Season 1, Episode 8
Written by Ben Edlund
Directed by Marita Grabiak
Original Airdate: 18 October 2002
"You guys had a riot on account of me? My very
own riot?"
Jayne
REGULAR CAST
GUEST CAST
-
Gregory Itzin as Magistrate Higgins
-
Daniel Hess as Mudder Man
-
Kevin Gage as Stitch Hessian
CO-STARRING
-
Zachary Kranzier as Fess Higgins
-
Jordan Lund as Foreman
-
Bob McCraken as Well-Dressed Man
-
Ronald Craig Williams as Busker
-
John Jabaley as Bartender
-
Laura Niemi as Woman
-
Simon Brooke as Prod
-
Clement E. Blake as Mudder Elder
SYNOPSIS
-
In the bowels of Serenity, Simon is trying
to convince Kaylee that he is capable of swearing. She seems to be a
little skeptical. The conversation is broken up by news of Jayne tearing
through Simon's infirmary. Sure enough, the big man has turned the place
upside down in search of tape. Simon is more than a little distressed by
the mess.
Jayne needed the tape to fasten a gun to his belly. He thinks he might
encounter a little trouble on this particular package pickup, since he
had some trouble in this area a few years back. Mal says no guns.
Serenity breaks through the atmosphere of Higgins' moon and
touches down on the dusty planet with a bit of a funky smell. That smell
comes from the ubiquitous mud pits, which are the backbone of the local
clay and ceramics economy.
Jayne drapes himself in a hood and goggles to disguise himself, and
Kaylee convinces Mal that Simon should come along on the journey. Mal
agrees, figuring Simon's rich guy looks will help their ruse of being
buyers, not intergalactic smugglers. Simon doesn't like the idea of
going off of the ship, but he goes after some prodding.
Walking through the mud pits, the group wonders if Jayne's disguise is
really necessary. He hasn't been here in a few years, after all. They
find out that the disguise is necessary, as a giant mud statue of Jayne
has been erected in the centre of town. Jayne starts to get nervous that
he'll be recognized because, as he admits, he stole some money from the
Magistrate up on the hill, and he's not the forgiving type.
Speaking of the Magistrate, Higgins is his name, and he's meeting with
Inara as the group is in the mud pits. Seems that Higgins has a problem
he wants Inara to fix.
Retiring to the bar to wait for their package to be set up, the crew
tries to figure out why a statue of Jayne would be anywhere, much less
on a mud planet. A man comes in and informs Mal that his cargo is all
ready to go, and they just need to sneak it past security and the mud
pit foreman.
A song breaks out in the bar about "a man they call Jayne." It seems
that our guy has become a Robin Hood-type folk hero because he robbed
from the rich and gave to the poor. As Jayne confesses, he was trying to
fly away with the stolen money, got hit by some anti-aircraft fire and
had to dump the strongboxes to stay aloft. Those boxes full of money
dropped down on the mud pits, where they were collected by the Mudders,
who saw it as a great and noble gift.
A crowd forms around the bar to celebrate their mythic hero, Jayne. He
doesn't turn away the adulation. Word spreads of a Jayne Day being held
in the town square tomorrow. Mal thinks that will be the perfect
diversion to sneak out the cargo.
Meanwhile, back at the Higgins homestead, the Magistrate asks Inara to
make a man out of his 26-year old virgin son. He's a little shy,
understandably.
While Inara and Higgins' son get to know each other, the Foreman tells
Higgins that Jayne Cobb has come back to town. Wanting revenge for the
theft, Higgins frees a man named Stitch. Stitch used to be Jayne's
partner in crime. Higgins hands Stitch a shotgun and advises him to get
Jayne for taking four years of his life and one of his eyes. Stitch is
glad to oblige.
Inside, Higgins' son and Inara discuss a hero named Jayne. The son says
his father heard that Jayne was returning, tracked him here and put a
landlock on his ship.
Jayne Day rolls around and the crowd wants a speech from their man. The
nice thoughts are broken up by Stitch who tells the crowd the truth.
Jayne and Stitch stole the money. After the plane was hit by fire, Jayne
dumped fuel, equipment and even Stitch before dumping that money. Jayne
admits he's no hero. Stitch shoots at Jayne, but a Mudder jumps from the
crowd and takes a bullet. Jayne throws a knife into Stitch's chest and
beats him until there's no more Stitch. Jayne yells at the crowd for
thinking he's a hero, then knocks his statue over in anger.
Back on Serenity, Wash is trying to get the ship to take off,
with no luck. Inara asks him if he's having problems. Suddenly, the
landlock is released and Serenity takes off. Wash says that there
are no problems. Higgins' son has overrode the landlock system and
released the ship. Magistrate Higgins is irate, but as the son points
out, his father wanted him to become a man, and now he has.
Jayne is still upset about the Mudder taking a bullet for him. Mal
opines that every man with a statue made of him was one kind of
'sonuvabitch' or another. He says it's not about what Jayne did, it's
about what the Mudders need.
TRIVIA
GOOFS
-
They never really explain how the townspeople know
who Jayne was when he dumped the money. He showed up, he robbed from the
magistrate, he flew off, and dumped some money. When they'd ever meet
him, get his name, or know what he looked like to make a statue of him?
-
What exactly is "Port Control?" Serenity
landed in the middle of a big open field with no signs of buildings, no
one to greet them, and no indication they had to request permission to
land.
-
Stitch walks upright pretty well, and manhandles
Simon pretty readily, despite being locked up in a cramped box for four
years.
-
The muddy handprint that the foreman leaves when
he clasps Simon on the back disappears when they are standing in front
of Jayne's statue (in the original script, there is an intervening scene
where Kaylee actually wipes it off, but it was cut).
-
Simon leaves his coat in the tavern, and doesn't
have it when he re-boards Serenity. However, he does have it in
later episodes.
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
|