Page 3 of the story reveals that Jayne has carved his name
(and some impolite expressions) into the wooden table in
Serenity's dining area at the place he's accustomed to
sitting.
Page 3 also indicates that Jayne chews tobacco.
In this story, River has apparently precognitive visions of
events that will befall each of the crewmembers during their
lives. We don't always learn exactly what she saw in each
case, but in those cases her dialog gives some indications.
- River sees Simon
looking happy.
|
- Jayne will never
captain his own ship
as he'd like, but he
will be happy in his
own way and even,
occasionally,
heroic.
|
- Shepherd Book
will die before any
of the rest of them.
Painfully. We see
this death occur
later in
"A Better World".
|
- Zoe's ordeal
will almost break
her when no one's
around to see it,
but she will be
okay. This must be a
reference to her
husband Wash's death
in
"Living Weapon".
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- Kaylee will do
something for which
River is thankful.
|
- River looks
about to cry and
hugs Wash fiercely,
saying nothing
before leaving him
behind in the
cockpit. This is an
indication that
she's seen his
upcoming death
in
"Living Weapon".
|
- River answers
two unspoken
questions for Inara,
"Yes and no." We
only know the
questions have to do
with herself and
with Mal, but
neither we nor Inara
know what order the
questions should be
asked to get that
answer. They both
involve something
happening, and one
way of asking means
relief and joy and
the other regret and
despair.
|
- The final vision is
of River piloting
Serenity,
with an
older-looking Mal in
the co-pilot's seat.
At the end of
"Living Weapon", we
see her pilot the
ship like a natural
for the first time,
with Mal beside her.
The vision seems to
indicate she will
remain there for
some time and become
the ship's primary
pilot.
|
On page 4 of the story, Book plays with the bound locks of
his hair, making River afraid his hair will pop loose. This
is a reference to "Jaynestown"
in which Book's unbound, lengthy, kinky hair frightened her.
On page 5 of the story, River seems to be remarking that the
ship's engine looks like a pig. Which I guess it vaguely
does.
Also on page 5, Kaylee, lying in her hammock in the engine
room, motions for the visiting River to join her. The
narrative remarks that it would be an image Jayne would have
deemed bunk-worthy. This is a reference to Jayne's repeated
comment "I'll be in my bunk," when twice seeing Inara and
her latest client, a beautiful female political councilor,
together in "War Stories".
On page 6 of the story, Wash muses on how, if you put
dinosaurs on the cockpit dashboard one time, it's
all anyone wants to talk about; the same with flowered
shirts. Of course, viewers know that Wash has dinosaurs on
the dash almost all the time and he regularly wears Hawaiian
shirts.
Page 7 of the story indicates that the pile of blankets and
bedspreads on Inara's bed were acquired on a dozen different
worlds.
Page 8 of the story indicates the ship has just come from a
planet on a job for which they did not get paid. This could
possibly be a reference to "The
Message", at the end of which the crew delivered the
dead body of Tracey to his family on St. Albans, despite all
the trouble he'd caused them; presumably, they did not
receive any monetary compensation for this act. However, Mal
also skips his morning shower here because they'd not been
able to refill the ship's water reserves on their last stop;
if that stop was with Tracey's family on St. Albans, you'd
think they could have at least gotten some water from them.
Page 9 of the story reveals that the sunken area below the
cockpit of Serenity is the most forward area of the
ship and offers the best view out. Mal often takes his
coffee there.
Page 10 of the story describes River descending a ladder
with a dancer's grace. This is a reference to the fact that
actress Summer Glau, who portrayed River in the TV series
and movie, is also a ballet dancer.
The "crystal" of the title of the story seems to be a
reference to the crystal-clarity of River's visions here.
But it may also be a reference to the proverbial crystal
ball that reveals the future to a fortune teller.
Unanswered Questions
Will fans ever get the stories that tell of the outcomes of
the as yet untold visions seen by River?
Back to Firefly/Serenity
Episode Studies
