Badger question.... by daisydana

FIREFLY EPISODE DISCUSSIONS

Badger question....

POSTED BY: DAISYDANA
UPDATED: Thursday, October 19, 2006 03:11
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Wednesday, August 16, 2006 1:53 PM

Sorry up front if this is covered elsewhere...

Since Serenity has been playing on Cinemax I have pulled out my DVD's to watch them all again for the millionth time. I can't believe that I never noticed this before! Does it strike anyone else as odd that Badger didn't recognize Simon and River in "Shindig?" From the pilot we know Badger keeps a close eye on bulletins and the like on the cortex. Being as shifty as he is and always looking for quick money, wouldn't he have run across the bulletins identifying them? While he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, I can't imagine he would have missed that.

Any thoughts?

"They have boy whores! Isn't that thoughtful?"
-Kaylee

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Wednesday, August 16, 2006 2:34 PM

I think hes suffering from the "right under my nose" problem. The idea that Mal would run around with wanted fugitives so openly is probebly to far fetched for him, also they are looking for a brother and a sister, so he might not think about it if he just encountered one of them. And finally, I think river confused him a bit and pretty much persuaded him that she was from dayton colony.

You can’t stop the Signal.
Keep spreading the word about Firefly!

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Wednesday, August 16, 2006 2:34 PM

I think hes suffering from the "right under my nose" problem. The idea that Mal would run around with wanted fugitives so openly is probebly to far fetched for him, also they are looking for a brother and a sister, so he might not think about it if he just encountered one of them. And finally, I think river confused him a bit and pretty much persuaded him that she was from dayton colony.

You can’t stop the Signal.
Keep spreading the word about Firefly!

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Wednesday, August 16, 2006 2:34 PM

I think hes suffering from the "right under my nose" problem. The idea that Mal would run around with wanted fugitives so openly is probebly to far fetched for him, also they are looking for a brother and a sister, so he might not think about it if he just encountered one of them. And finally, I think river confused him a bit and pretty much persuaded him that she was from dayton colony.

You can’t stop the Signal.
Keep spreading the word about Firefly!

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Wednesday, August 16, 2006 2:34 PM

I think hes suffering from the "right under my nose" problem. The idea that Mal would run around with wanted fugitives so openly is probebly to far fetched for him, also they are looking for a brother and a sister, so he might not think about it if he just encountered one of them. And finally, I think river confused him a bit and pretty much persuaded him that she was from dayton colony.

You can’t stop the Signal.
Keep spreading the word about Firefly!

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Wednesday, August 16, 2006 2:34 PM

I think hes suffering from the "right under my nose" problem. The idea that Mal would run around with wanted fugitives so openly is probebly to far fetched for him, also they are looking for a brother and a sister, so he might not think about it if he just encountered one of them. And finally, I think river confused him a bit and pretty much persuaded him that she was from dayton colony.

You can’t stop the Signal.
Keep spreading the word about Firefly!

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Wednesday, August 16, 2006 2:34 PM

I think hes suffering from the "right under my nose" problem. The idea that Mal would run around with wanted fugitives so openly is probebly to far fetched for him, also they are looking for a brother and a sister, so he might not think about it if he just encountered one of them. And finally, I think river confused him a bit and pretty much persuaded him that she was from dayton colony.

You can’t stop the Signal.
Keep spreading the word about Firefly!

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Wednesday, August 16, 2006 5:46 PM

Book places his hand on Simon when River steps into the cargo bay. I imagine Book was worried about Badger recognizing her. She was so cool in that scene. Badger looked almost hypnotized by her. She actually insulted him and he never even noticed.

Traveler

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Saturday, August 19, 2006 9:23 AM

I think Badger would admire them enough to let it go.

"I like her...she's a fugitive? I really like her!"

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Saturday, August 19, 2006 10:07 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by traveler:
Book places his hand on Simon when River steps into the cargo bay. I imagine Book was worried about Badger recognizing her. She was so cool in that scene. Badger looked almost hypnotized by her. She actually insulted him and he never even noticed.

Traveler

I agree. I think River totally smoke-screened him. She essentially donned a disquise -- taking on the accent, distracting him with stories of his past (that she read off of him). He was so flumoxed, even if he did remember the wanted poster, he surely forgot it after River's performance.

Quote:
Originally posted by Vicomte:
I think Badger would admire them enough to let it go.

"I like her...she's a fugitive? I really like her!"

I don't think Badger would ever say no to money, no matter how much he admired a person. It that person had a price on their head, they would be fair game.

Great question, great observations.

-Hera

"Wanna?" – Mal to Kaylee, Out of Gas

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Sunday, August 20, 2006 5:47 PM

I agree that River stunned Badger. You can almost see his jaw dropping as she goes on and on telling him his life's story. By the end he had a "I should know her because she knows all about mebut I can't for the life of me remember her" look on his face.

BTW Badger would turn River and Simon in to the Alliance in half a heart beat if he had realized who she was.

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Tuesday, August 22, 2006 4:14 PM

I think you guys may be right about the fact that River just threw him for a loop. That is one of my top fave things in the whole series. She nailed that accent and it was so out of the blue. Jaynes reaction is priceless!

"They have boy whores! Isn't that thoughtful?"
-Kaylee

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Wednesday, August 23, 2006 1:00 PM

I think there's a little more to why Badger didn't see River and Simon for who they were. I think the information about them was classified to levels that Badger wouldn't casually run into it on the cortex.

Fed officers had intel regarding the Tams as evidenced in Bushwacked. Others who knew who they were include Agent Dobson, the Hands of Blue, Early, and the Operative. These were important people in Alliance circles, and not one person could be considered as a "sad little king of a sad little hill". I honestly think that to know about the Tams means you're a very important person. Or in the case of Early, very very skilled at what you do.

Do not fear me. Ours is a peaceful race, and we must live in harmony.

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Thursday, August 24, 2006 4:59 PM

After Shindig I wondered how much weight Badger pulled. He actually grabbed up Mal and Jayne, right off the street of a major city, in broad daylight. That either takes nerve or a lot power. But River said it, "A sad little king of a sad little hill". So maybe Badger has less power than he believes.

This is why I wish for more TV episodes over a movie. I think we would learn more about the characters in a series than over a couple of movies.

Traveler

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Tuesday, September 19, 2006 12:03 PM

It would be impossible for Badger to read every police bulletin on Persephone – it is a whole planet after all. He does not have the names Simon and River, and has no reason to believe they are connected. In fact, since they have wildly different accents in this scene, he has every reason to believe that they are not connected.

The thing that strikes me is that most Firefly characters (Mal, Jayne) come out of Westerns. Badger, and the character River portrays, would probably be more at home in Dickensian London. I keep imagining a meeting between Fagin and Miss Rebecca Sharp…

( http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-158,pageNum-42.html)

If you think like that, then Badger probably sees her as a younger, but much greater, creature of his own kind. Someone who will never be Queen of a little hill.

He’s probably wondering if she can shift her accent, and which luckless millionaire to introduce to her…

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Wednesday, October 18, 2006 9:46 AM

I doubt that there actually was a public wanted poster of Simon and River for Badger to remember.
Consider this: A government like the Alliance with this nimbus of omnipotence and the ability to control everything and everyone could not possibly admit its vulnerability without jeopardizing the social stability it seeks to impose. Making it known to the public that somebody springing his sister from a high-security facility would cause quite a stir and reduce the power of the system. So the news of the escape, the reward and everything related was only made known to the Alliance agencies, Feds etc.
Even in real life today the public's assistance in finding criminals is not sought very often because it creates problems. false alarms waste police resources and make the search even more difficult; spottings could turn into real witch hunts during which people may get hurt; and people putting their lives in danger while trying to catch the wanted criminals.

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Thursday, October 19, 2006 3:11 AM

Actually, in Out of Gas, the crew knows it's Simon's birthday because a fresh warrant for his arrest came in over the Cortex. So the Alliance has issued public 'wanted' statements, and badger could have seen it.

That being the case, I doubt Badger has the time to look at every warrant posted by the Feds. Just too much information to sift through. I would guess that he keeps a very close eye on notices that relate to jobs he has going (like warnings about 'rogue vessels' when he's fronting an illegal salvage op) and an ear to the ground for new opportunities. He may have come across mention of the warrant in passing, and then been to enthralled by River to make the right connections.

My guess it that Simon's warrant does not mention 'breaking into a secret government facility'. Officially, he is probably charged with something like kidnapping, malpractice, or embezzelment. Serious enough to deserve a warrant and police notice, but nothing too far out of the ordinary.

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