Safe - Some things I noticed.

POSTED BY: JCobb
UPDATED: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 16:57
VIEWED: 11985
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JCOBB

Monday, June 21, 2004 4:41 AM

Sorry, most of this will be in spoiler tags, but bear with me.

Spoilers below. If you have not watched the Firefly episode Safe then read at your own risk.

Select to view spoiler:

I was watching Safe a little earlier, and I noticed that River mentioned that "daddy" would return, (this was after she and Simon were kidnapped). Of course, later on in the episode Mal does return. Now, taken in context one can easily assume that she was talking about her real father, but maybe this hints at something deeper? Earlier on in the episode she throws something not unlike a temper tauntrum when Mal enters, (granted she was in the midst of a tantrum with Simon) and it struck me then as something children would do with their parents. Only now, after hearing her possible preminition of Mal's return does it kind of click.

So, did anyone else notice that, or think it was relevent, or am I overanylzing?

I don't care, I'm still free.

SIGMANUNKI

Monday, June 21, 2004 5:30 AM

Select to view spoiler:

I'd say that is possible that she's refering to the bio dad.

Also, it may also be that she was refering to Mal. He is kind of the "father" of the crew.

She could also be refering to the one who made her that way. It was the "birth" of the new her.

Just some thoughts... I don't know, I'm really tired... zzzzz

----
"Canada being mad at you is like Mr. Rogers throwing a brick through your window." -Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

JCOBB

Monday, June 21, 2004 5:47 AM

Aye, sometimes I worry that people, (myself included) read too much into River, but there are just so many weird things in her character.

I don't care, I'm still free.

SERGEANTX

Monday, June 21, 2004 6:39 AM

I think you're right on target. That whole episode was premised on the theme of 'home' and 'family'. It was really the first instance where Simon actually understood what it meant to be part of a family. Especially in contrast to the highly conditional support he was remembering from his real father.

River as a character really got under my skin. The funny thing is I couldn't stand her the first few episodes. If I'd seen 'Safe' in the proper order she'd have made a lot more sense (altogether now - 'GORRAMN FOX'). I remember first seeing this episode and feeling just crushed when she confesses to Simon that she understands what's going on, that she realizes how screwed up she is and how much he's sacrificed for her.

Can I tell you my pet River theory? Ok, cool.

I think River was a sacrifice of sorts. I think that Simon and River were genetically altered babies. The price the Tams paid for have a genetically superior son, was their daughter. It makes perfect sense. River was raised by the Tams on behalf of the 'Blue Hands' for their nefarious purposes. They got to keep Simon.

It explains the parents' disregard of River, which was first made clear in this episode, and also their unwillingness to admit something was wrong when Simon confronted them.

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

CLEANER

Monday, June 21, 2004 6:55 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SergeantX:

I think River was a sacrifice of sorts. I think that Simon and River were genetically altered babies. The price the Tams paid for have a genetically superior son, was their daughter. It makes perfect sense.

I always thought that myself but that Simon was a failure, not quite good enough for the program and that the parents were probably heavily involved in Blue Sun.

PURPLEBELLY

Monday, June 21, 2004 7:41 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SergeantX:
I think River was a sacrifice of sorts. I think that Simon and River were genetically altered babies. The price the Tams paid for have a genetically superior son, was their daughter.

I'm sure you're right about the genetic engineering. My feeling is less that River is a sacrifice, than this is her entry into a mandarin class with enhanced people-management abilities; Son #1 enters the Medical Elite, Daughter #1 enters Government Service, and the Tam Family extends its network in good middle-class (by the European definition) fashion.

RADHIL

Monday, June 21, 2004 2:07 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SergeantX:
I think River was a sacrifice of sorts. I think that Simon and River were genetically altered babies. The price the Tams paid for have a genetically superior son, was their daughter. It makes perfect sense. River was raised by the Tams on behalf of the 'Blue Hands' for their nefarious purposes. They got to keep Simon.

It explains the parents' disregard of River, which was first made clear in this episode, and also their unwillingness to admit something was wrong when Simon confronted them.

No offense to your theory, my brain just goes "Nah."

What was shown in the Safe episode through Simon's flashbacks explains enough, if you just dig at it a little. The Tam parents were simply concerned with their social standing, their dinners and their appearance of a well bred family. Simon, as a respected surgeon, helped this appearance, and so gained attention. River, perhaps as a more whimsical and artistic sort (in spite of mind-blowing genius in all areas), or perhaps simply as a girl instead of a boy, did not.

You can see this already in motion in the very first flashback, where River is quickly dismissed while the senior Tam is hyping it up with his son. It's continued in the second, where the regard is for Simon's career, not for Simon himself, least of all for River. It's clinched in the third, with the father's profile in question, and the final question: whether he's coming to dinner. It's not blatantly malevolent, so it's harder to pick up on, but there's no mistaking the apathy. And it was always there - just not always for Simon. Only when he became a hindrance.

Honestly, I think that's more monstrous than any Faustian deal they could have struck. And so to my mind, the more likely true.

Radhil Trebors
Persona Under Construction

SIGMANUNKI

Monday, June 21, 2004 2:16 PM

~ 8 hrs later and rested

JCobb:
True, hopefully the BDM will shed some light on this subject

----
"Canada being mad at you is like Mr. Rogers throwing a brick through your window." -Jon Stewart, The Daily Show

JCOBB

Monday, June 21, 2004 4:14 PM

I don't know, Radhil, it seems to me more like they were "good" parents, as far as the Alliance is concerned. I don't know if they cared more or less for River, (though Simon did appear to be more of the favorite). It struck me more that they just bought into whatever the government told them. River went to a government run facility, and, in the parents mind, the government would not have any reason for hurting their little girl. I think that Simon's eventual rebellion in Safe only set to provide him with some support from the viewer, (nothing like disobeying your own father and getting in trouble with the government wins support in most of the public's eye, I think Heinlein hit the nail on the head, American's, in general, don't like authority, or has he put it, cops) and to show that, in reality, he isn't so different from the crew.

Maybe not though, everything posted here makes a certain level of sense.

I don't care, I'm still free.

ODALISQUE

Tuesday, August 3, 2004 1:08 AM

See, it's funny, when I saw the thread title the things I noticed in Safe were that Summer and Sean stnad way too close and have way too much chemistry to play brother and sister, but that really has nothing to do with this.

The crew of Serenity do have a family feel and Mal, being the captain gets to be the dad. I think River knows the difference between Mal and daddy Tam, but she also knows that someone has always been protecting her, first her dad, then Mal, so in her crazy brain they meshed? If that makes sense....

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