Inara ponderings.

POSTED BY: dug
UPDATED: Sunday, January 18, 2004 00:05
VIEWED: 6258
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DUG

Friday, January 16, 2004 4:05 PM

Something about how Inara says "I don't want to die at all" in Out of Gas got me thinking.

1. It's a mystery to her closest friends as to why she left Sihnon (sp.) and picked up passage on a tramp freighter. NOT where a talented, promising companion should be.

2. Seems odd when I think about it that she is only require to get a medical checkup once a year. If it is to ensure "cleanliness" then it should be more often. I think Nevada requires monthly std checks.

3. In Serenity she is shown with a needle and drug set-up when the Reavers are passing by. The assumption is that it is a suicide kit...but in the commentary Joss insists that it is not. He says it is a seed for a future sub-plot.

My theory? Inara is terminally ill. Explains why she is running from a life of promise that can never be fulfilled; won't enter a relationship that can go nowhere, and generally seems to avoid any offer that leads to a "future".

Thoughts?

HERO

Friday, January 16, 2004 4:20 PM

I already posted the "Inara is dying" theory. It makes alot of sense and its a plot device Joss has used before. Her Order does not forbid dating so it fits right in to the emerging love plot with Mal that has her leaving after 'Heart of Gold'.

As for the needle, rumor is that it turns her into some sort of super fighter (Inara the Vampire Slayer?).

H

BOOMERGOODHEART

Friday, January 16, 2004 4:34 PM

As far as Inara & Mal goes, this is my little theory as to why they can never be together:

Mal could never accept her career.
Inara could never be anything but a Companion. I just don't see her as "Mal's girlfriend".

Might be simplistic, but that's how I always saw it.

BoomerGoodheart
"I love my Captain."

PHLEBOTININ

Friday, January 16, 2004 4:49 PM

Maybe it's that I don't want to think that Inara is not long for this world, but she doesn't seem particularly sickly. I know, I know, if she has a terminal illness, maybe it's of the "no symptoms until near death" variety. Or maybe she uses whatever is in the syringe to keep her symptoms at bay. And maybe her putative yearly companion's checkup in Ariel was to get further help or meds for her secret terminal condition.

Maybe.

Apart from the terminal illness theory, are there any others that have been floating around? I don't want Inara to die! Too interesting a character.

When/where did Joss use the terminal illness plot device before?

BROWNCOAT1

Friday, January 16, 2004 4:51 PM

Inara dying does seem like a pretty likely scenario. It is one Joss has used before, and it is an effective dramatic tool. It is also something that could be used for subplots down the road.

Still not sure what the needle & vial in the box were for, and I am not sold on the whole "super soldier" formula theory proposed by others. Joss says it was not a suicide kit, so what does that leave us?

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

HERO

Friday, January 16, 2004 5:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BrownCoat1:
Still not sure what the needle & vial in the box were for, and I am not sold on the whole "super soldier" formula theory proposed by others. Joss says it was not a suicide kit, so what does that leave us?

Hmmm...

Maybe she was just really bad at chosing a weapon. Jayne grabs his guns. Inara runs to her shuttle and get...a needle.

"Don't make me use this!"

Then she starts jabbing every Reaver that comes near.

Could be.

H

OKKAY

Friday, January 16, 2004 5:15 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by phlebotinin:
Or maybe she uses whatever is in the syringe to keep her symptoms at bay.

I don't think this would be the case, because I don't see how that makes sense within the context of the episode. I would think that once we find out what the syringe is for, we could go back, rewatch the episode, and think "oh, THAT's why she took the syringe out at that particular time." And I don't have that feeling with the "syringe = medicine" theory. Of course, I'm usually wrong about things.

BOOMERGOODHEART

Friday, January 16, 2004 5:22 PM

Could it have been some kind of narcotic, so that she just didn't care about what the Reavers planned to do? Maybe something that she had an addiction to? (Although she might have had a handle on it.)

BoomerGoodheart
"I love my Captain."

BROWNCOAT1

Friday, January 16, 2004 5:36 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BoomerGoodheart:
Could it have been some kind of narcotic, so that she just didn't care about what the Reavers planned to do? Maybe something that she had an addiction to? (Although she might have had a handle on it.)

BoomerGoodheart
"I love my Captain."

Possible.

Could it have been the same type of drug that Simon used to simulate death in himself & River in Ariel? Something to make her appear dead so the Reavers would leave her alone?

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

KURUKAMI

Friday, January 16, 2004 6:01 PM

That had occurred to me as well, but given that the Reavers seemed perfectly willing to skin and dice corpses it seems unlikely.

Remember: "If they take the ship, they'll rape
us to death, eat our flesh and sew our skins into their clothing and if we're very very lucky, they'll do it in that order."

History doesn't always repeat itself. Sometimes it merely shouts "Weren't you listening the first time?!?" and lets fly with a club.

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