This was a night of first for Firefly. The first is the first episode of Firefly to begin with a disclaimer and without an introduction laying out the premise of the series. This was the first time we get a deeper look at Wash and Zoe's marriage and the first time we see Mal really get beaten badly.
It is also the first episode to include lesbian content -- which makes the disclaimer even more interesting. Usually, the American media is criticized for ignoring violence while being uptight about sex. If nothing else, it's very interesting thing to note that the reverse was true here.
We begin with a quick recap of recent episodes, most notably "The Train Job."
"Live with a man forty years, share his house, his meals, speak on every subject. Then tie him up and hold him over the volcano's edge and on that day, you will finally meet the man." -- Shan Yu
Simon is examining some of the data he got from scanning River's brain in the last episode, "Ariel." Book muses about the writings of Shan Yu, a "psychotic dictator" who wrote on the subjects of war and torture. His writings make Book wonder if the people who tortured River were Shan Yu fans -- trying to push the limits of human endurance with her brain. Simon sees things much more simply, "the government did this to my sister."
"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned," Book replies. He wonders if what they did to River was meant for the purpose of "truly meeting her" in the sense that Shan Yu would have said. But Simon's data tells him otherwise, he shows Book some of the data. There is a pattern to what was done to River -- they were trying to do something very specific to her. She's sleeping better now and Simon's recent robbery of the hospital on Ariel means he has a lot of drugs on hand to use on her. He doesn't plan to make a career of being of a criminal mastermind, but being a traditionalist, Simon is thinking of growing a big black mustache.
There is an interesting cut from Serenity in orbit around a planet to a space station orbiting the same planet not far away. It's somewhat jerky and despite the pretty rendering of the ship, planet, and space station should probably count as Firefly's first bad special effect. But more importantly, inside the space station Niska, Mal's old friend from "The Train Job," is torturing his latest victim. Niska is cartoon super villain, much like the Kingpin from the old Spiderman comics. Guest star, Michael Fairman does a nice job and has the right look for the part. One of his lackeys informs, Niska that Mal's ship is in orbit around this planet. Since he's still unhappy about the botched train robbery, Niska is very pleased by the news. A big fan of Shan Yu, he eagerly returns to the task of finding his current prisoner's "true self."
In Serenity's cargo bay, Kaylee chases River while Mal and Inara have words. Inara is having an important guest, a councilor, over and wants some extra privacy. But Mal insists on meeting him. Inara wants him to keep the other's from ogling. Mal yells at the two girls and Kaylee complains that River took her apple. Jayne bought a crane of them and that one belongs to Kaylee but apparently River wanted it.
Kaylee finally catches River in the kitchen and takes the apple away from her. She proclaims that "no power in 'verse can stop me." Zoe isn't used to being so rich they can afford apples but Wash is more frightened of Jayne's sudden generosity regarding his share of the cut from the hospital job. Kaylee notices that Zoe and Mal always cut their apples. Zoe explains to them what a "Griswald" is -- it's a pressure sensitive grenade. she tells them the story about a time during the war when they are stuck in a trench near some Alliance troops. Their ammo spent and with no orders, they spent a lot of time shouting at each across the trenches. They mentioned that they were out of rations and a bunch of apples rained into the trench -- some of them were booby-trapped.
Mal walks in and announces that they are near their last drop and will soon be able to stop worrying and begin thinking of spending their money. Wash complains that they could have made even more money. But Mal feels that eliminating the middle man isn't as simple as it sounds. "About 50% of the human race is middle-men and they don't take kindly to being eliminated," he says.
There is a shot of Serenity landing on flat, sandy ground. It's starkness provides a pretty background as Wash and Zoe bicker. It seems that Zoe had told Wash that she hadn't had a chance to tell Mal his idea -- he wanted to eliminate the middle-man by selling the medicine to local doctors instead of to local fences, he hoped this would bring them more money and allow them to make sure the medicine got to people who really needed it. The worst part about it for Wash is that she lied to him about it -- "lambie-toes" is down to ritual suicide as far as maintaining her dignity in Wash's eyes. She says she didn't want to upset him but Wash continues to ask what she thought of it. She points out that the captain thought that his plan was risky which prompts the longest ever Chinese swear word yet uttered on Firefly to date -- he's not interested in what the captain thought. Wash is bothered by Zoe and Mal's relationship, does she ever have an independent thought? Zoe then blurts out that it was *she* who thought that his plan was too risky. Wash is still upset, he wants her to just tell him these things instead of hiding behind Mal because she knows he will shoot things down for her. "Right now, what this marriage needs is one less husband," he tells her as he walks away.
Simon walks into his room and finds that River is sick. She had a bad reaction to her medicine and threw up in his bed. She starts babbling again but some of the meaning is pretty clear through all the babble. The medicine helps her intermittently, she can think lucidly and function normally for a time and then "chaos comes again" and she is unable to function. She breaks down and begins to cry.
Book reminds Kaylee and Jayne about Inara's wish for privacy but they are too curious about her councilor. A tall, strapping square-jawed man in sunglasses walks in and refuses to shake Mal's hand. He speaks into a transmitter clearing the councilor to enter the ship. The councilor is a blonde woman. Inara takes her up into her shuttle. Book and Kaylee are surprised. Jayne returns to his bunk.
"It's a dangerous mission, sir. I can't stand the thought of something happening that might cause you two to come back with another thrilling tale of bonding and adventure. I just can't take that right now." -- Wash
Mal brings the last of the medicine into Serenity's second shuttle. Zoe complains that someone changed the launch sequence on the shuttle. Wash walks in and explains that he was the culprit. He doesn't want Zoe to go on this run, he wants to go in her place. She agrees, prompting the second longest Chinese swear word yet uttered on Firefly to date, this time from Mal. Wash and Mal take off.
Meanwhile in Inara's shuttle, things start off with a little massage. She does the whole Companion flattery and seduction show and the councilor tells her there's no need for it. She just needs to relax with someone who won't make any demands on her. Inara tells her she is in pretty much the same situation. They promise to just enjoy themselves and kiss. As far as love scenes go, it's fairly tame but the fact that it involved two women is sure to raise some eyebrows.
As their shuttle streaks across the desert, Mal and Wash talk. Mal is upset, he put up with Wash's trick because this is an easy job but he is always going take Zoe on most jobs. Wash insists that he can handle himself -- he can learn as he goes. Mal lets him learn about carrying the cargo first. Mal's clients give him the money and complement his "pair" for robbing an Alliance hospital. Mal is feeling pretty good about himself until he sees a red dot on forehead of his client -- the laser sight of somebody's rifle. A gunshot quickly fells the client and his two men. Mal drops to the ground and pulls Wash down with him. A team of men in special forces-style desert gear emerge from their hiding places. Now Wash is learning about scary.
Jayne is spotting Book as he works out with weights as Inara and the councilor emerge from her shuttle. Jayne can't stop himself from staring as Book struggles with the weights. Jayne rushes off to his bunk but Zoe cuts him off. Wash and Mal are late and she's going to look for them. Book joins them.
At the drop site, Book notes that this is the work of sharp shooters. He also recognizes the type of sniper rifle used from the look of the men's wounds. Jayne wonders how much shooting he did in the abbey. Zoe notes that the attackers left the goods and took Mal and Wash. Jayne notices marks on the ground and realizes that they are already off-world. They went up in a "fast-burn rocket shuttle" which is usually used on a space station.
"I'm the one she sore to love, honor, and obey."
"Listen...She swore to obey?"
"Well no, not...but that's just my point! You, she obeys! She obeys you! There's obeying going on right under my nose!" -- Wash and Mal
The team delivers Mal and Wash and Wash is babbling. He wants Mal to treat him the way he would treat Zoe in this situation. Mal tells him they have to "keep our heads." But Wash can't stop thinking about Mal and Zoe. Wash is jealous of their close relationship and he just can't stand it. That's when Niska walks in and reveals himself as their captor.
Back on Serenity, Zoe is taking up a collection to hopefully buy Mal and Wash's freedom. She's confident that if she walks in unarmed with money, Niska's personal code, twisted as it is, will stop him from also taking her prisoner -- he's all about reputation. Inara points out that they have already returned the money from the botched train job, she doesn't believe he'll listen to reason. Jayne thinks he's probably still angry about the guy they put through their engine. Zoe tells them to take Serenity out of the quadrant if she doesn't return. It's not immediately clear what constitutes a "quadrant" in the Fireflyverse but it appears to be a uniform block of space, similar to what they call "sectors" on Star Trek.
It's not easy being a cartoonish super villain in the Fireflyverse. They just don't get the fear and respect they deserve. This leads to possibly the funniest torture scene ever.
In between screaming in agony, Mal and Wash continue their argument over their respective relationships with Zoe while Niska tortures them with electricity. Mal feels that shipboard romances complicate things. "What about love?" Wash asks before screaming in agony as Niska sends another 10,000 volts through their bodies. Mal feels that in a situation such as theirs it tends to split loyalties. After a much longer shock, Wash tells Mal that this policy is just a projection of his own intimacy issues. Although he never comes out and states it, it seems clear from his facial expressions that Niska finds their insistence on continuing to bicker while being tortured disconcerting.
Mal tells Wash that he doesn't think that he (Wash) is good enough for Zoe. He accuses him of being jealous and intimates that he doesn't have to guts to ask about the "nature" of their history together. Wash doesn't believe that Mal has slept with Zoe. After the next shock, Mal teases him some more in that vein and reminds Wash that his wife is a "damn fine lookin' woman." Wash insists that he knows that Mal hasn't slept with her and that's the problem. He's the guy-she-never-slept-with for Zoe and Wash wishes she had slept with him just so she could get over it. At this point, there argument is getting so fever-pitched that Niska seems to become distracted and appears to actually forget to torture them -- or maybe he's just timing the torture that way. In any case, they continue to verbally parry back and forth for a few more seconds before the next shock hits them. Mal finally promises to sleep with Zoe as soon as they get back as yet another huge shock hits them.
Zoe's shuttle docks at Niska's space station. Niska's men take her to the torture chamber. She offers Niska five times what he paid them for the train job in exchange for her men's freedom. Niska disagrees, they are worth more to him. The money she offers him is only enough for one man and now Zoe must...Zoe doesn't let Niska finish his little super villain speech. She realizes he is going to ask her to choose and immediately asks for Wash's freedom.
He gives Wash to Zoe and tells them to leave. Wash tries to speak but Zoe tells him to shut up and keep walking. Niska calls them back and tells him that this is too much money. He offers them a small refund -- Mal's ear is very graphically cut off and given to Zoe. Mal continues to scream as they walk into the shuttle. Wash tells Zoe that Mal is crazy, he wouldn't break and kept him from breaking. He's terrified that Niska is going to kill Mal. Zoe tells him that Niska will try to keep him alive for days if possible. Wash insists that he's not going to get days.
They return to Serenity. Zoe gives Simon Mal's ear and tells him to put it on ice. The others are shocked -- including Jayne who utters ties for the second longest Chinese swear word ever uttered on Firefly. Simon merely notes that it is a clean cut and that with the right equipment he should be able to reattach it -- assuming there's a head.
Meanwhile, Niska asks Mal if he knows the writings of Shan Yu. He notes that Mal is an extraordinary man and these are not extraordinary times. Heroics just complicate business. Niska has a special machine just for Mal. He wants to see if he can "meet the real" Mal. The machine attaches to Mal's chest with hooks and produces radiating dark lines (along the veins or arteries perhaps?) on it. Mal screams in agony.
Meanwhile, Wash and Zoe are arming themselves. Jayne believes they are insane for even trying it. Kaylee comes in with word from Inara, she had no lock with the councilor. As Jayne continues to proclaim the futility of their mission, Wash reminds him of an old motto, "leave no man behind." The fact that he does this while loading a tiny gun that looks like it came out of a box of Cracker Jacks prompts Jayne's one word reply, "Suicide." As Zoe and Wash carry their weapons to the shuttle, they find Book, Simon, and Kaylee arming themselves. They're going with them. Kaylee notes that the captain wouldn't hesitate to rescue one of them and Book points out that while the Bible prohibits killing, it is "somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps." Above them, the sound of gun being cocked can be heard. It's Jayne and Vera.
"Let's go get the captain." -- Zoe
"Yup, he's dead." -- Niska's lackey
Fortunately for everyone concerned, Niska has a doctor on call to revive Mal. Niska wants at least two days, minimum to hurt him. He wants the people who know Malcolm Reynolds and who know he crossed Niska to know "what happens after that. They must know that business is still money."
"OK people, if is moves shoot it."
"Unless it's the captain."
"Unless it's the captain." -- Zoe and Kaylee
Serenity approaches the space station completely powered down except for static that he is broadcasting on all channels. The idea is for the ship to show up as a radar glitch. As Kaylee works on overriding the space station's airlock, Jayne smells a lot of "if" in their plan.
But it works. The station crew is surprised when a strange ship docks with them. A mule (Serenity's little gas powered ATV) rumbles in loaded with explosives, setting at least one man on fire. Jayne runs in behind it killing another man. Zoe follows him, killing yet another man and lobbing a grenade into a corridor. She calls in the "second team" of Book, Simon, and Kaylee to hold their position at the airlock. As Zoe asks if they understand, Book shoots a man who is trying to rush them. Jayne advances firing with his handgun while cradling Vera in his other hand. He lays down cover fire for Zoe who uses her shotgun to take out two more men. Wash follows them.
Niska is only now realizing what is happening and goes to the intercom. His lackey is distracted by this and Mal uses Niska's special machine on him. He punches Niska in the face and offers to show him "the real me."
Jayne is shot in his side but keeps going as Zoe kills two more men. Another man shows up firing. Zoe eludes his fire and pulls out a pair of guns to take him out as well. They continue to advance. Back at the airlock, Book and Simon are having trouble holding off Niska's men. Book is able to take one man out. Jayne shouts for Book to provide them with cover fire. He and Simon advance, leaving the airlock unguarded. When three men converge on the airlock Kaylee panics and runs. Inside the Serenity airlock River shows up and grabs her gun. She closes her eyes and fires, seemingly wildly, but manages to take out all three men. Echoing Kaylee's comment about the apple, River announces that "no power in the 'verse can stop me."
"You've killed me enough for one day!" -- Malcolm Reynolds
Mal continues to beat up on Niska and allows his lackey to ambush him from behind. Looking less like a super villain and more like a frightened little man, Niska scrambles away. Mal and the lackey find themselves next to "that big hole in the middle of the space station that does absolutely nothing" that is such a popular scifi trope. As Jayne, Wash, and Zoe reach the torture chamber and can see Mal's life and death struggle, Jayne raises his gun to fire. Zoe stops him. "This is something the captain has to do for himself," she says. "No it's not!" Mal retorts and Jayne, Zoe, and Wash proceed to turn Niska's lackey into mince meat. He falls down the that big hole in the middle of the space station that does absolutely nothing like Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace -- only more gory and nasty looking.
Back on Serenity Simon packs up the equipment that the councilor lent them to sew Mal's ear back on and tell him not to fiddle with it. Inara and Mal both regret that in true super villain form, Niska managed to escape. But Mal is proud of his crew for taking up arms and rescuing him. Simon is uncomfortable with the thought -- he's never shot anyone before. But Book reassures him, "I was there son. I'm fair sure you haven't shot anyone yet." Mal laughs so hard he hurts himself.
In the kitchen, Zoe is cooking for Wash. Mal walks in, still visibly limping and in a little pain. He tells Zoe that Wash demanded that they sleep together to get all the sexual tension out in the open. Wash counters that it was the torture talking not him. As Jayne walks in, still in some pain from having been shot, Mal tells Zoe that they have to "get it on." Zoe understands and agrees, "take me sir, take me hard." After an awkward attempt at kissing, Wash pulls Zoe away and rushes her to their bunk. Jayne is momentarily confused until he spots the free soup. He slaps Mal's badly injured chest and all is right with his world.
Next week, there's a bounty hunter on board and guess whom he's after?
All in all, a great episode that pushes the boundaries of what can be seen on network television in terms of both sex and violence. Joss Whedon should feel proud of himself. A couple of the special effects were bit weak, most notably the pan from Serenity to Niska's space station and the Darth Maul drop at the end -- although I include the latter only because the Darth Maul's fall in The Phantom Menace was so much smoother that it raised my expectations beyond what TV level special effects can meet. But the gun fights were very smooth and well coordinated. As I mentioned before, the first torture scene was hilarious -- you just don't torture milked for laughs outside of Monty Python or early Mel Brooks movies, so the fact that it was even attempted is an achievement in and of itself.
As I've mentioned before, Niska is basically a cartoon villain inhabiting a very "realistic" universe. In "The Train Job," he was reasonably scary and fairly effective in a relatively weak episode. Here, his character exists mainly as a vehicle for turning cliches on their heads. Instead of taking glee in torturing his victims, he sits around looking pissed because they spend so much time bickering that they forget to beg for their lives. Instead of giving long-winded speeches that force people to make heart rending decisions, he gets cut off by a wife who chooses her husband over her friend without even thinking twice about it.
I hope that Fox realizes that it has something special in Firefly.
All site contents Copyright L. Goodwin 1990 - 2002