The Many Shades of Mal and Jayne by milford

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

The Many Shades of Mal and Jayne

POSTED BY: MILFORD
UPDATED: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 09:40
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Tuesday, March 28, 2006 3:10 PM

I was engaging in my FF/S marathon again and I've noticed something interestng about Jayne and his relationship with Mal in the series and the film. Most of the time, perhaps wth the exception of Ariel, Jayne is pretty much comedy relief, because of his thick-headedness. He's constantly inciting laughter by misunderstanding situations, and generally being the buffoon. But I noticed that in the Joss written episodes, specifically the Pilot, and the BDM, Jayne acts a little different. He's much less deferential to Mal and Zoe. He constantly stands up to Mal and bickers with him in both the Pilot and the BDM. We don't really get that Jayne in the other episodes.

In the Pilot and BDM Jayne is much more confrontational, as I mentioned, but he's also much smarter. Jayne knows more and does more in those two particular episodes. I think Jayne was on his way to a dark place, maybe even to the Big Bad of the Season place al la

Select to view spoiler:

Willow in the next to last season of Buffy

.

Did anyone else notice this difference between Jayne's characterization in the different episodes? I think the only Joss-penned one where Jayne is essentially comedic relief is Objects, but there's not much for him to do in that episode anyway.

Thoughts?

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Leaning into the wind that used to carry me-Stavesacre

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Tuesday, March 28, 2006 3:21 PM

BANZAIBILL

You have a good point. Spoilers below for the comics:

Select to view spoiler:

In the comic, also penned by Joss, Jayne is a lot more confrontational. He's in Mal's face about leaving the money behind. He also seems to have a little more sense of when to place a barb about it.

That's not like a some of the Jayne from the series. I do agree that the Joss versions of Jayne tend to be more interesting. I won't throw any more spoilers in, but there are occasions when he seems to care about some folks, if not River and Simon.

I think he's probably deeper than the buffoon we see a lot of, although that's obviously an important part of his character.

*** Think of it as evolution in action ***

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Tuesday, March 28, 2006 3:23 PM

SAMEERTIA

Something I noticed about Jayne-

Joss says that the good guys don't wear hats in Firefly- Badger does, the Alliance all have those silly blue berets or helmets...but not Mal, not Zoe, not Kaylee-

However, Jayne does. What is that saying?

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Tuesday, March 28, 2006 3:38 PM

MILFORD

Interesting. I think there's definitely something to that. Even in Our Mrs. Reynolds, Mal's wearing a bonnet and Jayne is wearing a HAT. I think that there were big things coming for Jayne. I don't know for sure if it would be the ultimate turn-Simon-and-River-in thing, but I definitely think that it would be something serious. Probably a big Mal problem over money.

That being said, those portents are more from the Joss penned situations than the others. If anyone ever gets to question the BDH's at a convention or soemthing, be sure to ask them for me.

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Tuesday, March 28, 2006 6:47 PM

NOSADSEVEN

I've always seen Mal's fierce side as being the primary factor that keeps Jayne in line, and Jayne seems to act up more when he sees Mal hesitating (as in the BDM) or backing down (as with Badger in the pilot). The fact that Jayne was always a potential threat, and more importantly that Mal knew Jayne was a threat, was one of the things that made Firefly so intriguing to me originally. It was unusual to see a threat not only so close, but being actively managed. I think it really helped to define Mal's character, and also the 'world' they were living in.

I hadn't really noticed the breakdown of Joss-written episodes defining Jayne's character more specifically that way, but I suppose you only need so many reiterations to get the point. As this 'verse and characters were Joss's vision, it doesn't surprise me that he'd be the one to lay out most of the definitive characterizations. Of course, Ariel is a very big exception, and Joss had his hands in most if not all of the episodes, so I wouldn't read too much into it.

Also, I've never put too much stock into Joss's 'hat' comments. It seems more like a neat "Hey! Let's do this!" kinda thing that gets forgotten about halfway through because it's not an actual driving thematic force, but just a quirk.

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Wednesday, March 29, 2006 3:40 AM

FIREFLY001

Quote:
Originally posted by nosadseven:

Also, I've never put too much stock into Joss's 'hat' comments. It seems more like a neat "Hey! Let's do this!" kinda thing that gets forgotten about halfway through because it's not an actual driving thematic force, but just a quirk.

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Ain't. We. Just.

Actually, I think the point about Jayne wearing a hat is a very good one, and very well may have indicated that his character was going to take a turn for the worse. Wearing hats isn't new to bad guys in Firefly - Star Wars did it too. Of course on the other hand, the operative doesn't wear a hat. That and I just don't like the idea, of Jayne completely turning. Maybe the fact that he only occasionaly wore a hat, was meant to to represent the fact that he isn't entirely good, or bad.

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Wednesday, March 29, 2006 8:37 AM

MILFORD

I don't think there's any doubt that Jayne is in it just for Jayne. That is for certain. However, while the episodes that show Jayne at his nastiness, i.e. the Joss-penned ones that you guys have mentioned, do carry with them a portent of jayne turning on the captain, they also show a lot of connection between Jayne and Kaylee. I think that would have been an intersting wrinkle that was never explored (

you FOX!). Given Kaylee's total devotion to Mal, and Jayne's apparent connection with her, I think the situation would have been a tesne one.

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Customizeable handmade baby gifts personalized by my wife! Check them out at www.baby-bobo.com. All proceeds go towards international adoption.

Leaning into the wind that used to carry me-Stavesacre
That's why I don't kiss'em on the mouth- Jayne Cobb

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Wednesday, March 29, 2006 9:40 AM

ZZETTA13

interesting post.

its my opinion (as well as quite a few folks I think) Jayne is no dummy. Hes smart enough to know whos got a basket more brains than he has. But this doesn't keep him from having BMD(Brut Mans Disease) when the opportunity to express his opinion or exert his will arises hes more that happy to do so. Even in a confrontational manner. I think we'll see this trend continue, maybe even moreso if we are lucky enough to see the joss verse go forward.

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