An EP in the hand...

POSTED BY: HKcavalier
UPDATED: Tuesday, December 26, 2017 01:45
VIEWED: 12701
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HKCAVALIER

Saturday, December 14, 2002 9:06 PM

As fatalistic as I could get about this whole cancelation thing, we all did see a brand new episode of our favorite show last night. So Where's all the interpretation/speculation/gushing/translation?

I'm new here, so maybe this is being covered someplace other than the episode discussion board but here I am.

So... One of nicest things about Joss is that he knows why people do what they do. A lot of folks like to make a distinction between hired assassins and serial murderers. They think that getting paid for killing somehow normalizes the killer, but it ain't so. Hitmen and serial killers tend to have the same backgrounds and share very similar profiles. O' course, Joss is all over it with his depiction of Early.

Left Field Inc: I somehow got the feeling that Early did a lot of meditating. A lot of his ramblings had the feeling of the kind of insights that surface after years of solitary reflexion.

In general I love the way Joss's characters are continually surprising. They even seem to surprise themselves a lot of the time!

Also, I love the comedy of the show. Most comedy on teevee is all about people lying and then lying more and more outragiously to cover the lies until they get in trouble in the last five minutes and have the heartwarming reconciliation (boring). But the comedy on FF comes out of people puting words to truths you weren't even expecting (I'll be in my bunk; You live on a spaceship, dear).

And finally, the most amazing thing about this show every week for me is how much happens. The comercial breaks always feel like an ambush, more happens on this show in ten minutes than in whole seasons of [venerable franchise where the characters never change, their faces just get more jowlly].

No matter where Firefly goes, there she is.

ESME

Saturday, December 14, 2002 10:26 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by HKcavalier:
As fatalistic as I could get about this whole cancelation thing, we all did see a brand new episode of our favorite show last night. So Where's all the interpretation/speculation/gushing/translation?

We do like to complain here, don't we? My last gushing thread did't get a lot of response, everyone was too busy ministering to the whining of 'I'm not gonna watch anymore' thread.
(So naturally I posted there as well...)

Early last night was a great talking, logical villain, (same name as the serial killer in Natural Born Killers)and he was amazing while he scared the bejeezus out of Kaylee.
My guess is that every female watching got a shiver in her gut, weather they'll admit it or not. (I sure did)

Quote:
One of nicest things about Joss is that he knows why people do what they do.

How true! Every character's response displayed their unique personality, deepest fears, true character (if this exists):

Kaylee: her weakness is her size. also her fears. Zoe would NEVER have acted like that. Nor Inara.
Mal: Mal's beaten when he's outpowered physically. Period.
Book: ? (Any thoughts? We know he's not really a Shepherd...)
Simon: Calm and resigned. Honorable and defiant in the face of death.
Inara: Cool-headed honesty. Deeply intuative and sympathetic.
Zoe: Warrior woman. She's stronger that most people, mentally and physically, and she knows it.
Wash: Whatever Zoe thinks.(And a little Xander-esque about it, too.)
River: Just too damn smart. River's weakness is in her delusions, revealed at the beginning. But aside from that, her guiding each crewmember was dead-on. There's nothing yet in the 'verse can stop her.

I loved this dialog dense ep. It showed off the level that these guy are writing at. OIS took it up another notch, especially with the sexual tensions between Mal/Inara, ("You can't go 2 weeks without spreading?" or something mean like that) and then terrible sexual threats of Early/Kaylee and Inara getting slapped...pretty bold stuff.

It's hard to see a show I enjoy a lot go unrewarded, punished even! But we did get about half a season, with the pilot at the end instead of the beginning.
It's just great television art. Thanks, Mutant Enemy, et al.
Go and make us some more.

RADEGUND

Saturday, December 14, 2002 10:42 PM

I was very pleased with this episode! When we got to a commercial I found myself taking a breath without realizing I'd been holding it.

Seeing the world from River's point of view was really well done. You get a little sense of what it's like to be her.

River "heard" the characters speak what they were thinking, but I wonder if Book's line could be interpreted differently if we knew the context in which, in his mind, he was thinking it. Finding out the truth about Book is definitely one of the things I'll miss when the show's done.

I did guess that River was really on Early's ship, but it was interesting to watch Joss play with us and try to make us wonder if she really could have "melded" with Serenity. It's such a classic sci-fi concept, which he then neatly sidestepped.

Simon's free to take his shirt off any time...

Radegund

HARDWARE

Sunday, December 15, 2002 1:21 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by esme:

Early last night was a great talking, logical villain, (same name as the serial killer in Natural Born Killers)and he was amazing while he scared the bejeezus out of Kaylee.
My guess is that every female watching got a shiver in her gut, weather they'll admit it or not. (I sure did)

Note: Jubal Early may actually referrence a Confederate general of the American Civil
War. I think it ties in better with the whole western/civil war losers theme of Firefly.

The more I get to know people the more I like my dogs.

ESME

Sunday, December 15, 2002 1:28 AM

Aha...multi-layers. Interesting... http://www.jubalearly.org/

NONOLUNA

Sunday, December 15, 2002 1:58 AM

Hello All!
I've migrated and I think I like - a lot!!!
OiS was terrific, plain and simple. I thought Richard Brooks was fantastic as Early! Enough of the 2-dimensional bad guys, eh!

RAGNAROKGS

Sunday, December 15, 2002 3:41 AM

True, Early was quite complex to be only in one episode. Also, the episode ends with him hurtling through space. I'd be willing to bet that he makes an appearance in a later episode, since they reiterated that his chances were low for survival. If he was picked up by some other ship he would be a villian with a grudge against Serenity and her crew... doesn't sound like a half-bad character to me :).

-----
RagNaRoK *gs*
"Ich kodiere, folglich bin ich."

RAULENDYMION

Sunday, December 15, 2002 5:26 AM

I am still wondering who sent Early, and how he got all of his info. FOr instance he knew Kalies name, and knew enough to target her. Plus he also knew enough about book to know that he had to go to his room and knock him out (But he didn't do this to Jayne or Zoe) this implies book is more dangorous than the 2 warriors on the ship!

Great ep, I think all that talk about River being "psychic" was a trick by Joss to slighly misdirect us, it seems to have more to do with hyper empathy and ability to see things in terms of math...makes me think of the Hyperion books :)

NONOLUNA

Sunday, December 15, 2002 7:16 AM

Interesting thoughts...I heard Mal say that he had lots of oxygen and would probably last a while - then comes getting picked up and a 'return engagement'.
Early was listening to conversations from outside the ship for quite a while before he went in. Names were used, he tried to make sure the crew was in bed and then he locked them in. Although I believe Book is something more than a shepherd, I think he was using the washroom and was heading to his quarters when he was confronted.
Now, I could always be wrong about these things...

HJERMSTED

Sunday, December 15, 2002 10:52 AM

Quote:

I am still wondering who sent Early, and how he got all of his info. For instance he knew Kalies name, and knew enough to target her. Plus he also knew enough about book to know that he had to go to his room and knock him out (But he didn't do this to Jayne or Zoe) this implies book is more dangorous than the 2 warriors on the ship!

If I remember correctly, Early only had photos and info on the Tams in the cockpit of his ship.

I think Early used deductive reasoning and improvisation to learn the rest he needed to know about Serenity while moving within her.

Early locked the crew in their quarters. Only Zoe, Wash, Kaylee, Jayne, and the Captain dwell in those quarters*. When he performed the lock down, he noticed one room didn't lock because the door was still open. The name on the door was 'Kaylee' (painted on with flowers and such). When Early checks the engine room, odds are any person found in there would be crew. When the person found in there is female, the likelyhood of a name match with 'Kaylee' goes up as well. So he talked to her using her name like he knew all about her which freaked Kaylee out. Only because he deduced correctly. Had Early called her 'Inara' or 'Zoe' instead, Kaylee would most likely have been less scared and less cooperative.

Early knew Simon Tam's name from the warrant and photos.

How Early knew Book "ain't a Shepherd" seems to come from neither the Alliance provided warrants nor from mere deductive reasoning. That knowledge seemed to come from somewhere else. Add that with what River saw in Book earlier before Early (sorry, couldn't resist), and suddenly I have the urge to write dozens of postcards to whoever will listen to me about keeping Firefly on the air... just so I can find out who the hell Book really is!!

Would also love to see Early again. Is it possible he can control his ship remotely with something in or on his suit?

mattro

* The rest of the people on board either are, or started out as passenger / tenants. They reside in the passenger quarters or in a shuttle. Of all these people, I've only heard Dr. Tam referred to as "one of my crew" by the Captain. Why are we still talking about this?

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