Why You Can't Take The Sky From Me - Part II
(Back to Part I)
Kaylee: So cute you wanna dump her in the hold
Preternaturally perky, exceedingly optimistic, and staggeringly sweet, Kaylee is an unlikely member of the band of rogues that inhabit Serenity. There isn’t a cynical bone in her body and she assumes the best of everyone. She’s exactly what she appears to be, unlike certain mysterious preachers.
She is the one true innocent on Serenity.
Somehow she is not the most annoyingly saccharine creature to ever inhabit my TV screen but totally adorable and a refreshing counterbalance to the skepticism of the rest of the crew. She is the only one of the crew to be totally hopeful and to not have lost any of her faith.
She’s the heart of the ship. She keeps it running both literally and figuratively. Her faith is one of the main things which keeps Serenity from falling into darkness and total pessimism. Her relationship with Mal keeps him from being the mean old man he’s sometimes accused of being.
Mal: I don't believe there's a power in the 'verse [that can] stop Kaylee from being cheerful. Sometimes you just wanna duct-tape her mouth, and… dump 'er in the hold for a month.
[A grinning Kaylee gives Mal a peck on the cheek.]
Kaylee: I love my captain.
-from “Serenity” (Pilot)
Kaylee is a both a tomboy and a total girly girl. She’s a mechanic who can talk about engines for hours on end and is also unashamedly romantic. She wears floral, ruffly things underneath greasy overalls. She loves talking about boys, especially certain cute doctors, but isn’t shy about talking about sex (or having it really).
She couldn’t tell you what a gender role is if it got stuck in the engine coils. She doesn’t care about stupid concepts like masculinity and femininity. She does what she does and is what she is.
Kaylee: Look, they got boy whores! Isn't that thoughtful? Wonder if they service girlfolk at all.
Simon: The doctor is in the house
Simon is a reserved, rational, well-dressed, highly-intelligent doctor. He likes to think things through and is very socially conscious.
In other words, he is the complete opposite of Jayne. Whereas in Jayne, the Id has triumphed over the Superego through fisticuffs and violence, Simon’s Superego long ago managed to bore his Id to death by reading it medical jargon.
Mal: There ain't-a one of us looks the part more than the good doctor. I mean, the pretty fits, soft hands — definitely a moneyed individual. All rich and lily-white, pasty all over—
Simon: All right! Fine. I'll go. Just… stop describing me.
-from “Jaynestown”
He is totally awkward among the crewmembers of Serenity. He’s completely out of his social element and acts like it. He should be heading a hospital somewhere on a central planet where they have proper food and the people don’t dress in suspenders.
He’s stepped into the unknown and left his old life behind all to protect his sister. He’s turned his back on everything else he knows – his parents, his home, his career – in order to save River and keep her safe.
Then there are those deadly men with blue hands after them and the price on their heads the Alliance is offering for their capture.
That’s what separates Simon from the rest of the wealthy Core-dwellers. He is so devoted to his sister that he would do anything for her. He may not be able to talk to women very well (or men. Or animals. Or inanimate objects.), and he may be a snob at times, but he has willingly stepped into a dangerous, difficult life on the run because of his selfless love towards River.
River: But I understand. You gave up everything you had to find me. You found me broken. It's hard for you. You gave up everything you had.
Simon: Mei-mei. Everything I have… is right here.
-from “Safe”
River: No power in the ‘verse can stop her
River is the most difficult character to understand. She gets hysterical easily. She talks in riddles. She’s morbid and creepifying. There’s something not quite right about her.
Oh hell, I’ll just come out and say it. She’s crazy. Batshit insane.
Her psychosis is layered and full of meaning however. Her gibberish often contains uncanny truths and warnings. There’s a bizarre kind of wisdom in what she says. She’s a riddle wrapped inside an enigma wrapped inside a whole lotta crazy.
Even without her unsettling knack of knowing things she shouldn’t, River is a web of complexity. She’s a genius who’s emotionally crippled by a great trauma. She’s a scared girl who seems to be connected to a greater meaning. She’s both the strongest and the weakest of all the crew.
She’s so many things at once. She’s both endlessly fascinating and endlessly frustrating. She’s probably my favourite character of them all because of it. There are so many things happening within her at the same time.
River: Bible's broken. Contradictions, false logistics… doesn't make sense.
Book: No, no. You - you can't...
River: So we'll integrate non-progressional evolution theory with God's creation of Eden. Eleven inherent metaphoric parallels already there. Eleven. Important number. Prime number. One goes into the house of eleven eleven times, but always comes out one. Noah's ark is a problem.
Book: Really?
River: We'll have to call it "early quantum state phenomenon". Only way to fit 5,000 species of mammals on the same boat.
There’s also a wonderful physicality to her. She moves differently than the rest of the characters. When she’s at rest, she’s in odd places and positions. Visually, you can see she’s experiencing the things around her in an unusual way.
While I think the cast is uniformly excellent, I have to single out Summer Glau for praise for her amazing portrayal of River. It’s a character that could quite easily be annoying and shticky but she adds plenty of depth to prevent it from just being a ‘crazy girl with visions’ stereotype.
River: Going. Going back, like… apple bits coming back up. Chaos.
Simon: But you felt okay this morning?
River: [smiles] Played with Kaylee. The sun came out, and… I walked on my feet, and… heard with my ears. [more raggedly] I ate the bits. The bits did stay down. And I work. I… function like I'm a girl. [sobbing] I hate it because I know it'll go away. The sun… goes dark, and chaos is come again. Bits… fluids! What am I?!
Simon: You are my beautiful sister.
River: I- I threw up on your bed.
Simon: Yep. Definitely my sister.
Book: Ask him about the special hells
Shepherd Book is a preacher but don’t let that put you off. He may be a man of God but he doesn’t seem phased about being passenger on a ship full of criminals and outlaws. He helps out an awful lot as a matter of fact.
Every band of heroes needs a sage old man to impart wisdom and experience and Book fulfils this role just fine. He’s not judgmental about it either. He is the one people go to for advice even if they don’t always take it. Even that godless heathen, Mal, has gotten used to him.
Inara: So. Would you like to lecture me the wickedness of my ways?
Book: I brought you some supper, but… if you'd prefer a lecture, I've a few very catchy ones prepped. Sin, and hellfire… one has lepers.
-from “Serenity” (Pilot)
He’s more than just the crew’s wise grandfather figure. Book’s not all he appears to be. There are hints that he may have a colourful past, even so colourful as to be shady. He knows a little too much about crime, criminals and Alliance procedures for a preacher.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe his backstory isn’t full of intrigue. Maybe he’s just very well-read.
But would you really trust a man with this hair?
Zoe: Preacher, don't the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?
Book: Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps.
-from “War Stories”
Serenity: The tenth character
The show aint named The Fabulous Adventures of Mal and his Merry Men. It’s named after the ship itself for a reason. The ship is just as much a character as its nine passengers.
The ship is rather perplexingly named after the Battle of Serenity Valley. You know, the one where the Browncoats basically lost the war against the Alliance and Mal lost his youthful idealism. Great name for a ship right?
Serenity is Mal’s answer to the Battle of Serenity. If he can’t change the universe around him for the better, then he’ll create his own world, his version of how things should be. It’s a world where hard work is rewarded but people get to enjoy themselves. It’s a world where the strong stand up for the weak. It’s a world where people work together for a common goal but get to be themselves.
[On the battered old Firefly-class ship that will one day become Serenity]
Mal: And try to see past what she is, and on to what she can be.
Zoe: What's that, sir?
Mal: Freedom, is what.
-from “Out Of Gas”
Is it perfect? Hell no. The ship’s forever breaking down and needing repairs. It’s a struggle to survive. Outsiders keep breaking in and shooting people. The food tastes like crap. And you try living with Jayne 24/7.
Serenity’s an OK place to live and it’s better than the alternative. As long as Serenity keeps flying, Mal’s vision of how things should be stays alive.
Mal: We're still flying.
Simon: That's not much.
Mal: It's enough.
-from “Serenity” (Pilot)