kate_nepveu | Firefly 107 and 108, "Out of Gas" and "Ariel" (Reply)

I really need a Firefly icon, I think of that shot of Mal and Zoe in the opening credits standing against the sky and firing, with "Big Damn Heroes" over it. *goes looking for screencaps, fires up GIMP* Anyway, here's the angsty and suspenseful portion of our Saturday evening.

"Out of Gas" (107): In which the captain resolves to go down with his ~~ship~~ boat, amid two layers of flashbacks.

(I get twitchy every time Mal calls it a boat. For some reason I am convinced that it ought to be a ship instead; I know that sailors get very insistent on one or the other (not that I know which), but mostly "boat" just doesn't sound right.)

Talk about your change of pace from "Jaynestown," but I still loved it. It is possibly my favorite episode so far—yes, silly twisty fire and all. I loved the tight interweaving of the three storylines, and the backstories, and the tension, and the Big Red Button, and the look on Mal's face at the end, and just everything. *fangirls*

Backstories:

I know why Zoe didn't like Wash at first—it was that moustache!
*whistles* Kaylee? You go, girl.
The way Jayne came onto the ship is . . . illuminating. More on this in "Ariel."
I completely forgot Inara when I first made up this list, probably becuse her flashback didn't tell us anything.

Other notes:

I find it very jarring when Mal says "whinge."
Either nasty salvage guy isn't a very good shot, or he's stupid to go for the gut rather than the chest or head. Oh well, plot requirements.
The shooting script has Mal putting the part back in earlier, before the flashback where nasty salvage guy shoots him. That choice baffles me, frankly, and I'm glad they fixed it.

"Ariel" (108): In which Simon hires the crew for a job; and the money is finally good enough for Jayne.

Also an excellent episode. I know I keep saying I like all the characters except Jayne, but, well, I do. Hooray for Simon getting to demonstrate his brains and backbone, though not enough street smarts to spot Jayne, alas.

I can see why Jayne did it. I even understand. But I still would've spaced him.

I'm wondering if Jayne's line to Mal, "Hey, I didn't sell you out" (heavily paraphrased; both the HTML and text versions of the transcripts appear to be corrupted) was saying that he wouldn't have sold Mal out, or just meant that Mal shouldn't punish him for it because Mal wasn't harmed.

We've seen that Jayne had no loyalty to crew for crew's sake before he came on board Serenity (per "Jaynestown" and "Out of Gas"). In "Serenity," he does ask Dobson, "Does helping you out mean turning on the Captain?", while claiming to Mal that the money wasn't good enough. Possibly the reward was increased by "Ariel," or possibly River's attack, his continued dislike of Simon, and the fact that they'd be off the ship, all overcame his previous reluctance—whatever that was based on. There's got to be some reason why Jayne backs down all the time when Mal orders him around, but whether that's anything more than recognition that Mal's better at getting jobs than him, I couldn't say.

On looking at the shooting script and thinking about it again, it does seem that River figured out that the Feds were there after the brain scan, but before they were actually arrested; I was just anticipating that she would figure it out sooner. I was hoping that Jayne would change his mind when he heard what had been done to River, but no such luck. I do think that shame is an unusual emotion for Jayne, and it will be interesting to see how he reacts to it—try to be better, or bury the feeling and get snippish towards the ones he associates with the shame. I'm expecting, however, that for dramatic tension purposes we won't get any clear answers on whether he can be trusted.

Hmmm. A pint of fresh strawberries on Mal not telling Zoe, or indeed anyone, about Jayne selling them out.

Next up, "War Stories," which is going to upset me.