River has stealth powers? by arcplayer

FIREFLY EPISODE DISCUSSIONS

River has stealth powers?

POSTED BY: ARCPLAYER
UPDATED: Monday, August 29, 2005 10:17
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Sunday, January 16, 2005 4:09 AM

Forgive me if this has been comented on. I was watching OIS with my most recent convert when I noticed it. Previously I was totaly into watching the mind reading and speculating on Books revalation.

Hidden in plain sight is another power. No one notices that she is in the same room, even as she walks directly in front of them. The only time she is directly adressed is when she is reading minds. Then we cut to normal perception and see that she hasn't been noticed by anyone.

Simon would have stiffened up and taken Kaylee's feet off of his lap.
I'm sure that even Jayne would have stopped talking about masterbation. Even if I was wrong about that, Book would have shifted the topic of conversation.

On a side note, I noticed Joss used the camera going out of focus monentarily while River was perceiving Wash and Zoe. That had a specific meaning when it was used in the episode Serenity.

Is this all old buried post repition?

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Sunday, January 16, 2005 4:40 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

This has been discussed before, but who cares, can't get enough Firefly speculation.

The consensus seems to be that River is not actually walking through the ship at that time, but is rather astrally-projecting her consciousness, telepathically eavesdropping on all the conversations.

As for the out-of-focus shot, I mentioned that at one time, after I had watched the Serenity commentary where Joss said it represented orgasm during the scene with Inara and the first client we see her with.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Sunday, January 16, 2005 4:53 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by arcplayer:
Forgive me if this has been comented on. I was watching OIS with my most recent convert when I noticed it. Previously I was totaly into watching the mind reading and speculating on Books revalation.

Hidden in plain sight is another power. No one notices that she is in the same room, even as she walks directly in front of them. The only time she is directly adressed is when she is reading minds. Then we cut to normal perception and see that she hasn't been noticed by anyone.

Simon would have stiffened up and taken Kaylee's feet off of his lap.
I'm sure that even Jayne would have stopped talking about masterbation. Even if I was wrong about that, Book would have shifted the topic of conversation.

On a side note, I noticed Joss used the camera going out of focus monentarily while River was perceiving Wash and Zoe. That had a specific meaning when it was used in the episode Serenity.

Is this all old buried post repition?

Prolly, but who cares ? I love this stuff. Either she's having an out of body experience, or she's sleep walking and isn't really walking through those rooms at all, except when she wanders into the cargo bay. One of Joss's ( and mine ) favorite scenes is the shot of River's feet standing in front of the 'object' and then her head and dangling hair come into view as she leans over to take a closer look.

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

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Tuesday, January 25, 2005 7:36 PM

the movie is not the Series. Only the facts have been changed, to irritate the innocent; the names of the actors and characters remain the same

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
One of Joss's ( and mine ) favorite scenes is the shot of River's feet standing in front of the 'object' and then her head and dangling hair come into view as she leans over to take a closer look.

. . . @a twig. Then we cut to an overhead long shot of her against the background of a floor that's somehow suddenly covered in autumn leaves. That ep is chock full o' fabulous photography, climaxing (well, close) with the steadicam shot that starts on Simon's Wounded Knee (well, close) in the infirmary, backs out & swings around to a deep focus through the far end of the cargo hold, touching every one of the crew. Now I know Joss Whedon asked for it to be shot this way, but that doesn't mean it was easy to execute. Who says David Boyd can't DP a movie? That may be the best shot I have ever seen on TV.

Keep the Shiny Side Up

Wutzon: Allman Bro's, "Firing Line", from "Hittin' the Note"

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Friday, January 28, 2005 6:03 PM

STEVETRO

I think she can in some way alter people's perceptions. Here are my reasons

1) When Simon asks Early, "Are you alliance?" and Early misunderstands and think Simon says lion instead of alliance. This misunderstanding is followed by one more. These are indications that Early's perceptions are being modified. At this point I believe River is in her room and aware of the danger. She goes stealth and during the conversation Simon is having with Early slips out of her room.

2) As Early was leaving the ship--wasn't that the captain he was fighting? Maybe wrong here--need to review. It seems funny that after Early leaves the ship the captain is right there if he'd just gotten into a fight with early and had been knocked out.

3) The afore mentioned events where River was apparently not noticed in vacinity of others. Obviously, River didn't want to be seen.

4) Wouldn't Early notice someone standing just outside the airlock as he was climbing out of Serentiy? Maybe River was removed the captain from Early's perceptions.

5) River has always been kinda "spooky" popping up when no one expects it and seemingly out of nowhere.

So there you have it--my reasons to believe River can and does modify peoples perceptions. That would be basically "stealth powers".

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Sunday, January 30, 2005 11:50 PM

MANTICHORUS

Quote:
Originally posted by stevetro:
2) As Early was leaving the ship--wasn't that the captain he was fighting? Maybe wrong here--need to review. It seems funny that after Early leaves the ship the captain is right there if he'd just gotten into a fight with early and had been knocked out.

Yeah, Early knocks the captain out, but Mal recovers during the episode.

MAL: "There's a guy. He's very blurry."

MAL: "Am I dreamin'?"
RIVER: "We all are."
MAL looks exasperated.
RIVER: "Don't make faces."

--------------------------------------------------
Barret: "I been here since the beginnin', an' I still don't know what the hell's goin' on either."
--------------------------------------------------
"...I'm not a man who likes to swear,
But I've never cared for the sound of bein' alone..." -Neil Diamond, I am... I said.

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Monday, January 31, 2005 1:08 AM

THEGREYJEDI

There's a lot there that can be explained without phenominal powers. With the Simon/Kaylee scene, you have to remember, this is post-The Message. Simon and Kaylee are starting to let themselves be a couple. And the scene with Jayne and Book, the cargo bay's a big place. The zoom in on the people is merely due to an expression of focus. And Jubal getting jumped by Mal. Jubal thinks Mal's out cold, and everyone else locked up and put away. And the man doesn't lack arrogance. Also, it wouldn't be that hard to be out of sight of the airlock.

I don't think River's got super psychic telekinesis sneaky creepy powers. She merely has ESP. Extra Sensory Perception. She can perceive with her senses more than any normal human can. Through her ears she can hear the rumblings of the subconscious, ie. the cut-away lines in OiS. She has a certain danger-sense/minor prescience, like in OoG when she says "Fire." And she can easily outwit Jubal, because even as "skilled" as he is, River is a genius on a magnitude that most minds can't comprehend. And as for stealth? She's a graceful teen girl. Things like dancing come to her like breath. All that barefooting about. Barefeet are really quiet anyway. And River seems like someone who is light on her feet (that and Summer Glau is a ballerina!). On top of that, everyone on the ship sees her as part of the day. River wandering about the ship looking kinda out of it. Nothing new there, so no reason to pay any kind of attention.

I think something we're all missing here, is that those shots, those focused lines, then the autumn leaves and the gun, all of those scenes, that's how River exists. All the time. It's just that we are only given the glimpse of it in OiS. But all that crazy weird talk she does, it's because she sees, hears, feels, very strange things. Things that can't be quantified or described. Most of it doesn't make sense to her, with all her mental might, much less those without her curse-ed blessing, so of course her speechifying is very surreal. Because she is surreal. But we get to see she's starting to part the fog a bit as the series comes to an end, especially in OiS. It's almost as if instead of always fighting the tide, she just starts to ride with it, and it all starts to fall in place.

So, in conclusion, River doesn't have any powers, not that would be described in any kind of comic book way. She's not a telepath, she's not a telekinetic. She can't alter the minds of others. But she can sense far more than we can, and she's a genius. If she had the chance for the education, she could probably perform surgery better than Simon, repair the unrepairable compression coil, fly impossible manuvers, shoot more accurately than Jayne, Zoe, and Mal combined, philosophize circles around Book, and out Companion Inara. Without effort. Remember Algebra, Trig, Calculus? How strange and nonsensical that math could get? To River, it's as basic addition is to us. Physics, nuclear chemistry? It's like 4th grade science. Music composition, operatic vocals, prima dancing, painting, prose, verse, all of these can flow from her as simple as breath flows from us. Because she's that smart. It only seems like super powers to you, because she's that far ahead.

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Monday, January 31, 2005 3:57 AM

RYCE

Quote:
2) As Early was leaving the ship--wasn't that the captain he was fighting? Maybe wrong here--need to review. It seems funny that after Early leaves the ship the captain is right there if he'd just gotten into a fight with early and had been knocked out.

I think you're thinking of Simon. He tackled Early even after getting shot in the leg and was knocked out.

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Monday, January 31, 2005 4:21 AM

MIKEYMO

Quote:

I think you're thinking of Simon. He tackled Early even after getting shot in the leg and was knocked out.

I'm certain that's the case. I recently had my sister watch all of Firefly (she's gone on to recruiting her friends) and she asked, "How did the Captain get out there after jumping on Early just a few seconds ago?"

Simon has Darkman-like powers, it would seem. If River's in danger, he's damn near unstoppable.

"Be ashamed to die before you have scored some victory for humanity." -- Horace Mann

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Friday, August 26, 2005 9:06 PM

TEKIEWOLF

*find an old topic and responds*

i think Mal kinda somes it up.

Mal: She does have an oddness to her, and i'm not just talking about her profieciency with firearms, i think she's a reader.

reader and Zoey pipes up with "Psychic?!"

also i believe that she has some sort of stealthy powers.

to reiterate what the others have said ^^

River does something spooky in almost every episode.

in Bushwacked she says "its a ghost" refering to the ship the Reavers had gotten to.
she also grabs a gets onto the Reaver ship without the others noticing until Simon sees her on the ship.

in Ariel no one notices her grab the knife and they dont see her slash Jayne only the aftermath.

and there are several times in which she linger in doorways or slips by people unnoticed.

also is it just me or does River not show up in Our Mrs. Reynolds at all?

"This is damn tasty"

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Monday, August 29, 2005 10:02 AM

VISITINGMYINTENTIONS

Quote:
also is it just me or does River not show up in Our Mrs. Reynolds at all?

Yeah, I noticed that too (because I'm an obsessive River fan). She appears in exactly one shot, in the doorway to the bridge, as I remember, and does not have a single line.

EDIT: I was right. Here it is, in the middle of the page: http://still-flying.net/images/ourmrsreynolds/index.php?psl=6
---------------------------------------------------
Early: Where'd she go?

Simon: I can't keep track of her when she's NOT incorporeally possessing a spaceship, don't look at me --

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Monday, August 29, 2005 10:10 AM

SPINLAND

She had a pretty involved scene in OMR, but it was cut for time. It's in the extras on the fourth DVD.

----
I can see you.

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Monday, August 29, 2005 10:17 AM

VISITINGMYINTENTIONS

It's a real pity. I think most of the scenes they cut they were right to, but the only reason I could see to cut those scenes of River's would be time issues.

---------------------------------------------------
Early: Where'd she go?

Simon: I can't keep track of her when she's NOT incorporeally possessing a spaceship, don't look at me --

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