Difference between revisions of "579: The Race: Part 3"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}} was a television series aired by FOX in 2002 that got cancelled mid-way through, but has a large fan base nowadays (for a more comprehensive explanation, see the Wikipedia page). The star of the show was Captain Malcolm (or Mal) Reynolds, played by {{w|Nathan Fillion}}. Other members of his crew were Kaylee (played by {{w|Jewel Staite}}) the ship's mechanic, Inara Serra (played by {{w|Morena Baccarin}}) was a Companion (or, as Mal would say: whore) that helped ''Serenity'' (the spaceship) gain a landing on many planets that otherwise would have nothing to do with Mal, and River Tam (played by {{w|Summer Glau}}) was the seemingly crazy younger sister of Dr. Simon Tam (played by {{w|Sean Maher}}), as well as a few others.
+
{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}} was a television series aired by Fox in 2002 that got cancelled midway through, but it has a large fan base nowadays (for a more comprehensive explanation, see the Wikipedia page). The star of the show was Captain Malcolm (or Mal) Reynolds, played by {{w|Nathan Fillion}}. Other members of his crew were Kaylee (played by {{w|Jewel Staite}}), the ship's mechanic, Inara Serra (played by {{w|Morena Baccarin}}) was a Companion (or, as Mal would say: whore) that helped ''Serenity'' (the spaceship) gain a landing on many planets that otherwise would have nothing to do with Mal. River Tam (played by {{w|Summer Glau}}) was the seemingly crazy younger sister of Dr. Simon Tam (played by {{w|Sean Maher}}), and due to her latent psionic powers and the damage from the experiments she had undergone, she was known for making odd, out-of-context statements.
  
In the last panel, Kaylee apparently wired up Mal's controller to broadcast on the frequency of [[Cueball]]'s skateboard, so it took control of his board, where Mal's stood still. (Buy a few RC models ({{w|Radio-controlled model}}) to play with friends and inevitably this will happen. Where two controllers broadcast on the same frequency, so the two models are confused by the signals they receive.)
+
When [[Cueball]] is introduced to the first two women, he learns that they behave in real life as on the Firefly show (Summer is strange and Jewel is a mechanical wiz) - this is why he begins to ask about Morena Baccarin, and also why the other two says '''no.''' before he can finish the question ''is she really a '''prostitute'''?''
  
{{w|Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles}} was a television series aired by FOX from 2008-09. Summer Glau played the role of Cameron, a Terminator; Cameron was played in a distinctly "strange" manner as a humanoid robot who finds much about humanity puzzling. Here, the joke is that it wasn't Summer Glau's characters who were eccentric, but that Summer Glau ''herself'' is either retarded, autistic, or brain-damaged.
+
In the last panel, Kaylee apparently wired up Mal's controller to broadcast on the frequency of Cueball's skateboard, so it took control of his board, where Mal's stood still. (Buy a few RC models ({{w|Radio-controlled model}}) to play with friends and inevitably this will happen. Where two controllers broadcast on the same frequency, so the two models are confused by the signals they receive.)
 +
 
 +
{{w|Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles}} was a television series aired by Fox from 2008-09. Summer Glau played the role of Cameron, a Terminator; Cameron was played in a distinctly "strange" manner as a humanoid robot who finds much about humanity puzzling. Combined with her role as River Tam, the joke is that it wasn't Summer's characters who were eccentric, but that Summer Glau ''herself'' is actually just as strange and eccentric as she is shown to be on screen.
  
 
All comics in "[[The Race]]" series:
 
All comics in "[[The Race]]" series:
 
*[[577: The Race: Part 1]]
 
*[[577: The Race: Part 1]]
 
*[[578: The Race: Part 2]]
 
*[[578: The Race: Part 2]]
*[[579: The Race: Part 3]]
+
*579: The Race: Part 3 (this one)
 
*[[580: The Race: Part 4]]
 
*[[580: The Race: Part 4]]
 
*[[581: The Race: Part 5]]
 
*[[581: The Race: Part 5]]
  
This series was released on 5 consecutive days(Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.
+
This series was released on five consecutive days(Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.
 +
 
 +
Electric skateboards have been the subject of several other comics like [[139: I Have Owned Two Electric Skateboards]], [[409: Electric Skateboard (Double Comic)]] and a panel in [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]].
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
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:Cueball: So wait. Summer's actually weird, Jewel's actually a mechanical whiz...
 
:Cueball: So wait. Summer's actually weird, Jewel's actually a mechanical whiz...
 +
 
:Cueball: ...will Morena Baccarin be here? Is she really a—
 
:Cueball: ...will Morena Baccarin be here? Is she really a—
 
:Nathan and Jewel: No.
 
:Nathan and Jewel: No.
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:Nathan: Kaylee, I've been gunnin' the radio hand throttle thingy for a while, but it ain't movin'.
 
:Nathan: Kaylee, I've been gunnin' the radio hand throttle thingy for a while, but it ain't movin'.
 
:Jewel: Oh, I must've set it to the wrong frequency!
 
:Jewel: Oh, I must've set it to the wrong frequency!
:Cueball (riding around on haywire board): AAAAAAAA
+
:Cueball (riding around on haywire board): ''AAAAAAAA''
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}

Revision as of 14:07, 19 July 2016

The Race: Part 3
No, the best things about The Sarah Connor Chronicles were: (1) watching Sarah and Cameron try to pass for normal, and (2) Cameron throwing people and things through walls. Everything else was pretty secondary.
Title text: No, the best things about The Sarah Connor Chronicles were: (1) watching Sarah and Cameron try to pass for normal, and (2) Cameron throwing people and things through walls. Everything else was pretty secondary.

Explanation

Firefly was a television series aired by Fox in 2002 that got cancelled midway through, but it has a large fan base nowadays (for a more comprehensive explanation, see the Wikipedia page). The star of the show was Captain Malcolm (or Mal) Reynolds, played by Nathan Fillion. Other members of his crew were Kaylee (played by Jewel Staite), the ship's mechanic, Inara Serra (played by Morena Baccarin) was a Companion (or, as Mal would say: whore) that helped Serenity (the spaceship) gain a landing on many planets that otherwise would have nothing to do with Mal. River Tam (played by Summer Glau) was the seemingly crazy younger sister of Dr. Simon Tam (played by Sean Maher), and due to her latent psionic powers and the damage from the experiments she had undergone, she was known for making odd, out-of-context statements.

When Cueball is introduced to the first two women, he learns that they behave in real life as on the Firefly show (Summer is strange and Jewel is a mechanical wiz) - this is why he begins to ask about Morena Baccarin, and also why the other two says no. before he can finish the question is she really a prostitute?

In the last panel, Kaylee apparently wired up Mal's controller to broadcast on the frequency of Cueball's skateboard, so it took control of his board, where Mal's stood still. (Buy a few RC models (Radio-controlled model) to play with friends and inevitably this will happen. Where two controllers broadcast on the same frequency, so the two models are confused by the signals they receive.)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was a television series aired by Fox from 2008-09. Summer Glau played the role of Cameron, a Terminator; Cameron was played in a distinctly "strange" manner as a humanoid robot who finds much about humanity puzzling. Combined with her role as River Tam, the joke is that it wasn't Summer's characters who were eccentric, but that Summer Glau herself is actually just as strange and eccentric as she is shown to be on screen.

All comics in "The Race" series:

This series was released on five consecutive days(Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule.

Electric skateboards have been the subject of several other comics like 139: I Have Owned Two Electric Skateboards, 409: Electric Skateboard (Double Comic) and a panel in 442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel.

Transcript

[Nathan, Cueball, and Summer Glau standing around with electric skateboards.]
Nathan: Meet a few of my friends. This is-
Cueball: Summer Glau! You were the best part of Chronicles.
Summer: I eat my bodyweight in food every 31 days. That's slightly faster than the human average.
[Summer stares off into space.]
Nathan: Yeah, there's a reason she only plays strange roles.
Cueball: Ah.
Summer (from below): I'm part of the floor now.
[They find Jewel Staite working on a skateboard's engine.]
Nathan: And this is Kaylee.
Jewel: My name is Jewel, Nathan.
Nathan: Kaylee—
Jewel: Jewel.
Nathan: —Jewel is fixin' up my new board.
Jewel: Almost done!
Cueball: So wait. Summer's actually weird, Jewel's actually a mechanical whiz...
Cueball: ...will Morena Baccarin be here? Is she really a—
Nathan and Jewel: No.
The racers set up
[Nathan and Jewel are to the far left of a full-width panel. Nathan is standing on his skateboard holding a controller. Cueball is on his skateboard which is careening out of control on the far right of the panel.]
Nathan: Kaylee, I've been gunnin' the radio hand throttle thingy for a while, but it ain't movin'.
Jewel: Oh, I must've set it to the wrong frequency!
Cueball (riding around on haywire board): AAAAAAAA


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Discussion

It should be noted, that Summer Glau (aka River) is known to play bizzare, confused characters. Her characters in Dollhouse, Sarah Connor Chronicles, The 4400 were all a little (or more) odd. This is referenced when on panel 2 she begins to act strange and on panel 4 mel explains, that there is a reason why she plays strange roles indicating, that Summer Glau herself has a odd personality.

Also, Summer Glau is my favorite actress if I may express my personal feelings in comment. :) 173.245.53.140 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

She seemed pretty normal when she played herself on an episode of Big Bang Theory. Then again, if you're reading explainxkcd you probably loathe Big Bang Theory and have never watched it. --108.162.241.127 14:20, 29 January 2016 (UTC)

Wait, what? By what metric do the majority of exkcd readers hate the Big Bang Theory? Why?
...did I miss something? Hppavilion1 (talk) 09:41, 12 March 2017 (UTC)
I do like the first few seasons, which actually had a lot of science and geek/nerd-culture related jokes. Later when it became more and more relationship drama, I lost interest. Don't hate it anyway.
Summer Glau played a role on TBBT, portraying herself as normal, which for a weird person is weird. So it makes perfectly sense. --Lupo (talk) 12:38, 9 October 2019 (UTC)