erttheking said:
He is just such a fucking twat. He calls Inara a whore all the time, yet he has the nerve to get upset and depressed when she calls him the inexcusable term "petty thief".
He gets angry at Simon when he tries to bring his sister on board Serenity for the first time because "it endangered the crew" even though he was willing to try and provide transportation to him while smuggling illegal goods, not really caring if HE endangered HIM.
Also let's not forgot him telling Simon that he wouldn't leave without him before proceeding to do just that when he gets kidnapped, and I don't care if Book was injured, their doctor got kidnapped and instead of going after Simon so that he could, you know, treat her, he decided to just take off and...what was the brilliant Captain's plan again? Oh that's right, he didn't have one, just run up to an Alliance medical station without knowing that Book was an ex-operative and had the papers that would allow them to get in.
And I wish he would make up his fucking mind on what he considers everyone else because from episode to episode he bops from considering them "guests on his ship" to "his crew" depending on if he's supposed to be having an emotional moment with them or yelling at them (which in hindsight he does a LOT). Heck, I almost lost it when the rest of the crew went after him, one of them saying "He'd do the same for us," because the only time I remember him going to save one of them is the aforementioned Simon moment, and he took his sweet fucking time with that one, deciding to wait till the last fucking second and then magically knowing EXACTLY WHERE SIMON WAS SOMEHOW. If he knew where he was, how come he didn't get him when Book was hurt and needed a doctor?
Also in the movie he royally blows up at Simon for never telling him that River was unstable, despite the fact that in the last episode of the series she was playing around with a LOADED GUN. And while I'm talking about it he really pissed me off in the movie, it felt like he was just walking around looking for different people to shout at for half of it but the moment when he more or less said to the crew "do everything I tell you to do, desecrate some corpses, do things in half the time it should realistically take and if you complain I'll shoot you," is where I realized that I had grown to truly fucking hate him. And let's not forget "Either come with me to the heart of Reaver territory or get off here...on a dead planet in a bombed out settlement." Oh and why did he want to go to Miranda? Did he know that he would find a deep dark Alliance secret? NO! He just wanted to "get some closure." FUCK! HIM! He is a complete and utter asshole, Christ, I liked JAYNE more than I liked him, mainly because yeah Jayne was an asshole, but he and everyone around him didn't pretend that he wasn't.
Hmmm. I have some counters.
1. Errrm, yeah. I kind of agree. That was pretty aholish of him to do.
2. If I remember correctly, Mal was planning on smuggling the goods BEFORE they picked up the guests. Now, when the crew figures out that there's an Alliance agent on board, he suspects Simon, because he looks so obviously out of place with the rest of them (Clean, sophisticated, etc.). I don't think he was angry at Simon putting the crew in danger, so much as he was angry that there was an Alliance spy on board that could get his crew into huge trouble (Even though he was ultimately wrong and Simon was actually an Alliance fugitive).
3. I don't remember him telling Simon that he wouldn't leave without him. However, when Book was injured, it was fatal. They didn't know where Simon had gone, and didn't have much time to find him. So, Mal took a chance and went to the Alliance medical place, because despite knowing that they probably wouldn't treat him, it was Book's best chance. And Mal didn't have a plan, because, y'know, he wasn't expecting Book to get shot.
4. I don't recall that either. Yeah, he yells. People do that when they're angry or scared. And exactly how many times did someone get kidnapped in the series run? Because I only remember ONE TIME, with Simon. And during the war, he went back for his men, as was shown in a flashback. I don't think that Mal was taking his time, so much as GETTING BOOK TREATED. And knowing where Simon was? That's the WRITING, not the CHARACTER. Besides, it had been hours after Simon had gone missing. It isn't too much of a stretch to say that they were looking for him after they got Book medical attention.
5. Why would Simon tell him that River was unstable? She hadn't exhibited violent behavior before that point, and holding a loaded gun doesn't make someone unstable. That moment where he tells the crew what to do or else was RIGHT AFTER HE SAW HIS FRIEND AND A BUNCH OF INNOCENT PEOPLE KILLED FOR NO GOOD REASON. He was PISSED. He wanted REVENGE. Yes, he should have been nicer about it, but at that moment, I think it's understandable. He went to Miranda because he knew that there would be SOMETHING that the Alliance didn't want people to know. He knew THAT because of logical deduction (I.e. the Alliance sending an operative after River, and River telling them about Miranda, information that she could have only gotten FROM being in an Alliance facility.) To sum up your final point, I don't think that the crew is pretending that he's not an ahole. It's that they genuinely DON'T THINK THAT HE IS. I think that's just you.
TL
R; Read the post. I'm not making a summery for people to look at after I just typed up that extremely long explanation of why I disagree.
