Explanations for Bushwacked: The Reevers by Zicsoft

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Explanations for Bushwacked: The Reevers

POSTED BY: ZICSOFT
UPDATED: Wednesday, October 2, 2002 06:55
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Monday, September 30, 2002 10:22 AM

Couple of good questions in the episode guide:

Who are the Reavers? Why do they do what they do? - Ringwraith

Why does Mal know so much about the Reavers and the things they do to people? He claims he's never seen a Reaver. I'm guessing he knew somebody who had seen them. - GThing

These things are explained in that damned unaired pilot:

Select to view spoiler:

Serenity contains many references to the Reevers, including various accounts of Reever attacks, and two (very scary) encounters with a Reever ship. Stories about the Reevers circulate widely, but people from the inner system tend to believe that these stories are exagerated or even completely fabricated.

It's not suprising Mal has never seen a Reever -- few people survive the experience. They're described as cruel, sociopathic, cannibalistic, and suicidal.

Here's Joss Whedon's description:

"On the other side he has mindless savages called Reavers, which are a lot less complicated. You see them and you run. They're not monsters. What they are, are people who went out into space, saw the extraordinary nothingness and went completely out of their heads. They've become cannibalistic marauding savages. They're kind of like the Comanche in the old movies except without playing it as a racial thing at all, or even a cultural thing. It's a very personal thing. These are men who just gave up on the concept of humanity and are the scariest, worst, most awful serial-killing pirates who ever sailed around in burnt out ships in space. Everybody is terrified of them — Yeah, they're really fun [ laughs ]."

Full interview: http://www.scifi.com/scifimag/october2002/transcripts/

JOSS, WHERE'S MY CHECK???!!!

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Monday, September 30, 2002 11:40 AM

RINGWRAITH

Thanks for posting the explanation of them thar Reavers. I guess the next time we'll see them (or hear of them) is when the original pilot is aired later on.

(hey, it's the perfect Reavers symbol)

************************************************
"How will this end?"
"In fire."
--Babylon 5, 'The Coming of Shadows'
************************************************

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Monday, September 30, 2002 11:54 AM

ZICSOFT

Quote:
Originally posted by Ringwraith:

(hey, it's the perfect Reavers symbol)

No kidding!

JOSS, WHERE'S MY CHECK???!!!

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Monday, September 30, 2002 5:18 PM

HOOK

Quote:
Originally posted by Zicsoft:
Couple of good questions in the episode guide:

Who are the Reavers? Why do they do what they do? - Ringwraith

Why does Mal know so much about the Reavers and the things they do to people? He claims he's never seen a Reaver. I'm guessing he knew somebody who had seen them. - GThing

These things are explained in that damned unaired pilot:

No they arn't...I saw the pilot and all that can be said is that at least in the pilot their behavior is at least somewhat explainable...in bushwacked its complete convoluded badly written non-sence. I for one am completely unscared and unconvincred with them. My suspension of disbeliefe has hit ground zero.

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Tuesday, October 1, 2002 4:33 AM

TIEKA

Well, I haven't seen the pilot, but the little bit I saw of Reevers in Bushwhacked was enough for me. The reactions of the crew give a good indication of just how bad things are. The idea that a live Reever was was on the ship was enough for Mal to be extremely concerned. He wouldn't give up on a load of valuable cargo for some small little thing.

So, we don't know all about Reevers, thier history, thier background, thier abilities or thier motivations, but what little we know is scary. Sometimes the less you know, the more disturbing things are.

Besides, we were warned that Joss can create monsters scrier than any latex alien.

no

for Reevers

Once you've been in Serenity, you never leave. You just learn to live there. --Firefly script

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Tuesday, October 1, 2002 5:10 AM

LIVINGIMPAIRED

Hell, yeah. When I was a little kid, I'd never seen the Boogie Man, but he still scared the shit out of me. Personally, I think that the way Reevers were handeled in Bushwacked was perfect. You don't need someone standing around going, "Ah ha! Reevers! Let me go off on a long explanation of them for no logical reason." Tieka was right. Just Mal's reaction was enough to convince me that I never wanna meet a reever--Much less Jayne's. Mr-I'm-A-Big-Bad-Mercenary-So-This-Gives-Me-A-Lisence-To-Be-An-Ass Guy practically wet himself at the mere mention of the word.

So yeah, I think the Reevers are creepy.

Oh, and just so JaynesGirlfriend doesn't come to my home and kill me in my sleep, I just want to clarify: I do think Jayne's a neat character. He's a jerk, but then again, so is Spike.

________________

"You still don't get it. It's not about right, not about wrong... It's about Power." —Morph-O-Monster, "Lessons"

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Tuesday, October 1, 2002 6:00 AM

ZICSOFT

Yeah, another reason to admire Joss Whedon's storytelling -- he understands the role of the audience's imagination.

Couple of examples of this principle. Critics love to talk about how Jaws is a great movie, because we don't actually see the shark until near the end. So it's just this ominous presence that builds up in our imagination.

Which is a valid theory. Except that they meant to show the shark all the way through the movie. But that mechanical shark they used kept malfunctioning, and had to be shot around for most of the film.

Then there's Edward Scissorhands. I movie I liked a lot -- until the last few minutes. Then Tim Burton decided he couldn't trust his audience to visualize his explanation of where all the snow came from, he had to show it. The lame result spoiled the movie for me.

Am I saying that I like Joss Whedon more than I like Tim Burton or Steven Speilberg? No, I'm saying I like him a lot more.

JOSS, WHERE'S MY CHECK???!!!

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Tuesday, October 1, 2002 11:40 AM

RINGWRAITH

The way Joss handled "Bushwacked" kind of reminded me of the old 1963 (?) movie, "The Haunting" where you don't actually see anything, even though something is going on. In this case it already happened but both make you imagine what is/was going on.

I'm sure someday we'll see the Reavers but there's more myth about them if you only see their actions.

************************************************
"How will this end?"
"In fire."
--Babylon 5, 'The Coming of Shadows'
************************************************

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Tuesday, October 1, 2002 11:55 AM

JAYNESGIRLFRIEND

Quote:
Originally posted by LivingImpaired:

Oh, and just so JaynesGirlfriend doesn't come to my home and kill me in my sleep, I just want to clarify: I do think Jayne's a neat character. He's a jerk, but then again, so is Spike.

Kill you in your sleep? Heavens no. That's just too easy. Now in the shower...
Besides, Jayne is a lot of things(hot, hot, oh and hot) and I'm well aware that nice is probably not one of them.

"I was gonna get me an ear, too." - Jayne

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Tuesday, October 1, 2002 1:47 PM

ZICSOFT

Hey, Mal is my role model. I never kill people unless they're fully armed and facing me.

JOSS, WHERE'S MY CHECK???!!!

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Tuesday, October 1, 2002 11:38 PM

TINYTIMM

Quote:
Originally posted by Zicsoft:
Hey, Mal is my role model. I never kill people unless they're fully armed and facing me.

How long have you had this death wish? I suggest serious sessions with your brain care specialist.

Jeff
Who was raised in a tougher school, Tigerland, Ft. Polk, LA c1972.

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Wednesday, October 2, 2002 6:55 AM

ZICSOFT

Quote:
Originally posted by TinyTimm:
Quote:
Originally posted by Zicsoft:
Hey, Mal is my role model. I never kill people unless they're fully armed and facing me.

How long have you had this death wish? I suggest serious sessions with your brain care specialist.

Already done that. He informs me I suffer from johnwaynitis, and recommends that I cut back on my consumption of westerns.

JOSS, WHERE'S MY CHECK???!!!

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