The Gorram Firefly Rewatch, Part 2
I watched another four episodes today, and they were all great. This really was Whedon's best work, I think, and I say that as someone who loves Buffy very much. Still, I was heartened to see his enthusiasm over Dollhouse season two in a recent interview. Perhaps he wasn't letting himself really love it before lest he get his heart broken again?
1.04 "Bushwhacked"
Written and directed by Tim Minear
This is another action-packed episode that features reavers, Alliance, a creepy atmosphere, and loads of good character interactions. After discovering an abandoned wreck, the Serenity crew discovers a bunch of reaver victims (and one survivor) and some salvageable cargo. Just as they've transferred the survivor to their infirmary, given the victims a funeral, and collected the most valuable goods, an Alliance vessel arrives and questions the Serenity crew about what they're doing there.
My favorite bits are the pissing contest between Jayne and Simon that develops after Jayne pranks Simon into needlessly donning a pressure suit (after Jayne later claims that cleaning up bodies freaks him out, Simon immediately pipes up that he'll do it because bodies don't bother him at all), the terrific crew interrogation scenes, how exactly River and Simon hide from the searchers, and the ending, in which the Alliance guy has finally been convinced that Mal's advice to simply blow up the wreck is the best course of action.
1.05 "Shindig"
Written by Jane Espenson
Lots and lots of Mal and Inara goodness in this one and the origin of the "Captain Tightpants" line. This is the episode where Mal, being slightly better mannered than Badger, is sent to meet a client who wants to smuggle some stuff off-world. The meet-up occurs at a party that Inara and her arrogant client are attending, and Mal accidentally gets involved in a duel over her honor.
Pretty much everything in this episode is great and most characters get a moment to be fun, be it Kaylee in her pretty dress charming the guys with ship talk (after getting snubbed by some female attendees), River donning the perfect Cockney disguise to deflect Badger's questions, and Wash doing a faux eulogy for Zoe in which he admits that she's "somewhat less attractive now that she's all corpsified and gross." The best thing, though, is probably Mal's awkwardness when he tells Inara not to accept her client's offer to remain with him on Persephone.
1.06 "Safe"
Written by Drew Z. Greenberg
This episode has lots of flashbacks to Simon (played by Zac Efron!) and River's life before the show begins, from the early days of family harmony to Simon's conviction that something's wrong at the academy and his parents' (his mom being played by Isabella Hoffman from Homicide) insistence that he think about how his actions are shaming the family. In the present, Mal encourages Simon to take River for a walk so a transaction can run smoothly, they end up kidnapped, it seems Serenity leaves them, but then they come back to rescue them and it all ends with a teamy goodness dinner (something Joss seems to like).
I love that there's continuity between jobs, as we see the cattle that was loaded aboard in the last episode get delivered in this one. Also, I like that River recognizes what Simon has given up in order to save her, I like the hints about Book's background, and I like the funny lines, from Jayne's diary readings ("Today we were kidnapped by hill folk and never seen again. It was the best day ever.") to Zoe's assertion that they are "Big damn heroes, sir" for arriving just in the nick of time. There really are tons of quotables in this series, even being so short-lived, so it's fun to be reminded where these lines originated.
1.07 "Our Mrs. Reynolds"
Written by Joss Whedon
This episode's a bit more fun to watch when you don't know what's coming, and the simpering!Saffron is a little irksome, but it's still really a great episode. Just like with the accidental duel in "Shindig," Mal's ignorance of local customs gets him trouble, this time netting him a wife, to Zoe's amusement (until Wash seems to admire said wife's homemaker skills), and must contend with her repeated attempts to serve and service him. There's actually a pretty sexy scene between them, but of course she shows her true colors and then everyone else must band together to get the ship back (and now Zoe's all happy with Wash again because he resisted Saffron's advances).
My favorite moments include Inara's face when Mal's new wife is introduced and her later insistence that the reason she's woozy is because she fell (and not because she kissed the drugged Mal), Book's continued references to the "special hell" Mal will go to if he takes sexual advantage of his new bride, and Jayne's oddly endearing attempt to trade his very favorite gun (Vera) for Saffron, pledging that he'd take good care of her.
1.04 "Bushwhacked"
Written and directed by Tim Minear
This is another action-packed episode that features reavers, Alliance, a creepy atmosphere, and loads of good character interactions. After discovering an abandoned wreck, the Serenity crew discovers a bunch of reaver victims (and one survivor) and some salvageable cargo. Just as they've transferred the survivor to their infirmary, given the victims a funeral, and collected the most valuable goods, an Alliance vessel arrives and questions the Serenity crew about what they're doing there.
My favorite bits are the pissing contest between Jayne and Simon that develops after Jayne pranks Simon into needlessly donning a pressure suit (after Jayne later claims that cleaning up bodies freaks him out, Simon immediately pipes up that he'll do it because bodies don't bother him at all), the terrific crew interrogation scenes, how exactly River and Simon hide from the searchers, and the ending, in which the Alliance guy has finally been convinced that Mal's advice to simply blow up the wreck is the best course of action.
1.05 "Shindig"
Written by Jane Espenson
Lots and lots of Mal and Inara goodness in this one and the origin of the "Captain Tightpants" line. This is the episode where Mal, being slightly better mannered than Badger, is sent to meet a client who wants to smuggle some stuff off-world. The meet-up occurs at a party that Inara and her arrogant client are attending, and Mal accidentally gets involved in a duel over her honor.
Pretty much everything in this episode is great and most characters get a moment to be fun, be it Kaylee in her pretty dress charming the guys with ship talk (after getting snubbed by some female attendees), River donning the perfect Cockney disguise to deflect Badger's questions, and Wash doing a faux eulogy for Zoe in which he admits that she's "somewhat less attractive now that she's all corpsified and gross." The best thing, though, is probably Mal's awkwardness when he tells Inara not to accept her client's offer to remain with him on Persephone.
1.06 "Safe"
Written by Drew Z. Greenberg
This episode has lots of flashbacks to Simon (played by Zac Efron!) and River's life before the show begins, from the early days of family harmony to Simon's conviction that something's wrong at the academy and his parents' (his mom being played by Isabella Hoffman from Homicide) insistence that he think about how his actions are shaming the family. In the present, Mal encourages Simon to take River for a walk so a transaction can run smoothly, they end up kidnapped, it seems Serenity leaves them, but then they come back to rescue them and it all ends with a teamy goodness dinner (something Joss seems to like).
I love that there's continuity between jobs, as we see the cattle that was loaded aboard in the last episode get delivered in this one. Also, I like that River recognizes what Simon has given up in order to save her, I like the hints about Book's background, and I like the funny lines, from Jayne's diary readings ("Today we were kidnapped by hill folk and never seen again. It was the best day ever.") to Zoe's assertion that they are "Big damn heroes, sir" for arriving just in the nick of time. There really are tons of quotables in this series, even being so short-lived, so it's fun to be reminded where these lines originated.
1.07 "Our Mrs. Reynolds"
Written by Joss Whedon
This episode's a bit more fun to watch when you don't know what's coming, and the simpering!Saffron is a little irksome, but it's still really a great episode. Just like with the accidental duel in "Shindig," Mal's ignorance of local customs gets him trouble, this time netting him a wife, to Zoe's amusement (until Wash seems to admire said wife's homemaker skills), and must contend with her repeated attempts to serve and service him. There's actually a pretty sexy scene between them, but of course she shows her true colors and then everyone else must band together to get the ship back (and now Zoe's all happy with Wash again because he resisted Saffron's advances).
My favorite moments include Inara's face when Mal's new wife is introduced and her later insistence that the reason she's woozy is because she fell (and not because she kissed the drugged Mal), Book's continued references to the "special hell" Mal will go to if he takes sexual advantage of his new bride, and Jayne's oddly endearing attempt to trade his very favorite gun (Vera) for Saffron, pledging that he'd take good care of her.