FIREFLY EPISODE DISCUSSIONS

How Serenity Should Have Ended

POSTED BY: TWO
UPDATED: Sunday, January 20, 2013 03:34
SHORT URL: http://bit.ly/rKt9Vs
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Saturday, December 10, 2011 4:23 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


The art is by Gary Lee from Taiwan www.wretch.cc/blog/T2266
The original art is at http://garylight.deviantart.com/art/How-Serenity-Should-Have-Ended-273
087775



After he shot the Operative for the first time, Mal should have learned his lesson. That beating the Operative gave Mal could never, ever, be forgotten. But the next time he shot the Operative, in Mr Universe's basement, Mal completely forgets what he learned. Did Mal have transient global amnesia due to blunt force trauma? Mal gets another beating as a reminder.

Would you make the same mistake Mal made, twice? Are you a slow learner, like Mal?

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 4:48 AM

PENNAUSAMIKE


Aiming for the head is not an easy shot compared to full body mass.
BUT, after firing the first shot, Mal should have kept firing until he could take the head shot.

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 4:56 AM

WISHIMAY


Yeah, we've thought of that every time. I could try to find a loophole like it's harder to hit somebody in the head and Mal's arguably not the greatest shot so he went for a safe shot, or maybe he thought killing the Op would've just made somebody else come after soo not the greatest idea, maybe his first concern was just slowing him down, but....

IT WAS A MOVIE!! Silver screen, yanno. I'm sure everything in life can be solved quicker with massive amounts of ammo , but then the stories would be alot more dull...

I still liked the movie. And the comic, it's nice to see what's going on in my head on paper.
Thanks fer postin' it...

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 6:23 AM

BYTEMITE


What Mike said. Also, he didn't shoot the Operative in the head on Mr. Universe's moon because he had to shoot the gun out of the Operative's hand - if he had gone for the head there, Mal might've gotten shot due to death spasms.

Lastly, if he had killed the Operative at the training house, the Operative wouldn't have been around to doctor reports and lift the entire crew's fugitive status.

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 6:31 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


The shootout in Mr Universe's basement between Mal and the Operative was staged differently between the 190 page screenplay (the one where Wash and Book survive) and the 126 page shooting script. The 190 page version explains why Mal could not get close enough to shoot dead the Operative. The 126 page version screwed it up because Joss Whedon forgot to keep a barrier (the pit of death) between the Operative and Mal. Why? Joss never said. Joss unintentionally made Mal look very stupid.

I'll underline the big difference in scripts. Maybe it was money. Maybe there wasn't enough money to have Mal and the Operative 40 feet apart when they start their gun battle on the set.

The 190 page version of Serenity:
INT. BASEMENT, OVER THE GENERATOR - CONTINUING
Mal has reached it and surveys the situation. Before him is a railing, and he can look down on the generator shaft. Not surprisingly, it's miles deep, with machines constantly rotating and grinding, and arcs of electricity ricocheting around it. Big ol' death pit.
On the other side is a small island of a platform, on which sits the console to broadcast the message from, protected by a clear (but unbreakable) plastic partition. There are cables and chains running along the ceiling, but the only feasible way across is a series of ladder rungs over the pit. There is a slim, rail-less catwalk running across the middle. It can rotate to form a bridge, but the controls on this side are shot. It's forty feet to that and forty feet from that to the 'island'.
MAL
Hard to get to. That's a fact.
Mal makes his way, hand over hand, along the horizontal ladder. Legs swinging out over the abyss. He's only just about to reach the first catwalk and he's in a lot of sweaty pain.
He hears a clatter behind him and he swings himself, jumps for the catwalk as laser-fire grazes his side and blasts all around him.


The 126 page version of Serenity:
INT. BASEMENT, OVER THE GENERATOR - CONTINUING
Mal has reached it and surveys the situation.
Before him is a railing, and he can look down on the generator shaft. It's miles deep, with machines rotating and grinding, and arcs of electricity ricocheting around it. On the other side is a platform, with the broadwave console sitting behind a clear plastic partition. Cables and chains run along the ceiling, around a series of ladder rungs.
MAL
Hard to get to. That's a fact.
Mal is on the railing, reaching for the 'rungs' on the ceiling just above him. He can almost get them -- one wrong move and he pitches into the jaws of death...
A laser shot nails him in the lower back -- he arches, legs sliding off the rail -- he falls and hits the rail with the backs of his legs, flipping painfully onto his face as he falls, mercifully, back onto the platform.

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 6:52 AM

BYTEMITE


I think I can see why they changed it though. There'd be no dramatic tension for The Operative to climb hand over hand towards the platform while Mal shoots at him and misses.

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 6:58 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
I think I can see why they changed it though. There'd be no dramatic tension for The Operative to climb hand over hand towards the platform while Mal shoots at him and misses.

I think you got that backwards. There's no dramatic tension for Mal to go hand over hand back the way he came in order to kill the unarmed Operative. You know, after Mal shoots the gun out of the Operative's hand and he hides from Mal's bullets.

I just come to think of it: shooting the gun out of the Operative's hand is a very TV Western thing to do. Very Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Lone Ranger, or Rifleman.

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity", where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 10:36 AM

BYTEMITE


No, there is, because the operative is close enough that he's able to catch up to Mal and tackle him, knock him off the money bars. Mal manages to catch himself on something else just when we think he's going to plummet to his death.

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 11:54 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
No, there is, because the operative is close enough that he's able to catch up to Mal and tackle him, knock him off the monkey bars. . .

The way the scene was written in the 190 page version of the screenplay, which is not the same as it was filmed, was the Operative shoots from 40 feet away and almost misses Mal. Nicks him. In the finished movie, the Operative could have walked to the railing and put the gun barrel against Mal's back. Maybe the Operative suffers from what it is called when your gun fires too soon -- premature ejaculation. Or something else.

And then Mal and the Operative quick-draw when they are close enough to spit in each other's face. How Mal managed to not kill the Operative and only hit the gun, I will never know. Maybe he can't spit straight.

The 190 page version for this duel made more sense. Mal and the Operative are at 40 feet separation, half the width of the Pit of Death. Duels customarily start back to back, walk 10 paces, turn and fire. That's about 40 feet.

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity", where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 1:13 PM

ECGORDON

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


Serenity should have ended with the ship landing directly on top of Two so he (she?) wouldn't be around to try and tell us how they can write better screenplays than Joss Whedon.




wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 4:06 PM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by ecgordon:
Serenity should have ended with the ship landing directly on top of Two so he (she?) wouldn't be around to try and tell us how they can write better screenplays than Joss Whedon.

What Joss did can't be blamed on me. He wrote two versions of the Operative/Mal gunfight. These are almost identical, except Joss shrank the field of battle from 40 feet down to spitting/pissing distance. When Joss did that, he made it hard to believe the Operative and Mal can miss. I'm not rewriting Joss's gunfight. Joss rewrote his own. Or the set designer told Joss to make the fight cozy to save money . . .

Can't Miss At This Range


The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 5:11 PM

BYTEMITE


Quote:

the Operative could have walked to the railing and put the gun barrel against Mal's back.


Not honourable enough for the Operative.

Quote:

And then Mal and the Operative quick-draw when they are close enough to spit in each other's face. How Mal managed to not kill the Operative and only hit the gun


Addressed that one already. Mal's mistake was to not follow that up with a shot to the face, or not throwing the Operative into the pit, or thinking the Operative wouldn't try to follow him over to the mainframe platform, or knock him off

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 5:21 PM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
Addressed that one already. Mal's mistake was to not follow that up with a shot to the face, or not throwing the Operative into the pit, or thinking the Operative wouldn't try to follow him over to the mainframe platform, or knock him off

Odd that Mal forgets that the Operative tried to kill him a moment ago and Mal can't think about that because he has a more important task to do. I believe Mal can multi-task. He is smarter than the screenplay allows him to be. If Joss had left the gunfight the way it was written in the 190 page version, the smartest thing Mal could do is exactly what he did. But Joss changed the gunfight and Mal becomes a dope.

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity", where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 5:33 PM

BYTEMITE


I'll grant that. Though it might still work dramatic tension wise with the being tackled while crossing.

Maybe Mal was out of bullets for some reason and remembered how impossible beating the Operative in melee was, so he had to resort to try to tricking the Operative. So maybe he was hoping the Operative would try what he did, only the Operative didn't fall like Mal was hoping.

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 5:50 PM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
I'll grant that. Though it might still work dramatic tension wise with the being tackled while crossing.

Maybe Mal was out of bullets for some reason and remembered how impossible beating the Operative in melee was, so he had to resort to try to tricking the Operative. So maybe he was hoping the Operative would try what he did, only the Operative didn't fall like Mal was hoping.

Joss made a boo-boo when he cut 3 lines from his script:
There is a slim, rail-less catwalk running across the middle.
It can rotate to form a bridge, but the controls on this side are shot.
It's forty feet to that and forty feet from that to the 'island'.

In the movie, that catwalk does not materialize until the fight is over. Joss should have let Mal stand on the catwalk and shoot at the Operative, just as Joss originally wrote the gunfight. Then it makes perfect sense when Mal doesn't cross back to kill the Operative after he shoots the laser gun out of his hand.

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity", where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 7:22 PM

BYTEMITE


The problem is the Operative still needed to catch up to Mal to have an exciting melee fight, and it's boring to watching someone shoot at someone else and keep missing.

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Saturday, December 10, 2011 7:50 PM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
. . . it's boring to watching someone shoot at someone else and keep missing.

Then you will love Jayne in Full Metal Jacket



The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity", where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Saturday, January 7, 2012 3:23 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Remember Pulp Fiction? Samuel L. Jackson, playing a hit-man, decides to retire after a punk fires every bullet in his gun at Jackson and miraculously misses at close range. It was a sign from God to retire and become a preacher-man.

Mal is not some frightened punk that can't shoot straight. How can Mal miss at close range? And yet he misses the Operative. It's a bleeping miracle direct from God!

The Operative, just like Samuel L Jackson, gets introspective and decides to retire at the end of Serenity. That was very Tarantino of Joss Whedon.



The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity", where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Saturday, January 7, 2012 6:49 AM

CHRISISALL


Quote:

Originally posted by two:
Mal becomes a dope.


That's one thing I can relate to- I'm generally a smart fellow, but I can become a dope when attempting to multi-task!


The laughing Chrisisall


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Saturday, January 7, 2012 6:54 AM

CHRISISALL


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
[B
Maybe Mal was out of bullets for some reason and remembered how impossible beating the Operative in melee was, so he had to resort to try to tricking the Operative. So maybe he was hoping the Operative would try what he did, only the Operative didn't fall like Mal was hoping.

Actually, that was my impression the first time I saw the movie.


The laughing Chrisisall


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Saturday, January 7, 2012 7:02 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


If Mal had his head on straight, the Operative would have died, thus ending any possibility of the Operative redeeming himself in the next movie for all his evil. It was either divine providence or Joss that muddled Mal's mind so the Operative could have a future in Serenity 2. I'm going with a God-given-miracle rather than merely human Joss Whedon saving the Operative for later use.

It's also a miracle (or Joss, again) when Jayne gets speared by Reavers. A little whiskey on the entrance and exit wounds plus a dirty rag for a bandage made him all better. That was good whiskey!


The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Saturday, January 7, 2012 8:43 AM

ECGORDON

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


The one thing you keep harping on is how all of this might shape events in Serenity 2. Joss structured the ultimate screenplay and the finished film with the notion that it was possible he would NOT get a second chance.




wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

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Saturday, January 7, 2012 10:01 AM

CHRISISALL


Pretty gorram smart if you ask me.


The laughing Chrisisall


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Saturday, January 7, 2012 12:10 PM

BYTEMITE


Quote:


It's also a miracle (or Joss, again) when Jayne gets speared by Reavers. A little whiskey on the entrance and exit wounds plus a dirty rag for a bandage made him all better. That was good whiskey!



This is one of the things I more have an issue with. That kind of injury with that treatment resulted in a lot of amputations in the ole west, and often the infection would spread so quickly that they'd have to amputate BOTH legs and the person would die anyway.

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Sunday, January 8, 2012 2:57 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by ecgordon:
The one thing you keep harping on is how all of this might shape events in Serenity 2. Joss structured the ultimate screenplay and the finished film with the notion that it was possible he would NOT get a second chance.

Imagine Joss as a average Hollywood writer:

Joss would have the Operative throw himself on his sword. The Major Evil Character is punished very dramatically in the typical Hollywood movie.

If Joss was average, he would have split the money from the Bank Heist. The crew than splits until Joss writes the Firefly versions of Ocean's 11, 12 & 13, about a ragtag bunch of space criminals gathered together for one more robbery of an interplanetary casino. Each sequel has a new ship called Serenity which gets destroyed at the end of the movie for extra dramatic punch! Didn't Star Trek destroy Enterprise?

Joss is not an average Hollywood writer. Joss left his story open to plenty of different possibilities for Serenity 2.

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Sunday, January 8, 2012 3:13 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
Quote:

It's also a miracle (or Joss, again) when Jayne gets speared by Reavers. A little whiskey on the entrance and exit wounds plus a dirty rag for a bandage made him all better. That was good whiskey!
This is one of the things I more have an issue with. That kind of injury with that treatment resulted in a lot of amputations in the ole west, and often the infection would spread so quickly that they'd have to amputate BOTH legs and the person would die anyway.

Joss should not have harpooned Jayne because he can't walk or even stand because of blood-loss and cut muscles and nerves. Reavers could have lassoed Jayne or something gentler like that. Reavers could use bolas to capture Jayne -- three leather bound rocks tied together with approximately three feet long leather straps. Reavers know gauchos.

A hunter using bolas while mounted on a horse. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolas

"Bolas of three weights are usually designed with two shorter cords with heavier weights, and one longer cord with a light weight. The heavier weights fly at the front parallel to each other, hit either side of the legs, and the lighter weight goes around, wrapping up the legs."

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Monday, January 9, 2012 9:52 AM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht


How Serenity should have ended: Wash and Book should have almost died. Come very close. River should not have been so obscenely normal at the very end because it gives less clever viewers the idea that she is all stable now suddenly, or even cured, and then she isn't touched anymore which is boring. I don't think that's what Joss was trying to do, but he underestimated his audience's ... something. You should see how many awful "River is fine now and dating Jayne" fanfics there are out there, yuck and boring. That's what I say.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Monday, January 9, 2012 11:41 AM

CHRISISALL


Oh, she was still touched IMO, just less irritatingly (to the crew) so.


The laughing Chrisisall


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Monday, January 9, 2012 2:16 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht


I know that most clever people would deduce that she's still touched, but you'd be surprised how many people don't get it. Now she and the crew know that she can fight and kill badguys well, I think her nightmare load would decrease some which is a fabulous thing all on its own, but a secret you didn't know you had being revealed isn't going to fix a brain that has been cut into and rearranged. And most people when I talk to them about it come to understand this, just a few don't get it.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Tuesday, January 10, 2012 5:55 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Everybody over 13 at PG-13 Serenity knew if they think for a second that Jayne will gush a gallon of blood when he is harpooned by Reavers. If Jayne had bleed for real, Serenity would be R rated. The harpooning was one of several places where Joss Whedon went beyond expecting the audience to willingly suspend disbelief and kept going into "nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people." And it is true! Serenity broke even. Eventually.


The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Tuesday, January 10, 2012 5:56 AM

ZEEK


Quote:

Originally posted by two:
Quote:

Originally posted by ecgordon:
Serenity should have ended with the ship landing directly on top of Two so he (she?) wouldn't be around to try and tell us how they can write better screenplays than Joss Whedon.

What Joss did can't be blamed on me. He wrote two versions of the Operative/Mal gunfight. These are almost identical, except Joss shrank the field of battle from 40 feet down to spitting/pissing distance. When Joss did that, he made it hard to believe the Operative and Mal can miss. I'm not rewriting Joss's gunfight. Joss rewrote his own. Or the set designer told Joss to make the fight cozy to save money . . .

Can't Miss At This Range


The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two


Mal wasn't trying to kill the Operative. He was just trying to delay him long enough to get the message out. Mal's a softy at heart. You don't really believe his talk at the end of being liable to kill the Operative if he ever sees him again do you?

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Tuesday, January 10, 2012 9:50 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by Zeek:
Mal wasn't trying to kill the Operative. He was just trying to delay him long enough to get the message out. Mal's a softy at heart. You don't really believe his talk at the end of being liable to kill the Operative if he ever sees him again do you?

Mal was feeling warm and fuzzy at the end of Serenity because the Operative had saved Mal's life, Mal's crew plus the ship. All these wonderful things happened after the Mal/Operative duel. Remember Mal trying to stab the Operative in the face? Mal wasn't feeling friendly. He might even have had murder in his heart.

It made no sense for Mal to turn his back on the Operative after being shot by him. And yet, that's what Joss Whedon made Mal do. Never mind. It's just a movie. What has sense got to do with it?

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Tuesday, January 10, 2012 11:44 AM

BYTEMITE


I always figured there'd be worse complications for Mal if he killed the Operative instead of left him alive. In the very least, he'd know what the Operative looked like for future murder attempts, whereas he wouldn't if there were a new Operative.

But the Alliance might go after him for revenge, and for certain they'd all stay fugitives instead of the Operative clearing their names, not that Mal would have guessed the Operative would do that.

Plus, Mal's a hero, he's sometimes dumb that way. He might have averted it by kicking Crow into the engine, but he let Niska and Saffron go.

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Tuesday, January 10, 2012 12:36 PM

CHRISISALL


Quote:

Originally posted by Bytemite:
Mal's a hero, he's sometimes dumb that way.





The laughing Chrisisall


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Tuesday, January 10, 2012 12:57 PM

CHRISISALL


Quote:

Originally posted by two:
Jayne will gush a gallon of blood when he is harpooned by Reavers. If Jayne had bled for real, Serenity would be R rated. The harpooning was one of several places where Joss Whedon went beyond expecting the audience to willingly suspend disbelief


Two, I'm gonna stop you dead in your tracks here.
#1- you don't start gushing UNTIL it gets pulled out, and Jayne has a lot of blood bein' as big as he is.
#2- Blood itself ('specially from an arm or leg) don't an "R" rating make.
#3- They live on a spaceship, dear. Best doctor from Ariel. Future. A pierced leg ain't nuthin' can't be fixed.
Dude, you want reality in your carnage, watch the last Rambo flick.


The laughing Chrisisall


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Wednesday, January 11, 2012 7:31 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by chrisisall:
Two, I'm gonna stop you dead in your tracks here.
#1- you don't start gushing UNTIL it gets pulled out, and Jayne has a lot of blood bein' as big as he is.
#2- Blood itself ('specially from an arm or leg) don't an "R" rating make.
#3- They live on a spaceship, dear. Best doctor from Ariel. Future. A pierced leg ain't nuthin' can't be fixed.
Dude, you want reality in your carnage, watch the last Rambo flick.

Jayne removed the harpoon by myself, no help from Simon, and fought on. Oddly, he did not gush blood when he pulled it. It is like a cartoon for Joss Whedon to harpoon Jayne and then Jayne fights on and on. Too bad Joss didn't imagine another method for the Reavers snagging Jayne.

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Wednesday, January 11, 2012 7:50 AM

CHRISISALL


Quote:

Originally posted by two:
Oddly, he did not gush blood when he pulled it.

Clearly, you missed where he tied it up tight to prevent that.
And, well... I guess I missed it too... but just 'cause it didn't get showed doesn't mean it weren't done.



The laughing Chrisisall


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Wednesday, January 11, 2012 9:37 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:

Originally posted by two:
Oddly, he did not gush blood when he pulled it.

Clearly, you missed where he tied it up tight to prevent that.
And, well... I guess I missed it too... but just 'cause it didn't get showed doesn't mean it weren't done.



The laughing Chrisisall


While Joss Whedon was writing both Serenity and X-Men, maybe he made Jayne a future son of Wolverine! Or got the pages of the two scripts mixed up! That explains everything! Then Joss Whedon didn't have to worry that Jayne can haemorrhage to death from harpooning. Jayne is a hairy mutant from Outer Space!

Jayne's grandpa, Wolverine, gets scorched, Astonishing X-Men No. 1, July 2004. Written by Joss Whedon.


The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Wednesday, January 11, 2012 11:30 AM

STORYMARK


Quote:

Originally posted by Wishimay:
Yeah, we've thought of that every time. I could try to find a loophole like it's harder to hit somebody in the head and Mal's arguably not the greatest shot so he went for a safe shot, or maybe he thought killing the Op would've just made somebody else come after soo not the greatest idea, maybe his first concern was just slowing him down, but....



And maybe folks aint at their most mentally acute right after falling out of space, crashing, watching a friend die, all while be chased by a horde of cannibals.

I don't really think, with all that was going on, that Mal was putting a whole lot of mental juice into reflecting on past defeats.

The man was in the moment.

"Goram it kid, let's frak this thing and go home! Engage!"

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Wednesday, January 11, 2012 12:44 PM

CHRISISALL


Quote:

Originally posted by Storymark:
And maybe folks aint at their most mentally acute right after falling out of space, crashing, watching a friend die, all while be chased by a horde of cannibals.

The man was in the moment.


Story, my MAN!!! Thanks for the simplest, best explanation.


The laughing Chrisisall


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Wednesday, January 11, 2012 10:28 PM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by Storymark:
And maybe folks aint at their most mentally acute right after falling out of space, crashing, watching a friend die, all while be chased by a horde of cannibals.

I don't really think, with all that was going on, that Mal was putting a whole lot of mental juice into reflecting on past defeats.

If I had been shot in the back with a ray-gun, fallen on my head, I would lie down and die. Mal is sterner stuff. He gets back up, but forgets the Operative. Falling on his head must have damaged Mal's memory. “Operative? Where?” says Mal in confusion. Turn around, Mal. He's behind you. He has a grudge! Remember? Mal goes, “What grudge? Who?” Mal, his brain on autopilot, can't stop the signal playing in his head long enough to deal with the Operative standing right behind, ready to kill him.

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, January 12, 2012 7:44 AM

WISHIMAY


How much would it have sucked if he HAD just shot him in the head and that was it??, No climactic fight scene, no forcibly showing the Operative "the error of his ways" ?? No happy conflict resolution and affirmation at the end??

Nah, Joss got it right...

Sometimes, it really is about crafting a tale then it is taking an easy action "out". It's okay to do that stuff ina series when you're runnin' outta time for an eppisode, but ya got time to do it right in a movie.

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Tuesday, July 3, 2012 3:55 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by Wishimay:
How much would it have sucked if he HAD just shot him in the head and that was it??, No climactic fight scene, no forcibly showing the Operative "the error of his ways" ?? No happy conflict resolution and affirmation at the end??

I admit the shooting in the head goes too far. The Mal/Operative fight needed to be quick, but not dead. There was time for all that conflict resolution later with Loki in The Avengers and that fight was over in 20 seconds.



If a fight goes on too long, questions start popping up: Does Mal really feel like telling a joke ("I'm goin' with wraith") after being run through by a sword? Is there a Secret Pinch of Death known by Operatives and unknown in the 21st century? Does moving Mal's "nerve cluster" prevent the Pinch from being effective? Make a fight quick and nobody asks those embarrassing questions. Here is an embarrassing question that Joss immediately answered: Is Loki god-like enough to survive the Hulk thrashing? Joss showed us that Loki was still alive. It added 5 seconds to the scene, but it was worth it to hear Loki whine.

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Sunday, January 20, 2013 3:34 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Nathan Fillion is about as naturally menacing as Elvis Presley is in his cowboy movie Love Me Tender, the one where he dies in the end. Mal's smartassery remarks while fighting did not help sell Nathan as a tough guy.

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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