4.3 fight with the Operative – reprise

  • Different challenges stand between Mal and his goal, mostly in the form of the basement’s configuration. It is a test of his belief and conviction and nothing comes easy
  • The appearance of the Operative is sudden, shown as a shot in Mal’s back which is completely contradictory to the Operative’s previous behavior
    • It is as if like a true foil, the more Mal came to be who he really was, the more the Operative seem to lose his own identity
[wposflv src=http://www.wiredcrow.com/serenity_analysis/videos/04-03-01.flv]
  • The conversation with the Operative reveals the fulfillment of Mal’s theme: Mal is willing to die for the belief
    • As the conversation escalated to that point of fulfillment, the camera work supports this by panning closer and closer to both Mal’s and the Operative’s face until it is a complete close up
    • In the end, the Operative gives a nod of both acceptance and respect
[wposflv src=http://www.wiredcrow.com/serenity_analysis/videos/04-03-02.flv]
  • While the movie cuts back and forth between the crew fighting with the Reavers and Mal’s fight with the Operative, the most important cut is when Jayne asks Zoe whether she thinks Mal pulled through
    • Zoe is the only one that has seen Mal as a Browncoat, and her own belief of Mal is complete
  • Mal also seems to be faring much better in this fight than he did in the first fight, reflecting a strengthening of character and resolve, and perhaps the Operative’s weakening as well
  • How the fight ends is of interest
    • What happened to Mal as a soldier in the war is ultimately what saved him and enabled him to win the battle
    • The film also completely shatters the Operative’s belief completely by getting Mal to show what a world without sin is like
    • There is then the moment with the screens all over again, this time, speaking more as the Operative’s conscience rather than Mal’s. It’s the last time we see this visual theme
[wposflv src=http://www.wiredcrow.com/serenity_analysis/videos/04-03-03.flv]
  • When the Alliance soldiers break through, there is literally a flood of light at the end of the tunnel. Mal is beaten up but ready to keep fighting before the Operative called the attack off
    • Mal’s (and his foil’s) transformation is complete and fulfilled