Mal knows who Book is.

POSTED BY: Piersnica
UPDATED: Wednesday, June 23, 2004 09:10
VIEWED: 8961
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CARDIE

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 2:20 PM

Quote:
My theory: Book wasn't a general, he was a gestapo secret police kind of guy. He served as judge, jurry and executioner.

I agree with that, too. He seems to have been some sort of enforcer sent out to track down criminals and bring them in, often dead rather than alive.

My current theory is that the Operative character in the BDM will turn out to be one of Book's former colleagues.

Cardie

SHINYSEVEN

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 2:43 PM

Anyone in the JAG Corps, f'rex.

When I was in law school I had a most unwarlike boyfriend who had somehow managed to get drafted into the Marines (don't ask me how that happened, the USMC was supposed to be volunteers-only even then).

BROWNCOAT1

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 3:20 PM

I think it is safe to assume that Mal knows that Book was not always a Shephard. I think we can also say the Mal realizes that Book has a lot of knowledge of people & things in the world of crime and politics that the average person should not know.

I do believe that Mal will keep an eye on Book, but in his mind Book has earned his place on the crew through his actions. If Mal thought he was a threat he would have put him off the boat.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

TALVIN

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 3:23 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by buzzard:
Speaking of things that don't sit well: I never understood why Book was so wrecked at the end of "Serenity". If he's such a man of action who can punch out a cop or kneecap somebody, why is he to point of tears when he realizes he's part of a crew of criminals.

I tend to think that Book was never a warrior as such, but I have no idea what else he could be.

Eh, I have to disagree. From a very personal point of view.

At the risk of oversharing, I will say:
I have been beaten until I puked up blood, purely for another individual's amusement.
I have stared down the barrel of a loaded .357 Magnum in the hands of my roommate who thought he was back on that beach in Central America with his Force Recon unit. And talked him into giving it to me.
I have talked several teenagers out of suicide.
I have (in self-defense) attempted to kill someone with my bare hands, and if the odds had not been 4 to 1, I would have succeeded.
I have initiated CPR on a 16-year-old kid (who was dead before he hit the ground. Enlarged Heart Syndrome is quick and unforgiving.) and then had to turn around and go back to work immediately afterwards.
At one time, I had a leather thong I wore on my wrist with knots tied in it along the length. Each knot represented another woman or child that I knew personally that had been beaten, raped, or otherwise abused. When it got to over 30 knots, I took it off and swore never again. That ain't healthy, people.

And these are just the things I feel comfortable enough to share.

My point? Book went into an Abbey after whatever he did. He ran away from the world he knew and found a new one. Then he decided (or was told? We know little about the church hierarchy and governance) to go out and walk the world awhile.

And it all came back to him. He found himself in the thick of it--again.

Trust me. I speak from personal experience. If he had NOT sat down after it was all over and in relative safety, and had a good cry...he would be one seriously scary person.

I was. I finally did what he did. And those around me breathed a great sigh of relief.

That guy who was in Force Recon? I was scaring HIM. His words. And he has a Silver Star to his credit....

So, yes...that IS the response of a "warrior", or at least someone who has "seen the elephant", if they are to retain their sanity.

"I give up. I admit it. I'm a Browncoat."

SHINYSEVEN

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 4:17 PM

Replying to Browncoat1: I bet that when Mal saw Book use his "Get Out of Jail Free" card, he thought that if things went one way, he'd be a useful friend. And if they went another way, he'd be a useful hostage.

I think Book's reaction in the episode "Serenity" was sort of like somebody who blinks after going into the sunshine from a dark room. First the peace of the Abbey--now this!

"Every time he thinks he's OUT they pull him back IN."

"Sadistic crap legitimized by florid prose"

SERENITY2005

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 4:38 PM

I think Book is supposed to be the opposite of Mal.

Mal was religous before/during the war and turned away after the battle of Serenity. Remember him kissing the cross in the episode with the "dead" guy.

Book was bad before the war and turned to religion after.

TALLGRRL

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 5:33 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
IMO, the simplist answer is often the best. Mal makes it clear what the thinks of religiosity and the like. So, when Mal asks Book if he's a Shepherd, I think he's doing it to make it clear he's not impressed w/ religion in general. Clearly, Shepherds are easily recognizable, probably just less so than Companions, so Mal is showing a slight of indifference to Book's profession. Kinda like .. " Oh, is THAT what you are....gee, how nice for you. " sort of attitude.

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

That was sure my take on his comment.
It wasn't like he was asking Book if he was a shepherd. (And Book did say "I thought the collar gave it away.") Mal was stating the obvious, setting Book up for the "ambassador" intro to Inara. ("She's a whore.")
As much as he dislikes the whole companion thing, he's even less interested in having a preacher on his boat.
Mal's kind of a self-righteous prig, but his heart's in the right place: He looks down on Companions as immoral...but he's also been deeply disappointed by and no doubt feels abandonded by his "god".
He's got baggage...but he's nonetheless intriguing.
And then there are those tight pants.

"Take me, sir. Take me hard."

TJACK

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 5:37 PM

I made the guess somewhere else on this site that Book was a bounty hunter, much like Early is now.
It would explain the training, the knowledge of criminal matters, Early's recognition, River's flash, and if he worked for the Alliance version of the Dept. of Justice even the medical asstance.
Also if you want to break the main characters into western movie archtypes.
Mal ...The John Wayne hero
Zoe ... The trusty Deputy
Inara ...Miss Kitty
Kaylee ...The blacksmith
and so on then Book fits as the "Preacher who used to be a gunslinger."

When faced with a moral question I ask myself; "What would The Lone Ranger do?"

TALONPEST

Wednesday, June 23, 2004 7:07 AM

The bounty hunter theory works until you deal with the fact that his ident card got him special treatment on an Alliance cruiser. It just doesn't make sense that the Alliance would hold any bounty hunter, regardless of whether he'd worked for them in the past, in such high regard. Book must have worked for them in an offical capacity, and a high-level one at that.

As for Early's recognition, if you watch the commentary for Objects In Space, Joss states clear as day that Early doesn't know who Book is, but as an opposite of River and boarderline psychic he was able to discern that whoever Book was he was no preacher.

BIGDAMNHERO

Wednesday, June 23, 2004 9:10 AM

I can't wait for the movie, because ever since River read Book's mind in OIS - I have needed to know Book's history. I think I have boiled it down to this though:
First, his mind-read seems to be delivered viciously, but if you just read the words, it's really about apathy toward River and her situation (which seems to concern everybody else on the ship deeply in some way). I think he's just saying he doesn't care at all, probably because he is consumed by his pursuit of redemption.

I am on-board with the idea that he was this General Richard Wilk??? guy, especially considering the scene was cut from the episode. He definitely made his choice to take Kaylee's offer after she mentioned the name of the ship. People here have mentioned his knowledge of "crime" but in my mind it is just a knowledge of war/violence and the tools thereof (and remember the "crime" reference came from Jayne). The Alliance surely had carrion houses to destroy and process the parts from captured Independent vessels and a General would be aware of their use and capabilities. Also, he can read charts and radar signals which are not really the tools of a sniper or warden (he knows what he's looking at in Our Mrs. before Mal says it - great acting, watch Book's reaction during the scene... just waiting for someone else to say it so he doesn't have to reveal what it is directly!) He has a sound knowledge of tactics and political implications (The Message). His reception by the Alliance in Safe really couldn't be explained by any other military role than a General, and the lack of reaction from the PB in Bushwhacked could be attributed to his "first tour" on the border - the guy clearly wasn't key in the war and seemed like more of an aristocrat who achieved rank not by skill or knowledge but by his breeding (too self absorbed maybe to notice Book's credentials if Book even showed him at all, which I doubt). His knowledge of Niska again is at a level that a military General would have - an understanding of various resources or liabilities to conducting a war (maybe he even contracted with Niska during the war for interrogations?).

So my take is he is ultimately responsible for the carnage at Serenity Valley and his guilt for that drove him to the Abbey after the war. In Out-of-Gas we see he's afraid to die (lack of true faith) so he's not that good of a Shepherd on a personal level and most of his "good" deeds can be interpreted as selfish, as in not altruistic but aimed at his own redemption. So consumed by this personal mission that he is indifferent to River's predicament. That indifference also leads me to discount the possibility that he's on any side of the River question. Besides, River would have already sensed his true intent were he in deep cover.

I like the symmetry that his war-time/peace-time relationship with Mal forms if he was that General. They would have both been changed in opposite directions because of Serenity Valley (faith lost/faith found) externally, but internally their motivations are what they always were (Mal may not believe, but his actions are still noble, while Book's actions have the subtext of selfishness). And here they are, full-circle, waiting for a confrontation that could mean revival for Mal and atonement for Book.

Sorry for being long-winded ("I sometimes go on"), but this will probably be my only post. Thanks everyone for your ideas and keeping the world of Firefly alive!

"Oh my god, it's hideous... oh and there's something in a jar."

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