New fan; Questions, comments, tale of woe by Momaw

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New fan; Questions, comments, tale of woe

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POSTED BY: MOMAW
UPDATED: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 18:47
SHORT URL: http://goo.gl/7zRTj
VIEWED: 3973
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Friday, January 16, 2004 9:24 PM

Just got the Firefly DVD set from Amazon this week. We don't watch television, literally: we aren't hooked to cable, no satellite dish, and we /might/ catch one good air broadcast channel with a 10 meter mast antennae. If we had one. So the DVD set is literally the first time I'd ever seen Firefly, though I hear that even for television viewers it was hard to pin down.

Truth be told, the quality was far beyond what I expected. The media itself, visual and audio clarity; the story, which is interesting and fresh enough that nothing springs to mind by way of duplication; the actors, which give convincing and very subtle performances across the board; the characters, which are likable and not stupidly simple; the CG work, which is not only technically skilled but believable and tasteful; the music, which is... well, let's just say I'm really looking forward to that soundtrack.

It's among the best things I've ever watched, and the asking price of 35$ is far too low considering it's more like watching a series of feature films than a series of TV shows (but who am I to argue with saving some money).

Which is actually why I'm sad in a way, now that I've seen it.

The problem is that it ends. So much left unsaid, undone, unexplored and unexplained. "Objects in Space", while /an/ ending, is obviously not /the/ ending. And raises more questions than it puts to rest. It's frustrating to become emotionally attached to these characters, and not know if the story will go on. I see from a bunch of comments by Mr. Whedon which flicker past in the title area that he's still very much interested in going on. I surely hope that he does.

Thus endth the first part, the inevitable review.

The second part, concerning questions large and small.

1. Money. Which is the official currency of the Alliance, platinum coin or the bills we get a good look at in "War Stories"? Platinum is worth a lot more, judging by the small sacks that get slung around.

2. Companions. A voluntary career? I'm guessing that there's some sort of ranking because of the passing reference in "Heart of Gold"; what are the levels? About how much influence if any do they have on the political or economic functions of the Alliance.

3. Theories why the only parents we ever hear from are Jayne's, when you'd vote him "Most Likely Written Off as a Parenting Disaster" of the bunch. Was it an attempt to emphasis his new (deeply hidden) softer, humane side? I like his hat, just the wrong color; try medium gray with navy or maroon patterns. Simon and River are cut off for obvious reasons, and I suspect there's a good chance their parents were killed by the blue-handed folk. Book is old enough that his parents may not be alive. But Mal, Zoe, Wash and Kaylee (especially Kaylee, it's totally in-character for her) should hear from their folks, and don't.

4. Everything about Serenity's layout makes sense except a) at the front of the cockpit, there's a ladder leading down to...? and b) at the end of the corridor with the passenger berths, there's a ladder leading upward to...? Very nice design, whoever came up with it. Practical.

5. Do ships have energy shielding in the Firefly verse? If no, I'm thinking that the Alliance engineers are extremely stupid for making what looks to be half the surface of their cruiser covered in windows instead of armor.

And that pretty much wraps it up for now. This is already way too long, perhaps the messageboard soft will kick it back. :)

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Saturday, January 17, 2004 12:04 AM

SOUPCATCHER

I've only been here for a short period of time myself, but welcome

Your question #4 is touched on in some detail on the following thread:

http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=3074

The best view you get of the bridge lower level is in the pilot episode. During Wash's hilarious dinosaur scene the camera view shifts and you can see down the ladder. There's some monitoring equipment down there.

My personal theory on the ladders and hatches in the passenger area is that they are alternate engine access points. I'm not sure if I've seen a definitive answer in regards to that. But some of the best deck plans/floor plans/layouts/models of Serenity can be found in the above referenced thread.

As far as question #1 goes, I seem to remember some point where multiple units of currency are mentioned. Does anyone remember if that was from Ariel when Simon is introducing his job offer to the crew and talking about street value of drugs?

I shaved off my beard for you, devil woman!

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Saturday, January 17, 2004 2:14 AM

RANGRBOB

1)Money

I think they just have different types of money to make large or small transactions easier. I think that the platinum comes in handy for large expensive transactions (sort of like banks using gold bars) and the bills help to buy small things like drinks at the bar.

2) Companions

What woman available to nobility hasn't affected politics and, I'm guessing from the episode "Shindig" they can hurt someone quite a bit with "black marks"

3) Parents

The series was far to short and I'm sure given enough time we would have been introduced to at leas a parent or two. Kaylee referenced her dad in "Out of Gas"

4) Layout

On the DVD set one one of the Josh Weadon comentaries he says that there are places that he did not get to explore as well as he wanted, I believe that Nathan Fillion even referenced that particular part of the bridge.

I believe that ladder leads to some kind of hatch in "Objects in Space" Jubile Early come in a hatch above that ladder. Also I believe it is the hatch they use to get on top of the ship in "Trash"

5) Shields

What tech was available in Firefly was very left out to focus more on the characters. I for one am grateful as much as I enjoyed the tech of the week on star trek and other SciFi shows I enjoyed the lack of it on Firefly.

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Saturday, January 17, 2004 7:23 AM

SAINT JAYNE

10 platinum = maybe 4 credits (Ariel).

My thoughts were that platinum was coinage with intrinsic value (since it is maybe from a valuable metal) and credits were paper money issued by the Alliance, all nice and traceable.

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Saturday, January 17, 2004 8:09 AM

SHADOWKATE

1) I kind of remember that there is more then one but I can't tell you anymore then platimum.

2) Its possible that is both. You can either choose to be a compainon or you could be 'sold' to it (like how people will sell their kids into prostutition now). Its hinted that Inara choose the live though. There are probably unoffical rankings or maybe something in order of the prestage of the clients or how long one has been a companion, etc.

3) Other parents are mentioned (Kaylee's in 'Out of Gas', Mal's in 'Our Mrs. Reynolds', and Simon and River's in 'Safe') but as Rangrbob already said the show was far too short to deal with all of that.

4) a) I dunno.
b) It looks to me like the ladders in the passanger dorms lead up to more sleeping space (they seem to be stacked, with some above others).

5) My thought about it is that there proabably aren't much in terms of offenisve weaponary in the Firefly 'verse, in part because they seem to have wanted to keep everything as true to physics are possible. Bombs, Missles, etc all require oxygen to use (kind of like Vera), which, well possible, seems a little expensive to deal with. We have seen maganetically based weapons, which I there isn't much defense against it.

So there are my thoughts to it.

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Saturday, January 17, 2004 8:20 AM

FIREFLYWIKIBOY

Referencing http://www.fireflywiki.org/index.php/FireflyMoney

Monetary systems in Firefly are as well detailed as any technical infomation we're shown in the show.

Yes, it's that bad.

Still, there are two good examples of the use of money in Firefly -- one example (in episode 8, Ariel) shows us a rough conversion rate between the two main types of currency (the Core world 'credits' and border world 'platinum'), while the other (in Safe) gives us a rough idea of how platinum would convert into U.S. dollars today.

Example One - establishing conversion ratios:
In Ariel, Simon's explanation of the value of various medicines on the black market is given in both credits and platinum (at least for the first bit of medicine, Ivoprovalin). From this side-by-side comparison, we get a general breakdown that shows that one credit is the equivilant of 2.5 platinum. (At least on the black market, but that might be the only time it comes up: using the comic book series _Fray_ -- another of Joss' creations taking place in a futuristic setting -- as an example, we can assume that using hard currency on a core world is probably a crime in itself.)

Example Two - establishing real world value:
In [Safe], we see Mal arranging for the sale of cattle that are apparently too old to bear offspring and useful only as food. The original deal was 30 platinum per animal. The buyer complains that the animals are atrophied and worth less, offering only 20 platinum per animal. The two men finally settle on a middle ground of 25 platinum per head.

This might not be much to go on, but luckily, I come from an agricultural background -- my family actually used to buy older animals and fatten them up during the winter months when we weren't otherwise occupied -- selling them for a profit after they were fattened up and more appealing for those looking for food animals. I double-checked with my family and learned that we would buy them on the low-end for about 200 dollars per head (although usually what we paid was a specific number of cents per pound, but it worked out to 200 a head) and aimed to sell them for about 300 dollars per head. Based on that, the conversion rate is pretty easy to figure:

20-30 platinum/animal vs. 200-300 dollars/animal = 1 platinum vs 10 dollars.

Therefore:
1 credit = 2.5 platinum = 250 USD.

(Incidently, that would mean that the bounty on River that Jubal Early mentions in Out Of Gas (200,000 credits) would be 500,000 platinum, or 5 million dollars. Blue Sun wants her back pretty bad, I'd say.)

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Saturday, January 17, 2004 12:38 PM

REKKA2

That was actually really interesting how you worked those conversions, i dont think I would have thought to proceed that way.

point to this post? none, just saying well done.

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Saturday, January 17, 2004 1:51 PM

MRGREEN

Quote:
20-30 platinum/animal vs. 200-300 dollars/animal = 1 platinum vs 10 dollars.

Therefore:
1 credit = 2.5 platinum = 250 USD.

(Incidently, that would mean that the bounty on River that Jubal Early mentions in Out Of Gas (200,000 credits) would be 500,000 platinum, or 5 million dollars. Blue Sun wants her back pretty bad, I'd say.)

Very well done, except that, by your calculations, 1 platinum = US$10, then 1 credit would = US$25, no?

Seeing as you stated the approx. bounty on River at $5,000,000, you probably just typoed the $250. :)

Again, nice work, it's pretty close to what I had figured.

If you can't run, you crawl, and if you can't crawl, well, if you can't do that, you find someone to carry you.

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Saturday, January 17, 2004 2:06 PM

FOFFILMS

On the money front, what's more interesting is that money truly isn;t everything in the firefly verse. There is more in trade commodities of more important values.

A herd of cattle.

Alliance food stuffs.

Medicine.

This is what made the show truly great, the importance on the things needed for survival in the oter rim. What good is platinum or alliance credits if your starving or sick?

www.fof-films.com
Firefly Fan Film - Coming SOON

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Monday, January 19, 2004 11:15 PM

BOBAFETT677

I watched the first four episodes of Firefly and I thought they were good but not over the top. As time past I meant to watch Firefly but I got busy with college and I did not have time. When I heard that Firefly got canceled I did not feel too distraught about it.

A week ago a friend of mine was visiting and brought the DVDs of Firefly over and he watched them all the way through and said that Firefly was better the second time around. I was quit surprised that there was a DVD set, so I decided to give Firefly another chance. After the first two episodes I fell in love with the series and watched the complete set in two days. When I watched the last episode I felt saddened that this was the last program. Now I will never learn what secrets the Shepherd had or learn more about River and what she has evolved into.

So I thought that there would be a fan web site trying to bring the show back. When I did a google search on Firefly I found this site. Through the information provided I was quite distraught to find out that the Fox network messed with the timing of the episodes. I think the show would have fared better if the episodes would have been shown in order. I was excited to read that there was a possibility of a Firefly movie. A Firefly movie has a potential to be a great movie if they can recreate the same chemistry and atmosphere as the series. Although I would rather that they bring back the series. I feel that Firefly is turning into a cult classic.

Bobafett677

Bobafett677

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Tuesday, January 20, 2004 6:23 AM

BROWNCOAT1

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

Welcome to the board BobaFett677! Always good to have another fan with us.

Glad to hear you liked Firefly after watching the DVD set (w/ the episodes shown in the proper order).

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

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Tuesday, January 20, 2004 5:54 PM

BOBAFETT677

Thank you BROWNCOAT1for your greeting, I’m glad to be here.

Bobafett677

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Tuesday, January 20, 2004 6:47 PM

TRASK43

I think its so great to keep seeing people getting into the show now. I was apretty late comer to the show I only got into the show around christmas when I was sick scifi channel had a weekend showing every ep I managed to catch about 6 eps and I was hooked.

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