I’m watching “Out of Gas” with the commentary track, and Tim Minear just said that there was a major clue to Inara’s story in the scene b/w her and Simon (where he starts to describe the horrible effects of dying from suffocation, and laments the fact that it was his birthday).
Here’s my guess as to the clues:
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Inara looking startled at Simon when he mentions that the comatose Zoe will outlive them all.
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Inara saying, “I don’t want to die at all.”
My guess as to the nature of Inara’s “secret”:
She’s going to die young, and knows it.
My guess is that either
(a) she has some sort of terminal illness that she knows will eventually claim her life … and that’s why she left the Companion Temple (when she was said to have, at one time, had her sights on working her way up to temple priestess) in search of some sort of life-fulfilling adventure aboard Serenity; could also explain why she had to go to Ariel for 2 days of medical tests (perhaps it WASN’T routine Companion medical screening, but her illness)
(b) the Companions do a sort of Logan’s Run deal and kill off their members when they reach a certain age (and are no longer as young and desirable); could also help explain why the madam in Heart of Gold left the Guild (she appeared a bit older than Inara, certainly)–maybe she didn’t like that sort of “deadline,” if you will.
Another clue to either of these explanations is the small knife she carries in Bushwhacked–we assume it’s to kill herself in case the Reavers come for her, but perhaps it’s also the very knife that she was going to use to commit some sort of ritual suicide (for either reason a or b)–after all, the whole universe is heavily Asian-influenced, and a little Japanese Hara Kiri wouldn’t be out of order.
That rig in Bushwhacked looked more like an injector of some sort, like she’s got some heavy medication to save her life or finish her off, depending.
Also, in Heart of Gold, she says one of her reasons for leaving is that “life’s too short.”
In Ariel, she says they have to go in for a checkup once a year. All things considered, I’d want these ladies getting checked up on a little more frequently than that if I was making the rules, so I have always thought she had some ulterior motive for getting checked up on.
I don’t remember what thread I read it in recently, but didn’t the commentary say that the syringe was not an “In Case of Reavers” suicide kit?
I can’t remember if I’ve posted this hypothesis here or not, but either way:
I’ve wondered if Inara hasn’t caught some sort of STD. Either because of not following, or in spite of following, the guild’s screening rules. This has reflected poorly on her, making her leave. She takes some kind of medecine for it to keep it under control, and perhaps to keep her from being contagious. (We may find out later that it’s fatal.) I would think she would have some way to keep it from being transmitted, unless Whedon wanted to write it differently…
And so she’s not allowed to practice “back home”, but it’s okay out in the frontier, because the central office doesn’t care so much about that. It is also why she misses home but can’t go back, has some medecine (antibiotics? what?) that she gives to Simon at one point, etc.
Just a thought…
It should be noted, in Ariel, when Kaylee asks here how her physical went, she says “Same as last year”, not “fine” or “I’m OK”. Telling.
Mark me down as one who suspects something terminal - Joss not being above paying homage to opera stories about consumptive prostitutes, IMHO. If we see her cough blood into a hanky in Serenity , I win!
I guess this all would make for a decent episode, or even carry it over several episodes. Inara’s illness kicks in, she’s dying, there’s no cure, then the genius doctor Simon vows he can find a cure, if only they can get to the right equipment, planet, etc. Then all hell breaks loose.
As long as it didn’t too closely resemble the events in Ariel.