GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

River mentions Serenity plot during the series? ~mild spoilers~

POSTED BY: JOSSISMYBOSS
UPDATED: Friday, March 10, 2006 15:29
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Wednesday, October 26, 2005 2:39 PM

JOSSISMYBOSS


There was an archived radio interview with joss on here where Joss mentioned that if we had done our homework that we should remember an instance on the show when River mentioned something (probably cryptic) about the whole reaver conspiracy that's in the movie.

Does anyone remember what she said, or when she said it? I can't for the life of me remember and my dvd's are currently on loan to a new initiate....

This is driving me a bit bonkers, so if anyone could enlighten me I would appreciate it.

P.S...if you go looking for the radio interview, be warned: it is PACKED with spoilers about the movie


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Wednesday, October 26, 2005 2:58 PM

LORIE


I think it's time for a Firefly marathon. I'll watch the series this weekend, maybe I'll notice it.

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Wednesday, October 26, 2005 3:05 PM

GIANTEVILHEAD


I don't know, River didn't really have that many lines in the show.

"I swallowed a bug." -River Tam

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Wednesday, October 26, 2005 3:36 PM

GAMBIT3


River lines in:

SERENITY (PILOT)
-Simon...?
-Simon... They talk to me, they want me to... to talk...
-Simon...
-I slept for so long...
-I didn't think you'd come for me.

THE TRAIN JOB
-Simon.
-It's not relevant.
-This isn't home.
-Midbulk transport, standard radion-accelerator core, classcode 03-K64, "Firefly".
-Mal. Bad. In the Latin.
-Won't stop. They'll never stop.
-They'll just keep coming until they get back what you took.
-Two by two, hands of blue... two by two, hands of blue...
-Two by two, hands of blue, two by two, hands of blue....

BUSHWHACKED
- Ghosts.
- No. Can't sleep. Too much screaming.
- There was.
- I followed the voices.
- Let's go again.
- He's coming back.

SHINDIG
- There it is, there it is. It's always there if you look for it. Everybody sees and nobody sees it...
- These are the ones that take you! Little ones in the corner that you almost don't see. But they're the ones that reach in and do it. They're the ones with teeth and you have to smash them!
- A million things, and the little ends of the roots go everywhere and when you brush your teeth or all the little blue things are there but no one says it because, because sometimes they're afraid. And then they come...
- There's things in the air in there. Tiny things.
- Pull, pull...
- Sure, I got a secret. More'n one.
- Don't seem likely I'd tell 'em to you, do it? Anyone off Dyton Colony know's better'n to talk to strangers.
- You're talking loud enough for the both of us, though, ain't you? I've known a dozen like you. Skipped off home early, minor graft jobs here and
there. Spent some time in the lock-down, I warrant, but less than you claim. Now you're what, petty thief with delusions of standing? Sad little king of a sad little hill.
-Not really. Call me f'anyone interesting shows up.


Whew!! Had no idea River had so many deep lines in Shindig...
Ok, that's enough for now..

if anyone wants to continue and finish my work... the rest of the scripts are here

Serenity
http://average-bear.com/firefly/100.html

The Train Job
http://average-bear.com/firefly/101.html

Bushwhacked
http://average-bear.com/firefly/102.html

Shindig
http://average-bear.com/firefly/103.html

Safe
http://average-bear.com/firefly/104.html

Our Mrs. Reynolds
http://average-bear.com/firefly/105.html

Jaynestown
http://average-bear.com/firefly/106.html

Out of Gas
http://average-bear.com/firefly/107.html

Ariel
http://average-bear.com/firefly/108.html

War Stories
http://average-bear.com/firefly/109.html

Trash
http://average-bear.com/firefly/110.html

The Message
http://average-bear.com/firefly/111.html

Heart of Gold
http://average-bear.com/firefly/112.html

Objects in Space
http://average-bear.com/firefly/113.html

Dead or Alive
http://www.fireflyfans.net/feature.asp?f=45

__________________________
http://www.gambit3.com

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Wednesday, October 26, 2005 11:42 PM

PURPLEYIN


aside from the obvious from bushwhatked, the little things in the air from shindig sound like our winners...

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Thursday, October 27, 2005 3:18 AM

RABIT


Quote:

Originally posted by jossismyboss:
There was an archived radio interview with joss on here where Joss mentioned that if we had done our homework that we should remember an instance on the show when River mentioned something (probably cryptic) about the whole reaver conspiracy that's in the movie.

Personally, I find that comical, since in one of the intros in Finding Serenity ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932100431/103-3411237-9653439?v=glan
ce&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance
), Jane Espenson specifically says that the origin of the Reavers in the movie is not the origin that was planned for the series. Joss had to change it to fit the medium.

Now that doesn't mean that the line he's refering to doesn't still work! I'm just pointing out how Joss will take something he hadn't planned and turn it into something useful and impressive. I personally think that's very shiny, and do my best to emulate that in my RPGs.

Rabit

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Thursday, October 27, 2005 3:37 AM

N0SKILLZ


heres what sounds like our winners so far from his post

There it is, there it is. It's always there if you look for it. Everybody sees and nobody sees it... (could be talking bout maranda)
- These are the ones that take you! Little ones in the corner that you almost don't see.(the people that weren't reavers on maranda) But they're the ones that reach in and do it. They're the ones with teeth and you have to smash them!(reavers?)
- A million things, and the little ends of the roots go everywhere and when you brush your teeth or all the little blue things are there but no one says it because, because sometimes they're afraid. And then they come... (the molecules of the PAX? and reavers after? of course mixed in with crazy talk)
- There's things in the air in there. Tiny things. (and again with the PAX?)

thats what i got, but work wont let me get to the sites to find more.


-----------------
"It's not that there HAS to be a sequel. It's just that I've got so many IDEAS..."-Joss Whedon
*Andersen AFB, Guam*

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Friday, October 28, 2005 1:38 PM

THECRAZYIVAN


great thread...and great links

~~~~~~~~~~
"There is a sense that this is still not over. It's hard to put a finger on what's so special about this project and about this group of people, but it's just one of those things you have to trust in, and relish. I am very, very proud."
---Jewel Staite on "Firefly" and "Serenity" in "Finding Serenity" (essay collection by Jane Espenson)

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Friday, October 28, 2005 3:02 PM

PHOEBE


In Safe, River says to Simon that she has some horrible memories in her head, and they're not hers, but she can't always tell what's a real memory, what's HER real memory, and what's fake.

Reminds me of "Whatever classified information she may have ACCIDENTALLY gleamed, it's probable that they're buried beneath layers of psychosis."

Doesn't hint on the Reavers but does explain why the Alliance want her so badly.

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Friday, October 28, 2005 3:14 PM

BENSHAHN



Personally, I find that comical, since in one of the intros in Finding Serenity ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932100431/103-3411237-9653439?v=glan
ce&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance
), Jane Espenson specifically says that the origin of the Reavers in the movie is not the origin that was planned for the series. Joss had to change it to fit the medium.

Now that doesn't mean that the line he's refering to doesn't still work! I'm just pointing out how Joss will take something he hadn't planned and turn it into something useful and impressive. I personally think that's very shiny, and do my best to emulate that in my RPGs.

Rabit


Yeah, Joss has basically said he took just the outline of River's story from the series and used it for the movie. In the series, her secret is that Blue Sun runs the government and as such is responsible for what happened to her. In the series the Reaver origin probably relates to Mal's dark past, something from the war (examples from the series: Mal-bad-in the Latin, I haven't seen that kind of torture since the war, nothing worse than a monster thinks he's right with god )

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Friday, October 28, 2005 4:16 PM

HARTMEISTER


I'm a little confused by all this. In a movie for the fans, Joss changes the over-arching plot of the entire series? Many on this board have complained that the reason why Serenity doesn't play as good as a movie as many would like is that Joss crammed too much of what he wanted in the second year of the Firefly into the Serenity movie.

I LOVE Firefly but I still think that Serenity would have been better if:

1) The pilot episode was adapted for the big screen. It would have been cheaper (after all much of it would have already been shot already). What would it cost to make the pilot episode a theatrical movie. Probably only a couple million more rather than the $35-40M that Serenity had cost. Assuming the same amount of Browncoat support, and with the same amount spent on marketing the movie would have been cash positive in the second week of US distribution alone.

2) The movie was just a long heist or con job. Think of a science fiction version of "The Sting" or "Maverick"

Am I the only one that believes that "The Movie" will replace "Day One" as the number two Jump The Shark ( http://tinyurl.com/apvuh ) category? Anyhow

Quote:

Originally posted by benshahn:

Personally, I find that comical, since in one of the intros in Finding Serenity ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932100431/103-3411237-9653439?v=glan
ce&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance
), Jane Espenson specifically says that the origin of the Reavers in the movie is not the origin that was planned for the series. Joss had to change it to fit the medium.

Now that doesn't mean that the line he's refering to doesn't still work! I'm just pointing out how Joss will take something he hadn't planned and turn it into something useful and impressive. I personally think that's very shiny, and do my best to emulate that in my RPGs.

Rabit


Yeah, Joss has basically said he took just the outline of River's story from the series and used it for the movie. In the series, her secret is that Blue Sun runs the government and as such is responsible for what happened to her. In the series the Reaver origin probably relates to Mal's dark past, something from the war (examples from the series: Mal-bad-in the Latin, I haven't seen that kind of torture since the war, nothing worse than a monster thinks he's right with god )

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Friday, October 28, 2005 4:18 PM

HARTMEISTER


I want to apologize to Rabit. I just did the quote feature and it came out with your sig and did not quote right. Sorry...

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Friday, October 28, 2005 4:37 PM

UNSARDONIC




What would it cost to make the pilot episode a theatrical movie. Probably only a couple million more rather than the $35-40M that Serenity had cost.

--------------------------



Well, that can't be right as it's already been published that, although the producers had hoped it would be a cost-cutting measure to reuse the old sets & props, those all had been destroyed or lost & had to be rebuilt from the ground up. And, to make matters worse, there were no records of those sets: they actually rebuilt the Serenity rooms using a DVD of "Firefly" to try to imagine what the spaces had originally been... and then improve on them.

So the fact that this was done for ONLY $39M dollars... it's FREAKIN' MINDBLOWING!!!! A True Revelation!!! There should be a new Oscar® category for "Most Unbelievably Economical Special Effects" and not NUTHIN' would come close to what was accomplished by Joss and his "Serenity" crew.

Check out the October 9, 2005 Los Angeles Times article called "Downhome Directing" which is a 3-page article on how Joss/Crew did it. I'd include a link, but the Times has already archived it, requiring you to pay them a few bucks to find it

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Friday, October 28, 2005 6:05 PM

HARTMEISTER


Unsardonic,

I apologize. It would take much more than a couple million. The question is how much.

If a major film is being created the number one cost is the time from when they shooting starts from the time it has ended. I'm sure the sets costs a pretty penny, but I'm sure it was absolutely dwarfed by the general production cost that goes on in any Hollywood film produced for a major studio (indie films are quite cheaper because they often do not use union labor, shooting in 16mm vs 35mm, etc). When you read the interview with Joss you see that the number one way he was able to reduce the cost of Serenity is that he was able to compress the shooting time a ridulous amount. I know this isn't exact (there is a fixed cost and a variable cost to every movie) but if you have the DVD of the series handy check out what the pilot's time length handy (I do not have DVD's handy myself). If you don't we could guess it, with the TV average is non-commerical programming is 43:17 per hour of TV. If we double that the pilot episode 1:23:34. So if Joss wanted to create a movie length pilot episode, he would need add 35:23 of content to enlarge the length.

If you take $39M / 119 minutes we get an operating cost of $327,731 per minute. So in movie terms it would cost $11,596,218 to add the additional footage. I've heard that the total cost of the movie was a few million so let's add $2 million to that figure and we have $13,596,218. The movie would have broken even in the US on its second week, not including the sales of the "new" Serenity movie.

Now that is a very rough estimate, because obviously some of the special effects from the pilot movie would have to upgraded and the fixed cost of the recreation of the Serenity sets is not included. At the same time, if you were just adding footage a convential movie would not be created so probably would be many fixed costs that not exist.

Now if anybody has a minute here is another question. Was the deleted scene of Zoe telling Tam what happened during the battle of Serenity in the pilot episode or was that some other episode? I think it was the pilot but I'm not sure. I think that deleted scene was roughly five minutes long but since I don't know I won't include it in my new estimate.

Quote:

Originally posted by Unsardonic:


What would it cost to make the pilot episode a theatrical movie. Probably only a couple million more rather than the $35-40M that Serenity had cost.

--------------------------



Well, that can't be right as it's already been published that, although the producers had hoped it would be a cost-cutting measure to reuse the old sets & props, those all had been destroyed or lost & had to be rebuilt from the ground up. And, to make matters worse, there were no records of those sets: they actually rebuilt the Serenity rooms using a DVD of "Firefly" to try to imagine what the spaces had originally been... and then improve on them.

So the fact that this was done for ONLY $39M dollars... it's FREAKIN' MINDBLOWING!!!! A True Revelation!!! There should be a new Oscar® category for "Most Unbelievably Economical Special Effects" and not NUTHIN' would come close to what was accomplished by Joss and his "Serenity" crew.

Check out the October 9, 2005 Los Angeles Times article called "Downhome Directing" which is a 3-page article on how Joss/Crew did it. I'd include a link, but the Times has already archived it, requiring you to pay them a few bucks to find it


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Saturday, October 29, 2005 6:14 AM

CYBERSNARK


Quote:

Originally posted by Unsardonic:
There should be a new Oscar® category for "Most Unbelievably Economical Special Effects" and not NUTHIN' would come close to what was accomplished by Joss and his "Serenity" crew.

Amen.

Seriously, Serenity's FX are orders of magnitude more realistic and impressive than those of the Star Wars prequels, done at a fraction of the cost.

It's nothing less than a crime that cost/efficiency is almost completely ignored in the few awards that do consider special effects (and don't just lump them in as addendums to the "best picture" or "best director" categories).

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Saturday, October 29, 2005 6:31 AM

RABBIT2


Quote:

Was the deleted scene of Zoe telling Tam what happened during the battle of Serenity in the pilot episode or was that some other episode? I think it was the pilot but I'm not sure.


Yes it was deleted from the pilot. The running time is about five minutes as well.

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Saturday, October 29, 2005 6:42 AM

DERANGEDMILK


Quote:

Originally posted by Rabit:
Personally, I find that comical, since in one of the intros in Finding Serenity ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932100431/103-3411237-9653439?v=glan
ce&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance
), Jane Espenson specifically says that the origin of the Reavers in the movie is not the origin that was planned for the series. Joss had to change it to fit the medium.

Now that doesn't mean that the line he's refering to doesn't still work! I'm just pointing out how Joss will take something he hadn't planned and turn it into something useful and impressive. I personally think that's very shiny, and do my best to emulate that in my RPGs.

Rabit



Thats wierd. I know I read an interview with Joss the other day asking if he had this plot(that of the alliance creating the reavers) in mind all during the series and he said not at its original conception but after just a few episodes he came up with it and made it fit from them on out.
-e

"Storms getting worse."
"We'll pass through it soon enough."

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Saturday, October 29, 2005 7:45 AM

SEP7IMUS


I think it's fair to say that the movie IS what Joss originally intended for the Reavers. I think it's also fair to say that it's not.

Most likely, it would have turned out that the Reavers were created by the Alliance, which is what happened in the movie. Probably, though, it would have been more involved, more convoluted, and would probably connect to some other intersting stuff in the 'verse like Blue Sun.

So, yeah, this is what Joss had in mind, but also it's not.

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Saturday, October 29, 2005 8:32 AM

DRAGONWINE


I think Blue Sun is the corp that either did the teraform or at least supplied the pax. And Blue Sun has it's own "operatives" after River. The "Blue Hand" guys, probably for some completely other reason.
Now if we only knew what exactly was in the syringe that Inara had when the Reavers showed in the tv pilot. Doesn't make sense to be a cure for Reavers.
If parliament ,and perhaps Blue Sun, knew how to make a Reaver, then they could make some in a lab setting and experiment away.
Of course you would need "volunteers".... got a ship full of people you don't like, or that no one will miss, have your stormtroopers haul em away make it look like reavers, and then leak a story that it is rumored to maybe have been Reavers but no such proof exists...etc. Your Alliance taxes at work.

It's a nothing part til you don't got one, then you have to go to ebay.....aaaaagh!

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Saturday, October 29, 2005 10:21 AM

HARTMEISTER


I'm coming to the conclusion that Joss didn't deviate as much as I thought. Just think that although there are many references to the goverment doing things, they may also just be Blue Sun projects just dressed up to look like the government was doing it. Certainly cleans up red tape to think that everybody is a goverment employee when they might actually be Blue Sun. Joss may have just not wanted to get in all that because it would be too confusing for the audience. The build up all during the series was about Blue Sun which is equivalent to finding out that Procter & Gamble really run the government, but no one who was not a Browncoat would get that.

I think Inara's syringe was simply poison. Still unexplained (even from the movie) is Mal's knowledge of the Reavers. Assuming the Reavers were the unintended side-effect of the planet at the end of Serenity, River may have been designed as a Reaver killer. Assuming this was all a Blue Sun plot, Blue Sun wanted the Reavers killed so they could eventually eliminate all signs of the failed terraforming project (bad publicity).

You could see then that the control of the government by Blue Sun is not absolute. When government officials realize that River might know of the government complicity with the failed terraforming project they decide to send the Operative to clean up the mess, not trusting Blue Sun to do it with them.

On a side thing do we think that Blue Sun actually started the war, too? I've always thought there might have been some new company on the non-allied planets that represented a strategic threat to Blue Sun and the war was just a simple excuse to destroy it. Just something to think about...

Quote:

Originally posted by dragonwine:
I think Blue Sun is the corp that either did the teraform or at least supplied the pax. And Blue Sun has it's own "operatives" after River. The "Blue Hand" guys, probably for some completely other reason.
Now if we only knew what exactly was in the syringe that Inara had when the Reavers showed in the tv pilot. Doesn't make sense to be a cure for Reavers.
If parliament ,and perhaps Blue Sun, knew how to make a Reaver, then they could make some in a lab setting and experiment away.
Of course you would need "volunteers".... got a ship full of people you don't like, or that no one will miss, have your stormtroopers haul em away make it look like reavers, and then leak a story that it is rumored to maybe have been Reavers but no such proof exists...etc. Your Alliance taxes at work.

It's a nothing part til you don't got one, then you have to go to ebay.....aaaaagh!


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Saturday, October 29, 2005 12:15 PM

UNSARDONIC


"I think Inara's syringe was simply poison."
-----------------------------

I've seen in several threads questions about what was in Inara's vial and, of course, the editorial structure of that scene is designed to make you think that it is, indeed, poison...

However, when she's in her room with Simon alone, the first words out of her mouth as the scene is cut to are, "It's just a standard companion immunization kit," as she hands him the vial - just before Mal comes barging in uninvited.

I just wonder if no one else noticed this?

HOHOHO

something, something, something... "or you friends will think you're a stupid, inbred stack of meat"

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Saturday, October 29, 2005 12:24 PM

HARTMEISTER


Very interesting. Very interesting, indeed...

Quote:

Originally posted by Unsardonic:
"I think Inara's syringe was simply poison."
-----------------------------


However, when she's in her room with Simon alone, the first words out of her mouth as the scene is cut to are, "It's just a standard companion immunization kit," as she hands him the vial - just before Mal comes barging in uninvited.

I just wonder if no one else noticed this?

HOHOHO



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Monday, October 31, 2005 9:21 AM

RABBIT2


One idea about the start of the war that recently occured to me.
Suppose that there had already been political tensions between the Alliance and some of the Independent factions.
An early Reaver attack takes place on an isolated Alliance outpost.
Since the existance of the Reavers is unknown to all but a few in Blue Sun and the Alliance government, one of these Independent groups is assumed to be responsable.
The Alliance declares war on this group and launch an all out attack on them, this is seen as an act of agression by the other Independent factions so they unite and counterattack.
Result, system wide warfare.
This is just speculation on my part but, I wonder.....?

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Monday, October 31, 2005 10:57 AM

LIMINALOSITY


Quote:

Originally posted by Gambit3:
if anyone wants to continue and finish my work... the rest of the scripts are here



Thanks for all the scripts together in one place, and for all the Riverisms.

I've been leaving this one to Doncoat, since he brought up the scene in another thread a couple of weeks ago, but maybe he's not coming to this party, so I'll add it to the list of creepy Riverisms, cause when I dug the whole quote out of Ariel (Act 3, when the Alliance boys have R, S & J in handcuffs), it literally gave me the shivers...

RIVER
Came down the stairs for the shiny
presents, but they took the tree and
the stockings. Nothing left but coal.

SIMON
River, what are you talking about?

RIVER
Christmas. You can't open your
presents before.

JAYNE
(to Simon)
Shut her up.

RIVER
(to Jayne)
And don't look in the closet, either.
That's greedy. It's not in the
spirit of the holiday.

In the read Summer gives the line, it sounds to me like she says 'It's greedy, it's not in the spirit of the holiday',
(and as I see it she's also telling Jayne she knows he gave them up for the re-ward), but still.
Whhhhoooaaat's in the closet baby?

Slightly OT: There's a River line in act 2 I like as well when R & S first wake from the sleepy drugs, where R says:

RIVER
A copper for a kiss.

Sounds like she's channeling Druscilla for a sec.
That dang Joss just puts in all kinds of treats for us kiddies!

More digging! More digging with both paws!


Shiny Trees! Yavanna made Shiny Trees!

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Monday, October 31, 2005 11:30 AM

IMALEAF


Thanks GAMBIT3 for posting that!



~~River: Bible's broken. Contradictions, false logics. Doesn't make sense.~~

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Monday, October 31, 2005 12:33 PM

COCOAKATZE


In regards to the Blue Sun corp and what it is...

I think in the series, the blue sun/blue hand guys were going to be major players and we can only speculate as to what their roles would have been...

...but I think once the movie was made Joss conveniently ended their role ...that is to say ended their plot thread in the overarching storyline by what he wrote in the comic books...

I don't want to spoil the comic book but at one point it talks about "our independent contractors have disappeared" After reading the comic book several times I realize that could be either Dobson and/or the blue hand guys...

So my first impression was that maybe the blue sun guys were just independent contractors hired by the alliance.... of course I could have interpreted it all wrong...

what do ya'll think?

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Monday, October 31, 2005 1:09 PM

GOTKAYLEE


I was confused when I read this the first time and I went and checked to make sure. The immunization kit that Inara hands to Simon isn't the vial. The vial is in a small green box with a flower on it and she hands Simon a few silver sealed packets.
Plus in the commentary Joss mentions that it may seem that the vial is just a suicide kit/poison, but it was actually something else he never got the chance to explain.
If you go to Can't Take the Sky, you can see it in the screencaps.
Not knowing what Inara's vial really was has bothered me since the first time I watched the show.

"They were little geisha dolls with big heads that wobbled!"

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Monday, October 31, 2005 1:45 PM

DREAMTROVE


Everything River says makes perfect sense. Everyone else is just talking crazy. Maybe someone posted this and I missed it.

River: "Look. FOX went into the henhouse. He tried to eat the eggs before they could break free, so they couldn't grow strong...didn't want their tales told through chirping. But the hens fought back. Pecked and pecked, saved their own. So many holes...he looks better in red."

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Monday, October 31, 2005 1:52 PM

UNSARDONIC


Quote:

Originally posted by gotkaylee:
The immunization kit that Inara hands to Simon isn't the vial. The vial is in a small green box with a flower on it and she hands Simon a few silver sealed packets.



Huh...

thanks for your help - I have loaned out my boxset again so I can't refer back to what you're describing. My umm... MEMORY... of that scene was that she'd handed Simon the box too, but you might completely correct. Gotta take your word for it until I get my box back

HOHOHO

something-something-something... "or your friends will think you're stupid, inbred stack of meat"

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Monday, October 31, 2005 5:19 PM

BENSHAHN


Quote:

Plus in the commentary Joss mentions that it may seem that the vial is just a suicide kit/poison, but it was actually something else he never got the chance to explain.

In the series, Inara is dying. The syringe is supposed to be our first clue. It contains a painkiller which she intends to take so she won't be able to feel what the Reavers do to her. Since the idea wasn't further explored in the series it is re -cycled in a sightly different way and used in the comics.

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Monday, October 31, 2005 5:35 PM

BENSHAHN


Quote:


Thats wierd. I know I read an interview with Joss the other day asking if he had this plot(that of the alliance creating the reavers) in mind all during the series and he said not at its original conception but after just a few episodes he came up with it and made it fit from them on out.


Actually, what you have in parentheses is an erroneous assumption on your part. He says he took the plot from the series, specifically that River has a secret that will change the lives of the crew and cause problems for the Alliance. In the series it is that big business (Blue Sun) runs the govenment.

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Monday, October 31, 2005 5:56 PM

DERANGEDMILK


No assumption, what I read was him answering a question about having the plot of the Pax and Miranda in mind all along and he said something along the lines of not initially but it came to him sometime during the run on Fox. I wish I could find the interview so I could show you. I'll keep looking.
-e

"Storms getting worse."
"We'll pass through it soon enough."

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Monday, October 31, 2005 6:45 PM

GOTKAYLEE


Quote:

Since the idea wasn't further explored in the series it is re -cycled in a sightly different way and used in the comics.


Okay, I may just be completely oblivious as far as this is concerned, but where in the comics is the vial/Inara dying plotline recycled?
I just went back and looked and I didn't see anything.
If it's there I would be incredibly happy. Peace of mind is a good thing.

"They were little geisha dolls with big heads that wobbled!"

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Monday, October 31, 2005 7:09 PM

DIGIFICWRITER


I've seen Firefly more times than I can count, and I have NEVER been able to figure out how and why people have made connections between Blue Sun and the Blue Hand Men. As far as I can tell, there's nothing mentioned, said, etc. either on screen or in the commentaries that provides a link between them, or sheds any light on the Blue Hand Men and their motives. Can someone explain this to me, and also why people have drawn a connection between Blue Sun and the Alliance government?

Take my love
Take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care
I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me
Take me out to the black
Tell 'em I ain't comin' back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me
There's no place I can be
Since I've found Serenity
But you can't take the sky from me

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Tuesday, November 1, 2005 1:41 AM

JUTIN77


I don't know whose comments you are refering to, but for me, I didn't learn that the Blue Hands are a part of the Alliance until I read the comics.

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Tuesday, November 1, 2005 2:56 AM

ZOOT


Quote:

Originally posted by Phoebe:
In Safe, River says to Simon that she has some horrible memories in her head, and they're not hers, but she can't always tell what's a real memory, what's HER real memory, and what's fake.

Reminds me of "Whatever classified information she may have ACCIDENTALLY gleamed, it's probable that they're buried beneath layers of psychosis."

Doesn't hint on the Reavers but does explain why the Alliance want her so badly.



And also where she's chained up in Serenity and says something about them having so much blood on them but she didn't put it there -i.e. the government people she saw were covered in the blood of Miranda .... I forget exactly and don’t have my visual companion handy but it’s something like that …

***************************************

Okay, I'm lost, I'm angry, and I'm
armed.

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Tuesday, November 1, 2005 3:37 AM

BLINKER


Quote:

Originally posted by DigificWriter:
I've seen Firefly more times than I can count, and I have NEVER been able to figure out how and why people have made connections between Blue Sun and the Blue Hand Men. As far as I can tell, there's nothing mentioned, said, etc. either on screen or in the commentaries that provides a link between them, or sheds any light on the Blue Hand Men and their motives.



One clue we have is this interview with the special effects artists:

http://www.hollywoodindustry.com/2002/12_dec/news/zoic_cobb.htm

They let slip that the Blue Hands' ship from "Ariel" was referred to behind the scenes as the "Blue Sun Ship."

_________
Sliders: Gate Haven - http://slidersweb.net/blinker

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Tuesday, November 1, 2005 10:11 AM

DONCOAT


Quote:

Originally posted by Zoot:
And also where she's chained up in Serenity and says something about them having so much blood on them but she didn't put it there -i.e. the government people she saw were covered in the blood of Miranda .... I forget exactly and don’t have my visual companion handy but it’s something like that …


"Show me off like a dog. Old men covered in blood, it never touched them but they're drowning in it..."

Referring, clearly, to the "key members of Parliament" who gave her their memories of Miranda.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ain't about you, Jayne. It's about what they need.

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Tuesday, November 1, 2005 2:24 PM

BLUEMOON23


Watch the start of Safe. River is playing around with Simon saying how they got off by the independent squad and now they were to resort to cannibalism. Hello, Alliance and Canniblism. Put them together and you get the Reavers.

BLUEMOON23

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Saturday, November 5, 2005 3:20 PM

SILENCIO


I don't know...

The explanation for the existence of the Reavers in the movie was fine for a couple hours of action movie, but it had too many holes in it to stand up to an examination that would move through many episodes. How can the reavers cooperate enough to pilot a ship and keep it running, which we have seen is not an easy job, if they what they are is simply incredibly aggressive? Why don't they turn on each other and eat each other?

I'm new to the forums, so this has probably already been discussed - but I think the reavers are the rejects of the "school" that River went to. The reavers are too complex to simply be hyperaggressive - they can cooperate, and they aren't stupid since they can keep a ship flying (and can leave complex booby traps). They are, however, psychotic. Also, they're apparently expanding their borders - their population is growing. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume that they are not having kids...(although perhaps they make more of themselves by making others "watch"...) So whatever has been happening to make reavers is still going on.

The idea that they were the result of the war is interesting too - but the manner in which they talked about reavers seemed to imply that they'd been around for a long time. Perhaps I am just misreading that.

If the project that toyed with River has been going on for a long time, perhaps the reavers are the rejects of the program, or at least the uncontrollable experiments.
The only line I can think of of Rivers that might refer to the reavers is "They come out of the black, they come when you call." If this refers to the reavers, perhaps it means that the reavers are psychic to a degree which drives them mad, making them hate humankind. Maybe.

Again, I apologize if this has already been discussed.

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Saturday, November 5, 2005 4:40 PM

JUTIN


Everyone seems to think that if you're a cannibal and, in the case of the reavers, extremely aggressive from a medical experiment that this makes them too stupid to fly ships and that the explanation in the film does not stay true to the lone survivor turning Reaver-style in "Bushwhacked"...

1st, they all used to be human for many years... in "Dawn of The Dead" & "Land of The Dead" the zombies being verified as brainless still know how to operate guns and play musical instruments... but Reavers are not zombies, they are cannibals... in "The Hills Have Eyes" the cannibals were very intelligent (for people who had never been part of society), they showed sophisticated stalking techniques and could drive trucks.

2nd, in "Bushwhacked" Tim and Joss were merely going on the proven fact of a victim syndrome... the lone survivor loses his mind when he is attacked and sees and hears his family and friends tortured and mutilated. He turns against everyone he sees. Why don't Reavers turn on each other? I don't know for sure, but my guess is that they just don't and won't do that because they are Brothers In Blood...

PS - thanks to all my fellow Browncoats for having another fine debate. I love these debates between fans. I just wish there wasn't so much negativity... there is always a nicer way to say anything.

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Friday, March 10, 2006 11:19 AM

SIMONB


Quote:

Originally posted by DigificWriter:
I've seen Firefly more times than I can count, and I have NEVER been able to figure out how and why people have made connections between Blue Sun and the Blue Hand Men. As far as I can tell, there's nothing mentioned, said, etc. either on screen or in the commentaries that provides a link between them, or sheds any light on the Blue Hand Men and their motives. Can someone explain this to me, and also why people have drawn a connection between Blue Sun and the Alliance government?



Sure, I know this is a loooooong dead thread, but I came across it when I was browsing and wanted to add this to the mix - has anyone alse seen or thought about this:

http://www.fireflywiki.org/Firefly/BlueSun

Strike me as interesting

- Shiny. let's be bad guys.

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Friday, March 10, 2006 11:37 AM

MATTCOZ


Quote:

Originally posted by SimonB:
Quote:

Originally posted by DigificWriter:
I've seen Firefly more times than I can count, and I have NEVER been able to figure out how and why people have made connections between Blue Sun and the Blue Hand Men. As far as I can tell, there's nothing mentioned, said, etc. either on screen or in the commentaries that provides a link between them, or sheds any light on the Blue Hand Men and their motives. Can someone explain this to me, and also why people have drawn a connection between Blue Sun and the Alliance government?



Sure, I know this is a loooooong dead thread, but I came across it when I was browsing and wanted to add this to the mix - has anyone alse seen or thought about this:

http://www.fireflywiki.org/Firefly/BlueSun

Strike me as interesting

Yeah, those River quotes definitely seem to imply that Blue Sun and the Hands of Blue are related.

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Friday, March 10, 2006 11:56 AM

SIMONB


Also, did anyone else notice the inside of the crashed research ship on Miranda....was kinda blue? (blue lettering and all) or is that just my imagination running away with me here?

I felt kinda sad that it seemed the Blue Sun idea had been dropped from the film (could understand why though, would confuse the hell out of newcomers) but I was sorry to see it go, and to have River's 'value' to the alliance so easily dismissed now that what she knows is out in the open. Though it was a cool twist about what she knew, and the Parliament - I just felt they were after River for other reasons too, like the fact that she's an experimental lethal weapon and is the result (and evidence) of a deeply shocking experiment carried out by a covert organisation behind the government.

The supposed sighting of a Blue Sun label in Serenity when Mal's giving his speech on Miranda (think I can just about make it out, but not sure and have checked since) gives me some hope that Blue Sun might not be totally dropped from future projects in the 'verse - if there are any!

- Shiny. let's be bad guys.

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Friday, March 10, 2006 1:04 PM

LAMPYRID


"These are the ones that take you! Little ones in the corner that you almost don't see. But they're the ones that reach in and do

it. They're the ones with teeth and you have to smash them!"

"A million things, and the little ends of the roots go everywhere and when you brush your teeth or all the little blue things are there but no one says it because, because sometimes they're afraid. And then they come..."

"There's things in the air in there. Tiny things."


Here is an earlier thread:

http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=4&t=2371

At the bottom, THEIFJEHAT speculates that River's lines in Shindig refer to nanites being added to the food that Blue Sun Corp. distributes.

In that context, Purplebellies' previous quote about why Reavers eat human flesh is interesting, perhaps it's to replenish nanites?


Back to this thread:

Rabit comments that in "Finding Serenity" Jane Espenson specifically says that the origin of the Reavers in the movie is not the origin that was planned for the series. Joss had to change it to fit the medium.

In Serenity, Joss tried to tell the same story, but had to change things. Book was replaced by the Operative, and I think that River's secret in Firefly (nanites infesting everyone, creating Reavers, Blue Sun, Blue Hands) was replaced with
the story about (G-32 Paxalon Hydroclorate in the air processors, Miranda and the Operative).

The only connection I know of between the Blue Hand and Blue Sun is that they that their hands are blue, but also they are protecting River's secret from the Alliance, in Ariel, they kill all the Alliance police that had contact with her.

Also, Blue Sun stickers are hidden in several places during Serenity.

1) Two are seen in the the loading bay, on a crate when Mal and Simon are arguing and then as the hover craft leaves, on a box underneath.

2) In Maidenhead, the bottle River kicks that hit a guy on the head has a sticker
3) The bottle Jayne and Simon drink from during Mal's speech.
4) Also, in the easter egg, at the begining of the Fruity Oaty Bar commerial a large blue sun is shown in the sky


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Friday, March 10, 2006 1:20 PM

PHAEDRA


How does Inara's syringe show up in the comics? I don't remember that?

Phaedra (a bad luck name)

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Friday, March 10, 2006 1:21 PM

RAVENGER


Someone else noticed that the sun in the Serenity Fruity Oaty Bar commercial was blue. Fruity Oaty bars are made by blue sun!

Gives a whole new meaning to the line 'let them blow your mind' doesn't it?

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Friday, March 10, 2006 1:22 PM

MATTCOZ


I like that idea about the nanites in the Blue Sun food products, explains well how the Hands of Blue targetted their victims.

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Friday, March 10, 2006 1:43 PM

SIMONB


Quote:

Originally posted by Lampyrid:


Here is an earlier thread:

http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=4&t=2371




Thanks for this - hadn't spotted this thread previously!

- Shiny. let's be bad guys.

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Friday, March 10, 2006 3:29 PM

THEONETRUEBIX


Quote:

Originally posted by Lampyrid:
Rabit comments that in "Finding Serenity" Jane Espenson specifically says that the origin of the Reavers in the movie is not the origin that was planned for the series. Joss had to change it to fit the medium.



This is actualy untrue. Joss has stated that he hit upon the Reaver origin that appears in the movie early on in the series, although it wasn't what the original idea was. So, the origin we see WAS in place in Joss' mind back when the series was being produced. It's just not clear when.

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