If the operative was tracking them this whole time... by SchleifDog

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

If the operative was tracking them this whole time...

POSTED BY: SCHLEIFDOG
UPDATED: Monday, December 26, 2005 13:24
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 1241
PAGE 1 of 1

Monday, December 26, 2005 12:14 PM

I loved Serenity. I thought it was fully in the spirit of Firefly... but one thing has been getting to me, and I'd like to hear other people's thoughts on this issue. And please tell me if this has already been posted.

So the first scene: Simon rescuing River; Simon and River getting picked up by the people who contacted Simon; and then The Operative in the archives at the Academy, killing the doctor and beginning his search for River and Simon.

That all took place before the beginning of Firefly, whereas the rest of the movie takes place after the end of Firefly.

By this logic, The Operative must have been tracking them during the entire length of Firefly. So, what do all the other folks who almost caught up with River and Simon mean?

That is:
the Fed in The Pilot
The Two with Hands of Blue
The Fed in "Ariel"
Jubal Early

Were these individuals working (perhaps unknowingly) under the direction of The Operative? Or in spite of the operative?

To me, the only real answer seems to be that they were indeed working under the operative, because there's no sense of fragmentation in the ranks of the Alliance, or between the Alliance and Blue Sun. But, that leaves a big problem to me; the operative seems to want to keep the whole hunt for River very much under wraps. (After River's fight on Beaumont, no alerts go out on the cortex, even though Mr. Universe tells them that the Alliance has viewed what happened in the bar.)

It's as though the Operative wants to keep the investigation completely under his control. so why send a bunch of half-assed feds to do the job over the course of Firefly? Why put out a bounty (for guys like Jubal Early to take advantage of)?

The hunt for River as portrayed in Firefly and the hunt for River portrayed in Serenity just don't quite match up, to me.

Of course there is the possibility that the scene with The Operative in the security archives of the Academy is happening much later, as in after Firefly, and not immediately after River's rescue, but that doesn't quite feel right to me either.

Thoughts?

Sidenote: for those who say that the River of the movie was very different than the river of the show, I have to say, that in the movie, River is triggered for the first time since leaving the academy (presumably, the Alliance has been trying to trigger her through the cortex since her escape, but the scene on Beaumont is the first time she's seen a commercial Cortex screen since her escape), and as a result, the people she's surrounded herself with have to lock her up. It's my estimation that that would indeed change a person a bit. I don't think it's drastic, she's just finally starting to heal.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, December 26, 2005 12:20 PM

ONETRANSMISSION

pick up the 3-issue Serenity comic book miniseries. it explains a little more about the men with the blue hands and how the Operative got involved. the operative didn't show up in the picture until after the Firefly series ended... that's all i'll say as to not spoil the comic books.

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, December 26, 2005 12:23 PM

CHRISTHECYNIC

I think you're wrong about something. I don't think the operative was put on the job before Firefly.

I think he was put on the case significantly after the fact. I think the cut from, "Where are you hiding, little girl?" to Serenity was an attempt to show us that these two things were going on more or less at the same time (in relative terms.)

The other people who were on the job, the ones in the series, clearly had a very different mission. They were under orders to take River alive, that implies that during the entire time of Firefly, right up until Objects in Space, whoever ordered the Operative to kill River was not in play yet.

Then at some point after the series that person realized, “Hey, psychic on the loose … knows my secret … bad.”

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, December 26, 2005 12:24 PM

STARPILOTGRAINGER

Quote:
Originally posted by onetransmission:
pick up the 3-issue Serenity comic book miniseries. it explains a little more about the men with the blue hands and how the Operative got involved. the operative didn't show up in the picture until after the Firefly series ended... that's all i'll say as to not spoil the comic books.

Although the comic doesn't really jibe with the movie or series either, really, unless the Alliance are spectacularly stupid. The Blue Hands already know who has Simon and River, but in Serenity the Operative has to figure it out for himself. You'd think the Blue Hands would have let him know who had her.

Star Pilot Grainger
"Remember, the enemy's gate is down."
LJ: http://www.livejournal.com/users/newnumber6 (real)
http://www.livejournal.com/users/alternaljournal (fictional, travelling through other worlds)
Unreachable Star: http://www.unreachablestar.net - Comics & SF News/Reviews/Opinions
This week: My spoiler-free Serenity review

NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, December 26, 2005 12:41 PM

CHRISTHECYNIC

I'm watching Serenity as we speak ... er, as I type. The Operative was only on the job a few weeks when River was triggered.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, December 26, 2005 1:15 PM

CITIZEN

I think through out the Series the Alliance thought they could get their precious asset (River) back alive. Then everyone they send after her ends up none too healthy and they have to do some last minute damage control in the form of Killing River.

One thing I wonder is would have the Operative killed River if Mal had turned her over when he asked?

More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
Remember, the ice caps aren't melting, the water is being liberated.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, December 26, 2005 1:24 PM

EMBERS

Quote:
Originally posted by SchleifDog:

To me, the only real answer seems to be that they were indeed working under the operative, because there's no sense of fragmentation in the ranks of the Alliance, or between the Alliance and Blue Sun.

well look at the USA...the FBI and CIA don't even communicate with each other, and I think they both have their headquarters in Washington, DC (or in Virginia)

So spread this out over a number of core planets, where the Parliment is a combo of the old USA and Chinese governments, and seems to me we are looking at a lot more framentation, not less.

Particularly if the there are separations of Military secrets (which the Operative swore to protect) and industrial secrets (The Blue Sun Corp may have it's own enforcers)

This is a big solar system, with a lot of worlds, and people love to keep their secrets (and hate sharing with even those on the 'same side')

**********************************************
watch the R. Tam Session vids: http://www.hittarivertam.nu/
and buy the 'Serenity' comics published by Dark Horse,
and have you joined the Browncoats yet?
http://browncoats.serenitymovie.com/serenity/?fuseaction=tools.invlink
&u=embers&linkID=36

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

YOUR OPTIONS

SHARE THREAD

NEW POSTS TODAY

USER	POST DATE

USER

POST DATE