At long last we have the episode written by the one and only Jane Espenson. One of the greatest writers alive meets one of the greatest shows ever made, it is like a match made in heaven. The only thing that would make it better was if there was a sword fight. . . oh wait!
The episode starts off with a pool game played with holographic balls. During the game Mal steals from one of the people who is offering them a job once they learn that they are slavers. A bar fight breaks out and we learn just how much of a fighter Jayne is. He kicks some ass, Mal gets in some good hits away. On the way to the job Inara picks a client, it is one that she has worked for before. Mal walks in and the jealousy washes off him in waves. When they make it planetside he takes it out on Kaylee who just wants a pretty dress. Mal goes to meet with Badger who wants to hire them for a job. Mal points out how that didn't go so good the last time but Badger assures him that this time is different. He gets Kaylee the dress she liked and took her to the party, the same one that Inara and her date are at. He is meeting his client there, Kaylee quickly ditches him for food. Who can blame her. The rest of the crew is back on Serenity playing poker where the stakes are chores. River starts to freak out and Simon and Book go to check on her while Jayne cheats and looks at their hands. Zoe and Wash partake in some marital fun. Kaylee wanted so badly to be apart of this world but she just doesn't fit in. Everyone there treats her like an outsider and makes her feel worse and worse. An older gentleman shows up and puts the mean girls in their places. Saving Kaylee. Mal spots his client and makes his way over to talk to him. He is distracted by Inara and her date. Mal's client isn't biting, he doesn't like Badger, no one really does. Inara's date comes and introduces himself to Mal's client. The tension is mounting here. Mal asks Inara for a dance, making things even worse for everyone. You have to love Mal and his boldness. Mal and Inara argue over who is the more honest of the two. Insulting each other. Inara's client snatches her away, he is now the jealous one. Mal hits him and duel is called out. The two men must now fight to the death with swords. Kaylee is pulled away from all the men who now love her. Mal's client tells Mal that if he survives the battle he will do business with them. Mal is forced to stay there so that he doesn't try to escape. Badger shows up on Serenity and tells the crew about the Captain and what is going on. They think that Badger came there to help the captain but he really came here to make sure that they don't try to help the captain because it would make him look bad. He didn't come alone, he has a whole mess of men with him and they all have guns pointed at Kaylee. Mal is on his own. Inara sneaks out to go find Mal. Mal says that her client insulted her and Inara points out that Mal forced his hand, besides he doesn't back down from a fight. She points out that he does all the time. He won't admit it but he is fighting for Inara. He cares about her, even if he doesn't want to admit it. His crew sit around playing cards while talking about how to beat Badger and his men. They need a distraction and no one likes Jayne's idea of people getting naked. River walks out and the crew worries, Simon walks over to her and tries to get her to leave but it is too late, Badger sees her. She puts on a British accent and puts him in his place. He is intimidated by her. Who can blame him. She walks back to her room and Jayne points out that that was the perfect distraction. Inara teaches Mal how to sword fight. Mal calls her a hore and Inara asks why he would lay someone out for implying she is one when he calls her one to her face. He says he may not respect her job but her client doesn't respect her as a person and it is different. He then asks her not to stay with the man. It's his way of showing he cares. The fight starts the next morning. Right off the bat Mal is put on the defensive. He starts to make a come back but he doesn't know that he is being toyed with. Mal gets stabbed in the side. The fight is not going his way. His new wound is making the battle ever hard for Mal. His sword breaks and the sword is at his neck. Inara tells her client she will stay here with him if he lets Mal live. Mal uses this to get the upper hand. A few moments later he has the client at his mercy. Mal doesn't kill him, he just stabs him a few times. He gets the job! The crew just gets their plan up and ready but Mal shows up. It is all over and they did not a thing about it. Mal kicks Badger and his men off the ship. They tell Mal how they were going to help, cept for Wash, he was just going to watch but he was very excited. Kaylee hangs her dress up in her room, she still loves it. Oh and the cargo, it was a great deal of cows. Big smelly cows. Inara tells Mal that she is thankful that he defended her honor. She also tells him that she was never planning to stay, he asks why and she gives every reason other than for Mal which we know is the real reason. An amazing episode by an even more amazing writer.
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Welcome to a Tim Minear penned episode that starts off with what is basically a basketball game with a volleyball. This scene has always meant a lot to me. I fell down the rabbit hole of Joss Whedon through Buffy and Angel as everyone knows. But the time when I fell into it hardest was when Serenity was coming to theatres soon. So I wanted to check out Firefly, but I wanted to watch it all at once so I had to buy it on DVD. Before I had a chance to, I went to my aunts house where they had Firefly on, it was this scene. I didn't want to watch it because I wanted to watch it all at once from the start, but I couldn't look away from the screen. This was the first scene of Firefly I ever saw. To me it is key to what Firefly is.
As the crew is playing an alarm sounds and Wash runs up to take control of the ship. A floating body hits the ship and they find a dead ship floating in space alone. River says simply that it is a ghost. The crew decides to check out the other ship to see what's wrong. As Simon makes his way towards the ship Jayne punks him out of going. Jayne can be a real ass sometimes. They enter the ship, it really is in the words of River, a ghost ship. There is no one there but food is still sitting out ready for eating. Whatever happened it happened quick fast and in a hurry. It looks as if people just vanished. To the point of someone writing a journey log when it happened. It's Firefly doing their version of a Star Trek story. Jayne tells Simon that he has to wear his space suit, remember when I said he was an ass? Well they didn't need to wear suits anymore. He shows up looking like a fool in front of everyone else. It turns out they didn't even need him on the ship. Mal isn't amused but sends him with Kaylee, who tells him that he has the suit on wrong. He's lucky he didn't really need it. Mal and Zoe figure that the logs are wrong. Not everyone could have fit on the escape pods. Kaylee sees that there is nothing wrong with the ship itself either. The farther into the ship they go the less like a Star Trek episode it becomes. It starts taking on more of an Alien vibe. Mal and Zoe find food supplies to last a good long time. They find out that nobody escaped. All the crew's bodies are chained to the roof. Mal orders everyone off the ship but just as quickly someone attacks Jayne. Mal knocks out the attacker and brings him onto their ship. Jayne says that he must have been the one to kill everyone. Simon tries to help the guy but he keeps mumbling about everyone being weak. The man is the sole survivor of a Reavers. Book says that Reavers are just men and that there is nothing they could do that the crew couldn't undo. Mal shuts him down. Mal wants to still get everything off the ship but Jayne is too scared to step foot onboard the ship. Simon and Book go to help put the dead to rest, Jayne is forced to go with them to help out. Mal doesn't accept that he has faith but says on the off chance that there is that these people could use some peace. Could it be that part of Mal still believes? Not so much, it turns out it was busy work for them while Mal and the others deal with the fact that ship has been locked together with an explosive and they have to do the hard task of unhooking them. Jayne gets the food of the ship just as River screams and the rescued man escapes from the bridge. Kaylee frees the ship from the booby trap and everything seems to be working out for the crew. All is perfect for once. Until the alarm goes off, Reavers on the way. Or an Alliance ship coming just in time to arrest them all. The head officer orders Simon and River to be shot on sight since they don't know why they are wanted. Mal tells Simon to go and get his sister, Simon thinks that Mal is trying to sell them out. Book of all people jumps to Mal's defense. The Alliance storms the ship and River and Simon are nowhere to be seen. A solider tells the officer something and everyone is arrested and brought onto the Alliance ship. Now comes the interviews with the crew. One of my favorite scenes from the show as a whole. It's so fun to get into all the characters heads. Zoe won't talk about her and Wash's marriage due to them being private people but Wash won't shut up about how sexy his wife is and what it's like in bed with her. Very different people. River and Simon are outside the ship in space suits hugging the ship. Ironic since Simon was talking about earlier about how the thought of having nothing but that suit to save your life scares the hell out of him. The officer tells Mal that it is odd that he named his ship after a battle he was on the wrong side of. Mal says that it may have been the losing side but he isn't convinced that it was the wrong one. The survivor has cut his own tongue. Mal and his crew are arrested and the survivor starts attacking the medical personal trying to help him. Mal tries to tell the officer about Reavers but he won't listen. Until he figures out that the survivor is attack his men. He handcuffs Mal and orders him to lead them through the ship. Simon and River have returned to the ship and now must hide as the Alliance is back on Serenity. Mal takes down the survivor, saving the officer's life. He takes all the goods from Mal and co and lets them go before he blows up the ghost ship. This is such a great episode that really shows the heart and soul of Firefly. Take my love, take my land, take me where I can not stand. I don't care I'm still free you can't take the sky from me. But you can take my Firefly away. Which is what Fox did in the middle of its first season. Something that myself and many other fans have never gotten over. And how could we? It is one of the best shows ever made bar none.
The show opens in the middle of an epic battle in Serenity Valley where Sargent Malcolm Reynolds is holding down what remains of the Independence forces as the Alliance swarms in. Zoe and Bendis are the only two members of his squad who hold out through the battle while they wait for air support. One of Mal's strongest character traits is his faith. He routinely relies on his faith to keep him going, believing that God will get him through everything, after all he is just too damn pretty for God to let him die. He even kisses his cross neckless for good luck. He is a man of unshakable faith. Until it gets shaken. The Independence have surrendered and orders Mal and co to do the same. It is a moment that will change the course of Mal's life forever. Bendis and Mal's faith both die in this moment of defeat. Mal will never be the same again. 6 years later Mal and Zoe have a ship, named Serenity in honor of the battle they lost. They have a crew of misfits, Zoe's husband Wash, the kid who never grew up but boy could he fly. Kaylee, the mechanic who is far too sweet and innocent to fit in with this crew, only she's not. And Jayne the hired muscle. Oh and uh, Jayne is a guy, don't let the girl name fool you. He is a man. Also on the ship is Inara, the ships Companion or what we would call a prostitute. A career in the future that is not only legal but highly respected. It's a sign of class to be allowed to train as one. Mal is the only one who doesn't see it that way. Our unlikely heroes steal goods off of a broken down wreck as the Alliance shows up and tries to stop them, Wash uses a trick called the cry baby, a device that I personally think is just genius. It sends out a distress signal so that the Alliance will go and check it out rather than chase after them. Wash is G like that, even with his toy dinosaurs. Can we take a minute to just talk about how amazing the title song is? It's so catchy you just can't help but sing along with it. Take my love, take my land, take me where I can not stand. I don't care I'm still free you can't take the sky from me. But you can take my Firefly away. Which is what Fox did in the middle of its first season. Something that myself and many other fans have never gotten over. And how could we? It is one of the best shows ever made bar none. The show opens in the middle of an epic battle in Serenity Valley where Sargent Malcolm Reynolds is holding down what remains of the Independence forces as the Alliance swarms in. Zoe and Bendis are the only two members of his squad who hold out through the battle while they wait for air support. One of Mal's strongest character traits is his faith. He routinely relies on his faith to keep him going, believing that God will get him through everything, after all he is just too damn pretty for God to let him die. He even kisses his cross neckless for good luck. He is a man of unshakable faith. Until it gets shaken. The Independence have surrendered and orders Mal and co to do the same. It is a moment that will change the course of Mal's life forever. Bendis and Mal's faith both die in this moment of defeat. Mal will never be the same again. 6 years later Mal and Zoe have a ship, named Serenity in honor of the battle they lost. They have a crew of misfits, Zoe's husband Wash, the kid who never grew up but boy could he fly. Kaylee, the mechanic who is far too sweet and innocent to fit in with this crew, only she's not. And Jayne the hired muscle. Oh and uh, Jayne is a guy, don't let the girl name fool you. He is a man. Also on the ship is Inara, the ships Companion or what we would call a prostitute. A career in the future that is not only legal but highly respected. It's a sign of class to be allowed to train as one. Mal is the only one who doesn't see it that way. Our unlikely heroes steal goods off of a broken down wreck as the Alliance shows up and tries to stop them, Wash uses a trick called the cry baby, a device that I personally think is just genius. It sends out a distress signal so that the Alliance will go and check it out rather than chase after them. Wash is G like that, even with his toy dinosaurs. Can we take a minute to just talk about how amazing the title song is? It's so catchy you just can't help but sing along with it. It isn't long before a major point of conflict among the crew is introduced. Wash and Zoe are married, happily so. Zoe is loyal to her long time friend and Captain Malcolm Reynolds. To the point where she follows his lead and orders no matter what. Wash can't stand that, the man is jealous of Mal.
One of the best parts of the show is the way they define culture. It's the future and nothing stays the same forever. English has more or less fused with Chinese, though Chinese is used mostly for cursing. It is a really neat thing that strikes Firefly as unique. Even the way people dress and talk. It's futuristic yet a throw back to the old west. It's a fully fleshed out world, more so than most other shows. Mal, Zoe and Jayne try to drop off the goods to Badger, the character Joss Whedon wrote for himself to play before becoming too busy, only things don't go as planned. Badger knows that the goods are marked and that the Alliance is on the hunt for Mal and co. He sends them packing but not before putting Mal in his place. Telling him that he thinks he is a man of honor in a den of thieves and that in the end he is no better than anyone else. Kaylee talks Shepherd Book into traveling on the ship. He's an older man of faith who wants to explore the verse after spending time studying the good book. A man of faith living on the ship of a man who saw his faith die in front of his eyes not 6 years prior. Also don't call him grandpa, he never married. Rounding out the passengers are Dobson and Simon. Neither man is who they say they are. But both go on to play important parts of the story. Right off the bat there is something unnerving about Simon. He is hiding something and that is clear as day. Mal is trying to do business with a woman who once shot him. He is one crazy ass dude to just let things like that go. I know personally if someone shot me they would be the last person I'd do business with. Mal takes great joy in tormenting Book, almost as if he blames Book for the death of his own faith. He also bullies Inara much in the same way that a little kid picks on someone they like. It's a playful teasing that she doesn't much care for. Jayne shows himself to have no people skills at all during dinner. Simon asks his job and Mal replies human relations. Just one example of how witty the writing of this show is. After all, this episode is written by the man himself. Joss Whedon. Book and Inara bond, just going to show that not everyone who believes in the good book is a judgmental asshole. Something that I strongly believe myself, seeing as I am Catholic, lapsed but still. Meanwhile one of the passengers call the feds, Wash managed to stop the transmission but who knows how much information got out. Mal catches Simon and knocks him to the ground, he believes he is the Fed, Book tells him he has the wrong man, putting the thought in our heads that Book is the fed before we find out that Dobson is. He came for Simon but tells Mal that he will take them all to jail before accidentally shooting Kaylee. Book knocks him out, he is not what he seems. Something that will play on and off throughout the show. Simon tells Mal that he will let Kaylee die if he doesn't get him away from the Alliance while Book keeps Dobson alive. Mal caves and lets the fed live and runs from the Alliance as Simon tries to help Kaylee. As Simon works Jayne watches on in secret, worried about Kaylee. Jayne may not want to admit it but he cares about the crew. Wanting to know why the feds are after Simon, Mal opens up his create and finds River frozen. We learn that she is Simon's sister and that she went off to a private school run by the Alliance before vanishing. He risked everything to get her away from the school. That is why the Alliance is after them. She is special. Boy is she special and it isn't just because she is played by Summer Glau. Inara tells Mal that if he kicks Simon and River off the ship she'll take off too. First episode in and everything is already coming to a head. Even more so once Dobson tries to get Jayne to turn on the crew. For a while it seems like he is going to take him up on the offer. Before the crew can make it planet-side they are attacked by Reavers, who are they? what are they? Oh now that would be telling. For now, lets just say that they are crazy cannibals who live on the edge of space. Zoe tells us that they will rape you to death, eat your flesh and use your skin for clothing. Eat your flesh but still have skin left for clothes? These people are skilled! Kaylee lives but Mal tells Simon that she died, freaking him out. Mal can be a jackass sometimes but it's why we love him. Mal figures that Patience is going to shoot him again so he plans a trap to protect himself and crew from her. He sends Jayne, the man who might still betray him to go and clear out any enemy snipers. Meanwhile Book tries to help Dobson and is beat to the ground for it by Dobson. I really dislike this guy. On all three Whedonverse shows. If he was on Dollhouse I probably wouldn't like him on there ether. It turns out that the stolen goods that Mal and crew stole were nothing more than food stuffs. Turns out in the wild west of space food has a great deal more value. While Mal deals with being double crossed once again by this lady, Dobson gets a hold of River. Jayne gets his crosshairs on Mal, could this be when he kills Mal and sells him out to the Alliance? Nope! He saves the day. Jayne isn't so bad! Reavers show up planet side just as Simon goes to confront Dobson and try to save his sister. Mal, Zoe and Jayne are still in a gun fight with Patience. So much tension, is it any wonder this show is so beloved? The craziest part about this episode, Fox didn't think people would get it, or even like it so they made Joss and co make a new first episode, we will talk about that one next week but how could anyone think this wasn't the best pilot since The Shield? Or maybe till The Shield? I don't know they both came out in 02. Don't judge me, I'm not Law P knowing the date of everything. The Reavers are coming but Wash can't take off till Mal and co get on the ship. Simon has Dobson at gun point but doesn't make a move and Dobson turns the tables getting ahold of both a gun and River. Mal shoots him dead. Or does he? Only time and comic books will tell. Serenity takes off just in time as the Reavers close in on them. Mal orders Inara to take the none crew members and head to town in her shuttle. She doesn't want to leave him and we see for the first time the budding romance between the two. I always wanted them to get together, once more damn you Fox! Wash saves the day and gets Serenity the hell out of dodge losing the Reavers in his dust. Zoe takes Wash for some married fun time as Mal breaths a sigh of relief. It was a crazy few days but they got paid and are all alive. It wasn't a bad job after all. Well for some of them, Book starts to have a crisis of faith but Inara helps him see that testing his faith isn't bad. It can only help him grow. After all that is what faith is. |
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