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Finding Firefly - Part Three |
By Joe Utichi. |
As part of our celebration of Serenity - we bring you our guide to the show that started it all, Firefly, with an exclusive episode guide. You can read Parts One and Two from the links at the bottom of the page, and in Part Three we cover episodes War Stories, Trash, The Message, Heart of Gold and Objects in Space.
Important note: The verdicts on this page relate only to Firefly, so a two-star review means we think the episode is worth it agaist the rest of Firefly only. |
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War Stories |
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THE PLOT:
On a routine spot of crime, Mal and Wash (accompanying the captain to regain some semblance of manhood) are captured by Niska and tortured just a little bit.
THE REVIEW:
Through extreme torture, we learn more about Wash than we'd known before; that he's often jealous of the captain's relationship with his wife, Zoe, but that he cares about her to an extent Mal'll never understand. Indeed, the pair's torture at the hands of old-friend Niska is not even the point of the episode, and Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion riff so beautifully off each other as they argue their points that at times even the audience forgets they're being tortured.
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BEST LINE:
Mal's rejected one of Wash's ideas and he's a little peeved Zoe didn't argue the point.
Wash: So, when you said that you didn't get a chance to tell the captain my idea, he rejected it out of hand and you didn't argue the point or even give it another thought...
Zoe: I gave, honey, I--
Wash: And then came the lying to me about it which, for me, is sort-of the highlight of this little adventure.
Zoe: Is there any way I'm going to get out of this with honour and dignity?
Wash: You're pretty much down to ritual suicide, lambie-toes.
Zoe: I didn't want to upset you. |
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Our Verdict:  |
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Trash |
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THE PLOT:
Mal runs into ex-wive Saffron once more and, following Inara's complaints that the ship isn't doing suitable business, he agrees to help her steal a priceless relic from Earth-That-Was. A gun called The Lassiter.
THE REVIEW:
To most television producers, "let's give character x a surprise wife and see what happens" would be the signal for some shark-jumping. To Joss Whedon, it's key for one of the best Firefly episodes. Christina Hendricks is one of the series' most memorable guest stars, delivering a wonderfully complex performance as Mal's would-be wife, and Mal's interaction with the rest of his crew as they react to the news is brilliantly funny. This episode is also significant as the possessor of one of Inara's few moments of letting her guard down.
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BEST LINE:
Inara is a little unhappy Serenity hasn't passed by a core planet in a while.
Inara: What was the last cargo we snuck past the Alliance to transport?
Mal: (beat) They were dolls...
Inara: They were little Geisha dolls with big heads that wobbled.
Mal: Hey! People loved those!
Inara: And what exactly was our profit on the famous wobbly-headed doll caper?
Mal: Our cut? So you're in the gang now?
Inara: Well, since I can't find work as Companion, I might as well become a petty theif like you. |
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Our Verdict: |
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The Message |
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THE PLOT:
A package arrives for Mal, the dead body of one of his former war pals, Tracey. As the crew set about figuring just what it was landed them with a body in a crate Tracey comes back to life and things get a little more complicated.
THE REVIEW:
When Firefly dips into the war it does what few other sci-fi shows manage and presents a real, no-holds-barred look at life on the front lines. In many ways, the war of the Independents against the weight of the Alliance is one of the most well-drawn of fictional wars ever. That we aren't ever given more than snatches of the conflict probably says a lot about that and one wonders if it'd have remained as powerful a peripheral element as it was if we'd have been given more than half a season to touch on it. Johnathan Woodward's Tracey is exemplary of the sort of character one imagines lost the war for the Independents; as unsure about his role in the conflict as he is about his allies. Woodward does an outstanding job delivering an out-for-himself space ruffian without the strength to actually get things right and, like much of Whedon's back-catalogue, the pay-off towards the end of the episode is wholly unexpected. We aren't expected to like Tracey, but by the episode's end we wholeheartedly understand him.
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BEST LINE:
In a flashback to the war, Zoe is explaining to Tracey that she's taken out two Alliance scouts.
Tracey: I didn't hear a single thing.
Zoe: First rule of battle, little one? Don't ever let them know where you are.
Mal comes charging in, guns blazing.
Mal: EEE! I'm right here, I'm right here. Come and get me! Come on!
Zoe: 'Course, there are other schools of thought...
Mal: Phew! That was bracing! They don't like it when you shoot at 'em - worked that out myself! |
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Our Verdict: |
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Heart of Gold |
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THE PLOT:
The crew of Serenity are charged with the protection of an unlicensed whore-house on a moon in the middle of the outer-rim when Inara receives a distress call from them that a local hooligan is threatening one of their girls.
THE REVIEW:
As an excuse for little more than an old-fashioned shoot-out, Heart of Gold is perhaps one of Firefly's weaker episodes. That it brings the Mal/Inara relationshipship to breaking point is perhaps it's only strength, for there's very little about the rest that's interesting. The will they/won't they between Mal and Inara is a familiar Whedon tenet and one that we're well used to from Buffy, but there's an added depth in Firefly that really comes to the fore in Heart of Gold. Indeed, one of the many tragedies of Firefly's limited run is that we never truly got to grips with the fractured relationship between the two. So memorable for adding extra depth this episode will remain, but as a standalone it's somewhat lacking.
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BEST LINE:
Kaylee's feeling a little self-aware at the whore-house.
Kaylee: Everyone's got somebody. Wash, tell me I'm pretty.
Wash: Were I unwed I would take you in a manly fashion.
Kaylee: 'Cos I'm pretty?
Wash: 'Cos you're pretty. |
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Our Verdict:  |
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Objects in Space |
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THE PLOT:
As the crew sleep after a particularly incendiary discussion about River's place on the ship, a bounty-hunter sneaks on board and incapacitates them one-by-one in search for the girl herself.
THE REVIEW:
You have to wonder if Fox had seen Objects In Space before they decided to pull the plug on Firefly. You have to hope they hadn't, because any network that'd cancel a show this good has to be troubled upstairs. River's "coming of age" is but the latest chapter in the complex framework that defines her character and, if it wasn't clear before, we learn in Objects in Space that there's more to River than the trademarked mad-girl facade she usually exudes. River has moments of extreme clarity and this is one of her finest. What she is I don't think we'll ever learn, but the mystery of River Tam is one of many mysteries that make Firefly such fine television.
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BEST LINE:
The bounty-hunter, Early, has captured Simon.
Early: Where's your sister?
Simon: Are you Alliance?
Early: Am I a lion?
Simon: What?
Early: I don't think of myself as a lion... You might as well though - how the mighty roar!
Simon: I said "Alliance."
Early: Oh, I thought... That's weird... |
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Our Verdict:  |
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Elsewhere... |
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| Catch up on the TV show that launched this boat. |
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| Our essential episode guide continues. |
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