Who are the Men with Hands of Blue? by Quietude

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Who are the Men with Hands of Blue?

POSTED BY: QUIETUDE
UPDATED: Thursday, April 21, 2005 07:06
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Monday, April 18, 2005 11:44 PM

Ever since the Men with Hands of Blue showed up on Firefly, I have had the nagging suspicion that Joss’s rule of having no aliens in the verse might not be true.

Apart from them having no real expression on their faces and being very pale, (they are probably from England) the point that really makes me wonder is when they use that weapon to kill the guards who had River, Simon and Jayne under arrest. That thing killed every one, and yet it had no effect on them, why?

Could be that they are deaf, but somehow I don’t think so, too much like ‘John Doe’ if you know what I mean.

Plus only an alien might think it was cool to wear blue washing up gloves all the time.

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Tuesday, April 19, 2005 12:03 AM

PURPLEBELLY

Quote:
Originally posted by Quietude:
... Plus only an alien might think it was cool to wear blue washing up gloves all the time.

Does this account for Charles Graner's behaviour, too?

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Tuesday, April 19, 2005 2:00 AM

MANWITHPEZ

Important people don't do field work.

Well, what do we know about the Blue Hands?

1)River is terrified of them.
2)They did not leave witnesses in Ariel. And that was of people who hadn't even seen them.
3)They are especially guarded of anything River Tam has to say.
4)They have a cool ship.
5)They bleed their victims.
6)And Jubal Early is carrying the same wanted poster the Blue Hands had in The Train Job.
7)While River can kill people with her brain (or so she claims, she hasn't done it yet), the Blue Hands don't.
8)They hold some kind of position of power in the Alliance.
9)They are very focused/rude. This might speak to a great need to recapture River, as to anything to do with social ineptitude.

What don't we know about them?

1)They are never named.
2)What affiliation do they have with the Alliance, and the academy River left to go to.
3)The nature of the weapon they carry.
4)The purpose of the blue gloves.
5)Why does the idea that the guards on Ariel heard River say anything end up getting them killed?
6)Why do they kill the unconscious guard in the hall on Ariel?
7)How do they seem to know the exact path River, Simon, and Jayne took in Ariel?

And, finally, some pure conjecture.

Blue gloves? How about identity protection...

The weapon they carry might not be sonic based,...It has been posited on this very site that the weapon the Blue Hands carry may boost one's own mental "power". Whatever, the effect is profound, with what appears to be soft tissue hemmorhage(which is why it would affect the nasal cavity, the eyes, and the skin under the fingernails.)

Why Alliance? Perhaps they work under an Alliance mandate, but are ordered to keep everything very, very quiet. I guess a good way to look at this is like either Harvey Keitel in Pulp Fiction, or Harvey Keitel in Point of No Return. They're cleaners, who have to go around and erase any evidence that River was ever around. Which would answer why they kill in the episode "Ariel" and why they don't in "The Train Job"...at least, that we see.

Why is River afraid of them? Who isn't?

Also, they appear to be very well funded. Again, government mandate...

Anyways...most of this is just random thought...The only thing I really know about the blue hands is that they're scary.

But, I don't think they're aliens. I think they're humans. Maybe alterred in someway, but human nonetheless...

Kaylee: "What's so damn important about being proper? It don't mean nothing out here in the black."
Simon: "It means more out here. It's all I have..."

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Tuesday, April 19, 2005 2:33 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Although these guys are suppose to be sinister, I always find them completely inept... That sonic thing although effective is a bit slow really....Why not just cap the witnesses?

I always thought judging by their sterness they would work for a power that just wont tolerate failure, and as such would probably have been killed themselves or removed for having lost River and Simon, and hence maybe the reason for the bounty hunter Early later on.....

... who knows. Hands of blue gives the notion of something biochemical or laboratory based so perhaps they were given these as a visual code of their background? Maybe....

I wonder if they'll appear in the film?

The
Somnambulist

www.cirqus.com

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005 5:19 PM

the movie is not the Series. Only the facts have been changed, to irritate the innocent; the names of the actors and characters remain the same

Quote:
Originally posted by TheSomnambulist:
That sonic thing although effective is a bit slow really....Why not just cap the witnesses?

It actually seems reasonably quick @killing an entire room full of people, without drawing attention. Also, it is apparently unknown to a lieutenant or captain of police, and its effects may thus be misinterpreted by police forensics.

Keep the Shiny Side Up . . . (wutzon) Stones, "Let It Bleed" (I mean, what else?)

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005 6:00 PM

REAVERINA1985RIVIERA

Quote:
Originally posted by Quietude:
Plus only an alien might think it was cool to wear blue washing up gloves all the time.

Those ain't dish-washing gloves. Those are nitrile gloves. You can get a box of them at an auto parts store. I use 'em during brake jobs, oil changes, chassie lubes, and any dirty or greasy repair work. Keeps the crap from leaching into the pores of my hands and making me sick and keeps my hands clean when I need to fill out the customers paperwork (a.k.a bill).

---------------------------------------------
The real-life box droppin', man-ape gone wrong thing, now without the pesky falling boxes

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005 7:20 PM

AMALTHEA1

I can tell you that they aren't going to appear in the movie....at least, not THIS movie. I met one of the actors who played a Blue Hand at work, and talked to him a bit about Firefly. He mentioned that he was disappointed that they weren't going to be featured in the movie; he said that he had called and talked to Joss, and Joss had basically told him that they were going in a different direction with the River storyline. He didn't know if there were any plans to reintroduce them later, if (when!) there are sequels.

He's also not British...or if he is, he hid it with a very convincing American accent.

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005 7:46 PM

STARRBABY

Perhaps the gloves are the reason the scary blood draining stick doesn't hurt them. That could be why they wear them. Protection of some sort.
Just an idea.

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005 8:03 PM

DEADMAN

The blue gloved boys are from Blue Sun. The connection should be obvious.

They're human. While we dont know this for absolute certain, I feel fairly comfortable that I am within the relm of correctness saying it. The reavers are really the "aliens" of the story...and they're still human. The hands of blue represent corperate suits...the evil of modern society. A human evil.

So...lets talk about the things that set you off:

Yes. Its obvious that the boys with blue have been tweaked. Its even possible that river was undergoing some process similar to what they went through. In any case, their perceptions of the world and their minds have been played with.

Serenity is all about touching. You notice...river touches everything. It connects her with everything. She expirences the world. I sometimes wear latex gloves when I clean. And they tend to seperate you from things. You dont have to touch anything...theres that layer between you...so it disconnects you. (Think about it, you'll touch things with gloves that you would never touch otherwise. Why? Becuase they seperate you from it.) So they're the opposiate of river, they DONT allow themselves to connect with the world around them. One interesting idea I came up with is that they are similar to river, and those gloves help them maintain their composure.

SO. Human.

"Also? I can kill you with my brain."
-River

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005 8:22 PM

CUNNINGORANGETOQUE

The blue men DO seem a tad detached, with the gloves and all, but i think that's how they survive.
Here's my theory on the blue hands:

The blue gloves are what keep the men from suffering the same fate as those poor alliance soldiers with that device. Kindof like rubber gloves save people from getting electrocuted while playing with electricity. I think that the device emitts an electromagnetic pulse which causes the body to bleed everywhere. The gloves protect the blue man group from bleeding as well.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Time for somethrilling heroics!

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005 8:26 PM

the movie is not the Series. Only the facts have been changed, to irritate the innocent; the names of the actors and characters remain the same

Quote:
Originally posted by Amalthea1:
Joss had basically told him that they were going in a different direction with the River storyline.

First time I've heard it put that way. Guess I haven't been reading betwixt the lines. We've known for some time that the BDM features River, & no Blue Sun, and there's been a lot of speculation that the Blue Hands Guys are from Blue Sun. Reckon I should've seen it comin'.

Keep the Shiny Side Up . . . (wutzon) God & King (Clapton & BB), "Riding With the King", "It'll Come to You . . . "

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Thursday, April 21, 2005 7:06 AM

ASTRAGYNIA

That's really a pity that Blue Sun probably won't be in the movie; popular culture needs some corporation-villains. Of course, corporate suits are the ones producing the big films...

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