After the original pilot for Firefly, "Serenity," was rejected by Fox, Joss Whedon has been including a lot of backstory in every episode. Besides the official second pilot, "The Train Job," "Bushwhacked" can also be thought of a as a pilot -- and probably a better pilot than TTJ. "Out of Gas" can also be looked at as a pilot as well. Of the "pilots" that have aired, OOG is probably the best, incorporating a lot of backstory with humor, drama and nifty special effects.
It begins with Serenity floating silently in space, seemingly dead. Mournful music tells audience that their first impression is correct. Inside an empty boat, Malcolm Reynolds collapses in the cargo bay with memories streaming through his mind. The cargo bay doors swing open and flood the cargo bay with light as Mal and Zoe inspect their newly purchased ship. Zoe is unimpressed, she thinks "it's a piece of faiyun." Mal counters that it will be with you till you die --"because it's a death trap," Zoe retorts. But for Mal the beat up old ship represents freedom, from the Alliance, to take jobs as they come, to go anywhere they want. He even has a name for it all picked out.
Mal regains consciousness as his blood drips onto the cargo bay floor. He gets to his feet and drags a piece of equipment with him. He remembers dinner with the Serenity crew. Everyone was having such a great time. Apparently Shepherd Book has a some very funny stories about life in the monastery. Wash arrives late but assures Mal that their course while slower than taking a normal route -- an eighteen hour trip will now take the better part of a week -- will keep them away from any Alliance patrols -- "or a single living soul for that matter." Jayne tries to coax some stories out of Simon and Inara.
"Day is a vestigial mode of time measurement based on solar cycles. It's not applicable....I didn't get you anything. -- River on Simon's birthday
Kaylee has a surprise for Simon. They've discovered that it's Simon's birthday -- they got it off an arrest warrant. And they prepare him a protein cake. The ship appears to lose power as Simon blows out the candles. Kaylee goes to check it out. A massive explosion rocks the ship and knocks Zoe out. The ship is on fire. Mal orders the deck sealed off. Zoe is badly hurt and Simon rushes for his med kit. But Jayne blocks his way, "If I let you through, we all die."
Mal opens the cargo bay doors and lets the atmosphere vent. The fire flows out with it in an impressive display and the doors close as we see Mal struggling to get into the infirmary. The same infirmary where Zoe was brought in by Wash and Simon earlier. Kaylee is shaken badly by this but she is needed in the engine room. Wash is also shaken and refuses to leave his wife's side. But Mal needs him on the bring and confronts Wash, physically throwing him out of the infirmary.
This prompts Mal to recall his first meeting with Wash. Zoe didn't like him -- she wasn't sure what but it could be the cheesy mustache and hawaiian shirt. Either way, Mal has received an armload of recommendations and is anxious to hire him. Now that they have a "genius mechanic," they need a pilot. This "genius" however isn't Kaylee -- it's a long-haired stoner type.
We return to the infirmary where Zoe's heart has stopped. Simon asks for adrenalin -- he Zoe in the heart with a huge needle that is full of the stuff. Recalling this incident, Mal reaches into the same drawer and pulls a similar needle and stabs himself with it. He flashes back to the infirmary again where Kaylee has discovered the source of the accident. "The catalyzer on the port compression coil blew." In "captain dummy" talk it means that they're "dead in the water." Besides killing the main, the explosion has also knocked out the auxiliary life support system. The only oxygen they have to breath is whatever got pumped in to the "atmo" before the explosion that didn't get eaten up by the fire -- a couple of hours at most.
Inara looks in on Zoe. Simon comments that since Zoe is using less oxygen (she's still unconscious), she'll outlive all of them. He has also felt that the name "Serenity" has always had a funereal ring to it. Inara comments that she has always loved the ship. Simon feels that suffocation is an undignified way to go but Inara doesn't want to hear a clinical description of it. He apologizes.
River says "don't be afraid" to Book. That's what his bible says but River can sense that he is afraid that they'll run out of air and "die gasping." "But we won't, that's not going to happen" she assures him -- they'll freeze to death first.
"Even if some passerby did happen to receive [the signal], all it would do is muck up their navigation....They'd be forced to stop and dig out our signal before they could even go anyplace. Well maybe I should do that then!" "OK!" "Fine!" -- Wash and Mal showing the power of positive bickering
On the bridge Wash has set up an emergency beacon but feels it's pointless. They are too far out of range of anyone or anything. So Mal insists that he make the signal go further -- to do whatever he can. The confrontation grows tense. But during their ranting, Mal hits upon an idea that might work -- "divert the nav-sats to the transmitter." Jayne complains that their fighting will use up all the air.
Mal remembers catching his genius mechanic, Fester, having sex in the engine room with a "prairie harpy." It seems that she likes engines, "they make her hot." Mal complains that he still hasn't gotten the ship space worthy but he complains that it is impossible. Kaylee, the prairie harpy, disagrees with him. She quickly shows him how to repair the engine by eliminating an unreliable part and reconnecting some other parts. Mal is impressed, Kaylee is a natural mechanic and he offers her Fester's job as ship's mechanic.
He then remembers Kaylee apologizing to Mal. She is beating herself up for not recognizing there was a problem before the explosion occurred. The catalyzer is broken and they have no replacement for it. She can't fix the engine and they can't restore life support without the engine. Returning to the present, it's clear that the part that Mal has been carrying around is a new catalyzer. He reaches the engine and tries to install it but he's bleeding profusely and drops the part.
He remembers evacuating Serenity. He divides the crew and passengers into two groups and sends them off on the ship's two shuttles. They can't reach safety but the idea is for the two shuttles to move in opposite directions to increase their chances of finding another ship while extending the lives of their occupants. He sends Book, Kaylee, and Jayne off on Inara's shuttle and asks Simon and River to go with Wash and Zoe. Mal decides to stay with Serenity in case someone responds to their distress beacon.
"You don't have to die alone." "Everybody dies alone." -- Inara and Mal
Inara believes that Mal is trying to "go down with your ship." Mal remembers meeting Inara. She thinks that the shuttle is a little small at first. She tries the controls and lays down the ground rules: complete autonomy, no one would be allowed in without an invitation, and she won't service him or his crew. She also wants him to assure her that when she makes an appointment with a client, that Mal make sure that she can keep that appointment. Mal tries to play it cool and tells her that he will review her application but she is confident that he will rent the shuttle to him at one quarter his asking price. As a Companion she is more respectable than anyone else that Mal can take on his ship. This piques Mal's curiosity, he wonders if she might be running from something and tells her that some of the crew fought for independence. She assures him that she has no problems with the Alliance and supported unification -- she also tells him that he can't call her a whore. Returning to the crisis on Serenity, Inara asks Mal to come with her on her shuttle but he refuses to leave.
It's getting pretty cold on Serenity as Wash shows Mal a button he's rigged up to signal the shuttles if a ship responds to their beacon. Jayne prepares a space suit for Mal but he insists he won't need it. Everybody gets on the shuttles and they take off from Serenity's mini-landing pads, moving in opposite directions. The music is particularly effective in this scene as Mal bundles up to wait for signal that may never come.
He's fast asleep when it does come. A ship that looks like a futuristic tow truck emerges in front of Serenity. Mal negotiates for the part they need but the captain of the other ship is distrustful. Mal finally convinces him and the two ships dock together. The other ship's captain holds a new catalyzer up to the airlock before Mal opens it. Mal seems to wake up a little more when air from the other ship enters Serenity as the airlock opens. But the other captain has brought his crew, all of whom are armed to the teeth, with him. They search Mal and the ship thoroughly. Mal complains that he had expected them to be more reasonable.
"Which one do you figure tracked us." "The ugly one sir." "Could you be more specific?" -- Mal and Zoe
Mal remembers meeting Jayne while trying to reason with another band of armed men. Jayne is distrustful of them, labeling Mal as a "low down, dirty deceiver." But Jayne's boss wants them alive until they reveal the location of their "stuff." But Jayne is confident that he can find it as easily as he found them. As a delaying tactic, Mal asks Jayne how much he is being paid. "Seven percent, straight off the top." Mal scoffs at Jayne's compensation and tells Zoe he pays her too much. He asks Jayne if he at least gets his own room (he doesn't, he has to bunk with another man) while Jayne's boss tell Mal to shut up. Mal offers him a bigger share and his own room if he switches sides. When his boss objects, Jayne shoots him in the leg and asks, "how big a room?"
"You would have done the same." "We can already see that I haven't." -- The other ship's captain and Mal
After checking the engine room one of the other captain's men reports that Mal's story is true. Mal welcomes him to the contents of the cargo bay and tells him to take whatever he thinks is fair. The other captain shoots Mal in the gut and decides to take his ship. Mal pulls a gun on the other captain and tells them to leave the catalyzer and go. This scene is a little weaker than the rest of the episode, Mal is outnumbered and bleeding but they back off when he doesn't immediately die and grabs a gun. But it still works to move the plot along. Mal closes the airlock and collapses bringing the episode full circle back to its very first scene. Mal reaches for the fallen catalyzer, sets it in place in the engine, and starts it. He returns slowly to the bridge only to collapse within sight of the button that Wash has rigged up.
Mal wakes up in the infirmary. Zoe is in the next bed and welcomes him back. Simon asks him to try not to speak. Mal remembers ordering them all off the ship but doesn't remember calling them back. Zoe had insisted that they return when she regained consciousness. Jayne complains that Inara's shuttle smelled funny. Kaylee congratulates Mal on saving the ship as he drifts off to sleep. He remembers being at an old ship yard with a salesman who was trying to sell huge, rocket-shaped ship. But Mal's eyes are immediately drawn to a Firefly class ship which became Serenity.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I feel that this episode would have made a better pilot for Firefly than "The Train Job." Although Book, Simon, and River get the short shrift in this episode, they didn't fare much better in TTJ. "Out of Gas" was the fifth episode to be aired and River in her short time in this episode, comes off better than she did in the previous four. The genius aspect of her personality shines right through even though she is clearly not right. The remaining characters are all fleshed out very nicely in this episode. Even the ship gets its own origin story.
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