Saved by the river.... by majorfailure

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Saved by the river....

POSTED BY: MAJORFAILURE
UPDATED: Tuesday, September 14, 2004 08:43
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Monday, September 13, 2004 11:55 PM

Had a thought last night which made me smile, thought I'd run it by you gentlefolk. I was very down on my luck after a long night of Texas hold 'em - a particularly satisfying variant of poker where it's impossible to change your two-card hand once it's been dealt. Bear with me now, because if you don't know how to play, the reference is a little confusing ;)
The aim is to make the best hand from your two cards (your "hole" cards), plus the five community cards face-up in the centre of the table.
After betting on the original strength of your hole cards, the first 3 community cards are shown, known as the flop cards.
Players then bet on the strength of their hole cards plus the cards in the flop. Subsequently, a fourth community card is dealt, called the "turn" card, and further betting occurs.
I was at this point in the round, with all my money staked on my having the best hand, but only a pair of queens in my hole. Judging by the money other folk were raising, I figured there had to be some good hands round the table.
This meant I was humped unless the last card - called the "river" turned out to be a queen. As luck would have it it was, and I won the round, staying in the game thanks to a lucky river.
All this led me to realise what a good name River was for Summer's character, since in poker the river is a wild card that can either save you or ruin you, and is always the last revealed. When Simon boarded the ship, the box he took with him was a mystery card, and indeed, River is the last character in Mal's hand to be revealed. By taking on Simon and River, Mal is putting everything he has on the strength of his hand - his crew - with River still an unknown quantity. As it is, she turns out to be something special, and keeps Mal in the game.
Sorry for all the poker nonsense, but it strikes me as faintly relevant.

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Tuesday, September 14, 2004 12:56 AM

MALICIOUS

I thought it was a wonderful and apt analogy. (applauds)

Mal-licious

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Tuesday, September 14, 2004 6:15 AM

ZOID

majorfailure:

I concur with Mmmm-a-licious. I think you may have devined a heretofore unrecognized truth. We'd have to ask Joss; but I think you may be spot on. If it's strictly serendipitous, then, wow! what a coincidence...

If it's not intended, and I was Joss, I'd claim it was. It's got to be one of the best and most arcane justifications for a character name I've ever heard. As an aside, I still don't think Joss' 'river' has been revealed yet, only hinted at. Somebody should ask him the next time he comes out of his film editing dungeon and attends a Con (sometime around Groundhog's Day, I reckon).

Respectfully,

zoid
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"Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me." The Ballad of Serenity

Only 219 days, 12 hours, 54 minutes, and 21 seconds left until The BDM!

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