The Moonbrain And The Mercenary: River Tam/Jayne Cobb (Firefly)
Title: The Moonbrain And The Mercenary
Author:
willow_reece
Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: River Tam/Jayne Cobb (Rayne)
Spoilers: Everything up to and including the BDM.
Disclaimer: I do not own Firefly or its characters. Joss is boss.♥
Author's Note: Episode order used is the one off the back of the DVD sets. Also, I wrote this whole thing in one day while main-lining caffeine and on three hours of sleep. It is a compilation of various notes taken over the last three-four months all pasted together. I apologize for any and all lame jokes, ramblings, possibly sounding long winded and most likely being a bit too wordy in places.
~~~~I've been asked 'the question' more times than I can count. Every Rayne shipper knows what question I'm talking about; the one that even when you try to answer it seems to somehow fall flat or the answer you give just isn't a 'good enough' explanation. Entire threads have been dedicated to this one simple question which holds no simple answer--"Why Rayne?"
Why is the sky blue? Why do birds sing? It just is and they just do. I know that may be an inadequate answer for most people--but have you ever tried defining something that resists defining? They are not Mal and Inara--a thwarted love, filled with many complications and tears--They are not Kaylee and Simon; shiny and new and fumbling. They are not Wash and Zoe--happily married with their fair share of burdens to bear.
Now I’m not saying that a Jayne/River relationship would be without pain, tears, highs, lows, complications and most likely--almost definitely--some bloodshed. I’m merely saying that since the series itself was unable to progress beyond the fifteen episode marker and there can only be so much development in a two-hour movie, we never got to see them progress past the enemy/other/crew stage of their relationship.
However, we are given some very delectable tidbits to suggest that maybe one day, they could have been more.
The Moonbrain - River Tam
"There was nothing that didn't come as naturally to her as breathing does to us." Simon Tam ~ Serenity (Part Two)
Innocent, beautiful, genius, privileged, weapon, broken, lost, crazy, ballerina, killer--There are many words to choose from in order to describe River Tam. She is Simon's little sister, Kaylee's playmate and Mal's responsibility. She played a role in each crew member’s life and by the end of 1.15 Objects in Space, she had become family. By the time we see her again in the BDM, it is obvious she has grown up, albeit only a little. Her real leaps and bounds happen during the BDM. We watch her turn from the crazy girl into a cold blooded killer in the Maidenhead--we feel her pain as she tells her brother to "Put a bullet to me--bullet through the pan, squish." as Simon wipes tears and blood from her porcelain skin. We cheer as she gets her 'hero shot' and we finish with her in a beautiful scene as co-pilot. River Tam is a girl fractured into pieces. Her perceptions of everything around her are turned into a kaleidoscope of sights, sounds and colors. She is trying to make sense; trying to make others see her sense. But something is often lost in translation. Simon has no idea how much was done to her, or how much further they wanted to take her. She is damaged. But we are left with the impression post-BDM that she is getting better--one step at a time.
River Tam has been hailed as one of the best, if not the best, sci-fi character ever created. I happen to agree with that school of thought.
The Mercenary - Jayne Cobb
"Sex. Muscles. Humor. Thuggery. Jayne." -- Adam Baldwin, summarizing his character
Big, crude, rowdy, obnoxious, sarcastic, insensitive, psychotic, greedy, amoral, sinful---Jayne Cobb is a far cry from prince charming. But that's why we love him ever so much. He tells the truth, whether you want to hear it or not. He would quite possibly step over your fresh corpse for a stick of gum and he is perfectly alright with the knowledge that he is not a good man. It was obvious, at least I think it would be to most people, that Jayne wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the box. By that I mean he is not a Rhodes Scholar, but he isn't by any means stupid. He has street-smarts, the set of skills he needs to survive in his chosen life.
He can read people, in some ways. Exhibit A: the interrogation scene in Serenity (Part Two) where he immediately knows that Dobson is lying. (In fact, Dobson actually says "I can see that you're not stupid," which I use as my reference point for Jayne having an IQ above that of a ficus plant. Also the fact that he knows the word “pretentious” from Shindig.) Of course, this ability to read people is only in areas where it's useful for him, things like lying. More subtle emotional cues (like when Mal hurts Kaylee's feelings at the beginning of Shindig) fly right over his head. Jayne has the possibility to be either an amazing anti-hero or the big bad villain. His line in Serenity (Part Two), "Pain is scary." showed that he was obviously willing to cross over into the more traditional area of the 'bad guy'. However, thank the gods, or rather Joss, neither the show nor BDM went in that direction.
Jayne Cobb is not the hero, but he's not the villain either. He exists somewhere in-between, in a place I like to call the 'grey-zone'. Many of Joss's characters exist there--Spike, Angel, Mal, Anya, Willow, Andrew, Faith, and perhaps the entire cast of Dollhouse, as well as River herself. Joss is the master of creating complex characters that have both good and bad qualities. Characters that are fallible and human. In my opinion, Jayne falls under that heading.
The Big Damn Series
1.01 - Serenity (Part One)
We meet the man they call Jayne. I'll be honest, my first impression of Jayne was basically, "Oh, he's hot ." Then he spoke; and I added on a "kind of a jerk though." Jayne takes an almost immediate dislike to the good Doc Tam. Although to be fair, I think the only people who didn't automatically distrust the Doc were Kaylee, Inara and Shepherd Book, he had that snobby, core-bred attitude about him for the first few episodes that just makes you wanna smack him sometimes. However, Simon was good at his job. Now as I get back on topic, my second impression of Jayne came during the infirmary scene where he crouches by the window in order to watch Simon and Mal tend to Kaylee's wounds. It showed that although he is a big tough gun totin' merc--who had teased and embarrassed Kaylee earlier within the same episode--that he did indeed care about her, as crew and possibly even family. River makes her appearance at the very end of the episode as Mal kicks open the cyro box to reveal a sleeping and very naked River Tam.
1.02 - Serenity (Part Two)
As Mal basically calls Simon a slave trading rich boy pervert and worse, River pops screaming from the cyro box. She crawls out, still naked, afraid and very confused. Simon, who until this point had been held in a head lock by Jayne, rushes to her side. The question I pose, why did Jayne suddenly just 'decide' to let go of Simon? It's not as if Simon got away on his own (re-watch the scene). Jayne loosens his grip the moment River crawls out of that box. There is of course the obvious answer; there was a naked girl within his line of sight! He could have simply been distracted by that fact. As a matter of fact, his line to the fed, Lawrence, proves that he did indeed notice more than the fact that she was naked and screaming.
"It's a girl. Cute, too, but I don't think she's all there. 'Course, not all of her has to be..."
That one line proves, if nothing else, that Jayne was physically attracted to her from the first time he laid eyes on the girl.
1.03 - The Train Job
Time for some thrilling heroics! In this episode, we see Jayne wear a hat, one of many; we see Jayne be angry, annoyed and rude. We see Jayne insult Simon (Which will happen a lot, both in the series and movie); and we also watch him jump onto a moving train. For a lot of Rayne shippers, I don't think this was 'the' episode that made them a fan of the couple; but for me, it was the episode I first noticed the two characters as having that 'maybe' possibility. Now since this was the episode FOX originally aired as the 'Series Premiere' that means from basically the first episode, I had thought those two wacky kids might get together. Why? Well it comes from the two scenes they shared.
The first being Jayne insulting Simon while River watched from high above on the catwalk. One can assume that since we did not see her leave after Simon did, that she stayed up there and watched the entire show, from Jayne and Kaylee's exchange, to his jumping out of the ship and being pulled back up injured.
The second was the infirmary scene. Simon is patching Jayne up and River delivers her "Two by two, hands of blue" line. Jayne then lashes out at her, telling her in not so many words to shut up. As a result of this, River actually appears to become upset by this. Afterwards, she stops speaking and we don't see her again until the end of the episode as she sits alone in her bunk.
1.04 - Bushwhacked
The episode opens with the entire crew, sans Inara, Simon and River, playing a game of hoop ball. As the others enjoy their game, Simon and Inara talk about River; while she watches the game intently across from them. Once the proximity alarm blares to life, Wash goes to check and after the ship makes a startling jolt, the others follow.
Jayne sits in what we assume is the co-pilots chair while River tucks herself into a corner just outside the doorway. From the positions of the camera and the layout of the ship, it appears as though River has picked the perfect spot to be able to see the Merc. He could also theoretically see her if he just turned ever so slightly towards the door. However, none of the other crew would know she was there unless they walked through the doorway.
Due to the horror of what happened on the derelict ship the crew has encountered, River is having nightmares. Simon tries to offer comfort, telling her that there is no screaming; she only replies that "there was." While this is happening, Jayne comes to tell Simon to suit up because Mal wants them over on the other ship. While there, Jayne spares River a sidelong glance and she actually seems to calm down some in his presence.
Later, Mal, Zoe, Simon, Kaylee, and River (who decided to 'follow the voices' onto the other ship) go in search of Jayne. If you watch closely you can see that River is watching Jayne a lot off and on throughout that entire scene.
1.05 - Shindig
Ah, space poker. Fun, no? While Simon, Book and Jayne engage in this exciting game--where the pot contains chores instead of money, River wanders into the room unnoticed. She makes her way over to the canned foods. She quietly observes the BlueSun logos emblazoned on the cans; before ripping them to pieces. Book and Simon rush to her side, trying to comfort her in their own ways. Jayne meanwhile remains seated and offers a helpful commentary (while stealing some of Book's winnings back).
"Better see ta her. That's a bad habit for a fugitive. Do that in public; get herself hauled off. So are we gonna play cards or screw around?"
Later, after Badger arrives, we get a sane moment from River as she reads him, even adopting his accent. "Sad little king of a sad little hill." Jayne's reaction to this appears to be glee; he quite enjoys watching her mess with Badger. She was the perfect distraction, too bad nobody thought to use it to their own advantage.
1.06 - Safe
River speaks to the cows. "Little soul, big worlds." Mal comments that the cows had been on-board for three weeks and she hadn't gone near them but now that they were on Jiangyin, she had a sudden need to 'commune with the beasts'. River explains it for him:
"They weren't cows inside, but now they see sky and they remember what they are."
This makes perfect sense to Mal while Jayne still seems confused, although possibly amused. After Simon and River are kidnapped by hill folk, Jayne is thrilled. He raids the Doc's bunk, taking anything he thinks may be of value. He reads from Simon's 'journal' in quite possibly one of the most memorable scenes of the show.
"Dear Diary, today I was pompous and my sister was crazy. Today we were kidnapped by hill folk never ta be seen again. It was the best day ever." Then upon picking up a purple silk shirt which belongs to Simon: "amazing we kept them this long."
However, he helps with their rescue. As it stands, he was most likely ordered to by Mal; still, look at how he stares down at the crowd and notice how River continuously looks up, even though Mal is the one talking on the ground.
Then later, when Simon and River join the crew for dinner, River chooses the empty seat next to Jayne and then steals his bread. You can hear Jayne give a small "hey" in response and you can see River smile as the others laugh.
1.07 - Our Mrs.Reynolds
Jayne is given a rain stick. Rain, Rayne? Yes? He then tells the person who gave it to him that he will treasure it forever. Although Jayne and River spend no time together or near each other in this episode, we do still get a few small things.
Such as the scene where everyone meets Saffron, notice how River stands off to the side simply watching, what appears to be more than once, Jayne as he makes his pass at Saffron. Then as he and Kaylee are trying to open the door to the bridge, Saffron welded it shut; you can see River once again standing off to the side near the end of the corridor just watching. And last but not least, as everyone gathers on the bridge, River chooses the same spot as she had back in Bushwhacked just outside the door. Jayne is once again in the co-pilots chair. If he were to look behind him, or if she were to look slightly to the left, they would be staring right at each other.
1.08 - Jaynestown
As the others prepare to leave for the mudders town, River stands with her hands primly crossed behind her back, a smile on her face and mischief in her eyes. Was it possible she already knew about 'The Hero of Canton'? The girls psychic, so most likely.
1.09 - Out Of Gas
During the opening scene, Jayne and River do appear to steal a few glances at each other, however that could just be my shipper heart wishing it so. Later on though, they do sit near each other as Mal explains his plan, and during this scene they do look at each other a few times.
And then the scene that I'm not sure if anyone else has pointed out, while Mal is lying in the infirmary, both River and Jayne enter the room together along with Inara. The three of them had been conversing before coming in to visit their Captain.
1.10 - Ariel
The episode that I believe brought many a Rayne fan into creation. Now you might say 'wtf?' to that as this is the episode where River goes after Jayne with a butchers knife and Jayne tries to sell River back to the feds, but you have to look underneath that.
Let's start with the obvious. Jayne was wearing a BlueSun logo t-shirt. We know from Shindig that BlueSun are "the ones that take you." It is possible that River was merely trying to destroy the logo--and not actually hurt Jayne. But as both Simon and Mal state later in the episode, she had been getting worse recently, not better.
However it could be a lot simpler; Jayne had already been thinking about getting rid of them and she felt the need to lash out. Or she could have been trying to warn him about the true nature of the BlueSun Corporation. BlueSun=Evil.
"He looks better in red." Many people have different theories as to what this could mean. Mine is a little out of the box, although if you consider River's 'gift', plausible.
There are many psychics who have been described to have 'the third eye'. River herself even claims that Simon calls her ability to 'know' things without prior knowledge 'her third eye'. This can be found in the 'R. Tam Sessions' posted at a wide variety of places (I recommend YouTube as it's posted like six different times). Being psychic comes in many different flavours; whether you can see into the future, commune with spirits, read impressions and vibes from a person, place, or thing--there are many options. River appears to be able to feel impressions of past events in Bushwhacked, she gleans information directly from another person’s thoughts in Shindig and she sees into the future by a small fraction of time Out Of Gas. River clearly screams fire twice, before two fireballs rip through the ship.
Another part of her gift may be that she can see a person’s aura or their soul. It is believed that everyone’s aura is unique and can change color depending on the situation. River could have been--in a roundabout sort of way--trying to make Jayne's aura resemble what she was used to. Since she first came on board, Jayne was always angry, crude, obnoxious, sarcastic, and insensitive towards both her and Simon. However at the beginning of this episode and in episodes prior, he seemed to become if not nicer towards the Tams, then at least more tolerant.
Once inside the hospital, Mal and Zoe leave Jayne to care for the temporally 'dead' Tam siblings. He takes that time to call the feds. Why did he do this? He is a greedy son-of-bitch. True, however there is another possible reason. Fear. Of River and for Kaylee or Inara. What if River had gone after one of them with the knife instead of him?
Yes it was a horrible thing to do, but he had more than one reason for trying to get rid of her and her brother. They had proven to be trouble; big time bad trouble that could land them all in an alliance prison cell or worse, six feet under.
After he returns from making his phone call, River wakes. Sitting straight up and scaring the go se out of Jayne, she asks the now infamous line: "Copper for a kiss?"
And then she becomes confused before giving him a look that seems to say 'Oh, you still went through with it.' Their moment is then interrupted by a spazing Simon. (Two things: the look on Jayne’s face as River feels the 'side effects', i.e., vomits from the drug is friggin hilarious. And just out of curiosity, where was Jayne when River changed out of her dress and into the hospital gown? Did he leave the room or stay put?)
As the three move through the hospital River points out the 'patients who are going to die' before one of them does actually go into cardiac arrest. Simon leaves to save the man’s life and Jayne holds River back by placing his arm across her chest. Why across her chest? Why not just grip her shoulder lightly? Then when Simon returns Jayne does not immediately remove his hand as would be expected--instead it remains on her shoulder as they begin to walk away. Also, notice the proud smile River beams at Simon and then Jayne, as if to say 'Isn't my brother wonderful? You should think so because I do.'
Once inside the imaging suite, Jayne seems to actually feel some sympathy for the poor broken girl. He also appears interested in what was done to her--actually asking Simon to explain. When River freaks, Jayne instantly puts his hand over her mouth to quiet her down. (Notice how the brain scan turns from green to pink as River screams.)
"Your toes are in the sand...” Could mean so many things but my guess--her way of telling him directly, or indirectly depending on how you look at it, that she knows what he did. Once on their way 'out the back', River tries to stop her forward momentum as she cries that she "doesn't want to go back, she can't go back" while Jayne opens the door and kind of avoids looking directly at her if I'm not mistaken.
Once in cuffs, the three sit next to each with Jayne in middle. Why didn't River sit next to her brother? They weren't forced to sit in any order. They do also sit rather close to each other in this scene. When River talks about they "took Christmas away-" and smiles at Jayne, he tells her to shut up or 'he'll make her shut up.' She gives him an 'I'm not scared of you' look that is adorable.
During their escape, after Jayne has taken out one of the guards, Simon got to be big and bad and take care of the other one; Jayne glances her way more than once as he gets the keys. He then un-cuffs her. Why didn't he just let Simon do it? His hands were free--Jayne was the one who freed them. When River feels the blue hands arrive she proclaims that it is "too late; they're here." The look on her face and the terror in her voice speaks volumes. When she runs away and Jayne hears the screams of the alliance officers, you can almost see the little hamster inside his head turning. I think that this is the moment where he finally starts to understand. Where he gets it: she was not just crazy; this girl was brutally tortured into being crazy. By the very same people that he had planned to give her back to--who were also now hot on their heels, thanks to him.
They just barely manage to escape, between a defective weapon and a locked door the suspense builds until they get lucky, Mal and Zoe save them. They rabbit out of there as fast as they can.
Once back on the ship Simon seems to have acquired hero worship, thanking Jayne and giving him praise. Jayne looks perpetually guilty and River only smiles at him. I'm sure she knows A: what he's thinking, that filthy guilty feeling deep down in the pit of his gut. And B: she also probably knows about the wrench Mal is going to use to knock him upside the head.
1.11 - War Stories
River enjoys the shiny apples that Jayne bought for the crew. Why did Jayne buy the apples? Regret? Guilt? Remorse? I'd vote all three as a major possibility.
1.12 - Trash
River teases Jayne; she really does. Taunting him with her: "Jayne is a girl’s name." To which he had replied "Well Jayne ain't a girl" before assuring Simon that if she were to keep that up he would show her good an' all Jayne is very much a man. Then while Simon is saying how he can’t think of a way Jayne could be cruder, River is looking at Jayne through her lashes with this sexy smirk on her face and looks like she’s interested. Am I the only one who thought this was a kind of wrong but obvious mode of flirting between the two? (Apparently not.)
Jayne then leaves and River tells Simon that Jayne is afraid that 'they'll know'. This is of course referencing the events in the last episode Ariel. Is it possible that the big, bad, cold-hearted merc is feeling remorse?
Later on, Jayne is electrocuted and after Simon puts his two cents in River adds in hers:
"Also, I can kill you with my brain."
The look on Jayne's face is priceless. He had better start being a good boy--or else.
1.13 - The Message
In the teaser, as the crew gathers to pick up their post, Book, Jayne and River arrive together; making it appear that the three went on a shopping trip together. Not unkindly, Jayne remarks that River is a mind readin' genius and yet she can't figure out to eat an ice planet. Then after Jayne receives his hat, if you pay attention to River, behind Mal and Zoe as they prepare to open the crate, you can see that River is smiling in Jayne's direction. As everyone leaves River trails behind Jayne and delivers her line to Simon: "You are such a boob."
Later, as Jayne and Book talk about death, River very calmly enters the room and lies down on the coffin. Jayne is the first one to notice what she is doing. Once both Jayne and Book suggest she move, she simply tells them that she is 'very comfortable'.
1.14 - Heart of Gold
The crew gathers in the cargo bay and learn that Inara's friend needs help. Jayne is all in--once he learns that they are whores. River is too busy with the birth of the baby to pay much attention to anything else. However, a couple of people have mentioned that if you look closely as Jayne and Book leave the cargo bay, River is smiling after them.
1.15 - Objects in Space
River wanders the ship in a daze, feeling things she can't even begin to understand. She moves around as if the ground is moving beneath her. As she slips into the kitchen, Jayne glances at her but does not acknowledge her presence. She stands in-between them and she then 'hears/sees' Jayne confessing to her that "the money was too good; I got stupid."
Once in the cargo bay, River has one of Jayne's guns. How she got the gun was never explained. When Mal reveals to the group that River really can read minds, Jayne gets pretty upset. Why? What has he been thinking that he doesn't want her to know? After Mal then tells everyone to go get some sleep, Jayne stays put. Why? What's he thinking about?
Once Jubal Early slithers aboard, he goes to Simon and asks if River is perhaps sleeping with any of the crew? Foreshadowing maybe? Jayne is the only man we actually see sleeping, besides married Wash and her brother. Mal has been knocked unconscious and so has Book.
And last but not least, why doesn't River ask Jayne for his help with Jubal Early? He would seem the best candidate besides Mal, who had already been knocked out once by the bounty hunter.
The Big Damn Movie
Going For A Ride: Something that has been latched onto by I think every Rayne fan out there is the fact that River and Jayne ride together in the back of the mule. That, to me, is not a very big thing. The mule only runs with four. Mal is driving and Zoe outranks both of them; where else would they sit?
Let's Be Bad Guy's: Once inside the bank Jayne is left to watch over River and the other people in the bank. When she senses the reavers, she has a physical reaction; screaming and throwing herself back onto the floor. Jayne rushes to her side asking if she is alright as he grasps her shoulders.
They Want Us Alive When They Eat Us: There is a very tiny, and I do mean tiny, piece of this scene that was cut where after Mal has pulled Jayne back into the mule he asks where his gun is and then it appears in front of him as River hands it to him. It was in the script and the story boards but not the movie. I so wish they had kept it in.
I'll Kill A Man In A Fair Fight: As Jayne talks to Kaylee we get a beautiful shot of River laying on the catwalk up above as she listens to them speak.
The Maidenhead: Once River has been triggered, Jayne attempts to subdue her. As he enters the brawl, watch how they watch each other. He shoves a guy. She kicks a guy in the back of the head, eyes on Jayne. He slams a guy down. It’s like they are showing off to each other. Jayne goes in for the grab and River then garbs his John Thomas and gives a hard twist before spinning away and knocking him senseless with a serving try.
"So what? Now that she's a killer woman we should be bringin' her tea and dumplings?"
Come Here Little Crazy: After the crew discusses what should be done about River, Jayne makes his own decision and tries to get rid of her. Of course, this doesn't go as planned as River knocks him out, again, before telling the others about Miranda.
Damagin' My Calm: Once on Miranda, River begins to have one of her episodes, Jayne gives his answer and Rayne shippers squee in joy because he is agreeing with her.
Let It Snow, Let It Hail, Let It Sleet, Let It Rayne
I feel that I may be inadequate to voice certain aspects of this ship; and since it has already been put into words so beautifully, I would recommend that if you feel that you still need more of an answer than I can give then read Is A Copper Worth It: Why River/Jayne? by elidyce over @ rayne_shippers. It explains more about the main issues a lot of non-Rayne fans bring up--the age difference, what could possibly attract River to Jayne, and vice-versa--as well as giving quite a few reasons why they would work for each other.
WebSites;
Rayne Shippers
Pretty Deadly: A Rayne Archive
Rayne Fic Rec; can be found here.
For newcomers to the ship I highly (As well as several other people I have talked to who are also big Rayne fans) recommend Dyce's Horseshoe Nails Series. It picks up at the end of Objects In Space and goes AU from there but with most canon events still happening, just with a Rayne twist. Links are below--start with Two Gorram Days and work your away across.
Two Gorram Days l Kinship l Bank Job l Miranda l Prodigal
References;
The Hero of Canton an awesome Jayne essay by inlovewithnight over @ idol_reflection
Rayne In Firefly by walkwithheroes also @ rayne_shippers
Thank You:
To gilove2dance for beta'ing this, pointing out a few things I missed and for just being awesome. This essay (and my fic) would suck without you.
To
an_ardent_rain for reminding me to add in Dyce's Horseshoe Nails Series (I still have no idea how I could forget the series that made me hardcore ship these two) and for being awesome as well. (I'm still a little sad your computer ate your copy of this.)
To everyone who made it this far in the reading process, I hope it was worth the effort put into it. I do also hope that this essay will help someone understand that indefinable question; 'Why Rayne?'
Author:
willow_reece
Fandom: Firefly
Pairing: River Tam/Jayne Cobb (Rayne)
Spoilers: Everything up to and including the BDM.
Disclaimer: I do not own Firefly or its characters. Joss is boss.♥
Author's Note: Episode order used is the one off the back of the DVD sets. Also, I wrote this whole thing in one day while main-lining caffeine and on three hours of sleep. It is a compilation of various notes taken over the last three-four months all pasted together. I apologize for any and all lame jokes, ramblings, possibly sounding long winded and most likely being a bit too wordy in places.
~~~~I've been asked 'the question' more times than I can count. Every Rayne shipper knows what question I'm talking about; the one that even when you try to answer it seems to somehow fall flat or the answer you give just isn't a 'good enough' explanation. Entire threads have been dedicated to this one simple question which holds no simple answer--"Why Rayne?"
Why is the sky blue? Why do birds sing? It just is and they just do. I know that may be an inadequate answer for most people--but have you ever tried defining something that resists defining? They are not Mal and Inara--a thwarted love, filled with many complications and tears--They are not Kaylee and Simon; shiny and new and fumbling. They are not Wash and Zoe--happily married with their fair share of burdens to bear.
Now I’m not saying that a Jayne/River relationship would be without pain, tears, highs, lows, complications and most likely--almost definitely--some bloodshed. I’m merely saying that since the series itself was unable to progress beyond the fifteen episode marker and there can only be so much development in a two-hour movie, we never got to see them progress past the enemy/other/crew stage of their relationship.
However, we are given some very delectable tidbits to suggest that maybe one day, they could have been more.
The Moonbrain - River Tam
"There was nothing that didn't come as naturally to her as breathing does to us." Simon Tam ~ Serenity (Part Two)
Innocent, beautiful, genius, privileged, weapon, broken, lost, crazy, ballerina, killer--There are many words to choose from in order to describe River Tam. She is Simon's little sister, Kaylee's playmate and Mal's responsibility. She played a role in each crew member’s life and by the end of 1.15 Objects in Space, she had become family. By the time we see her again in the BDM, it is obvious she has grown up, albeit only a little. Her real leaps and bounds happen during the BDM. We watch her turn from the crazy girl into a cold blooded killer in the Maidenhead--we feel her pain as she tells her brother to "Put a bullet to me--bullet through the pan, squish." as Simon wipes tears and blood from her porcelain skin. We cheer as she gets her 'hero shot' and we finish with her in a beautiful scene as co-pilot. River Tam is a girl fractured into pieces. Her perceptions of everything around her are turned into a kaleidoscope of sights, sounds and colors. She is trying to make sense; trying to make others see her sense. But something is often lost in translation. Simon has no idea how much was done to her, or how much further they wanted to take her. She is damaged. But we are left with the impression post-BDM that she is getting better--one step at a time.
River Tam has been hailed as one of the best, if not the best, sci-fi character ever created. I happen to agree with that school of thought.
The Mercenary - Jayne Cobb
"Sex. Muscles. Humor. Thuggery. Jayne." -- Adam Baldwin, summarizing his character
Big, crude, rowdy, obnoxious, sarcastic, insensitive, psychotic, greedy, amoral, sinful---Jayne Cobb is a far cry from prince charming. But that's why we love him ever so much. He tells the truth, whether you want to hear it or not. He would quite possibly step over your fresh corpse for a stick of gum and he is perfectly alright with the knowledge that he is not a good man. It was obvious, at least I think it would be to most people, that Jayne wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the box. By that I mean he is not a Rhodes Scholar, but he isn't by any means stupid. He has street-smarts, the set of skills he needs to survive in his chosen life.
He can read people, in some ways. Exhibit A: the interrogation scene in Serenity (Part Two) where he immediately knows that Dobson is lying. (In fact, Dobson actually says "I can see that you're not stupid," which I use as my reference point for Jayne having an IQ above that of a ficus plant. Also the fact that he knows the word “pretentious” from Shindig.) Of course, this ability to read people is only in areas where it's useful for him, things like lying. More subtle emotional cues (like when Mal hurts Kaylee's feelings at the beginning of Shindig) fly right over his head. Jayne has the possibility to be either an amazing anti-hero or the big bad villain. His line in Serenity (Part Two), "Pain is scary." showed that he was obviously willing to cross over into the more traditional area of the 'bad guy'. However, thank the gods, or rather Joss, neither the show nor BDM went in that direction.
Jayne Cobb is not the hero, but he's not the villain either. He exists somewhere in-between, in a place I like to call the 'grey-zone'. Many of Joss's characters exist there--Spike, Angel, Mal, Anya, Willow, Andrew, Faith, and perhaps the entire cast of Dollhouse, as well as River herself. Joss is the master of creating complex characters that have both good and bad qualities. Characters that are fallible and human. In my opinion, Jayne falls under that heading.
The Big Damn Series
1.01 - Serenity (Part One)
We meet the man they call Jayne. I'll be honest, my first impression of Jayne was basically, "Oh, he's hot ." Then he spoke; and I added on a "kind of a jerk though." Jayne takes an almost immediate dislike to the good Doc Tam. Although to be fair, I think the only people who didn't automatically distrust the Doc were Kaylee, Inara and Shepherd Book, he had that snobby, core-bred attitude about him for the first few episodes that just makes you wanna smack him sometimes. However, Simon was good at his job. Now as I get back on topic, my second impression of Jayne came during the infirmary scene where he crouches by the window in order to watch Simon and Mal tend to Kaylee's wounds. It showed that although he is a big tough gun totin' merc--who had teased and embarrassed Kaylee earlier within the same episode--that he did indeed care about her, as crew and possibly even family. River makes her appearance at the very end of the episode as Mal kicks open the cyro box to reveal a sleeping and very naked River Tam.
1.02 - Serenity (Part Two)
As Mal basically calls Simon a slave trading rich boy pervert and worse, River pops screaming from the cyro box. She crawls out, still naked, afraid and very confused. Simon, who until this point had been held in a head lock by Jayne, rushes to her side. The question I pose, why did Jayne suddenly just 'decide' to let go of Simon? It's not as if Simon got away on his own (re-watch the scene). Jayne loosens his grip the moment River crawls out of that box. There is of course the obvious answer; there was a naked girl within his line of sight! He could have simply been distracted by that fact. As a matter of fact, his line to the fed, Lawrence, proves that he did indeed notice more than the fact that she was naked and screaming.
"It's a girl. Cute, too, but I don't think she's all there. 'Course, not all of her has to be..."
That one line proves, if nothing else, that Jayne was physically attracted to her from the first time he laid eyes on the girl.
1.03 - The Train Job
Time for some thrilling heroics! In this episode, we see Jayne wear a hat, one of many; we see Jayne be angry, annoyed and rude. We see Jayne insult Simon (Which will happen a lot, both in the series and movie); and we also watch him jump onto a moving train. For a lot of Rayne shippers, I don't think this was 'the' episode that made them a fan of the couple; but for me, it was the episode I first noticed the two characters as having that 'maybe' possibility. Now since this was the episode FOX originally aired as the 'Series Premiere' that means from basically the first episode, I had thought those two wacky kids might get together. Why? Well it comes from the two scenes they shared.
The first being Jayne insulting Simon while River watched from high above on the catwalk. One can assume that since we did not see her leave after Simon did, that she stayed up there and watched the entire show, from Jayne and Kaylee's exchange, to his jumping out of the ship and being pulled back up injured.
The second was the infirmary scene. Simon is patching Jayne up and River delivers her "Two by two, hands of blue" line. Jayne then lashes out at her, telling her in not so many words to shut up. As a result of this, River actually appears to become upset by this. Afterwards, she stops speaking and we don't see her again until the end of the episode as she sits alone in her bunk.
1.04 - Bushwhacked
The episode opens with the entire crew, sans Inara, Simon and River, playing a game of hoop ball. As the others enjoy their game, Simon and Inara talk about River; while she watches the game intently across from them. Once the proximity alarm blares to life, Wash goes to check and after the ship makes a startling jolt, the others follow.
Jayne sits in what we assume is the co-pilots chair while River tucks herself into a corner just outside the doorway. From the positions of the camera and the layout of the ship, it appears as though River has picked the perfect spot to be able to see the Merc. He could also theoretically see her if he just turned ever so slightly towards the door. However, none of the other crew would know she was there unless they walked through the doorway.
Due to the horror of what happened on the derelict ship the crew has encountered, River is having nightmares. Simon tries to offer comfort, telling her that there is no screaming; she only replies that "there was." While this is happening, Jayne comes to tell Simon to suit up because Mal wants them over on the other ship. While there, Jayne spares River a sidelong glance and she actually seems to calm down some in his presence.
Later, Mal, Zoe, Simon, Kaylee, and River (who decided to 'follow the voices' onto the other ship) go in search of Jayne. If you watch closely you can see that River is watching Jayne a lot off and on throughout that entire scene.
1.05 - Shindig
Ah, space poker. Fun, no? While Simon, Book and Jayne engage in this exciting game--where the pot contains chores instead of money, River wanders into the room unnoticed. She makes her way over to the canned foods. She quietly observes the BlueSun logos emblazoned on the cans; before ripping them to pieces. Book and Simon rush to her side, trying to comfort her in their own ways. Jayne meanwhile remains seated and offers a helpful commentary (while stealing some of Book's winnings back).
"Better see ta her. That's a bad habit for a fugitive. Do that in public; get herself hauled off. So are we gonna play cards or screw around?"
Later, after Badger arrives, we get a sane moment from River as she reads him, even adopting his accent. "Sad little king of a sad little hill." Jayne's reaction to this appears to be glee; he quite enjoys watching her mess with Badger. She was the perfect distraction, too bad nobody thought to use it to their own advantage.
1.06 - Safe
River speaks to the cows. "Little soul, big worlds." Mal comments that the cows had been on-board for three weeks and she hadn't gone near them but now that they were on Jiangyin, she had a sudden need to 'commune with the beasts'. River explains it for him:
"They weren't cows inside, but now they see sky and they remember what they are."
This makes perfect sense to Mal while Jayne still seems confused, although possibly amused. After Simon and River are kidnapped by hill folk, Jayne is thrilled. He raids the Doc's bunk, taking anything he thinks may be of value. He reads from Simon's 'journal' in quite possibly one of the most memorable scenes of the show.
"Dear Diary, today I was pompous and my sister was crazy. Today we were kidnapped by hill folk never ta be seen again. It was the best day ever." Then upon picking up a purple silk shirt which belongs to Simon: "amazing we kept them this long."
However, he helps with their rescue. As it stands, he was most likely ordered to by Mal; still, look at how he stares down at the crowd and notice how River continuously looks up, even though Mal is the one talking on the ground.
Then later, when Simon and River join the crew for dinner, River chooses the empty seat next to Jayne and then steals his bread. You can hear Jayne give a small "hey" in response and you can see River smile as the others laugh.
1.07 - Our Mrs.Reynolds
Jayne is given a rain stick. Rain, Rayne? Yes? He then tells the person who gave it to him that he will treasure it forever. Although Jayne and River spend no time together or near each other in this episode, we do still get a few small things.
Such as the scene where everyone meets Saffron, notice how River stands off to the side simply watching, what appears to be more than once, Jayne as he makes his pass at Saffron. Then as he and Kaylee are trying to open the door to the bridge, Saffron welded it shut; you can see River once again standing off to the side near the end of the corridor just watching. And last but not least, as everyone gathers on the bridge, River chooses the same spot as she had back in Bushwhacked just outside the door. Jayne is once again in the co-pilots chair. If he were to look behind him, or if she were to look slightly to the left, they would be staring right at each other.
1.08 - Jaynestown
As the others prepare to leave for the mudders town, River stands with her hands primly crossed behind her back, a smile on her face and mischief in her eyes. Was it possible she already knew about 'The Hero of Canton'? The girls psychic, so most likely.
1.09 - Out Of Gas
During the opening scene, Jayne and River do appear to steal a few glances at each other, however that could just be my shipper heart wishing it so. Later on though, they do sit near each other as Mal explains his plan, and during this scene they do look at each other a few times.
And then the scene that I'm not sure if anyone else has pointed out, while Mal is lying in the infirmary, both River and Jayne enter the room together along with Inara. The three of them had been conversing before coming in to visit their Captain.
1.10 - Ariel
The episode that I believe brought many a Rayne fan into creation. Now you might say 'wtf?' to that as this is the episode where River goes after Jayne with a butchers knife and Jayne tries to sell River back to the feds, but you have to look underneath that.
Let's start with the obvious. Jayne was wearing a BlueSun logo t-shirt. We know from Shindig that BlueSun are "the ones that take you." It is possible that River was merely trying to destroy the logo--and not actually hurt Jayne. But as both Simon and Mal state later in the episode, she had been getting worse recently, not better.
However it could be a lot simpler; Jayne had already been thinking about getting rid of them and she felt the need to lash out. Or she could have been trying to warn him about the true nature of the BlueSun Corporation. BlueSun=Evil.
"He looks better in red." Many people have different theories as to what this could mean. Mine is a little out of the box, although if you consider River's 'gift', plausible.
There are many psychics who have been described to have 'the third eye'. River herself even claims that Simon calls her ability to 'know' things without prior knowledge 'her third eye'. This can be found in the 'R. Tam Sessions' posted at a wide variety of places (I recommend YouTube as it's posted like six different times). Being psychic comes in many different flavours; whether you can see into the future, commune with spirits, read impressions and vibes from a person, place, or thing--there are many options. River appears to be able to feel impressions of past events in Bushwhacked, she gleans information directly from another person’s thoughts in Shindig and she sees into the future by a small fraction of time Out Of Gas. River clearly screams fire twice, before two fireballs rip through the ship.
Another part of her gift may be that she can see a person’s aura or their soul. It is believed that everyone’s aura is unique and can change color depending on the situation. River could have been--in a roundabout sort of way--trying to make Jayne's aura resemble what she was used to. Since she first came on board, Jayne was always angry, crude, obnoxious, sarcastic, and insensitive towards both her and Simon. However at the beginning of this episode and in episodes prior, he seemed to become if not nicer towards the Tams, then at least more tolerant.
Once inside the hospital, Mal and Zoe leave Jayne to care for the temporally 'dead' Tam siblings. He takes that time to call the feds. Why did he do this? He is a greedy son-of-bitch. True, however there is another possible reason. Fear. Of River and for Kaylee or Inara. What if River had gone after one of them with the knife instead of him?
Yes it was a horrible thing to do, but he had more than one reason for trying to get rid of her and her brother. They had proven to be trouble; big time bad trouble that could land them all in an alliance prison cell or worse, six feet under.
After he returns from making his phone call, River wakes. Sitting straight up and scaring the go se out of Jayne, she asks the now infamous line: "Copper for a kiss?"
And then she becomes confused before giving him a look that seems to say 'Oh, you still went through with it.' Their moment is then interrupted by a spazing Simon. (Two things: the look on Jayne’s face as River feels the 'side effects', i.e., vomits from the drug is friggin hilarious. And just out of curiosity, where was Jayne when River changed out of her dress and into the hospital gown? Did he leave the room or stay put?)
As the three move through the hospital River points out the 'patients who are going to die' before one of them does actually go into cardiac arrest. Simon leaves to save the man’s life and Jayne holds River back by placing his arm across her chest. Why across her chest? Why not just grip her shoulder lightly? Then when Simon returns Jayne does not immediately remove his hand as would be expected--instead it remains on her shoulder as they begin to walk away. Also, notice the proud smile River beams at Simon and then Jayne, as if to say 'Isn't my brother wonderful? You should think so because I do.'
Once inside the imaging suite, Jayne seems to actually feel some sympathy for the poor broken girl. He also appears interested in what was done to her--actually asking Simon to explain. When River freaks, Jayne instantly puts his hand over her mouth to quiet her down. (Notice how the brain scan turns from green to pink as River screams.)
"Your toes are in the sand...” Could mean so many things but my guess--her way of telling him directly, or indirectly depending on how you look at it, that she knows what he did. Once on their way 'out the back', River tries to stop her forward momentum as she cries that she "doesn't want to go back, she can't go back" while Jayne opens the door and kind of avoids looking directly at her if I'm not mistaken.
Once in cuffs, the three sit next to each with Jayne in middle. Why didn't River sit next to her brother? They weren't forced to sit in any order. They do also sit rather close to each other in this scene. When River talks about they "took Christmas away-" and smiles at Jayne, he tells her to shut up or 'he'll make her shut up.' She gives him an 'I'm not scared of you' look that is adorable.
During their escape, after Jayne has taken out one of the guards, Simon got to be big and bad and take care of the other one; Jayne glances her way more than once as he gets the keys. He then un-cuffs her. Why didn't he just let Simon do it? His hands were free--Jayne was the one who freed them. When River feels the blue hands arrive she proclaims that it is "too late; they're here." The look on her face and the terror in her voice speaks volumes. When she runs away and Jayne hears the screams of the alliance officers, you can almost see the little hamster inside his head turning. I think that this is the moment where he finally starts to understand. Where he gets it: she was not just crazy; this girl was brutally tortured into being crazy. By the very same people that he had planned to give her back to--who were also now hot on their heels, thanks to him.
They just barely manage to escape, between a defective weapon and a locked door the suspense builds until they get lucky, Mal and Zoe save them. They rabbit out of there as fast as they can.
Once back on the ship Simon seems to have acquired hero worship, thanking Jayne and giving him praise. Jayne looks perpetually guilty and River only smiles at him. I'm sure she knows A: what he's thinking, that filthy guilty feeling deep down in the pit of his gut. And B: she also probably knows about the wrench Mal is going to use to knock him upside the head.
1.11 - War Stories
River enjoys the shiny apples that Jayne bought for the crew. Why did Jayne buy the apples? Regret? Guilt? Remorse? I'd vote all three as a major possibility.
1.12 - Trash
River teases Jayne; she really does. Taunting him with her: "Jayne is a girl’s name." To which he had replied "Well Jayne ain't a girl" before assuring Simon that if she were to keep that up he would show her good an' all Jayne is very much a man. Then while Simon is saying how he can’t think of a way Jayne could be cruder, River is looking at Jayne through her lashes with this sexy smirk on her face and looks like she’s interested. Am I the only one who thought this was a kind of wrong but obvious mode of flirting between the two? (Apparently not.)
Jayne then leaves and River tells Simon that Jayne is afraid that 'they'll know'. This is of course referencing the events in the last episode Ariel. Is it possible that the big, bad, cold-hearted merc is feeling remorse?
Later on, Jayne is electrocuted and after Simon puts his two cents in River adds in hers:
"Also, I can kill you with my brain."
The look on Jayne's face is priceless. He had better start being a good boy--or else.
1.13 - The Message
In the teaser, as the crew gathers to pick up their post, Book, Jayne and River arrive together; making it appear that the three went on a shopping trip together. Not unkindly, Jayne remarks that River is a mind readin' genius and yet she can't figure out to eat an ice planet. Then after Jayne receives his hat, if you pay attention to River, behind Mal and Zoe as they prepare to open the crate, you can see that River is smiling in Jayne's direction. As everyone leaves River trails behind Jayne and delivers her line to Simon: "You are such a boob."
Later, as Jayne and Book talk about death, River very calmly enters the room and lies down on the coffin. Jayne is the first one to notice what she is doing. Once both Jayne and Book suggest she move, she simply tells them that she is 'very comfortable'.
1.14 - Heart of Gold
The crew gathers in the cargo bay and learn that Inara's friend needs help. Jayne is all in--once he learns that they are whores. River is too busy with the birth of the baby to pay much attention to anything else. However, a couple of people have mentioned that if you look closely as Jayne and Book leave the cargo bay, River is smiling after them.
1.15 - Objects in Space
River wanders the ship in a daze, feeling things she can't even begin to understand. She moves around as if the ground is moving beneath her. As she slips into the kitchen, Jayne glances at her but does not acknowledge her presence. She stands in-between them and she then 'hears/sees' Jayne confessing to her that "the money was too good; I got stupid."
Once in the cargo bay, River has one of Jayne's guns. How she got the gun was never explained. When Mal reveals to the group that River really can read minds, Jayne gets pretty upset. Why? What has he been thinking that he doesn't want her to know? After Mal then tells everyone to go get some sleep, Jayne stays put. Why? What's he thinking about?
Once Jubal Early slithers aboard, he goes to Simon and asks if River is perhaps sleeping with any of the crew? Foreshadowing maybe? Jayne is the only man we actually see sleeping, besides married Wash and her brother. Mal has been knocked unconscious and so has Book.
And last but not least, why doesn't River ask Jayne for his help with Jubal Early? He would seem the best candidate besides Mal, who had already been knocked out once by the bounty hunter.
The Big Damn Movie
Going For A Ride: Something that has been latched onto by I think every Rayne fan out there is the fact that River and Jayne ride together in the back of the mule. That, to me, is not a very big thing. The mule only runs with four. Mal is driving and Zoe outranks both of them; where else would they sit?
Let's Be Bad Guy's: Once inside the bank Jayne is left to watch over River and the other people in the bank. When she senses the reavers, she has a physical reaction; screaming and throwing herself back onto the floor. Jayne rushes to her side asking if she is alright as he grasps her shoulders.
They Want Us Alive When They Eat Us: There is a very tiny, and I do mean tiny, piece of this scene that was cut where after Mal has pulled Jayne back into the mule he asks where his gun is and then it appears in front of him as River hands it to him. It was in the script and the story boards but not the movie. I so wish they had kept it in.
I'll Kill A Man In A Fair Fight: As Jayne talks to Kaylee we get a beautiful shot of River laying on the catwalk up above as she listens to them speak.
The Maidenhead: Once River has been triggered, Jayne attempts to subdue her. As he enters the brawl, watch how they watch each other. He shoves a guy. She kicks a guy in the back of the head, eyes on Jayne. He slams a guy down. It’s like they are showing off to each other. Jayne goes in for the grab and River then garbs his John Thomas and gives a hard twist before spinning away and knocking him senseless with a serving try.
"So what? Now that she's a killer woman we should be bringin' her tea and dumplings?"
Come Here Little Crazy: After the crew discusses what should be done about River, Jayne makes his own decision and tries to get rid of her. Of course, this doesn't go as planned as River knocks him out, again, before telling the others about Miranda.
Damagin' My Calm: Once on Miranda, River begins to have one of her episodes, Jayne gives his answer and Rayne shippers squee in joy because he is agreeing with her.
Let It Snow, Let It Hail, Let It Sleet, Let It Rayne
I feel that I may be inadequate to voice certain aspects of this ship; and since it has already been put into words so beautifully, I would recommend that if you feel that you still need more of an answer than I can give then read Is A Copper Worth It: Why River/Jayne? by elidyce over @ rayne_shippers. It explains more about the main issues a lot of non-Rayne fans bring up--the age difference, what could possibly attract River to Jayne, and vice-versa--as well as giving quite a few reasons why they would work for each other.
WebSites;
Rayne Shippers
Pretty Deadly: A Rayne Archive
Rayne Fic Rec; can be found here.
For newcomers to the ship I highly (As well as several other people I have talked to who are also big Rayne fans) recommend Dyce's Horseshoe Nails Series. It picks up at the end of Objects In Space and goes AU from there but with most canon events still happening, just with a Rayne twist. Links are below--start with Two Gorram Days and work your away across.
Two Gorram Days l Kinship l Bank Job l Miranda l Prodigal
References;
The Hero of Canton an awesome Jayne essay by inlovewithnight over @ idol_reflection
Rayne In Firefly by walkwithheroes also @ rayne_shippers
Thank You:
To gilove2dance for beta'ing this, pointing out a few things I missed and for just being awesome. This essay (and my fic) would suck without you.
To
an_ardent_rain for reminding me to add in Dyce's Horseshoe Nails Series (I still have no idea how I could forget the series that made me hardcore ship these two) and for being awesome as well. (I'm still a little sad your computer ate your copy of this.)
To everyone who made it this far in the reading process, I hope it was worth the effort put into it. I do also hope that this essay will help someone understand that indefinable question; 'Why Rayne?'