Problems: Part of the Solution

Rewatching Serenity the other night, I was struck by how many things I could blog about. The opening covers so much backstory, yet moves fast and is fun to watch. Our first moments with Serenity's crew (for those who were tragically unfamiliar with Firefly) offer mini-conflicts, getting exposition out without it feeling ham-handed. And there's wonderful moments of subtext in the movie. After the climax, Captain Mal asks Zoe, his right-hand woman who saw her husband die, about the damage to the ship. Her words: "She's torn up plenty, but she'll fly true." Yow.

There was one aspect of the story, though, that I really took note of this time, and that felt like something I've never written about. Which is the idea that everything -- problems as well as their solutions in the story -- is organic and connected. Two examples:

The Solution is Also the Problem

Mal and the Serenity crew have discovered a tragic conspiracy that effectively amounts to genocide on at least one "outer rim" planet. The only way they can get the word out is through Mr. Universe -- the hacker of all hackers, who can show the incriminating video footage on millions of screens across the 'verse simultaneously. When Mal finally gets to Mr. Universe, he's been preemptively killed by the Alliance, and his massive computer network destroyed. In his dying moments, though, Mr. Universe programmed his wife-bot with a message for Mal: instructions to the hidden backup system. This is excellent news -- Mal may still be able to get evidence of the conspiracy out there...

...but unfortunately, the wife-bot was programmed to begin relaying her message when someone walks into the room... not just Mal. Shortly after Mal has heard this crucial bit of information, the villain hot on his tail walks into the same room. And hears the same message.

The solution for Mal also created a problem for him. And thank God, because without this problem, there wouldn't have been much of a climax for the movie.

The Problem is Also the Solution

In this world, the most feared creatures of all are Reavers: humans who have mutated into chaos and madness -- raping, killing, and cannibalizing anyone in their path (and, to paraphrase a famous line from the series, hopefully in that order). When they're on their way to Mr. Universe to make the conspiracy public, Mal and his crew know dozens of Alliance ships are standing guard, waiting to blow them away. They're ridiculously outnumbered. So, moving through Reaver territory, they attack a Reaver ship and draw the attention of dozens if not hundreds of Reaver vessels... and proceed to speed toward the awaiting Alliance ships. The ensuing battle allows Serenity to make it to their destination. (The battle is extra-sweet symbolically, considering we've just learned that the Alliance conspiracy is directly responsible for the manifestation of Reavers to begin with.)

Mal basically took one problem (Reavers) and threw it in the face of another (the Alliance).

I'm thinking, when we're looking for a solution to a problem in our script, our first stop should be to look at what's already there.