a theory about Book by kef

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a theory about Book

POSTED BY: KEF
UPDATED: Monday, December 9, 2002 16:12
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Sunday, December 8, 2002 8:04 PM

Here's a theory about Book's past . . . when he was young, he may have been a interrogator / torturer for the Alliance.

In the opening segment of "War Stories" - the very first line, he says to Simon, "Did you ever read the works of Shan Yu? . . . etc." and continues on about that, as Simon tries to deduce what the Alliance was trying to do the River . . . THEN the opening segment ends with Niska, in the proccess of torturing someone, saying almost exactly the same thing!

Is this just the screenwriter trying to cleverly link the scenes together? Or could there be more to it?

Within totalitarian governments, an official state "interrogator" could possess quite a bit of power within the system by virtue of the fact that he would likely answer only to a very few of the most powerful officials at the top, and yet he could remain virtually anonymous. If he chose to leave the government, he could manage to do so safely by virtue of a) knowing high-level officials who owe him favors; and b) other high-level officials whom he could blackmail because of things he knows about them personally. This could explain why he recieved priority treatment from the Alliance in "Safe".

The other half of my theory is that the reason he left govermnet service is that eventually his conscience- the horror of the human misery he’d caused- finally caught up with him. Perhaps there may have been one or more specific traumatic incidents as well that helped to trigger this. He then turned to religion and the Bible in search of redemption, trying to come to terms with his guilt, and in hopes of saving his soul.

This is the basic theory. Further obvious elaborations can be made on it.

Comments?

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Sunday, December 8, 2002 8:14 PM

TERAPH

I had similar thoughts, although his proficiency with firearms makes me think he may have been a high ranking member of the military during the war. (It looked to me that he was a really good shot.)

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Sunday, December 8, 2002 8:16 PM

THELEFTHAND

Just because the man says he is a preacher doesn't mean he is a preacher. I like the idea of Book being a plant. As to who planted him, who knows? It obviously can't be anyone working with the "Blue Hand Group." The gaping plot holes would be too much for a Whedon show. I like the idea of an as-yet-unnamed group, involved in the Alliance, but opposed to the "Blue Man Group." Anyone who thinks that the Alliance would be one homogenous unit, doesn't know a thing about how any large organization works. There are always factions fighting for control. Witness the tussles between the Defense and State Departments in the U.S. Of course, he could always just be a preacher. Wouldn't that be a Joss-like curve ball? Remember the old adage: Never judge a Book by its cover. These names aren't accidental; all will be made clear. Provided the show is given a chance.

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Sunday, December 8, 2002 8:20 PM

KEF

Quote:
Originally posted by teraph:
I had similar thoughts, although his proficiency with firearms makes me think he may have been a high ranking member of the military during the war. (It looked to me that he was a really good shot.)

The only problem with that is that he'd be more recognizible if he'd been a former high-ranking Alliance military officer. Wouldn't Mal and Zoe, as former rebels, have recognized him? Or at least wouldn't Book be afraid they might figure it out?

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Sunday, December 8, 2002 8:28 PM

KEF

Quote:
Originally posted by TheLeftHand:
Just because the man says he is a preacher doesn't mean he is a preacher. I like the idea of Book being a plant. As to who planted him, who knows? It obviously can't be anyone working with the "Blue Hand Group." The gaping plot holes would be too much for a Whedon show. I like the idea of an as-yet-unnamed group, involved in the Alliance, but opposed to the "Blue Man Group." Anyone who thinks that the Alliance would be one homogenous unit, doesn't know a thing about how any large organization works. There are always factions fighting for control. Witness the tussles between the Defense and State Departments in the U.S. Of course, he could always just be a preacher. Wouldn't that be a Joss-like curve ball? Remember the old adage: Never judge a Book by its cover. These names aren't accidental; all will be made clear. Provided the show is given a chance.

I'm not at all adverse to the idea that he may be a "plant". I am convinced that his religious devotion is genuine though. I don't think the two ideas are at all incompatible. Indeed, I don't think all THREE ideas are incompatible.

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Sunday, December 8, 2002 8:37 PM

KEF

By the way, a bit of trivia- as most have probably heard, Joss based part of his idea for the series on the book "The Killer Angels" which is about the Battle of Gettysburg. In the Civil War, there were officers on both sides who were religious leaders in civilian life. One Confederate General, Leonidas Polk, was actually an Episcopalian bishop!

Not that this has anything to do with my theory.

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Monday, December 9, 2002 6:07 AM

BULBUS

I think pretty much everyone agrees he was part of the Alliance at some point in his past, and pretty high up too. A few people have guessed military, and that makes sense, based on his knowledge and preficiency with armaments, but as I was watching War Stories, I thought, "what if he were a cop?" Granted, I don't know if the Alliance has a police force, or whether the military handles everything, but it would make sense for their to be a detective branch of some capacity, whether in a army intelligence sort of way or a stand alone organization.

Plot wise, it's a great starting place, if he were a cop, and probably a high level one too, before he retired, what caused him to become a preacher. Something he saw? Did? And what would cause him to choose to ship out with a bunch of criminals, people he'd spent his lifetime chasing? The tension between him and Mal would be a great plot point as well.

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Monday, December 9, 2002 1:53 PM

TINYTIMM

Quote:
Originally posted by teraph:
I had similar thoughts, although his proficiency with firearms makes me think he may have been a high ranking member of the military during the war.

High ranks don't shoot. Book was using a Calico Carbine, a nice weapon eliminated by law. It was a pistol caliber (usually .22LR or 9mm) with a 100 or 50 round magazine using a powered helical feed system. If book was an officer, he would have been of low rank, or non-comissioned.

More likely, his shooting has nothing to do with the military, but he could have been a cop (or similar) in a previous life. The United States allegedly moved a lot of cops into intelligence work in the 1939-1945 War.

Jeff
Who notes preperation and training are necessary to produce a functional combat shot. Kaylee needs training.

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Monday, December 9, 2002 4:12 PM

ZERO

I keep thinking about the quote that Book used, "Live with a man, work with him for 40 years and then one moring take him from his bed and hang him over a volcano; then you truly know the man." This quote worries me, I think Book is trying to become friendly with the crew, to the point where a betrayal down the road will be the last thing expected. Though I have a feeling that once he gets to know the crew he may not want to go through with it. Either way, I think Book has an ulterier motive for being on the ship.

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-=ZERO=-
Check me out on WinMX, I have the first 8 episodes in SVCD & VCD format. Any Firefly fans get free starts, just msg me.

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