Book as an "official" crew member? by est120

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Book as an "official" crew member?

POSTED BY: EST120
UPDATED: Monday, June 14, 2004 08:53
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Monday, June 14, 2004 5:27 AM

i seem to remember some debate as to whether book is actually a member of the crew or if he is still the passenger paying his fare. i think i can make a case for book actually being part of the official crew of serenity. it is obvious that there are many little things that need to be done on the ship to keep it running and habitable. in shindig, simon, jayne and book are playing a card game and instead of betting with money, they bet using chores around the ship. book wins a hand and says "that's a nice pile of things i don't have to do for a while". this implies to me that he has duties on the ship too such as taking out the garbage, or cleaning around the ship. thus, that would make him part of the crew, not a paying passenger. when was the last time an airline asked its passengers to clean the plane? of course, they do make passengers wait for unseemly amounts of time in the airport, but that is beside the point. anyway, long diatribe for very little insight, but i thought i would throw in my two cents.

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Monday, June 14, 2004 6:07 AM

BROWNCOAT1

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

I think Book may have started out as a paying passenger, but I think he has since proved himself useful to the ship and crew. I think Mal considers him a part of his crew now, regardless of Mal's personal feelings on religion.

Book's doing chores, and his participation in Mal's rescue in War Stories and his intervention in The Message show how much a part of Serenity's crew he has become over time.

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

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Monday, June 14, 2004 6:55 AM

SHINYSEVEN

Err, well, actually when you take a plane they do send the flight attendants around with plastic bags and you're supposed to turn over anything that would have to be cleaned out of the plane later.

But I also think "crew" is a somewhat flexible concept including "People Mal has direct or transferred positive feelings about"--i.e., I'm pretty sure he considers River to be Crew even though she's more likely to create housework than do it.

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Monday, June 14, 2004 7:42 AM

ANNIK

Quote:
Originally posted by est120:
(snipped) book wins a hand and says "that's a nice pile of things i don't have to do for a while". this implies to me that he has duties on the ship too such as taking out the garbage, or cleaning around the ship. thus, that would make him part of the crew, not a paying passenger. when was the last time an airline asked its passengers to clean the plane? of course, they do make passengers wait for unseemly amounts of time in the airport, but that is beside the point. anyway, long diatribe for very little insight, but i thought i would throw in my two cents.

Well, I look at Serenity as much more like a hostel than a hotel or airline. In Canadian hostels, there is a bed charge and a required chore. The chores keep the overall operating costs down, and thus keep the bed charges down.

Also, I can't remember the episode now, but there is a scene where Book and Mal are discussing how the money Mal gets from Book doesn't begin to earn Mal what he gets from even one of their small capers.

But I'm easy either way. I just plain like Book!

Cheers,
Annik
... my sister's a ship. We had a complicated childhood.

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Monday, June 14, 2004 8:05 AM

LIZ

Quote:
Originally posted by shinyseven:
(snip)
But I also think "crew" is a somewhat flexible concept including "People Mal has direct or transferred positive feelings about"--i.e., I'm pretty sure he considers River to be Crew even though she's more likely to create housework than do it.

I think part of the reason he keeps River around is that having her is another way to stick it to the Alliance. I think someone mentioned that before though...

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Monday, June 14, 2004 8:53 AM

PIERSNICA

That quote was from Train Job, the second episode. At that point, Book was proably still passenger. I figured he picked up more produce when he went on the retreat in Ariel, thus paying his way for another round of flying.

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