River in Ariel by asarian

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River in Ariel

POSTED BY: ASARIAN
UPDATED: Thursday, February 9, 2006 04:47
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Thursday, February 9, 2006 4:47 AM

Hi!

I was wondering whether someone would be willing to help me out, here? This may all be air through the engine for more experienced folks, but I was struggling with the following passage (Ariel). And I could use some clarification, please.

River: "They took Christmas away."
Jayne: "What the hell now?"
River: "Came downstairs for the shiny presents; they took the tree, and the stockings; nothing left but coal."
Jayne: "Would you shut her up?"
River: "Don't look in the closet, either -- it's greedy. "It's not in the spirit of the holiday."

The timeline on this seems reversed. "Don't look in the closet, either" (in the literal timeline) appears to refer to Christmas Eve, I reckon (or earlier); at least before Christmas Morning, when River "Came downstairs for the shiny presents; (and found that) they took the tree." The timeline reversal thing is not really all that relevant here, I suppose, except that it nicely matches a pattern throughout the script ("They're doing it backwards; walking up the downslide").

Okay. But what exactly is our River referring to? The way I figure this, it all breaks down into two major parts.

Part One:

River: "They took Christmas away."
River: "Came downstairs for the shiny presents; they took the tree, and the stockings; nothing left but coal."

Now, what does it mean? Does it refer to the Blue Gloves, who stole her life? It's a popular theory. It could also refer to the Blue Gloves in a more immediate sense: when they came for her, in the hospital they're robbing. Or to the whole plan-gone-horribly-wrong-because-of-Jayne's-horrible-betrayal thingy (the Feds are, after all, literally coming down the stairs when they make the arrest).

Part Two:

Leaving in the middle whether River is a true 'precog' (after all, when someone's predictions are that good, what difference does it really make?), River does seem to have a clear sense of premonition. There are several indicators to wit:

"Copper for a kiss?" (hinting to Jayne's sudden, but inevitable betrayal).

Or, River down the ramp, moments before their arrest:

"No, no, I can't go back. I don't wanna go back."

And the strongest:

"He's not going to help him right ... You have to help him! ... He's killing him!"

So, we get to:

River: "Don't look in the closet, either -- it's greedy. "It's not in the spirit of the holiday."

I believe the punch line of River's whole cryptic monologue is delivered in precisely the last word: "GREEDY" (smiling at Jayne). Just like the "Copper for a kiss?" thingy, River lets Jayne know she knows his secret (there's also the double-entendre, it seems, of her telling Jayne/us that she CAN peek ahead). And then she adds that "It's not in the spirit of the holiday" to have done what he did (I'll say!). Now, going with the latter, and "the spirit of the holiday" refers to say, the spirit of bonding between members of the Serenity crew, then "They took Christmas away" suddenly makes a lot more sense, too; then, keeping in mind the timeline reversal thingy, River would have meant: "They took my (sense of) family away; that which I had on Serenity."

Is it bad I do not understand everything she says? But, in my defense, I've only been at this for two weeks. So, be gentle; I cannot be expected to know everything yet. :) I want to, though.

Thank you!

--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam

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