I thought it was set up to reveal that Book was a former Operative, then I thought if that was the case it might make nice symmetry at the end when the Operative showed up to announce he was becoming a shepherd.

Good review. The reviewer hadn't seen Firefly, or hardly any Buffy or Angel, so this review bodes well. It's a bit spoilery, which is why I haven't posted it in the other thread. Ends nicely though:

If you thought that the new “Star Wars” trilogy was bogged down by joyless, dull dialogue and a general lack of excitement, you may find that “Serenity” is just what you’re looking for. Joss Whedon has the same sort of determined ambition as the young George Lucas. “Serenity” cares about its characters and puts them in exciting and imaginative situations. It’s a lot of fun.

Damn, that's a very nice review!

I'm so ready for massive reviews to kick in. I want to watch the Metacritic score with satisfaction or exasperation. It's a hobby of mine.

Wanting to address the Simon retcon-or-not question:

My mom bought me the novelization (I have no job and she loves me, and will borrow it after she's seen the movie). It includes much material supplemental to the movie, including scenes from the ep "Serenity" and also "Safe." It deals very well with making sense of the "But I thought Simon said someone else took care of everything?" question, and I hereby announce that I am accepting it as canon. If this is a retconnish thing that bugs you as much as it bugs me, and you'd like an official fanwank to make it all make sense, you really ought to at least borrow the book or go sit in a bookstore and read the first few chapters.

What is the title and who wrote it? There is this big shelf called the San Francisco Public Library that lets me order stuff online.

It's Serenity, and it's by Keith R. DeCandido. The first chapter of it is online (I'm too lazy to google), but that's not the part that fixes the retcon, so you do need a text of the book. (It's also available in ebook form.)

Oh, cool that Keith got to do it! I know him from around.

Given that this is the spoilers thread, you could explain Keith's non-retcon for us here....

Agreed, that a Spoilers thread deserves some spoilers.

I talked to Keith in January (Boskone), and he told me he'd written the novelization then, and I forgot. He did say it was wicked juicy and he enjoyed writing it very much, and while I am mentioning it I might as well report to you all that Keith is a long-haired, man-size muppet.

Given that this is the spoilers thread, you could explain Keith's non-retcon for us here....

You make a good point. It doesn't quite fix it, but it's a good enough explanation.

From the episode Serenity:

Then I was contacted by some men, some underground movement. They-they said she was in danger, that-that the government was... playing with her brain. If I funded them they could sneak her out in cryo. Get her to Persephone, and from there, I could take her... wherever.

And then, of course, in the movie, we see him break her out himself. So, in the novelization, he funds these people, and they arrange everything for him. All he has to do is go in and get her. They provide him with all the objects he needs, transportation, costume, fake retinal scans, etc. It isn't perfect, but it at least makes it make sense to me that he would say the above when it was he that broke her out.

I highly recommend the novelization. It's like watching the movie again, but with new juicy bits because of the third-person omniscient perspective.