Giving up the baby - Simon in Heart of Gold

Hey all,
I was just re-watching Heart of Gold this morning, and a thought suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't really had before, in that, when Rance shows up in Petaline's room, Simon is holding the baby. Then we cut to outside the room and Rance comes out with the baby. And it made me wonder suddenly, what did Rance do to get the baby away from Simon? Because I believe that Simon would put up some resistance to someone forcibly kidnapping a baby, especially a newborn, regardless of whose child it is. We hear a scream before Rance comes out, but it's not Simon, it's definitely a woman, so it's either Inara, River, or Petaline... It doesn't sound like Inara to me (is that biased, I don't know and one could naturally assume it was Petaline, being that it's her child an' all, but it could be River supposing Rance had clocked Simon in the head say, in order to take the baby...

Thoughts?

Hi! Good to see you here. I check every day for stuff on this board, so there's still activity, lurking below the surface.

Hmm. Well, Simon strikes me as the kind of guy to play it cool when a gun is pointed at him, and then try to jump the guy when their back is turned, like he did with Jubal Early. Simon just didn't try to jump him because he still had to be Petaline's doctor, and because Inara went after him. That's how I think it happened.

I think it was Petaline's scream because River has been a little out of it all episode, and I imagine feeling the childbirth thing and Petaline's emotions would have overwhelmed her, she probably wouldn't be able to respond to Simon getting knocked out, also there's the question of if she could pick anything up from Simon while he's unconscious.

So you think Simon handed over the baby, with the expectation that Inara was going to follow him out?

Nah, I think that Rance took the baby from whoever was holding it at the time, which might not have been Simon even though he was the last person we saw holding the baby. Simon couldn't really try to fight Rance off, because Petaline or anyone else in the delivery room might've gotten shot. Rance left and Simon would have to continue to be Petaline's doctor, and there was no expectation that Inara would go after Rance but she did - she had a lot fewer responsibilities at the moment anyway.

So when Inara goes out, it's not like Simon is going to think she needs backup and he'll follow her out.

Hmmm...I'll have to re-watch Heart of Gold and pay attention to that detail.
I think that even though Simon was the one last seen holding the baby, he probably followed standard obstetrics practice and handed off the baby to his assistant (Inara), so that he could deal with the afterbirth. Inara would wash and dry the baby, then hand the child to Petaline. So Petaline's lying there with her newborn cradled on her chest, and Rance comes in. Rance then took the child from her, and barged out of the room. Simon was busy dealing with doctoring. (Trust me, there are things that go on after the birth that you don't want to know about.) So Simon's fixing up Petaline, who can't move from the table until Simon's finished. Inara's the only one who's free to go after Rance, and so she does.

ebfiddler987 wrote:Hmmm...I'll have to re-watch Heart of Gold and pay attention to that detail.
I think that even though Simon was the one last seen holding the baby, he probably followed standard obstetrics practice and handed off the baby to his assistant (Inara), so that he could deal with the afterbirth. Inara would wash and dry the baby, then hand the child to Petaline. So Petaline's lying there with her newborn cradled on her chest, and Rance comes in. Rance then took the child from her, and barged out of the room. Simon was busy dealing with doctoring. (Trust me, there are things that go on after the birth that you don't want to know about.) So Simon's fixing up Petaline, who can't move from the table until Simon's finished. Inara's the only one who's free to go after Rance, and so she does.

Except that in the show, Rance comes into the room while Simon is holding the baby... hence my question

I can see if his sister was being threatened he'd choose her over the baby... with the intention of going after him maybe, but then I imagine Inara laying a hand on his arm to stop him, motioning him to be silent, as she takes matters into her own hands...

Ah well, that's what I get for answering before I've re-watched the show. I'll have another go at explaining it when I have!

Except that in the show, Rance comes into the room while Simon is holding the baby... hence my question

Oh. Hmm. Well, it could still play out like I was thinking, Simon does have to stay and finish up with Petaline, crucial care for the mother.