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|---|---|---|
| Written by | Helen Eaton | |
| Read by | Helen Eaton | |
| Edited by | Jutta Jordans | |
The relationship between Simon and River runs through the heart of Firefly and Serenity. Simon’s commitment to keeping River safe is the catalyst for much of the drama of both the series and film. Their relationship is also one which is given room to develop as the drama unfolds, entering new territory when River takes charge of dealing with Jubal Early in Objects in Space and culminating in a complete reversal of roles as the events of the film come to a climax.
We first see Simon and River interact during a very dramatic moment in the pilot episode, as Mal opens the cryo-chamber containing River:
It is immediately obvious that Simon cares very deeply for River, and a few moments later we discover the nature of their relationship: she is his sister. In his attempts to comfort and reassure River, Simon repeats the phrase “I’m here”. Things are okay, and they are safe, because he is there. Their current predicament is in fact very bleak and the future is uncertain, but Simon is there. They are together.
As Simon tells their story to Mal and the others aboard Serenity, he explains how he got a letter from River at the academy, saying “They’re hurting us. Get me out.” It is interesting that River’s brother is the one who responded to her cry for help, and not her parents, as we might expect. It is not until the episode Safe that we understand why. In the flashback scenes, we get a glimpse of the closeness of the relationship between Simon and River, and the strained nature of the relationship between Simon and their parents.
At the beginning of the episode Safe, we see a typical family scene of a boy attempting to do his homework while his little sister plays around him and distracts him:
Simon does not react with annoyance, as we might expect, but humours River and joins in the game. The particular game River plays in the flashback is poignant in the light of Simon and River’s present-day situation, where they are also “in trouble”, as they are on the run from the Alliance, and “cut off”, not from their platoon, but from their parents and their previous life. And they may not have been “outflanked by the Independent Squad” and needing to resort to cannibalism, but they have found themselves on a ship with a Browncoat captain and involved in the kind of shady business that is far removed from that of a respected surgeon in the Core.
Simon and River’s parents dismiss Simon’s concern about River as simply him feeling lost without his little sister and consider River’s coded letters “one of her silly games”. Their concern is instead for what Simon might lose - his job and his status - if he continues to investigate River’s situation at the academy. And of course, Simon does lose these things, as well as his faith in his parents.
In a rare lucid moment during the present-day timeline, River is aware of what Simon has given up to find her:
River expresses similar thoughts in Objects in Space, when she uses Serenity’s voice to show her awareness of how her presence is holding people back from being “what they wanted to be” or “with the people they wanted”. From River’s perspective, Simon’s love for her has been sacrificial, but he does not seem to view it that way. He seems to consider that everything he gave up was not worth having in comparison to knowing his sister was safe. This might seem like madness to an onlooker, but as the Operative later notes, it is love which drives people to do such things.
Simon does not express any regrets about what he gave up for River, but in Objects in Space, River “hears” Simon say the following line:
Is this what Simon is really thinking? Does he resent River for being the reason his life took such a drastic downward turn? Perhaps he does to some extent and has buried that feeling deep inside. There is nothing to suggest that he would have made any decisions differently though, had he known the consequences of getting River back from the academy. Or perhaps the words River “hears” are simply her perception of how Simon feels. Maybe she struggles to comprehend that her brother really could have done something so self-sacrificing for her and not regretted it just a little.
There are moments throughout the series when we see a less serious side to the relationship between Simon and River. In Safe, River teases Simon by telling him the berries he’s eating are poisonous and when he realises that he fell for her joke, he tells her that she is “such a brat”. And when River expresses her belief that Simon wouldn’t come to rescue her from the academy, he responds in the time-honoured manner of older brothers the ‘verse over:
It is love which characterises most of their interaction though. And even in her muddled state, River is aware of this love, although she is sometimes confused as to its exact nature:
Simon’s love for River is shown not only in his rescue of her from the academy, but also when later events put them in danger. During a tense moment in the pilot episode, for example, he tells Mal, “You wanna throw me out the airlock, fine, but River is not a part of this”. Even when his life is in danger, Simon’s first thought is of River. And later in Safe, when he realises he cannot save River from being burned alive, he chooses to die with her. At this moment, we see how even when he cannot save his sister, he will give up his life to be together with her at the end.
Given the depth of Simon’s love for River, it is not surprising that he is so protective of her, to the extent that he tells her in Bushwhacked “Don’t ever leave the ship... not ever...” and is reluctant to follow Mal’s orders to go to “some place... away” in Safe or to leave River in Shepherd Book’s care in Jaynestown. But as the series progresses, Simon seems to relax somewhat, even managing to spend some time with Kaylee off ship in The Message without being concerned about River.
Of course, Simon’s assumption that River is helpless and therefore he must always protect her is shown to be false by the events of Objects in Space. River takes control of the situation and puts into action her plan for getting rid of Jubal Early, which works, despite Simon not realising what she is up to and managing to get himself shot:
River’s comment is particularly touching because for once she has managed to reverse the usual roles in her relationship with Simon and look after him. If there had been no continuation of their story after Objects in Space, this would have been a satisfying point at which to leave their relationship, even though many questions would have been left unanswered as to the nature of River’s abilities and the reason for them.
As it is, we also have the events of the film Serenity and an even more satisfying conclusion to Simon and River’s relationship. The role reversal of Objects in Space is repeated, and under similar circumstances, with Simon injured and River taking control. But the stakes are raised with respect both to the seriousness of Simon’s injury and to what is involved in River stepping up to take care of the situation:
It is a beautiful note on which to leave Simon and River’s relationship. Theirs is a relationship based on love, which, as the Operative tells us, can sometimes look like madness, but is a good deal more dangerous. For Simon and River though, the danger that comes their way is simply another opportunity for them to show the love they have for each other.
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