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Serenity/Fridge: Difference between revisions
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* I was spoiled for the part of ''Serenity'' when {{spoiler|Wash}} dies. Then I listened to the commentary, and Joss pointing out that he wanted to make it ''absolutely clear'' to the audience that the heroes might die. Not to mention it's consistent with the highly cynical universe. Not only was it subverting {{spoiler|[[Contractual Immortality]]}}, but it was ''also'' subverting {{spoiler|a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]].}}
** I didn't actually get ''all'' of the signifigance of the final scene between {{spoiler|Mal}} and River at the end of the movie until a few years after seeing it. Specifically, as {{spoiler|Mal}} is telling River about love, she is curling up in the copilot's chair, wrapping her arms around her knees, in a [[Fetal Position Rebirth]] - ''exactly'' like she had been shown in the very first scene she appeared in in the pilot, except in this case, she's awake, clothed, sitting up, and calmly smiling, while in the pilot she'd been u exactly unconscious, naked, lying down, and awoke screaming. The contrast and the symbolism - that River's struggles in the series and movie have led her to take a hand in her own destiny instead of being a helpless, gibbering wreck, was beautiful and so very subtle.
** Whoa. That's brilliant. You just blew my mind.
** And, for another commentary-inflicted moment: why does River "want to hear" Mal say his piece? Because hearing is [[I Just Want to Be Normal|what normal people do]], instead of reading minds; plus, she's overjoyed to be able to understand without her crazy getting in the way.
*** For a long time, I didn't quite get why River learning of what happend on Miranda sent her crazy. After reading a post Serenity drwho/firefly crossover where River is pretty much sane however, I finally understood: River didn't just learn of what happend, she ''felt'' what happen to every person and it shows how strong River really is that it didn't kill her.
*** River would have only been seven when Miranda happened, and while she might have had some kind of power even before she went to the Academy, I doubt she'd have felt it strong enough to kill her, if she felt it at all.
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{{quote|'''The Operative''': "A lot of innocent people are being killed in the air right now."
'''Mal''': "You have no idea how true that is." }}
*** In other words, the Reavers themselves are innocents, victims of {{spoiler|the Alliance's experiments who can't help what they became}}. If that line is any indication, Mal is not placing any blame on them for what they're doing even though {{spoiler|Wash was killed barely half-an-hour ago, if that}}. The only people to blame for the events of the movie - events which include a chain that seems to be leading to {{spoiler|their inevitable ''destruction''}} are [[Hoist by His Own Petard|the Alliance themselves]].
* First viewing: Wait - Simon knew all along that River was designed to be a mind-reading assassin? But he played dumb during the series, even when the crew's life might depend on it. What an outrageous retcon! Also, it's completely out of character for Mal to abandon Simon and River. Second viewing: Oh, so ''that's'' what was eating Mal about the Tams....
** In fact, this is an important bone of contention later on after River rips apart the bar. Mal gets ''pissed'' at Simon because he wasn't telling them everything he knew about River's conditioning, and it ''really'' comes out when he confronts Simon after the brawl.
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*** Determinator. She picked up being a Determinator from Mal. See River go from a gibbering wreck at the end of the movie when the reavers attack, to, well... One Waif Army. Pudding, proof, enjoy.
*** And from Simon. The entire crew's made up of determinators but the only one as big at is as Mal, is Simon.
* Another one here. Remember after River was triggered by his programming and created a brawl before stopping, and then Mal and Zoe are trying to decide what to do with her after that, knowing she's dangerous? Well, right after that, River has a conversation with Simon (sort of) where she says "They're afraid of me. Well, I'll show them. Oh, God." Newsflash - she is ''not'' referring to the crew of ''Serenity'' alone - she's also referring to {{spoiler|the Alliance, who are becoming desperate to capture of eliminate her before she reveals their secrets}}. Talk about powerful dialogue with multiple meanings. I mean, damn, [[Joss Whedon|Joss]] - just, ''damn''!
* I've come to the theory that the entire war between the Alliance and the Browncoats wasn't about simply becoming a 'monopoly' in the 'Verse. (After all, with better medicines alone, the Alliance could have launched a 'hearts and minds' offensive with their better technology). What, then? Miranda had become a launching point for an entire fleet of Reavers. From at least one instance, there's reason to suspect that it might "catch" (ie, the Stockholm Syndrome making that one guy 'join'). If they left the Independent worlds be, they'd stay free but also disorganized- and either die piecemeal or actually provide 'reinforcements' for their push on to the Core Worlds. Someone in command simply found a pretext to take action. (Probably not out of loving concern for the outer worlds, but out of a sense of self-preservation)
* You would think that after all a self-confessed [[Complete Monster]] like The Operative has done to Mal and his crew, he would have earned himself the mother of all gruesome deaths, like being fed feet-first to the Reavers or something. At first, I had merely thought of Mal sparing The Operative's life as just another of Whedon's many subverted tropes, namely in this how case the good guy always has to kill the bad guy. Okay, Mal showed him the truth about the Alliance, but was that really worse than killing him, really? And then it hit me: a complete loss of faith really was the ''worst'' thing Mal could think to inflict on someone. Because he would know, ''he suffered the exact same thing at Serenity Valley!'' Bravo, Mister Whedon. Bravo.
** There's a deleted scene that makes this more explicit, where the Operative asks Mal how he was able to keep going after Serenity.
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* Some subtle references: not for nothing is the name Miranda used. Some of the bulkheads on the Alliance ship are more explicit: [[Forbidden Planet|C-57D]]. And what are the reavers, but monsters from the id? O brave new world, that hath such people in it... - cjlr
* The operator goes on about the fact that Mal is “not the plucky hero, the Alliance is not an evil empire, etc.” He promptly gets royally pwned because he forgot that Inara is not the damsel in distress. -Leahweird
** [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner|"And that's not incense."]] That move with the flash-bang probably greatly ''[[Incredibly Lame Pun|incensed]]'' the Operative.
* Here's some possible [[Fridge Horror]]: Along with Haven, the Operative also ordered everywhere that had sheltered Serenity or had a connection to the ship destroyed. Depending on how extensive that order was (and, let's face it, The Operative was going all out with his mission so it was probably far-reaching), it may have included killing off all or most of the crew's allies from back in the series. Friendly old Warwick Harrow? That loveable [[Space Jew]] from "The Message"? The whorehouse with the baby from "Heart of Gold", bearing in mind that The Operative freely admits he sometimes murders children? No reason to think they may not all be somewhere on the video feed...
** The Operative says he's leaving them "no ground to go to" and Zoe tells Wash to alert anyone who's sheltered them after a heist. It's much more likely the Operative simply wiped out the people who're known to have given Serenity shelter until the heat's off; none of the three you mentioned did that. Plus, bit of a difference between him attacking known hives of scum and villainy and attacking ranking, high class members of the aristocracy and a public institution like the post office.
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