Better pilot River, or Wash?
POSTED BY: OPPYH
UPDATED: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 12:23
VIEWED: 5965
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on sheer knowledge i would have to say River, but on skill and experience i would have to go with Wash for sure. Should i refer to the pilot episode where he left a reaver ship in the dust or should i reference the BDM when he was a "leaf on the wind" before his untimely demise.
"my ship don't crash...if she crashes you crashed her" Captain Malcolm reynolds
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Hey Lwaves,
I agree and disagree with you. I know sounds crazy, allow me to explain.
I agree that River, once she "had gotten familiar with how Serenity handled and exactly what the ship could do I would say that she would be the better pilot. Wash's skills would have put him pretty close to her though."
In Serenity our River was just beginning to realize her skills, and by the end she tells Simon (in the Miranda lab) that she felt "allright." An indication that she was now in control, soon after she proclaims "my turn" in full control, coherent and conscience of what her mission was. Before that her control was random, at best, but began somewhat when the crew went to rescue Mal and Wash from Niska. That brief moment when she took the gun and saved Kaylee's life. She took another giant step towards control of her skills to a larger degree in OiS, albeit with some craziness still intact.
I will go as far as saying that all along she garnered bits of "information" from Wash as he flew Serenity throughout Firefly (knowing what we know of River and the ending of the BDM). I now understand further the meaning behind her "walk-through" of the ship in OiS. It's as Simon said to Kaylee "She loves this ship"; she was "feeling" Serenity.
The captain said it as well at the end of the BDM - "Love will keep her in the air, when she ought to fall down."
"It's Love, in point of fact," the Operative.
Wash, on the other hand, was a pilot of some considerable skill - Honed over years of training and hands-on experience.
Like Kaylee, he was a savant when it came to Serenity. Kaylee knows the "inner workings" of the engine, Wash was gifted in his feel for the ship. A genius pilot; which River absorbed through her pyschic ability and enhanced by the cerebral stripping. So River knew what he knew, but did she absorb the essence of his ability? Think of it this way. The Alliance stripped her cerebral cortex but they didn't strip away her essence. What made her River. They opened up her ability to learn to full throttle and made her the perfect weapon. Or so they thought. River was in there somewhere and she overcame their "training" and reclaimed herself, she was back in full control of her functions.
Wash was in full control of his faculties, and his special skill was as a pilot. His special "feel" afforded him ability to be one with Serenity, River appropriated that skill enhanced by her own. Eventually, given time, she would surpass him. Her ability as a reader would give her the decided advantage, but she still needed practical experience flying the ship in different scenarios.
I don't know if I made my argument, but who the hell cares - I had fun!
SGG
"Who's flying this thing? Oh, yeah that would be me."
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Wash,River maybe a super person/weapon but she's still mad or rather insane.
Wash had the knowledge and the feel,if River tapped into his talent it doesn't necessary mean that she understands it .I could go on but my gut tells me wash.
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Quote:
Originally posted by dun:
Wash,River maybe a super person/weapon but she's still mad or rather insane.
That is a major point of debate, it is unclear what her mental status is after Miranda.
I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.
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So Shiny, you believe that when River says she's okay, after tossing and being very upset about Miranda, she means "I'm cured" or at least "hence forth I'm stable"? I think she meant that she was feeling okay, feeling clear and lucid right now, despite her jolt earlier. And then she continues being lucid throughout the scene where she intentionally fights the Reavers. But that doesn't mean that she's "cured" as you seem to think. I do think she has a better understanding of what she's capable of after the movie and that her nightmare load will go down a little, but she's had way more trauma to her, both psychological and braincutting, than a secret she didn't know she had.
We may have to agree to disagree.
"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya
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I have a River bias. I want to say River.
"She understands. She doesn't comprehend."
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