Firefly (TV series)/Headscratchers: Difference between revisions

*** He didn't. That would have been really, '''really''' stupid, to go to all the trouble of smuggling it around when you ''didn't even know'' if she was in there? Methinks that troper was sorely mistaken.

*** Seems I was partly mistaken - that line is real, but it's only in the shooting script. I must've been reading that and gotten it mixed up. It originally would have been in Simon's explanation scene, right before Inara saying "Will she be alright"? The exact dialogue was:

Simon: "I didn't. Until you opened that box." }}

** In general, Simon isn't a very effective fighter because he's too much of a planner. That makes him brilliantly effective at things like infiltrating a military research facility or stealing medical supplies from a hospital ("Ariel"). But when he gets into a fight, his plan usually breaks down the first time someone hits him or does something unexpected. What makes him a [[Non-Action Guy]] isn't that he's incapable of violence. It's that he's only effective at violence if he can plan out his attack in advance. He's an ambusher, not a brawler.

*** Is is explicitly stated that the cloud blocks radar signals? I thought from that scene that the Alliance didn't see the Reavers because their radar was off, as they were trying to set an ambush.

*** Yes, Mr. Universe explicitly states that the cloud blocks radar signals, when they're talking about going to his moon to deliver the message.

** More likely, Mr. Universe chose that moon ''because'' of the ion cloud; he's a secretive hermit, so it would make sense that he'd set up in there. Presumably, his massive array of ground-based transmission equipment would give him the power he'd need to boost a signal straight through the cloud.

*** Honestly, if you're broadcasting that many signals at once, the last place I'd look for you is behind a signal-blocking ion cloud. He's secretive, and probably picked that moon to hide himself.

== Zoe's Last Name ==

* Zoe taking Wash's last name. It just seems so out of character for a strong, independently-willed woman like that to give up her own name. This troper imagines it should have gone more like this:

'''Wash:''' Quaint! }}

** [[Sarcasm Mode|Yeah, its not like its commonplace for a wife to take on her husband's last name while keeping her original as a maiden name.]] Her name is Zoe ''Alleyne'' Washburne.

** It's also possible that it's based on Nazirites, who weren't allowed to cut their hair, eat certain foods, drink alcohol, or handle dead bodies. I'm pretty sure Book buries and prays for the dead, but it's possible that he wasn't permitted to do the other things. [[wikipedia:Nazirite|Thank you,]] [[Other Wiki]]!

** "Shepherd" is not just what they call pastors and ministers in the 'verse. Book is a member of the Order of Shepherds. From pages 206-207 of the Serenity RPG:

system. Shepherds look to Christian scripture as their faith's grounding. They do not claim to have all the answers, but are here to help spread the word to those that need it told to.