NEW Serenity Comic!!!
POSTED BY: PhyreLight
UPDATED: Friday, August 22, 2008 02:46
VIEWED: 41163
PAGE 4 of 8
River's bloody hands,
Remember the Tam sessions?
It is Mal that has clued into her apparent talents and usefulness in this scenario. But, I think his motives for using her go deeper than an extra hired gun with telepathic tendencies. He WANTS to piss off Simon, purposely, for challenging him and let's not forget...Simon was in Inara's shuttle... I'm guessing Mal knows Simon won't tell him, the reason he was there, because of patient/doctor confidentiality and that's eating away at him. This ties well into the BDM.
I sense a little emotional blackmail at this point. And, poor River, as useful as she is, she's caught in the middle.
She has no affect or reaction when Mal welcomes her to the crew. It's a bittersweet moment not a triumphant one.
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Quote:
Originally posted by PhyreLight:
Plus, I don't think that River's hands were quite so innocent and unbloodied before she escaped the academy. Look at how she saved Kaylee in "War Stories" without a flinch.
as Platonist says, we know for sure that River's hands were very much bloodied by watching the Tam Sessions:
http://www.session416.com/
New Firefly fans should check this out: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=15816
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Quote:
]Well, you gotta take into consideration that the crew needed the job, and he was suspicious of the it because they gave him half up front unlike everyone else they've worked for.
What about Niska? He gave them the first half up front in the TRain Job.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CREATOR OF THE MOST RANDOM ACCIDENTAL THREAD IN THE 'VERSE, AND PREVIOUS OWNER OF A BILLBOARD SIZED SENTIENT KILLER BANNER!
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and look at how that turned out! (yeah, not really much of a point there, but well, at that time Mal did not know he had a reader on his hands.)
@Platonist - While Mal using River for that reason would be wonderfully petty, wouldn't antagonising Simon involve letting him know?
As for the Tam Sessions, none of the crew know about them (and it was a different situation where we do not know her state of mind), so they should not be used as "prior proof" to already having bloody hands.
I don't think Mal put her there to Kill the guy, just to get a read. The arrival of the Reavers would not have been part of the plan.
What I really liked was the lack of remorse, both in River and in Mal. No excuses for doing what either of them did, no (fake?) apology by Mal for putting her in such a situation. Just an acceptance, and probably a bittersweet quote that she was now part of the crew (that somehow got turned by the time of the BDM).
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nbz: I see Mal's and Simon's antagonism as an on going sentiment, it's poetically linear, coming to a culmination in the BDM with Simon leaving and taking River with him. It's multifaceted with issues ranging from River's emerging roll on Serenity to Simon's unknown connection to Inara. Both are strong and passionate characters that want things their way.
I don't think Mal needs to know about the Tam sessions to start surmising what River was trained for, he got an earful from Kaylee about what happened during War Stories, and this is after Mal found her with a gun in the cargo bay.
This may have been a trial run for her, on Mal's part, to see what she is able to achieve as far as reading and defending the crew and herself. What he doesn't know is that she can be triggered, like in the Maidenhead. (Now, we know why his first reaction is to go for his gun... interesting)
And, he doesn't seem all that surprised when he sees her drop the gun, nor when they are wondering how the passenger was shot. Zoe thinks it is a stray bullet, but Mal is looking directly at River, he knows better. His suspicions are confirmed, hence, "welcome to the crew."
As far as River's remorse, she doesn't have any because the Alliance F*d with her brain and turned her into a psychopath. It's not until the BDM, when she says, "put a bullet in me" that she shows any conscious responsibility for her actions.
Making of course Mal's use of her even more pathetically unethical, but he is an anti hero, least we not forget.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Platonist:
Making of course Mal's use of her even more pathetically unethical, but he is an anti hero, least we not forget.
Yes, let's not forget that. Simon is right to not want River going out on jobs. I think most people tend to romanticize the criminal aspects of the crew but it's a dangerous business. One where you could easily lose your soul...A young, damaged woman should most assuredly not be going out on heists. What kind of future is this for her? How will she ever heal?
Simon needs to get River the hell off that boat but he is too weak. Weak in the sense that it is easier to stay on Serenity under the "protection" of Mal instead of finding a place of their own. Maybe the best place for them would have been that hillfolk settlement. Well, at least something similar with people who aren't willing to set them on fire.
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Thanks Phrye, that was the first issue I've read since the three that came out just before the BDM. I like how Mal used River's ability as a "reader" (remember Out of Gas) on a hunch that something was up. Lucky for them that gun dropped into the van.
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Quote:Well, yeah. Look what happened there. They robbed the people of that town the drugs they dearly needed, and Mal in turn gave both the drugs and the money back. What the writers of the series are saying is that when crooked people are more than willing to work with you, then they want more from you than you are willing to part with.
Originally posted by CantTakeMySky:
What about Niska? He gave them the first half up front in the TRain Job.
Experience the Horribleness!
http://www.drhorrible.com
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I am certain I posted a reply here a few hours ago - grr!
@Platonist - "Put a bullet in me" is less remorse, more the torture her mind is going through at that time, some of it due to what she has done, but mostly because of the new memories that she cannot fully piece together yet.
Also where would OiS and "No touching guns" fit into all this?
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*points to nbz* I second that.
Experience the Horribleness!
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