Welcome to my favorite episode!!! Every time I watch this series, this episode always as the best. There's something about learning the back stories of each member of the crew and how they ended up on the ship that moves me. It was written by Tim Minear and directed by David Solomon. 

The episode goes back and forth between three different times, starting with the present, where we find Mal falling to the ground exhausted. He flashes back to when he first got serenity, and Zoe is not a fan! At all, but Mal is convinced that the ship is perfect. For him, the ship is freedom. It's the chance to live the life he wants, free of the Alliance. If only they can get the ship up and running again. Something Zoe is not happy about, but she goes along with him. 

Back in the present, Mal forces himself to get back to his feet, picking up the part he needs to fix his ship as he does. The same part, that Kaylee has been warning him needs to be replaced since the first episode! As he heads further into the ship we jump to the third time zone. 

The whole crew is sitting down to dinner when Wash shows up and tells them the course is laid in. The crew is telling stories about their lives, when it's Simon's turn, Jayne makes it clear no one cares. The mood is light and fun and full of celebration as it's Simon's birthday. All that changes when there is an explosion and Zoe is hurt. Simon tries to go get med supplies, but Jayne stops him. The ship is sealed up tight, if they leave the kitchen they will lose air and everyone will die. It was the only way to get rid of the fire. Once it's out, they get Zoe to Simon's lab. 

Mal sends Kaylee down to engineering and order's Wash to the bridge, Wash tells him no. He wants to stay by his wife's side. Mal throws him against the wall and orders him. Wash goes, but he is not happy about it. 

This sends us to our next flashback, where we see them hire Wash, he has a mustache! He looks so weird with one! Mal likes Wash, Zoe seems unsure. She doesn't seem to trust him, he rubs her the wrong way. Then we meet the mechanic, it is not Kaylee!!!

In the present, Mal injects himself with Adrenaline to keep on his feet, so that he can fix the ship. It's clear he's not having a great time. 

Back in the past, Kaylee tells Mal the ship is dead in the water and there is no Oxygen. If they stay on the ship, they will all be dead in a few hours. Simon treats Zoe, who is still out cold before having a touching conversation with Inara about death. It's rare that the two of them have a deep conversation. It was sweet. River tries to cheer up Book, it doesn't work. She doesn't really understand normal emotions. But it's kind that she tries. 

Mal checks in on Wash to see how things are going, but Wash blows up at him. The two of them almost come to blows. Wash has just given up, but Mal is determined to get them back on their feet. They scream at each other, as Wash agrees to Mal's idea and Jayne reprimands them for using up the Oxygen. You gotta love Jayne.

Back in the past, Mal goes and tries to find out why the ship still isn't working. The machinic is busy having sex instead of fixing the ship. He keeps making excuses as to why he can't fix it, but the girl he was having sex with seems to know how to fix the ship. Take three seconds to guess who he was fucking. . . Kaylee!! She fixes the ship and steals his job. 

Back in the almost present, Kaylee is having a break down. Mal tries to motivate her, but there is no use. They need a new part. She can't fix the ship with what they have. While in the here and now, Mal is finally in the engine room, attempting to put the part in. He drops it. You can see that he is only holding on by a thread. 

Back a bit in time, Mal tells the crew the situation. They have to abandon the ship. They don't have enough fuel to get anywhere safe, but it's better than staying on the ship. They send the shuttles out in opposite directions. Four people per shuttle. Mal is staying on  the ship. Wash heads to the cockpit to give Mal a device to call everyone back if the ship gets fixed. Inara tries to talk him into coming with them. She clearly cares for him and doesn't want anything to happen to him. Mal warns her about trusting Jayne. 

In the past we see as Inara rents the shuttle from Mal. She sets rules and he agrees to them. Rules, that we know he breaks over and over again. He tries to play hardball with him, but she out plays him. These two characters are perfect for each other. I enjoy the boom comics, but they really do miss the mark on the characterizations. Mal and Inara should have ended up together. 

In the almost present, Inara keeps trying to convince Mal that he doesn't have to die alone, but he is stubborn. He won't listen. He sends everyone away. Wash tells him how to call everyone home. It's sweet seeing how Wash and Mal have mended fences. There is a deep respect there. Meanwhile Jayne sets aside a space suit for Mal, to give him a little extra time if he needs it. His crew loves him. It's so clear. Something the Boom comics never seem to understand. 

Mal sleeps in the cockpit as everyone leaves, he is still there, asleep when he finally gets a response to their distress beacon. A ship has arrived. They dock with the Serenity. The other captain is playing it really safe, but they come to an agreement, they have the part and Mal lets them in. The rush of oxygen is a relief to Mal that is short lived as they pull blasters on him. 

This leads us to another flashback, where some thugs have Mal and Zoe at gunpoint. One of the gunmen is Jayne. Jayne points out that he is great tracker, Mal seems impressed and asks him how much he is getting paid. He starts to point out to Jayne how they are taking advantage of him. Mal gives him a bigger cut and his own room. Jayne switches sides and joins their side. 

Back in the almost present, the other crew confirm that the ship is empty and they shoot Mal. They decide that they are taking the ship. Mal pulls his gun, gets up and orders them off his ship, telling them to leave the part. This more or less gets us caught up to where the present started at the start of the episode. The other ship leaves him as we cut back to the present, where Mal is once more attempting to fit the part in. 

The engine starts back up, and Mal makes him way back to the cockpit to try and hit the button, calling everyone back. He makes it to the cockpit, but his wound gets the best of him and he falls to the floor, out cold. This could be the end of our beloved captain. 

But we do have a few more episodes left. Mal wakes up in the medbay, the whole crew is back on the ship. Wash gave Mal some of his blood to help him stay alive. They returned because Zoe woke up and ordered them back for Mal. I love their friendship, another thing the Boom comics got wrong, shack my head. This whole crew love each other. They are a family in every sense of the world. 

Back in the past, some guy is trying to sell Mal a ship, but Mal isn't listening. He saw Serenity off in the distance and that's all he cares about. That ship is everything to him. 

This episode is all about character, all about love and friendship. It's everything this show is, all rolled up into one episode. It's the perfect Firefly episode. 

So this episode, as the name suggests is all about Jayne. We dive into his past in a fun exciting way. But before we get to all the Jayne goodness, we start off with Kaylee and Simon flirting. It's so cute. I really like them together. Inara takes her leave of the ship to meet a client, she is of course a Companion, so Kaylee calls after her, "have good sex." So funny. 

A crash comes from the medbay and we find Jayne tapping a gun to his stomach. It seems that he has made enemies on the world they are about to land on but they don't allow guns so Mal makes him take it off. 

Right away we find out that they make mud here, or well clay, but the smell is horrible. Kaylee volunteers Simon to go along on the mission to pretend to be a buyer. Zoe stays on the ship, forcing Wash to go with the captain. Something he is not happy about. Book watches River for Simon.
Simon is full of nerves as he talks to the town folk, clearly not a good liar.  

Jayne is in a weird getup and the others can't help but mock him, telling him that no one here would even remember him, but that is proven false when they find a giant statue of him. Simon curses, something that Kaylee kept insisting he never did. It was a funny moment that shows just how funny this show can be. 

Jayne tells the story of how he robbed the town blind, but had to dumb the money to keep ahead of the feds. He has no idea why they would make a statue of him. He is freaked out by it while the others can't stop laughing. 

Inara meets up with her clients father, he seems to think she is going to have her work cut out for her. Meanwhile on Serenity we find River tearing up the bible and attempting to fix it. Book stops her and tells her about what it means to believe. The thing I've always loved about Book is that he is more about belief and it's power and less about religion. Something that is important to keep in mind. 

Mal and the crew are in the local bar having a good time when they find out that the person they are met to meet is gone. The new guy says he can help them. They just have to lay low. That's when my favorite song starts playing. 

It's just so beautiful. It really is. We cut away from this joyful moment to see River try to return the stolen pages of the Bible to Book only to be scared off by his hair. It's a cute little scene, but once we go back to the bar, it seems everyone knows who Jayne is. The towns people think he has returned to save them all. 

Inara's job is to help the man's son lose his virginity. He is 26 years old and it is shameful for the father. He is a bit of an asshole so she kicks him out. She wants the son to feel comfortable. Courtship is an interesting thing, so while Inara has tea with the kid, a drunk Simon and a drunk Kaylee flirt. Simon is about to tell her how beautiful she is until Mal almost ruins it. She sends him away, it may take him a few minutes but he can take a hint. 

Zoe and Book attempt to get River out of her hiding spot, but she is far too scared of the hair. A drunken Wash tells Zoe all about how Jayne is a hero. She can't believe it, but it is true and far too funny. 

When Jayne finds out that the town had a riot in order to protect his statue he almost starts to cry. It is than that we learn how the two stories connect. The father of the man Inara is to bed is the leader of the town. The same man that Jayne stole all that money from. He hurries and releases Jayne's old partner from his cell, or well, tiny box he lives in. 

Kaylee and Simon fall asleep cuddled up on the bench and Simon once again puts his foot in his mouth, pissing Kaylee off. You can tell he didn't mean it, he just, well he is stupid. Mal came to collect Jayne, so they can use him as a distraction. Kaylee kicks Simon off of their little team, showing him just how pissed off she is. He can never not mess up. He is pretty stupid for someone so smart. 

Inara finishes her work with the son, 26 years old so not a child, and tells him that that isn't what makes him a man. He is a man because of who he is, not the women he's bed. Jayne starts to buy into his own hype and Mal isn't impressed. So Jayne goes and entertains the mudders, the people of the town, while the others retrieve the goods. Meanwhile Inara hears of the hero of Canton and thinks it is Mal, when she finds out that it's Jayne she becomes so confused, but she also learns that Serenity has been landlocked and the whole crew is to be arrested. 

Meanwhile Jayne's old partner captures Simon. He can never do anything right. However he does fight back, he has some spunk to him. Not enough to save himself, the chanting of Jayne does that. 

Mal and the crew gets the goods onto the ship and goes back to town to listen to Jayne's speech, it's not a good one but the people eat it up. It's only then that his old partner shows up and throws Simon onto the ground. Kaylee goes to help Simon up, while the partner tells the Mudders what really happened. Ruining his reputation, but not enough to keep a young Mudder from jumping in front of a bullet to save Jayne. Within moments Jayne makes short work of his old partner and goes to check on the boy, he's dead. 

Jayne yells at the people, confessing that he isn't a hero. That he didn't give them the money, he dropped it by mistake. A young boy gives him back his knife and Jayne leaves, but not before knocking over his statue and breaking it. He is heartbroken, it's a really sad thing to see. 

Wash finds out that Serenity is landlocked, he starts to freak out but Inara walks into the cockpit and all the sudden everything is fine and they take off. It turns out Inara got the son to let them go. He went against his father and it is a beautiful thing. It truly is. 

Kaylee confronts Simon, while treating his wounds. Simon gets nervous and tells her that being proper, being civil is the only way he knows of showing respect. She asks about when they sex the night before and he freaks out. She laughs, letting him know it didn't happen. I love Kaylee. 

Jayne is all tore up about what happened on world. Mal tries to explain it but Jayne still feels responsible. And you can't blame him. That must be so hard for him to live with. I don't know how I would deal with it myself. 

Hope you guys enjoyed this review, till next time GIVE US LEGENDS!!!!

Welcome to yet another Firefly review! Our Mrs. Reynolds is one of the all time great episodes of Firefly, a major feat seeing as every episode of this short lived show is pure genius. This episode was written by the one and only Joss Whedon himself, while it was 

can find it here. 

So let's get right into it! Because, truth be told it has one of the funnest intros of any of the episodes, along with one of the most quotable lines. A horse led carriage is pulled over at gun point and it's only then that we learn it is Jayne with Mal dressed as his wife. It's so unexpected you can't help but laugh. We then get the golden line that shows off Whedon's skill with a pen. "I swear by my pretty floral bonnet I will end you." I don't know why but it just cracks me up every time I hear it. 

After Zoe takes care of the robbers, the crew go back to town and have a party thrown in their honor. Everything seems to be all good when they take off the next morning, at least until Mal finds a woman hiding on the ship. She tells him that she is his wife. 

Mal is freaked out by the turn of events, while Jayne keeps getting more and more jealous. Zoe on the other hand finds the whole thing funny and calls everyone to town. Jealousy flashes across Inara's face, but just for a moment. Book goes and figures out what happened. It seems that the village has a weird marriage ceremony and he took part of it. Something he is not happy about. He says as much and she runs off crying. 

"Someone ever tries to kill you, you try to kill them right back." Another great line. This episode is full of them. Much like when we learn of the special hell, reserved for people who take advantage of the young, and people who talk in theaters. I just love this episode. 

Mal tells Saffron that she is only going to be on the ship for 5 days. She tells him that she will use the 5 days to prove herself, something he doesn't want her to do. Wash asks about her cooking and Zoe, his wife, his warrior wife, puts him in his place very quick.

Mal runs to Inara for a place to hide and finds himself in hot water. She is clearly pissed off at him and he goes out of his way to make it worse. You just have to love their relationship. Or well, lack there of. To make matters worse, Jayne tries to trade his prized gun, Vera, for Saffron. Mal's only response, another golden line, is to tell him that his days of not taking him seriously is coming to a middle. 

Zoe and Wash get into a fight over Saffron, while Mal goes back to his room to find her in his bed naked. She then uses bible verses to try and seduce him. He's a good man who tries very hard not to give in, but she's good. 

This might be a good time to throw in that some losers on a space station were watching Serenity fly by and talking about how much money they could make from it. Now back to our regularly schedule program. She makes her way to the cockpit and tries her seducing skills on Wash, but unlike the very single Mal, Wash is a married man who loves his wife more than anything. He doesn't give in to her, Zoe would kill him. Not even joking, she would kill him. 

Since she couldn't seduce Wash, she knocks him out cold and locks him out of the cockpit. She takes over the ship and messes up the controls so no one can fix it. At least not in time to do anything about their new destination. She even seals the door so no one can get in. Saffron tries to get into the shuttle but finds Inara there. It seems all the view screens are shut off. She then starts to try and seduce Inara, who sees right through her. Turns out that Saffron has some companion training. She gets past Inara and steals the shuttle. Inara rushes to Mal's quarters to make sure he is still alive. All hell is breaking loose on the ship. 

Inara kisses the unconscious Mal, calls for Simon and passes out. It seems that she poisoned the lip gloss. Book won't let Mal off the hook for kissing her, even after they figure out she set them up. You gotta love Book. 

Wash and Kaylee try to fix Serenity as quickly as possible but all they manage is to get the lights and computers back on. But it doesn't do them much good since they can't get the controls back up. They find out that they are headed to a net that will catch the ship and hold them until the people who want to steal the ship can kill them all and take it from them. Book seems to know all about it, yet again telling us that he is something more than just a preacher. 

Jayne and his beloved Vera take aim at the breakers controlling the net. It is their only shot at getting out of this alive. Luckily Vera is one badass of a gun and saves our heroes. Killing the two losers who were trying to take their ship as well. Wash and Kaylee get control of Serenity back and they track down Saffron. Recovering their shuttle pod and knocking her out. 

We end the episode with the reveal that Mal is an idiot. He confronts Inara about how she passed out. He knew she didn't trip and fall. She confesses. It looks as if they are about to kiss and he ruins it by saying he knew she kissed Saffron. He was so close, because let's not pretend they don't love each other. It's clear as day. 

But anyways, that's all for now! See you all next time, and CHECK OUT THIS EPISODE! 

Hey everyone and welcome back to the long forgotten Firefly review page where we talk all about Firefly. After almost 2 years we are finally on episode five, Safe. It took us far too long to get here and that is all on me. But, as I always say, I will try to be better. Or so I say.

telling Simon to keep her under control. Something that Simon is not happy about. The herd of cattle from the last episode keep getting startled by her, so his aggravation is understandable. 

It doesn't take long for Simon and Mal to go at it again over the issue of River. Mal doesn't really insult her but Simon goes out of his way to take offense. Mal sends them to the town so that they don't get in the way of his dealing. Inara and Kaylee are already there. Kaylee wanted to buy Simon a present but within moments he insults the gift, Serenity and Mal. Breaking Kaylee's heart. She tells him off and leaves the store. Breaking your heart right along with hers. Simon doesn't even have time to deal with it before noticing that River is gone. 

Meanwhile Mal is having a hard time with the buyers. They keep trying to cheat him. They are far too jumpy for anyone's comfort and sure enough no longer do they come to a deal than the police show up to arrest them. I always love the whole "You are bound by law" thing. It's so cool and so "Firefly". I don't know how anyone could not love this show. A gun fight breaks out during and Mal and Jayne are caught in the middle. 

Back in town, River is dancing and enjoying every moment of it. If you know anything about Summer Glau, she started off as a dancer and was cast in an episode of Angel, Waiting in the Wings, as a ghost dancer. So anytime they get the chance to show off, she does. 

During the gun battle Book gets shot and Mal rushes him back onto the ship. They try to keep him alive but it is beyond their skill level. Wash runs to town to look for Simon, but has little luck finding him. This is due to him being captured by local towns folk. 

He flashes back to when he first noticed something was wrong with River and her school. He wants to go and save her but his parents are strongly against it. Assuring him that she is fine. He is not convinced. 

Wash tells the captain that the villagers up in the hill take tradesman captive and force them to work for them. Now they have a doctor, Kaylee wants to go rescue him but Mal orders them to leave. Poor Simon and River look up just in time to see Serenity take off. 

Mal and Wash try to figure out where to take Book to save his life and Inara throws out the idea of going to the Alliance for help. Something that Mal is against. Can you blame him? The Alliance is everything Mal is against. He fought against them in the war and even after losing still sees himself in battle with them. It is who he is and he can't help it. But more than that, he is a man who helps those who put their faith in him. He agrees to go to the Alliance for help. Making Wash and us watching at home nervous. Nothing with these people ever go right. 

The towns people waste no time in putting Simon to work and he doesn't waste a moment arguing. It seems, he a good man who just wants to help. 

The Alliance storms onto the ship and start to act like they own the ship. Zoe gives them fake paper work and they seem to buy it but tell Mal that they can't help Book. They don't help civilians. Book then does something that drives all long time fans crazy. He gives the Alliance his ID and they jump to helping him. Setting up that he has a connection with the Alliance. Now, everyone from the crew of Serenity to us enjoying the show wants to know what it is. Unfortunately the show was canceled before they had a chance to answer the question. When we got the movie we thought we would get answered but no. They even closed off the chance for us to get answers. It was a damn shame. 

We have to believe that this is the last time he saw his family. It must have been so hard for Simon to turn his back on everything he has ever known. He is truly one of the strongest people on the show, even if he doesn't seem like it. 

River tells the townfolk that their leader is a murderer so they believe she is a witch even more now. Because seeing truth and spreading falsehoods go so well together right? On Serenity, Jayne points out they would be better off with Simon and River and Zoe agrees that it would be easier without them. On world, Simon throws his lot in with Rivers, if she dies he dies and it seems it might go down like that until Serenity shows up and Mal and Zoe walk right in and take Simon and River from them. 

Jayne quickly returns everything he stole, what kind of asshole steals from his own crew. It's so fucked up, it's so Jayne. God I love this show. 

It ends with Simon asking why Mal saved him and he gets the most Malist of answers. "You're on my crew." This episode drives home the core tenet of Mal's character over and over. If you are one of his crew, he will do anything for you. He showed that with Book and again with Simon. It's just who he is. 

At long last we have the episode written by the one and only Jane Espenson. One of the greatest writers alive meets one of the greatest shows ever made, it is like a match made in heaven. The only thing that would make it better was if there was a sword fight. . .  oh wait!

The episode starts off with a pool game played with holographic balls. During the game Mal steals from one of the people who is offering them a job once they learn that they are slavers. A bar fight breaks out and we learn just how much of a fighter Jayne is. He kicks some ass, Mal gets in some good hits away.

On the way to the job Inara picks a client, it is one that she has worked for before. Mal walks in and the jealousy washes off him in waves. When they make it planetside he takes it out on Kaylee who just wants a pretty dress. Mal goes to meet with Badger who wants to hire them for a job. Mal points out how that didn't go so good the last time but Badger assures him that this time is different.

He gets Kaylee the dress she liked and took her to the party, the same one that Inara and her date are at. He is meeting his client there, Kaylee quickly ditches him for food. Who can blame her. The rest of the crew is back on Serenity playing poker where the stakes are chores. River starts to freak out and Simon and Book go to check on her while Jayne cheats and looks at their hands. Zoe and Wash partake in some marital fun.

Kaylee wanted so badly to be apart of this world but she just doesn't fit in. Everyone there treats her like an outsider and makes her feel worse and worse. An older gentleman shows up and puts the mean girls in their places. Saving Kaylee. Mal spots his client and makes his way over to talk to him. He is distracted by Inara and her date. Mal's client isn't biting, he doesn't like Badger, no one really does. Inara's date comes and introduces himself to Mal's client.  The tension is mounting here. Mal asks Inara for a dance, making things even worse for everyone. You have to love Mal and his boldness.

Mal and Inara argue over who is the more honest of the two. Insulting each other. Inara's client snatches her away, he is now the jealous one. Mal hits him and  duel is called out. The two men must now fight to the death with swords. Kaylee is pulled away from all the men who now love her. Mal's client tells Mal that if he survives the battle he will do business with them. Mal is forced to stay there so that he doesn't try to escape.

Badger shows up on Serenity and tells the crew about the Captain and what is going on. They think that Badger came there to help the captain but he really came here to make sure that they don't try to help the captain because it would make him look bad. He didn't come alone, he has a whole mess of men with him and they all have guns pointed at Kaylee. Mal is on his own.

Inara sneaks out to go find Mal. Mal says that her client insulted her and Inara points out that Mal forced his hand, besides he doesn't back down from a fight. She points out that he does all the time. He won't admit it but he is fighting for Inara. He cares about her, even if he doesn't want to admit it.

His crew sit around playing cards while talking about how to beat Badger and his men. They need a distraction and no one likes Jayne's idea of people getting naked. River walks out and the crew worries, Simon walks over to her and tries to get her to leave but it is too late, Badger sees her. She puts on a British accent and puts him in his place. He is intimidated by her. Who can blame him. She walks back to her room and Jayne points out that that was the perfect distraction.

Inara teaches Mal how to sword fight. Mal calls her a hore and Inara asks why he would lay someone out for implying she is one when he calls her one to her face. He says he may not respect her job but her client doesn't respect her as a person and it is different. He then asks her not to stay with the man. It's his way of showing he cares.

The fight starts the next morning. Right off the bat Mal is put on the defensive. He starts to make a come back but he doesn't know that he is being toyed with. Mal gets stabbed in the side. The fight is not going his way. His new wound is making the battle ever hard for Mal. His sword breaks and the sword is at his neck. Inara tells her client she will stay here with him if he lets Mal live. Mal uses this to get the upper hand. A few moments later he has the client at his mercy. Mal doesn't kill him, he just stabs him a few times. He gets the job!

The crew just gets their plan up and ready but Mal shows up. It is all over and they did not a thing about it. Mal kicks Badger and his men off the ship. They tell Mal how they were going to help, cept for Wash, he was just going to watch but he was very excited. Kaylee hangs her dress up in her room, she still loves it.

Oh and the cargo, it was a great deal of cows. Big smelly cows. Inara tells Mal that she is thankful that he defended her honor. She also tells him that she was never planning to stay, he asks why and she gives every reason other than for Mal which we know is the real reason. An amazing episode by an even more amazing writer.

Welcome to a Tim Minear penned episode that starts off with what is basically a basketball game with a volleyball. This scene has always meant a lot to me. I fell down the rabbit hole of Joss Whedon through Buffy and Angel as everyone knows. But the time when I fell into it hardest was when Serenity was coming to theatres soon. So I wanted to check out Firefly, but I wanted to watch it all at once so I had to buy it on DVD. Before I had a chance to, I went to my aunts house where they had Firefly on, it was this scene. I didn't want to watch it because I wanted to watch it all at once from the start, but I couldn't look away from the screen. This was the first scene of Firefly I ever saw. To me it is key to what Firefly is.

As the crew is playing an alarm sounds and Wash runs up to take control of the ship. A floating body hits the ship and they find a dead ship floating in space alone. River says simply that it is a ghost. The crew decides to check out the other ship to see what's wrong. As Simon makes his way towards the ship Jayne punks him out of going. Jayne can be a real ass sometimes.

They enter the ship, it really is in the words of River, a ghost ship. There is no one there but food is still sitting out ready for eating. Whatever happened it happened quick fast and in a hurry. It looks as if people just vanished. To the point of someone writing a journey log when it happened. It's Firefly doing their version of a Star Trek story.

Jayne tells Simon that he has to wear his space suit, remember when I said he was an ass? Well they didn't need to wear suits anymore. He shows up looking like a fool in front of everyone else. It turns out they didn't even need him on the ship. Mal isn't amused but sends him with Kaylee, who tells him that he has the suit on wrong. He's lucky he didn't really need it.

Mal and Zoe figure that the logs are wrong. Not everyone could have fit on the escape pods. Kaylee sees that there is nothing wrong with the ship itself either. The farther into the ship they go the less like a Star Trek episode it becomes. It starts taking on more of an Alien vibe. Mal and Zoe find food supplies to last a good long time. They find out that nobody escaped. All the crew's bodies are chained to the roof. Mal orders everyone off the ship but just as quickly someone attacks Jayne.

Mal knocks out the attacker and brings him onto their ship. Jayne says that he must have been the one to kill everyone. Simon tries to help the guy but he keeps mumbling about everyone being weak. The man is the sole survivor of a Reavers. Book says that Reavers are just men and that there is nothing they could do that the crew couldn't undo. Mal shuts him down.

Mal wants to still get everything off the ship but Jayne is too scared to step foot onboard the ship. Simon and Book go to help put the dead to rest, Jayne is forced to go with them to help out. Mal doesn't accept that he has faith but says on the off chance that there is that these people could use some peace. Could it be that part of Mal still believes?

Not so much, it turns out it was busy work for them while Mal and the others deal with the fact that ship has been locked together with an explosive and they have to do the hard task of unhooking them.

Jayne gets the food of the ship just as River screams and the rescued man escapes from the bridge. Kaylee frees the ship from the booby trap and everything seems to be working out for the crew. All is perfect for once. Until the alarm goes off, Reavers on the way.

Or an Alliance ship coming just in time to arrest them all. The head officer orders Simon and River to be shot on sight since they don't know why they are wanted. Mal tells Simon to go and get his sister, Simon thinks that Mal is trying to sell them out. Book of all people jumps to Mal's defense.

The Alliance storms the ship and River and Simon are nowhere to be seen. A solider tells the officer something and everyone is arrested and brought onto the Alliance ship.

Now comes the interviews with the crew. One of my favorite scenes from the show as a whole. It's so fun to get into all the characters heads. Zoe won't talk about her and Wash's marriage due to them being private people  but Wash won't shut up about how sexy his wife is and what it's like in bed with her. Very different people.

River and Simon are outside the ship in space suits hugging the ship. Ironic since Simon was talking about earlier about how the thought of having nothing but that suit to save your life scares the hell out of him. The officer tells Mal that it is odd that he named his ship after a battle he was on the wrong side of. Mal says that it may have been the losing side but he isn't convinced that it was the wrong one.  

The survivor has cut his own tongue. Mal and his crew are arrested and the survivor starts attacking the medical personal trying to help him. Mal tries to tell the officer about Reavers but he won't listen. Until he figures out that the survivor is attack his men. He handcuffs Mal and orders him to lead them through the ship. Simon and River have returned to the ship and now must hide as the Alliance is back on Serenity.

Mal takes down the survivor, saving the officer's life. He takes all the goods from Mal and co and lets them go before he blows up the ghost ship. This is such a great episode that really shows the heart and soul of Firefly.

For the sake of being simple I'm going to count both parts of Serenity as one episode. So welcome to episode 2, The Train Job. Written by Joss Whedon and Tim Minear as a second pilot because Fox couldn't understand what they had with the first one.

This episode starts off with Mal, Zoe and Jayne in a bar on the the 6 year anniversary of the Alliance winning the war. Mal provokes one of them so that Zoe has to step in and start a fight that erupts the entire bar. It seems our dear captain does this every year. Jayne, who didn't fight in the war just relaxes and watches as Mal gets tossed out on his ass and all Wash for a ride. Jayne finally joins the fight, kicking far more ass than Mal. Our three heroes are at the edge of cliff with the Alliance supports holding them at gun point. Wash shows up with Serenity and threatens them with guns he doesn't have. Mal and co get on board.

River is having trouble dealing with her dreams. Dreams of what happened with at the Alliance's academy. The school that messed with her head. A great deal of the early parts of this episode is force feeding us exposition, catching us up on what we missed in the last episode. It is done very artfully, if you didn't know that that was what they were doing you would probably miss it.

They keep talking about a compression coil. In both the pilot and this episode. It is something that will keep coming up, leading to my favorite episode Out of Gas. Mal gets a job from an old creepy man who owns a space station. He makes it clear that he means business and that reputation means nothing to him. All he cares about is action. He wants them to rob a train and he expects them to do it.

Mal and Zoe enter the train and try to get to work bu quickly come across a department full of Alliance soldiers. Mal and Zoe just walk through and try not to draw attention to themselves. The fact that Alliance soldiers are on the ship excites Mal far more than Zoe is comfortable with.

We start to see a bit more of Kaylee's crush on Simon before Jayne puts him in his place and "takes charge" of the ship. The heist goes bad and Jayne gets shot while Mal and Zoe get stuck on the train. Now they are being questioned by the locals. Mal and Zoe also find out that what they stole was the meds for the town. That doesn't sit well with them.

The Alliance finds out about the meds being stolen and orders their men to leave the town to itself. It isn't their problem. Sounds like something our government would do. Jayne orders Serenity of the ground but Wash refuses to leave his wife and River mentions the two men with blue hands who play a big part later. Book points out to Jayne that if they don't have the captain when dealing with the old man things won't go well for them. They need to find a way to get them back.

Simon drugs Jayne so that he can't force them to leave. Inara shows up at the camp and tells the sheriff that Mal is her servant and gets him and Zoe out of there. She came in the nick of time because the sheriff didn't buy their story. Mal and Zoe would have taken the fall if it wasn't for her.

Mal gets the goods ready to return to the town. He can't keep it anymore. It's just then that the old man's enforcers show up to get the goods from them. Mal tells him he will return the money and call it a day but the enforcers didn't want to hear that. A firefight breaks out and a drugged up Jayne shoots the guy in his leg.

Mal and Zoe get caught by the sheriff as they attempt to return the goods. He understands what happens and lets them go, just taking back the medication. Mal tells the head enforcer that he is to return the money to the old man and that's that, but the enforcer says no so Mal kicks him into the exhaust port. Far too funny. The next enforcer says yes and takes the money and runs.

The Alliance officer who ignored the planet's call for help gets a visit by the men with blue hands looking for River.  And thus ends the second episode of the greatest show ever made. It was a fun ride that helped us get to know the characters even better and see what kind of people they really were. It could serve equally as a 1st or 2nd episode and that is not easy to do. But Joss whedon and Tim Minear were up for the challenge.

Take my love, take my land, take me where I can not stand. I don't care I'm still free you can't take the sky from me. But you can take my Firefly away. Which is what Fox did in the middle of its first season. Something that myself and many other fans have never gotten over. And how could we? It is one of the best shows ever made bar none.

The show opens in the middle of an epic battle in Serenity Valley where Sargent Malcolm Reynolds is holding down what remains of the Independence forces as the Alliance swarms in. Zoe and Bendis are the only two members of his squad who hold out through the battle while they wait for air support. One of Mal's strongest character traits is his faith. He routinely relies on his faith to keep him going, believing that God will get him through everything, after all he is just too damn pretty for God to let him die. He even kisses his cross neckless for good luck. He is a man of unshakable faith.

Until it gets shaken. The Independence have surrendered and orders Mal and co to do the same. It is a moment that will change the course of Mal's life forever. Bendis and Mal's faith both die in this moment of defeat. Mal will never be the same again. 

6 years later Mal and Zoe have a ship, named Serenity in honor of the battle they lost. They have a crew of misfits, Zoe's husband Wash, the kid who never grew up but boy could he fly. Kaylee, the mechanic who is far too sweet and innocent to fit in with this crew, only she's not. And Jayne the hired muscle. Oh and uh, Jayne is a guy, don't let the girl name fool you. He is a man.

Also on the ship is Inara, the ships Companion or what we would call a prostitute. A career in the future that is not only legal but highly respected. It's a sign of class to be allowed to train as one. Mal is the only one who doesn't see it that way.

Our unlikely heroes steal goods off of a broken down wreck as the Alliance shows up and tries to stop them, Wash uses a trick called the cry baby, a device that I personally think is just genius. It sends out a distress signal so that the Alliance will go and check it out rather than chase after them. Wash is G like that, even with his toy dinosaurs.

Can we take a minute to just talk about how amazing the title song is? It's so catchy you just can't help but sing along with it.

It isn't long before a major point of conflict among the crew is introduced. Wash and Zoe are married, happily so. Zoe is loyal to her long time friend and Captain Malcolm Reynolds. To the point where she follows his lead and orders no matter what. Wash can't stand that, the man is jealous of Mal.

One of the best parts of the show is the way they define culture. It's the future and nothing stays the same forever. English has more or less fused with Chinese, though Chinese is used mostly for cursing. It is a really neat thing that strikes Firefly as unique. Even the way people dress and talk. It's futuristic yet a throw back to the old west. It's a fully fleshed out world, more so than most other shows.

Mal, Zoe and Jayne try to drop off the goods to Badger, the character Joss Whedon wrote for himself to play before becoming too busy, only things don't go as planned. Badger knows that the goods are marked and that the Alliance is on the hunt for Mal and co. He sends them packing but not before putting Mal in his place. Telling him that he thinks he is a man of honor in a den of thieves and that in the end he is no better than anyone else.

Kaylee talks Shepherd Book into traveling on the ship. He's an older man of faith who wants to explore the verse after spending time studying the good book. A man of faith living on the ship of a man who saw his faith die in front of his eyes not 6 years prior. Also don't call him grandpa, he never married.

Rounding out the passengers are Dobson and Simon. Neither man is who they say they are. But both go on to play important parts of the story. Right off the bat there is something unnerving about Simon. He is hiding something and that is clear as day.

Mal is trying to do business with a woman who once shot him. He is one crazy ass dude to just let things like that go. I know personally if someone shot me they would be the last person I'd do business with. Mal takes great joy in tormenting Book, almost as if he blames Book for the death of his own faith. He also bullies Inara much in the same way that a little kid picks on someone they like. It's a playful teasing that she doesn't much care for. 

Jayne shows himself to have no people skills at all during dinner. Simon asks his job and Mal replies human relations. Just one example of how witty  the writing of this show is. After all, this episode is written by the man himself. Joss Whedon.

Book and Inara bond, just going to show that not everyone who believes in the good book is a judgmental asshole.  Something that I strongly believe myself, seeing as I am Catholic, lapsed but still. Meanwhile one of the passengers call the feds, Wash managed to stop the transmission but who knows how much information got out.

Mal catches Simon and knocks him to the ground, he believes he is the Fed, Book tells him he has the wrong man, putting the thought in our heads that Book is the fed before we find out that Dobson is. He came for Simon but tells Mal that he will take them all to jail before accidentally shooting Kaylee. Book knocks him out, he is not what he seems. Something that will play on and off throughout the show.

Simon tells Mal that he will let Kaylee die if he doesn't get him away from the Alliance while Book keeps Dobson alive. Mal caves and lets the fed live and runs from the Alliance as Simon tries to help Kaylee. As Simon works Jayne watches on in secret, worried about Kaylee. Jayne may not want to admit it but he cares about the crew.

Wanting to know why the feds are after Simon, Mal opens up his create and finds River frozen. We learn that she is Simon's sister and that she went off to a private school run by the Alliance before vanishing. He risked everything to get her away from the school. That is why the Alliance is after them. She is special. Boy is she special and it isn't just because she is played by Summer Glau.

Inara tells Mal that if he kicks Simon and River off the ship she'll take off too. First episode in and everything is already coming to a head. Even more so once Dobson tries to get Jayne to turn on the crew. For a while it seems like he is going to take him up on the offer.

Before the crew can make it planet-side they are attacked by Reavers, who are they? what are they? Oh now that would be telling. For now, lets just say that they are crazy cannibals who live on the edge of space. Zoe tells us that they will rape you to death, eat your flesh and use your skin for clothing. Eat your flesh but still have skin left for clothes? These people are skilled!

Kaylee lives but Mal tells Simon that she died, freaking him out. Mal can be a jackass sometimes but it's why we love him.

Mal figures that Patience is going to shoot him again so he plans a trap to protect himself and crew from her. He sends Jayne, the man who might still betray him to go and clear out any enemy snipers. Meanwhile Book tries to help Dobson and is beat to the ground for it by Dobson. I really dislike this guy. On all three Whedonverse shows. If he was on Dollhouse I probably wouldn't like him on there ether. 

It turns out that the stolen goods that Mal and crew stole were nothing more than food stuffs. Turns out in the wild west of space food has a great deal more value. While Mal deals with being double crossed once again by this lady, Dobson gets a hold of River. Jayne gets his crosshairs on Mal, could this be when he kills Mal and sells him out to the Alliance? Nope! He saves the day. Jayne isn't so bad!

Reavers show up planet side just as Simon goes to confront Dobson and try to save his sister. Mal, Zoe and Jayne are still in a gun fight with Patience. So much tension, is it any wonder this show is so beloved? The craziest part about this episode, Fox didn't think people would get it, or even like it so they made Joss and co make a new first episode, we will talk about that one next week but how could anyone think this wasn't the best pilot since The Shield? Or maybe till The Shield? I don't know they both came out in 02. Don't judge me, I'm not Law P knowing the date of everything.

The Reavers are coming but Wash can't take off till Mal and co get on the ship. Simon has Dobson at gun point but doesn't make a move and Dobson turns the tables getting ahold of both a gun and River. Mal shoots him dead. Or does he? Only time and comic books will tell. Serenity takes off just in time as the Reavers close in on them. Mal orders Inara to take the none crew members and head to town in her shuttle. She doesn't want to leave him and we see for the first time the budding romance between the two. I always wanted them to get together, once more damn you Fox!

Wash saves the day and gets Serenity the hell out of dodge losing the Reavers in his dust. Zoe takes Wash for some married fun time as Mal breaths a sigh of relief. It was a crazy few days but they got paid and are all alive. It wasn't a bad job after all. Well for some of them, Book starts to have a crisis of faith but Inara helps him see that testing his faith isn't bad. It can only help him grow. After all that is what faith is.