I knew, the whole time I was watching Serenity in the theatre, that he looked familiar. I couldn’t place him—and I’d never seen Firefly, so that obviously wasn’t it. It turns out that I’d known him from the same place I initially knew Abe Vigoda. It’s another one of the syndicated shows that I watched with my family when I was young.
Ron Glass has never had the flashy career of some. He’s steadily worked since 1973, though, starting in TV with an appearance on All in the Family. He’s hit most of the TV highlights over the years, including the near-obligatory Murder, She Wrote appearance, some Perry Mason appearances, and episodes of two different CSI franchises. (No Law & Order, believe it or not!) He even did an episode of Star Trek: Voyager. He’s done a dozen movies, but mostly, he’s a TV actor.
But really, I think most people know him as either Detective Ron Harris of New York’s twelfth precinct from Barney Miller or else as Shepherd Book (first name revealed in the comics to be Derrial) from Firefly and Serenity. They are two very different characters, but I think there’s an underlying similarity to them that’s worth exploring.
Harris is the snazziest dresser and the smoothest talker of the twelfth precinct. You can’t really say he’s the snarkiest, because with that competition, who can tell? But he’s on the list, certainly. He dreams of better things—becoming a published author, which eventually happens, and being able to really afford the clothes he wants. He resents anything that takes him out of his preferred lifestyle, which makes you wonder why he became a cop in the first place.
Book wasn’t born a shepherd, but he doesn’t talk much about his past. He joins the good ship Serenity because, as Kaylee (Jewel Staite) knows, he’s searching for the journey, not the destination. He is kind and loving, but he has a hard time forgiving River (Summer Glau) for “editing” his Bible. He’s awkward with Inara (Morena Baccarin) at first, but they do have a lot to respect about one another.
But the thing is, both characters are in odd circumstances because it’s where they feel they should be. Even if we the audience can’t necessarily see why. They are basically good people who are making the ‘Verse better any way they can. Maybe Harris doesn’t have the list of past wrongs to atone for; maybe Book isn’t as concerned about fancy clothes and fine women. But at heart, they’re good, passionate people, and they are made memorable by Ron Glass.
