Firefly 103 and 104, "Shindig" and "Safe"

[kate_nepveu]

Two more Firefly episodes last night. We were only planning on one, but we didn't like the first so much.

"Shindig" (103): In which Mal fights a duel over Inara.

I mentioned, didn't I, that I just didn't find Mal/Inara that interesting? Yeah.

Mal, great. Inara, okay—if it turns out that all she's got is UST for Mal, boring, but there might be more. But put them together and my interest level drops almost to zero. I think it's because his distaste for her profession turns him into an ass, all protective and high-handed and interfering. I've seen nothing to suggest that Inara can't take care of her own honor. And Mal's not even interestingly snarky about it.

I do wonder what happened with Atherton and Inara after the ball. I suspect at least the threat of violence (cf. his post-duel comment about how he should have "uglied her up"), and I'd be interested to know how she handled it.

Other notes:

• Slavery in the Alliance: the slave-traders in the teaser talk about it in public, and Mal doesn't seem to think it's illegal. There's also a reference to slaves getting the snotty girl at the ball into her dress.
• Some good lines during the ball part of the episode, like "Captain Tightpants" and "somewhat less attractive now that she's all corpse-ified and gross." Hee!
• River does her accent trick for the first time.

"Safe" (104): In which Shepherd Book is shot and Simon (and River) Tam are kidnapped.

Much more to my taste, brisk and focusing on more interesting relationships. Simon and River have some great sibling moments, like the bratty bit with the non-poisoned berries, and River's sorrow about the costs of her condition (and I do not, do not, want to hear speculation about Simon/River, as I have seen occasionally elsewhere, because YUCK). Plus a mystery regarding Book, and more snarky dialogue (black-market beagles; sanguine; and "morbid and creepifying"—that like "corpse-ified"?).

It's interesting to read the shooting scripts; small things get trimmed or changed every episode, but this one had a different teaser, a scene with Simon and his parents after River had already left for the Academy. The aired version is better. The post-bail confrontation with his father in the script is also somewhat different, possibly trimmed to add more to the rescue? The great Mal-Zoe exchange "Appears we got here just in the nick of time. What does that make us?" / "Big damn heroes, sir." line isn't in the script.

[ There are transcripts on the resource site Whoa. Good Myth. ]

Next up, "Our Mrs Reynolds" and "Jaynestown" (the idea of the latter does not thrill me, I have to say).

Comments

[aor.livejournal.com]

But put them together and my interest level drops almost to zero

Really? That strikes me as odd; their relationship is a big part of the show.

the idea of the latter [Jaynestown] does not thrill me, I have to say

That's just weird. Jayne is fabulous. (He had me from "pain is scary.")

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

I admit I was one of several people I know who found Mal/Inara extremely--well, off-putting is not the word so much as of complete null-reaction, null-interest. There should have been some form of sparking, but I either found the dialogue juvenile (mostly on Mal's part; and I should add I'm in the minority of not liking Mal much) or oddly flat. I know Whedon et al. are capable of quirky odd sparkly dialogue and it even shows up among other characters in Firefly. I can't figure out what it is about Mal/Inara that falls dead for me.

[kate_nepveu]

I don't think there is any chemistry between the actors, to the extent that I can judge that. My first guess as to why their dialogue fails to sparkle is that the characters aren't wanting it to sparkle, they're all UST-ish and annoyed at each other for holding diametrically opposed worldviews. Which, hello, does not bode well for a relationship, so just drop it, eh?

I do like Mal in other situations, but his attitude towards Inara gets up my nose.

[montoya.livejournal.com]

The relationship between the two is very... conventional. ("She was a whore with a heart of gold. He was a rough and ready frontiersman. His honor got in the way of their... SMOLDERING PASSION." The last two words to be written in a swirling pink font above a picture of shirtless Mal holding a swooning Inara in his arms.) I'm not surprised that Kate is unmoved by it, even though I thought it worked fine.

Jaynestown is a great episode, I say. Don't prejudge it until you've watched it.

[kate_nepveu]

*snort*

Someone should photoshop that cover.

And yes, it's pretty well not the kind of thing that appeals to me. Or at least, not that kind of honor.

[kate_nepveu]

I don't like Jayne because petty amorality does not interest me.

Mal/Inara hadn't been a big part of the show until "Shindig," and while Mal's annoying attitude about Companions can be inferred from his prior comments, it wasn't as front-and-center. And alas, that I like much else of the show doesn't guarantee I will like it all.

[corruptedjasper.livejournal.com]

Jaynestown is less about Jayne and more about.. well, I'll not spoil it.

[annathepiper]

"Jaynestown", for what it's worth, has got some of the best Jayne lines in the whole series. And the SONG is hysterical. :)

[kate_nepveu]

All I know about it is that it's about Jayne and it has a funny song. Neither of these really inspires me--as to the second, I have idiosyncratic reactions to a lot of comedy--but we'll watch it, definitely. Hey, I'd be happy to be wrong.

[annathepiper]

The comedy in this episode worked for me less because of the song itself and more because of the reactions that the others had to it--especially Wash's line about wanting to go next to the town where he was a hero. ;)

Though I was also extremely fond of Jayne getting all trembly-lipped and blurting, "You guys had a riot on account of ME?"

[missysedai.livejournal.com]

I loved Jaynestown. Jayne's initial bewilderment was just hilarious.

[kate_nepveu]

All right, all right, it's just the idea of an entire episode about Jayne, y'know?

[larabeaton.livejournal.com]

"Shindig" is worth watching for the exchange about the slinky dress, Kaylee at the ball, and the line at the end of the duel:

"Mercy is the mark of a great man." *stabs* "Guess I'm just a good man." *stabs* "Well, I'm all right."

[kate_nepveu]

The slinky dress exchange was indeed good, as was Kaylee at the ball. The lines at the end of the duel were amusing, though not as much as they might have been considering that I thought the duel was stupid.

[ex-greythist387.livejournal.com]

<sigh> You remind me usefully that I need to become a good little lemming and rent the DVD. I went into the film having seen perhaps five of the TV-aired eps.

I did like "Shindig," despite having little interest in Inara (with or without Mal-interaction), for its addition of cultural reference points. (That is, I find Inara's concept interesting, but something about how the actress plays the character leaves me "eh." Perhaps it's the actors' chemistry, as you say.)

[corruptedjasper.livejournal.com]

"went into the film"? How'd you manage that, when it's not officially being released until september?

[ex-greythist387.livejournal.com]

Advance screening (http://cantstopthesignal.com).