|
Season 1, Episode 2
Written by Joss Whedon
Directed by Joss Whedon
Original Airdate: 20 December 2002
Jayne "Here's a little concept I've been
working on - how about we shoot [Patience] first?"
Wash "It is her turn."
REGULAR CAST
GUEST CAST
SYNOPSIS
-
Mal stares at the girl in the silver box, as Simon
insists he go to her side. Mal assumes she’s been bought as a slave, but
the girl wakes up, screaming Simon’s name. As he rushes to her side, he
identifies her as his sister River.
Explaining to the crew their past, Simon reveals that his sister is
exceptionally intelligent. His parents sent her to a school, but after a
while, her letters home began to become strange. Feeling something was
wrong, Simon went to her, but found it difficult to get her out. Through
some underground movements, he discovered that the government had been
conducting experiments on her, and got her out with money and luck. As
touched as he is by the tale, Mal is more concerned with the Alliance
transmission that Dobson sent. They don’t know what the Alliance knows
about them, and until Dobson wakes up, they won’t know. Mal orders them
to continue with the original plan and to take Patience’s cargo to her
on Whitefall. The main priority: keep flying.
When Simon enquires about his fate, Mal lays it down straight: if Kaylee
makes it, then River and Simon stay on Whitefall. If she doesn’t, they
get off sooner. Book objects to that, calling it murder, but Mal
justifies it by claiming that Simon is the reason Kaylee is lying close
to death. Inara reminds them of Dobson and Jayne is determined to kill
him. They begin to argue about the fates of their passengers, and Inara
tells Mal that if the Tams are to be left on Whitefall where they will
not survive, then she’s leaving as well. Mal tells her that that’s for
the best.
Simon corners Mal and asks him what makes him afraid of the Alliance.
Mal punches him for his troubles.
Mal talks to Dobson about the transmission. He wants to know exactly
what he sent to the Alliance before Wash scrambled the wave. He leaves
Jayne to find out. They know nothing, and Jayne surprises him by telling
him what’s in Simon’s box, and discovers that the Alliance considers
River a precious commodity and will never stop looking for her. Dobson
tells Jayne that River is worth a lot of money and offers to cut him in.
Jayne asks whether or not the plan would involve betraying Mal, and
smiles when told that it does.
Wash has meanwhile detected a ship heading in their direction, one with
a lot of radiation. Wash notes that they’re flying without core
containment, which is suicidal, and Mal identifies the approaching craft
as a Reaver vessel.
Informing the crew, Mal tells them of their situation and that they
should be passing the Reavers in a minute. Everyone is worried: Zoë
grits her teeth, and Jayne prepares his weapons. Simon is confused,
until, on her way to the cockpit, Zoë tells him that if the Reavers
board they’ll rape them to death, eat their flesh and then wear their
skin on their clothing, but not necessarily in that order. In her
shuttle, Inara pulls out a syringe of some yellow liquid that appears to
be a suicide kit. Thankfully, the Reavers pass on by without altering
their course.
Mal visits Kaylee, who’s been drugged to suppress the pain. She falls
unconscious and her arm droops. In the shuttle, Inara hands Simon some
packages for River and he apologises for his part in everything. Mal
interrupts and gets into a fight with Inara. There is tension between
the two of them and Inara regrets their fight.
Outside the shuttle, Mal tells Simon that he has to deal with the fed,
but he doesn’t have enough time. When Simon enquires as to why, Mal
tells him that Kaylee is dead. Rushing to the infirmary, Simon finds
Kaylee alive and in the cockpit the crew laugh at the joke. Patience
hails them and agrees to do business, while the crew believe that she’s
planning to ambush them. Jayne suggests they shoot her first, but Mal
says no: they will face each problem as it arises. In the holding bay,
Dobson cuts himself loose.
On Whitefall, Serenity has landed, and Mal, Zoë and Jayne arrive
at the exchange location. Jayne is sent to dispatch any snipers, while
Zoë and Mal analyse their unsafe position. Onboard Serenity,
Dobson savagely attacks Book, tries hailing the Alliance, fails and arms
himself.
At the exchange site, Patience arrives armed with henchmen at the teeth,
and Jayne disarms a sniper and aims a gun at Mal with a smile. Patience
samples the cargo and throws Mal his money, and as expected, she
double-crosses them. Jayne shifts his target and a shoot-out begins
between Mal and Patience, with Patience ending up beaten. Mal informs
her of the cargo’s location where he’s buried it, and takes the money.
Onboard the ship, River and Kaylee are caught unawares by Dobson. He
threatens Kaylee and holds River at gunpoint. As soon as she has an
opportunity, Kaylee warns Wash and Simon, but Simon is unable to stop
Dobson. Before anyone can do anything, the Reavers turn up, having
followed Serenity to Whitefall. Wash prepares to move, and in the
cargo hold, Dobson tries to dissuade Simon from killing him. Simon is
hesitant, until Mal comes aboard and shoots Dobson dead. Dumping his
body on Whitefall, Serenity takes off to evade the Reavers.
Wash gets Kaylee in the engine room, and with Book’s assistance prepares
to make a manoeuvre. Inara is ordered off ship along with the civilians
by Mal. She protests, but he wins. As the Reavers gain on them, Wash
executes a ‘crazy Ivan,’ twirling Serenity around and igniting
the gas behind them, damaging the Reavers’ ship.
As Serenity soars out into space, Book laments on his actions and
his allowing Mal to shoot Dobson. Inara tells him that maybe he’s in the
wrong place – or maybe he’s where he’s supposed to be. Simon and River
finally reunite after her years away, and on the bridge, Mal tells Jayne
that he knows Dobson offered him a cut. When asked why he didn’t betray
Mal, Jayne tells him the money wasn’t enough and comments that when the
money is enough, it’ll be an interesting day.
When he confronts Mal about his fate, Mal surprisingly offers Simon a
job as the ship’s medic. He claims that life could be easier for him and
his sister onboard and Mal is left alone to reflect the last few days.
He’s still flying.
TRIVIA
-
Inara's apparent suicide kit was not intended as
such and was actually a foundation for a later plot line. As Whedon
points out in his commentary for the episode, he never finished it up,
but also states that it works just as well as a suicide kit.
CONTINUITY
-
The ongoing story arc involving the Alliance and
River begins in this episode, or is at least alluded to. This arc
continues most notably in
Ariel and
also comes back to haunt the Tams in the series finale
Objects in Space.
-
The core villains of the show may be the Alliance,
but it also seems to be focused on the villainy of the mentioned
Reavers. However, the cannibalistic humans are not seen. Their handiwork
is seen in
Bushwhacked,
and they finally make an appearance in the movie,
Serenity.
-
Simon
and River become wanted fugitives and Simon describes how he paid people
to get River out of the Academy. In
Serenity,
Simon is seen infiltrating the Academy himself and rescuing River.
-
Dobson
is apparently killed at episode’s end, but returns in the
Serenity
comic book with a cybernetic implant over his face to replace the eye he
loses in this episode.
-
Book
mentions at one point that he’s been out of the Abbey for two days.
GOOFS
-
When we first encounter the Reaver ship, it and
Serenity fly extremely slowly past each other, which makes for good
dramatic effect, but doesn't make much sense.
-
During the shoot out on Whitefall, Zoë uses her
hand to cock her gun but misses and has to try again (this also appears
in the opening credits of all the episodes).
-
During the "Crazy Ivan", the two shots of the port
engine flipping are reversed - it flips forward (into normal position)
in the first shot, then flips backwards in the second shot. It should be
the other way around.
-
In one of the shots shortly after escaping the
Reavers, Alan Tudyk is only miming holding the steering wheel.
Serenity
(Part 1) | Serenity (Part 2) |
The Train Job |
Bushwhacked |
Shindig
Safe |
Our Mrs. Reynolds |
Jaynestown |
Out of Gas |
Ariel |
War Stories
Trash |
The Message |
Heart of Gold |
Objects in Space
|
