inherited his father's ability to teach and inspire - he was good with the troops. And he inherited Etta's strength, too. 'Cos it took burning the gorram planet to bring the Independents to their knees, and even then, that woman sat in her rocker on the porch and watched the firestorm come. Ain't nothing in the 'verse could make her leave her home.

---

Wow. That's my fav version, sorry Ash. Also, with that large stack of cashy money (I figure it probably wouldn't take a whole lot of money to enlist, the Independents WANTED soldiers), and thinking about another (I think it may have been archived by now) thread about where Mal got the money for Serenity; Mal could have used that cashy money plus whatever he earned in the war to buy Serenity!

NOTIFY: Y  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME

I think for Mal's mom, or any of the character's family members for that matter, I would love to see some of the supporting players on DEADWOOD play those parts. Like Robin Weigert as either Mal's mom, or just reprise her role as Calamity Jane, but in the future. I always thought Calamity Jane is so extreme of a female character that not even Joss could have come up with her. I mean, even Zoe has some level of femininity to her. Jane on the other hand has intentionally purged herself of an x chromosone. Jayne vs. Jane. THAT'S the crossover I want to see. Or William Sanderson, or the guy that played the preacher that had the seizures. Just anyone from DEADWOOD. But not Ian McShane, Tim Olyphant or Molly Parker. I think that would just take you out of it to see those bigger names on the show.

**************************************************
"And it starts with a sentence that might last a lifetime, or it all might just go down in flames. If I let you know me, then why would you want me? Each day I don't is a shame. Each day I don't is a great shame."

Loudon Wainwright III - "Strange Weirdos" off the "Knocked Up" soundtrack

NOTIFY: Y  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME

Gotta say...having Harrison Ford be Malcolm's dad would be freaking awesome. Though having flasbacks with Indiana Solo himself wouldn't work quite right for the background I dreamt up for Mal in relation to this multi-part tale I wanna tell... Me? I like to think that Mal's background would definitely put Simon's to shame and would drive the dear Doc to fits trying to fathom how Mal's parents produced our dear Capt'n Tightpants.

To me, Mal's dad is son of a 26th century verison of Daniel Day-Lewis' Daniel Plainsview from There Will Be Blood...the black sheep offspring of a ruthless businessman, a kind and brilliant man who inherited his father's mind and skills but none of the dark cruelty, greed and cynicism that Mal's grandfather used to become one of the wealthiest men in the 'Verse not directly invovled with Blue Sun.

Mal's mom? Maybe it's an weak attempt to replicate Joss Whedon's knack for the brilliant twist nobody anticipates, but I think she's older version of Inara....creme de la creme former Guild Companion who met a man who simply couldn't be easily pigeon-holed and drove her nuts at first but eventually fell in love with him because of the same reason Inara truly wants to try something with Mal 'now': the ability to See the deeper natures of people and call them to his banner. Of course, having Mal's mother be ex-Guild raises the questions of Mal's distate for Inara's work - I picture something 'big' involving Mal's mom having to choose between the Guild and their rules and doing the right thing that leads to her expulsion - and realistically figuring out how to transition Mrs. Reynolds to being comfortable and capable of life on the Rim, even if Shadow was a world where terraforming caught on well and resources were not as scare as they would be on a planet or moon like Whitefall.

And to counterbalance Mal's secret blue-blood origins, I think Inara being Mal's opposite would be interesting to play with...a sort of Eliza Doolittle, but with much earlier access to refinement via the Companion's Guild, though through proxies until her 12th birthday, when she started her Guild training. Something like having a childhood like Kaylee's but her savant skills being in areas that draw in the attention of the Guild. Helps explain Inara's bond with her mei-mei, but her early removal from her family would allow for Inara's general outsider perespective when spending time with the crew on ship and when dirtside.

"The revenge of the beaten comes in refusing to fall." -- Mal, in "The Losing Side - Chapter 45" by jetflair

NOTIFY: Y  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME

Quote:

---

Originally posted by BlueEyedBrigadier:
Gotta say...having Harrison Ford be Malcolm's dad would be freaking awesome. Though having flasbacks with Indiana Solo himself wouldn't work quite right for the background I dreamt up for Mal in relation to this multi-part tale I wanna tell... Me? I like to think that Mal's background would definitely put Simon's to shame and would drive the dear Doc to fits trying to fathom how Mal's parents produced our dear Capt'n Tightpants.

To me, Mal's dad is son of a 26th century verison of Daniel Day-Lewis' Daniel Plainsview from There Will Be Blood...the black sheep offspring of a ruthless businessman, a kind and brilliant man who inherited his father's mind and skills but none of the dark cruelty, greed and cynicism that Mal's grandfather used to become one of the wealthiest men in the 'Verse not directly invovled with Blue Sun.

Mal's mom? Maybe it's an weak attempt to replicate Joss Whedon's knack for the brilliant twist nobody anticipates, but I think she's older version of Inara....creme de la creme former Guild Companion who met a man who simply couldn't be easily pigeon-holed and drove her nuts at first but eventually fell in love with him because of the same reason Inara truly wants to try something with Mal 'now': the ability to See the deeper natures of people and call them to his banner. Of course, having Mal's mother be ex-Guild raises the questions of Mal's distate for Inara's work - I picture something 'big' involving Mal's mom having to choose between the Guild and their rules and doing the right thing that leads to her expulsion - and realistically figuring out how to transition Mrs. Reynolds to being comfortable and capable of life on the Rim, even if Shadow was a world where terraforming caught on well and resources were not as scare as they would be on a planet or moon like Whitefall.

And to counterbalance Mal's secret blue-blood origins, I think Inara being Mal's opposite would be interesting to play with...a sort of Eliza Doolittle, but with much earlier access to refinement via the Companion's Guild, though through proxies until her 12th birthday, when she started her Guild training. Something like having a childhood like Kaylee's but her savant skills being in areas that draw in the attention of the Guild. Helps explain Inara's bond with her mei-mei, but her early removal from her family would allow for Inara's general outsider perespective when spending time with the crew on ship and when dirtside.

"The revenge of the beaten comes in refusing to fall." -- Mal, in "The Losing Side - Chapter 45" by jetflair

---

BEB, extremely good to see you!

It seems like we think something similar on Mal's father's background. I guess that Mal's grandmother is a good match for your ideas on his grandfather.She's a matriarch that's very ambitious and likes to run every aspect of her childrens' lives. She enjoys her money and power over other people.

Mal's Ma is different altogether. She came from sturdy pioneering stock. Her grandparents were original Shadow settlers, looking for a place to set down roots and raise their family.

Her Pa ran the general store, he was a widower of middle years and his daughter and only child ran it with him. (BEB maybe you could insert your Companion here, but the only way I can see that is if she somehow makes her way to Shadow).

Being the owner of the store, Malcolm Tully knew everyone. When Tom Reynolds landed on Shadow after a year or two of wandering around the 'verse with ideas of starting a cattle ranch he naturally looked to Mal Tully for guidance on where to buy the best cattle, buy land and meet people. Tom was immediately smitten with Meg.

Then throw in a little UST for a while and the rest they say is history. Gotta stop now because I'm giving away one of my old fics and I think parts of others.

Ed Harris or Bruce Campbell would be great as Mal Tully. Crusty, more than a bit western and great actors.

Another actor good as Mal's dad would have been a young

NOTIFY: Y  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME

Quote:

---

Originally posted by ncbrowncoat:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by BlueEyedBrigadier:
Gotta say...having Harrison Ford be Malcolm's dad would be freaking awesome. Though having flasbacks with Indiana Solo himself wouldn't work quite right for the background I dreamt up for Mal in relation to this multi-part tale I wanna tell... Me? I like to think that Mal's background would definitely put Simon's to shame and would drive the dear Doc to fits trying to fathom how Mal's parents produced our dear Capt'n Tightpants.

To me, Mal's dad is son of a 26th century verison of Daniel Day-Lewis' Daniel Plainsview from There Will Be Blood...the black sheep offspring of a ruthless businessman, a kind and brilliant man who inherited his father's mind and skills but none of the dark cruelty, greed and cynicism that Mal's grandfather used to become one of the wealthiest men in the 'Verse not directly invovled with Blue Sun.

Mal's mom? Maybe it's an weak attempt to replicate Joss Whedon's knack for the brilliant twist nobody anticipates, but I think she's older version of Inara....creme de la creme former Guild Companion who met a man who simply couldn't be easily pigeon-holed and drove her nuts at first but eventually fell in love with him because of the same reason Inara truly wants to try something with Mal 'now': the ability to See the deeper natures of people and call them to his banner. Of course, having Mal's mother be ex-Guild raises the questions of Mal's distate for Inara's work - I picture something 'big' involving Mal's mom having to choose between the Guild and their rules and doing the right thing that leads to her expulsion - and realistically figuring out how to transition Mrs. Reynolds to being comfortable and capable of life on the Rim, even if Shadow was a world where terraforming caught on well and resources were not as scare as they would be on a planet or moon like Whitefall.

And to counterbalance Mal's secret blue-blood origins, I think Inara being Mal's opposite would be interesting to play with...a sort of Eliza Doolittle, but with much earlier access to refinement via the Companion's Guild, though through proxies until her 12th birthday, when she started her Guild training. Something like having a childhood like Kaylee's but her savant skills being in areas that draw in the attention of the Guild. Helps explain Inara's bond with her mei-mei, but her early removal from her family would allow for Inara's general outsider perespective when spending time with the crew on ship and when dirtside.

"The revenge of the beaten comes in refusing to fall." -- Mal, in "The Losing Side - Chapter 45" by jetflair

---

BEB, extremely good to see you!

It seems like we think something similar on Mal's father's background. I guess that Mal's grandmother is a good match for your ideas on his grandfather.She's a matriarch that's very ambitious and likes to run every aspect of her childrens' lives. She enjoys her money and power over other people.

Mal's Ma is different altogether. She came from sturdy pioneering stock. Her grandparents were original Shadow settlers, looking for a place to set down roots and raise their family.

Her Pa ran the general store, he was a widower of middle years and his daughter and only child ran it with him. (BEB maybe you could insert your Companion here as Mal's gradmother, but the only way I can see that is if she somehow makes her way to Shadow).

Being the owner of the store, Malcolm Tully knew everyone. When Tom Reynolds landed on Shadow after a year or two of wandering around the 'verse with ideas of starting a cattle ranch he naturally looked to Mal Tully for guidance on where to buy the best cattle, buy land and meet people.

Tom was immediately smitten with Meg.Then throw in a little UST for a while and the rest they say is history. Gotta stop now because I'm giving away one of my old fics and I think parts of others.

Ed Harris or Bruce Campbell would be great as Mal Tully. Crusty, more than a bit western and great act

NOTIFY: Y  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME