(Spoilers) Firefly Film Festival #8: "Out of Gas"

[NE Texan]

Welcome to episode eight of the Firefly Film Festival.

As discussed here, we'll be reviewing and talking about one Firefly episode each week.

In this thread, please remember the following as a warning to yourself and courtesy to other posters:
* There will be unboxed spoilers about the current episode in this thread; you are forewarned.
* Please use spoiler boxes if you want to bring up points from later episodes.
* Please use spoiler warnings if you want to use info from the movie. Also be prepared for massive jealosy.
* Label what the spoilers are about so that readers can decide whether to open the box.
* We'll be talking about both the episode and the DVD commentary here.

Previous episodes:
1. Serenity
2. The Train Job
3. Bushwacked
4. Shindig
5. Safe
6. Our Mrs. Reynolds
7. Jaynestown

Time for a thread on this week's episode: Out of Gas. "Maybe I should do that then!"

[Kyla]

Probably the best episode of the lot. I love getting the background on everyone. Who would have suspected it of Kaylee? Oddly enough, looking through a transcript, I don't see lots of hilarious lines like I usually do. It's not the witty banter that makes this episode, it's the storyline. And hey! The captain? Perhaps a little crazy!

Oh, okay, fine.

Kaylee: Catalyzer on the port compression coil blew. That's where the trouble started.
Mal: I need that in Captain Dummy-Talk, Kaylee.

And Jayne's attempt to get Inara to tell some "funny whorin' stories".

You know the button that Wash installed to call everyone back? Alan Tudyk filched it when the show was cancelled.

:: sniffle ::

[El_Kabong]

Mal: "Ship like this will be with you till the day you die."

Zoe: "That's 'cause she's a deathtrap."

I had liked Firefly from the first time I'd seen it, but this was the episode that tipped me over to thinking "Dang, this just may be the best TV show ever". Beautifully filmed and directed in almost a graphic-novel style, the ep seamlessly integrates poignant and sometimes hilarious vignettes concerning how the crew came together with a reasonably convincing main story describing the dangers inherent in spacefaring aboard an old, indequately-maintained vessel.

As ever, the cast nails their performances; there are so many great scenes it's almost impossible to highlight one, but if pressed I would say the most impressive is the sequence in which Mal first tells the crew they're going to have to abandon ship, and their reactions to the news, followed by him rejecting Inara's plea that he come with her in here shuttle. The fear in his eyes and voice, that he is indeed about to go down with his ship, seems pefectly genuine.

Note to self: If my mechanic ever says we need to replace the port catalyzer, I'll be sure to replace the damn port catalyzer.

Oh, and the story (related in the commentary track) concerning what Alan Tudyk did with the red button after the show had been cancelled really touched me.

[NE Texan]

This is a great episode - even though it has a very thin plot - because it has such character moments.

We get to see when and why everyone joined, and some unique moments about them.

Like Zoe not liking Wash at first.

Like Jayne turning on his previous crew. (Which really should make us think about those episodes where he nearly turns on Mal...)

Like Kaylee replacing the "genius" mechanic. ("Genius? No one's ever called me that before." Yeah, we can see why.)

And the dialogue as ever:

"It's an easy, langorous journey."
"Gee, I wonder what that would be like."

[NE Texan]

Oh, and I love the revelation at the end that the ship that will last if treated properly is not the Firefly that Mal ended up with.

[Waenara]

Definitely my favorite episode.


"C'mon. You ain't even seen most of it. I'll show you the rest... Try to see past what she is, on to what she can be."

"What's that, sir?"

"Freedom, is what."

"No, I meant -- what's that?"

"Oh. Just step around it. I think something must've been living in here."

[gardentraveler]

One of my favorite episodes, partly because of the background and partly because you get to see how the whole crew has really become a family: as a group during the birthday scene and when Mal tells them they need to leave on the shuttles, and in smaller scenes like the one with Simon and Inara talking about dying on the ship or River and Book talking about Book being afraid.

Technically, I think it's really neat to see how they weave in and out of the different points in time. It was really interesting to hear the commentary on that. It's much different than how they originally planned it, but I can't imagine the flashbacks being woven in more effectively.

GT

[Sam Stone]

"When we get it flying. You mean it's not flyable now?"
"Not so much."

Great episode. I loved the last scene, where it's love at first sight between Mal and Serenity. This was the episode where the ship itself became one of the characters in the show.

And I thought Kaylee's scene was about perfect. Clearly, sexuality in the Firefly universe is much more casual than it is today. Which makes sense, given the advanced medicine, no doubt perfect birth control, etc. I liked how she could be that open sexually, while still being a nice, innocent girl, without it being a contradiction.

One nit was with Wash's character. He just didn't seem like Wash, and it wasn't just the cheezy mustache. I think he was trying to roll the character back and show how different he was 'back then', but the change was just a bit too much.

But anyway, the non-linear storytelling was handled very well, the character development stuff was perfect, and the pacing was great. A great hour of Firefly.

[Otto]

Leading to one of the best gag reel moments,

SPOILER:

when Wash-with-moustache ets up from behind the console and Mal and Zoe have cheesy moustaches of their own.

[FatBaldGuy]

Originally Posted by Kyla

You know the button that Wash installed to call everyone back? Alan Tudyk filched it when the show was cancelled.

:: sniffle ::

Yes, he filched it, but then he gave it to Joss, so that when the show got picked up again he could call everyone back.

[scr4]

Originally Posted by Sam Stone

Clearly, sexuality in the Firefly universe is much more casual than it is today.

I don't think so - look at Simon. And the big deal made about sex in "Our Mrs Reynolds." Like today, some people are more casual about sex than others.

Originally Posted by Kyla

Oddly enough, looking through a transcript, I don't see lots of hilarious lines like I usually do

There are a few:

Mal: Which one you figured tracked us?
Zoe: The ugly one, sir.
Mal: Could you be more specific?

Mal: Well. Looks can be deceiving.
Jayne: Not as deceiving as a low down dirty... deceiver.
Mal: Well said. Wasn't that well said, Zoe?
Zoe: Had a kind poetry to it, sir.

everyone: Happy birthday!
River: "Day" is a vestigial mode of time measurement based on solar cycles. It's not applicable.
Simon: ???
River: I didn't get you anything.

Wash: Yes, Mal. It'd boost the signal, but even if some passerby did happen to receive, all it'd do is muck up their navigation!
Mal: Could be that's true.
Wash: Damn right it's true! They'd be forced to stop and dig out our signal before they could go anyplace! ... <pause> ... Well, maybe I should do that!!

[Randolph]

Okay, I've been following all of the Firefly threads religiously, because I'm a shamelessly nerdy Firefly fan (as evidenced), but I haven't posted yet. I'm jumping in here, though, because this is the beginning of what I've heard called the Whiplash Point - the point at which Firefly hits and sustains a level of television that I've just never seen equalled. The last few episodes were enough to firmly grab you, but this, and the next few, just smack you silly with their quality. Or at least did to me.

This is a terrific episode, my second-favourite of the series (Objects in Space comes first). By now we've got the characters down pat and we can go all emotional (in a good way). They did a terrific job with the transitions (always important in a time-jumpy story) and the color schemes / camera work really set the mood for the origin flashbacks.

The origin chronology is a bit confusing - Mal's "finally got ourselves a genius mechanic" line is clearly meant to refer to Kaylee, so the Wash flashback takes place after the Kaylee flashback, but is shown before it - and since they're so close together, chronologically, the tendency is to take them as sequential. Doesn't matter much, I guess, in the end.

Absolutely love the scene of the shuttles departing, and Mal closing all of the doors behind him. The commentary's right, you just don't get to _do_ that on TV anymore. I guess that's one of the reasons Firefly really stands out - they trust the audience to be interested enough in the characters to enjoy taking their time with the storytelling.

Also this episode provides a speculative spoiler for a possible future Inara plotline:

SPOILER:

During the quiet Simon / Inara scene, in the commentary, Tim Minear says there's a clue in the scene's dialogue as to an unused Inara backstory. There's really only one line it could be, and it fits in nicely with the Inara-is-dying speculation mentioned in numerous threads:

Inara: I love this ship. I have from the first moment I saw it.
Simon: I just don't want to die on it.
Inara: (distantly) I don't want to die at all.

This episode also has one of my favorite guest stars - Bester the mechanic. The guy playing him is just perfect, a wonderful, futuristic blend of surfer/stoner/poseur, like Kato Kaelin moved into Han Solo's guest house. I fully believe you could make a comedic Firefly spinoff starring Bestor as a sort of luckless, hapless, amiable Surfer Cowboy, hanging out in spaceports and stumbling in and out of trouble. Perhaps with a sidekick. A flying monkey of some kind.

Other episode likes: "Captain dummy-talk", Wash's pornostache, Kaylee heartbroken over not being able to fix Serenity, Mal's leading-Wash-to-water-but-letting-him-drink-on-his-own argumentation technique, Jayne's heartfelt goodbye, Mal letting his guard drop before falling back asleep, and of course the final scene, the origin of Serenity.

[Kyla]

Originally Posted by scr4

Mal: Well. Looks can be deceiving.
Jayne: Not as deceiving as a low down dirty... deceiver.
Mal: Well said. Wasn't that well said, Zoe?
Zoe: Had a kind poetry to it, sir.

How could I forget this? This is one of my favorite lines in anything, ever. I'm just dying to work "deceiving as a low down dirty deceiver" into a conversation.

I really love this episode.

[NE Texan]

Originally Posted by Randolph

The origin chronology is a bit confusing - Mal's "finally got ourselves a genius mechanic" line is clearly meant to refer to Kaylee, so the Wash flashback takes place after the Kaylee flashback, but is shown before it - and since they're so close together, chronologically, the tendency is to take them as sequential.

Well, no, the "genius" does not refer to Kaylee. He's playing with us there. We hear "genius mechanic", and we all think Kaylee (who was in the previous scene) - and in walks Bester. He even says "Wow, no one's ever called me a genius before." (I mentioned that in my post).

Bester and Wash are both hired before they get Serenity off the ground the first time (it doesn't fly, "not so much", at first).

Kaylee is picked up later - they're on a rock for a few days on their way to some job, and Mal's on Bester's back for not fixing the problem faster, while Bester's on his back - erm... anyway, Kaylee shows how easily the problem can be fixed. So those two flashbacks are in order.

But in general, most of the flashbacks don't need to be in order. Inara, Jayne, Kaylee - can you tell from evidence in the episode what order those happened in? I can't. You don't need to. (I do suspect, though, that Inara's shuttle was rented out before they left the first time, but I can't support that with a quote from this episode.)


Jayne, in this episode and the last, obviously has a way with words. (Not a good way, just a way...)

[levdrakon]

One of my favorite episodes. (of course, I have 14 favorite episodes)

Definitely one of the most important episodes. As others have mentioned, this one gives us backstory on how our basic family formed; Wash, Kaylee, Jayne.

"They'd be forced to stop and dig out our signal before they could even go any place...
Well maybe I should do that then!"
"Maybe you should!"
"Ok!"
"Good!"
"Fine!"
"Hey, what you two think you're doing, fighting at a time like this? Use up all the air."

"She likes engines, they make her hot. Secondary grav-boot's shot."
"No it ain't! Secondary grav-boot's just fine... Hello!
"She doesn't... that's not what it... no it ain't!"
"Sure it is, grav-boot ain't your trouble. I seen the trouble plain as day when I was down there on my back before... Your right couple's bad."
"Right couple... no it ain't."
"Sure it is. Your right-couple. Right... here. This. I'm pointin' right at it."

"She fixed it."
"It wadn't really broke."

"You got much experience with a vessel such as this?"
"I ain't never been up in one before."
"Wanna?"
"Just gotta ask my folks!"

"Mal, whattaya need two mechanics for?"
"Really don't."

[Tarrsk]

"Yeah, 'cuz sick people are hi-larious!"

"Out of Gas" is the episode that really cemented my love for Firefly. It's probably the most character-driven episode of the series, the plot existing primarily to show our heroes' responses to utter disaster. Plus, the cinematography is gorgeous... as Randolph noted, it's very rare that you get to see long, dialogue-free sequences in which the imagery alone tells the story on television. Scenes like the opening shot of Serenity adrift (and how great is it that she actually drifts in space, instead of slowing to a stop like in every other sci-fi show ever?), the departure of the shuttles, and Mal's subsequent journey back to the cockpit give the episode a truly cinematic feel.

As much as I love this episode, though, I wince every time Simon says the line "pure adrenaline," comically enormous syringe in hand. That much adrenaline would kill a freakin' elephant, even if it were injected in some halfway realistic manner, rather than straight into the gut (WTF?!).

[scr4]

About the adrenaline, here's what the Master has to say about a similar scene in Pulp Fiction:

But here's the thing: doctors honest to God do on (rare) occasion jab a big hypodermic of epinephrine, aka adrenaline, directly into the heart of someone who's gone into cardiac arrest, a technique called intracardiac injection (ICI). If the patient is lucky she revives quickly--epinephrine is the fight-or-flight hormone that blasts through your system in moments of extremity. So there's a grain of truth to the scene.

Given that Zoe was going into cardiac arrest, I suppose it's not completely inaccurate. More accurate than Pulp Fiction, in fact. The later scene with Mal injecting himself is ridiculous though - his heart is obviously still beating and there's no need for an intracardiac injection. Then again Mal isn't a doctor and maybe he didn't know any better.

There are a few other technical/scientific problems I saw too. For example, opening the hatch to put out the fire should have reduced cabin pressure considerably, and with life support down, they shouldn't have been able to replenish the air in that area. And the very memorable scene of Mal closing all the doors as he goes up to the bridge - that makes no sense. Mal has no way of extracting oxygen from the closed-off sections and pumping it into the bridge, so he's better off leaving all the doors open.

Not that I care much about these technical problems. It's still the best hour of any show on TV, IMHO. It's a complex episode with three different time periods interlaced, but they pulled it off wonderfully.

[Tracy Lord]

This is definitely my favorite episode of the series, and that's saying quite a lot. I remember during the series' original run, I couldn't watch this episode as it aired (prior engagement or summat) and the tape I'd set to record didn't take -- I had to wait a few days for a friend to send it to me. And when I finally saw it? HOO BOY. That was love. Like a lot of other people have mentioned in this thread, this was the turning point from "It's a great show!" to "It's an amazing show."

I'd end up quoting the whole episode if I talked about dialogue I loved -- it's not all witty-quotable, but for character and emotional resonance, there's not a single line of dialogue I dislike. Highlights for me was the dinner/birthday party scene (as the fireball came through, especially) and Mal and Inara having their last conversation -- but choosing favorite scenes in this episode is like pointing out the strongest part of Casablanca. There's not a single flaw here, IMO, and beyond that, it's all wonderful.

[Tarrsk]

Originally Posted by scr4

Given that Zoe was going into cardiac arrest, I suppose it's not completely inaccurate. More accurate than Pulp Fiction, in fact. The later scene with Mal injecting himself is ridiculous though - his heart is obviously still beating and there's no need for an intracardiac injection. Then again Mal isn't a doctor and maybe he didn't know any better.

Even then, it would be an extremely dilute epinephrine solution:

In cardiac arrest, 0.5 to 1.0 mg (5 to 10 mL of 1:10,000 solution) may be given. During a resuscitation effort, 0.5 mg (5 mL) should be administered intravenously every five minutes.

Intracardiac injection should only be administered by personnel well trained in the technique, if there has not been sufficient time to establish an intravenous route. The intracardiac dose usually ranges from 0.3 to 0.5 mg (3 to 5 mL of 1:10,000 solution).

-From RXlist.com

A shot of saturated epinephrine solution in a syringe as large as the one Simon uses would almost certainly be fatal, although to be fair I don't know of any specific experiments where people were injected with massive epinephrine overdoses.

[levdrakon]

The whole beginning scene, with Mal introducing Zoe to Serenity, that's a scene, a dialogue, that every married couple goes through. Not just married couples, every couple of close people, friends, lovers, whatever, that's a conversation they have. "What made you buy this piece of gorram?" "Gorram, why, with some love and attention, she'll be with you 'til the day you die." "Yeah, 'cause it's a death-trap."

Mal & Zoe are, in their own way, married. But lots of us are married to our friends, we just don't acknowledge it as the whole "married" thing.

Mal is married to every single member of his crew. I guess we call it love, family, friendship, loyalty, whatever. Joss Whedon's got it right on. The crew of Serenity is a loving family, and we all feel like a part of that family. Damn it Whedon, don't make me feel this way! You're like a heroin pusher!

[MrDibble]

This is absolutely my favourite - just the best 40 mins of TV ever. Everone's already covered most of my points, there's just a couple lines that stand out for me:

Inara:"A Companion doesn't kiss and tell"
Mal:"So there is kissing..." *Zing!*

River: "You’re afraid we’re going to run out of air. That we’ll die gasping. But we won’t. That’s not going to happen. We’ll freeze to death first."

Inara: "Mal, you don't have to die alone."
Mal: "Everyone dies alone."

Inara: “The Alliance has no quarrel with me. I supported Unification.”
Mal: “Did you? Well, I don’t suppose you’re the only whore that did…”
[something]
Inara: "...that's the last time you get to call me 'whore'"
Mal:[something like "Of course"? If he'd said "As you wish.", I just might have had a fangasm]

Also, the end of Mal's exchange with the "pirates" says so much about how he views himself:
pirate:"you'd have done the same"
Mal:"well, we can plainly see that I haven't"

Man, so much to love. "Sex Kaylee" is just a bonus...

[MrDibble]

Oh, and I forgot this great bit of wordply. The show's writers write like people who really love the craft over the paycheck(Trekwriters, I'm looking at YOU)

Mal: You are very much lacking in imagination.
Zoe: I imagine that's so, sir.

[Orual]

This is my favorite episode, no question. The crew of Serenity is more like a family than any other TV family I've ever seen. Who would've thought you could cram so much emotional impact into an hour-long TV show?

Everyone's performances were fabulous, but the scenes that got to me the most were Mal's (hunkering under blankets in the cockpit waiting to die alone, leaving bloody handprints all over the hallways, fumbling with and dropping the catalyzer, "you'll all still be here when I get up? ::sniff:: ).

I love how not even imminent death can make Jayne any less ... Jayne.

Favorite lines that haven't yet been mentioned:

Kaylee: Sometimes a thing gets broke can't be fixed...

Simon: It's just... it was my birthday.

Jayne: She did something to her shuttle, Mal. Smells funny.
Inara: I told you, that's incense.

Mal: Didn't I order you off the ship?
::Wash says how Zoe made them come back for Mal when she woke up::
Zoe: Won't happen again, sir.

[Randolph]

Originally Posted by NE Texan

Well, no, the "genius" does not refer to Kaylee. He's playing with us there. We hear "genius mechanic", and we all think Kaylee (who was in the previous scene) - and in walks Bester. He even says "Wow, no one's ever called me a genius before." (I mentioned that in my post).

Huh. That's kinda disappointing, actually. I thought the scene was more clevererer with Bester coming by, overhearing Mal's reference to Kaylee, and still not realizing he's gonna be fired ("What do you need two mechanics for?") misappropriating the compliment in a charmingly clueless sort of way.

Originally Posted by Sam Stone

And I thought Kaylee's scene was about perfect. Clearly, sexuality in the Firefly universe is much more casual than it is today. Which makes sense, given the advanced medicine, no doubt perfect birth control, etc. I liked how she could be that open sexually, while still being a nice, innocent girl, without it being a contradiction.

This to me seems like more of a farmer's daughter thing - very practical about sex, since they've grown up around it their whole lives. It certainly does add a whole 'nother layer to Kaylee's character.

[dropzone]

I taped it then watched the first couple minutes but had to stop the tape.

"Oh, shit! Star Trek usually waits for the second season before they trot out the 'everybody's suffocating but are saved in the nick of time' plot. There goes another promising series down the tube. "

That was before I learned to Trust Joss. Does he always turn cliches on their heads?

[Jurph]

Originally Posted by Sam Stone

One nit was with Wash's character. He just didn't seem like Wash, and it wasn't just the cheezy mustache. I think he was trying to roll the character back and show how different he was 'back then', but the change was just a bit too much.

I'm going to disagree with you there. I've seen video of myself taken before I was married, and there's definitely a character difference. When Wash comes on the ship at that point, he's on an interview. He's presenting himself as a pilot, but he's also "interviewing" the ship. He and Serenity are getting to know each other, and so he's having as much fun as he's ever had.

Once he's had a honeymoon with Zoe, flying a Firefly-class freighter drops down to at least #2 on his list of "most fun he's ever had".

[MEBuckner]

My very favorite episode. (I wouldn't even trade it for Yo-saf-brig.)

Um...most of the things I can think of to say have already been said by somebody; I'll just mention the music, which I thought was very well done in this episode, especially in the scene when the rest of the crew abandons ship and Mal is walking through the ship to the cockpit, dogging all the hatches behind him. Also, some great illustrations of the "no sound in space" principle, and I think a nice demonstration of how that can actually add to the dramatic impact if properly done.

[Bosstone]

Yet another classic episode. Since everyone's pointed out the good about this ep, though, I'll go ahead and point out a bad.

The commentary brings it to the viewer's attention, but it's still worth noting: that is one dinky gun Mal uses to force the salvagers off the ship. Nathan Fillion does an excellent job with what he has, but really. There's 4 or 5 guys there, all with weapons, Mal's bleeding from a gut wound, and he's got a tiny holdout pistol. It's hard to see the salvagers leaving because of that. The first time I saw this episode, I figured they were simply going to humor him; go back in their ship, wait until he bleeds to death, then take Serenity at their leisure.

The rest of the episode is absolutely wonderful, but that one scene feels forced. As the commentator says, it would have worked far better for him to have a big, menacing shotgun or something.

[Miller]

Originally Posted by BayleDomon

The commentary brings it to the viewer's attention, but it's still worth noting: that is one dinky gun Mal uses to force the salvagers off the ship. Nathan Fillion does an excellent job with what he has, but really. There's 4 or 5 guys there, all with weapons, Mal's bleeding from a gut wound, and he's got a tiny holdout pistol. It's hard to see the salvagers leaving because of that. The first time I saw this episode, I figured they were simply going to humor him; go back in their ship, wait until he bleeds to death, then take Serenity at their leisure.

I didn't think that was an issue at all. Sure, they could try to take him, and he'd at most get one, maybe two of them before he died, but none of the pirates want to take a risk on being that one guy he takes down. Plus, even a simply wound would likely be fatal to a bunch of pirates, days away from any port, with no on-board doctor, no money for expensive medical procedures and probably a price on their heads at any planet with a decent medical facility. Basically, they're a bunch of cowards who only tried to take Serenity because they thought they could get it at absolutely no risk to themselves. Once that plan was scuttled, they just took off. Not like the whole thing actually cost them anything, except the price of one port compression catalyzer.

[MrDibble]

Originally Posted by BayleDomon

The commentary brings it to the viewer's attention, but it's still worth noting: that is one dinky gun Mal uses to force the salvagers off the ship. Nathan Fillion does an excellent job with what he has, but really. There's 4 or 5 guys there, all with weapons, Mal's bleeding from a gut wound, and he's got a tiny holdout pistol. It's hard to see the salvagers leaving because of that. The first time I saw this episode, I figured they were simply going to humor him; go back in their ship, wait until he bleeds to death, then take Serenity at their leisure.

I think the important thing about the dinky-gun-vs-crowd-of-people thing is where (or rather who) you aim at.

[Sam Stone]

It's also possible that they WERE back in their ship, off at a safe distance waiting for him to die, but then those two shuttles arrived with all those people, and their plan went to hell.

[FordPrefect]

Originally Posted by MrDibble

I think the important thing about the dinky-gun-vs-crowd-of-people thing is where (or rather who) you aim at.

When I was a kid I watched one of Kenny Roger's "The Gambler" movies. They had a scene where Kenny pulled a Derringer pistol when confronted with three bad guys. The head bad guy laughed and said, "He can only get one of us with that thing." Kenny's response was, "Who's it going to be?" and all three bad guys left.

This "problem" was for me such a welcome change from the typical bad guy always fighting to the death because he don't care about his own life. Which is stupid. A few might be psychotic, but there is no profit in being dead. I thought the pirates reacted exactly like I would, although, I would have put a second round in Mal's head before turning my back on him, but that is just me.

[Cervaise]

This episode contains what might be my favorite Firefly moment, the thing that sums up the intelligence, humor, and emphasis on character that are the show's hallmarks.

It's during the Jayne flashback. Mal and Zoe stand with their hands up being menaced by three dirty thugs, Jayne among them. Neither Mal nor Zoe seems particularly concerned, because they know where the loot is and so they're not in any real immediate danger from these lowlifes, but they're still in something of a stalemate. Mal says something to this effect, that as long as the cargo remains hidden they can stand there all day.

Jayne says: "Tracked you down easy enough."

And Mal cocks his head, turning his eyes to the suddenly very interesting third thug, and he says, musingly, "Yeah, you did."

In that split-second, Mal learns what he needs to know about the situation, and he understands what he needs to do to get out of the pickle. From that moment on, he may still have his hands up, and he may still have three weapons pointed at him, but make no mistake, he is absolutely in charge of the scene. The shift is extremely subtle, but it's unmistakable; right there, he takes command, and the three thugs — or, rather, the two thugs who aren't Jayne and who therefore don't interest Mal — don't have a chance. And what's more, it's a scene wherein our hero has a gun pointed at him, and he escapes not with action but with wit: he is clever and he talks his way out of trouble. A lesser show would resort to a brief distraction and then have the hero tackle or shoot somebody; Firefly, not so much.

Oh, and best of all, Zoe doesn't miss a beat. She picks up on Mal picking up on it: she gets his play instantly, and she backs him right up.

I love this moment so much, when I'm watching this episode, I sometimes rewind just so I can see Mal cock his head and say "yeah, you did" a couple of times. It's just so perfect. He goes from not looking at anything in particular (and therefore looking at everything at once) to turning his hawklike eyes right at Jayne; volumes are communicated in that one glance. It's perfectly written, it's perfectly acted, and it's perfectly directed: quiet, subtle, based entirely in character instead of action or pure plot. It may be my favorite unsung moment of the entire series.

[merrily]

Originally Posted by dropzone

That was before I learned to Trust Joss. Does he always turn cliches on their heads?

Yes. In fact, he is famous for it.

Although I wouldn't quite say "on their heads." He twists them so you are surprised, but without making you feel betrayed.

Originally Posted by Jurph

I'm going to disagree with you there. I've seen video of myself taken before I was married, and there's definitely a character difference.

<snerk>

I do have to agree, though, that the old Wash seemed less mature.

And I wish that the guys from the other ship had said something like, it isn't worth it, we'll pick this up on our way back. But it didn't affect how much I loved this episode. I agree that this sets up a trio of episodes that changed the scale for a good series for me.

[NE Texan]

I did think there were two plot holes - well, plot weaknesses, rather than holes. They've already been mentioned, but the two things that bug me:

First, the thugs from the other ship leaving. I can understand them getting off the ship while the gun is pointed at them; but as soon as they're gone, they know that they're facing one wounded guy on a broken ship. I would expect them to sneak back around, board some other way, or something.

Second, the whole "seal the other doors up" - I don't see how this saves oxygen, exactly as scr4 says.

However, I like the episode so much, I ignore both of these...

This episode is really great in showing Mal's acting (excuse me, Nathan Fillon's). Cervaise's favorite above is a prime example, but also every scene Mal has alone in the ship. He's not saying anything - but you can see how he's feeling, what his problem is, where he's trying to go, how difficult it is, how he presses just to keep moving - just from his expression, body language, and pace.

[Merijeek]

Originally Posted by El_Kabong

Note to self: If my mechanic ever says we need to replace the port catalyzer, I'll be sure to replace the damn port catalyzer.

Leading to another great line.

Bad Captain: Catalyzer is a nothing part.
Mal: It's a nothing part until you don't got one.

How many times have you been in a "Oh fuck, if only I had a [whatever*] I'd be fine" situation?

-Joe

*Twist tie, screwdriver, quarter, gum, HDD jumper, etc - any $.10 part will do

[Miller]

I may be talking out my ass, but when Mal was closing the doors, could it be that he was conserving heat, and not air?

As for the pirates not waiting around for Mal to die and taking the ship some other way, they have to know that however lonely Mal is now, he had a bigger crew at some point, just to get a Firefly out there. Either they're coming back at some point, or Mal is bug-fuck crazy enough to have killed them all and disposed of the evidence, or something even more bizarre is going on. With so many unknowns, it makes perfect sense for them to decide "Screw it," and just leave.

Also, they might simply not have the right equipment to force a boarding of another ship in space. We saw the Serenity's crew use that thermal gel to melt their way into the cargo hold of that ship in the first episode, but maybe that stuff is harder to come by than we know, or the other ship used all theirs up, or they were worried about booby traps, or... or... or...

There are enough possible explanations as for why they just left, it doesn't bother me in the least that they never offered one in the show itself.

[Hellestal]

My second favorite episode, behind "Objects in Space." Everything's been pretty well talked through, though, so I'll just give credit where it's due.

Originally Posted by Cervaise

And Mal cocks his head, turning his eyes to the suddenly very interesting third thug, and he says, musingly, "Yeah, you did."

In that split-second, Mal learns what he needs to know about the situation, and he understands what he needs to do to get out of the pickle. From that moment on, he may still have his hands up, and he may still have three weapons pointed at him, but make no mistake, he is absolutely in charge of the scene. The shift is extremely subtle, but it's unmistakable; right there, he takes command, and the three thugs — or, rather, the two thugs who aren't Jayne and who therefore don't interest Mal — don't have a chance. And what's more, it's a scene wherein our hero has a gun pointed at him, and he escapes not with action but with wit: he is clever and he talks his way out of trouble. A lesser show would resort to a brief distraction and then have the hero tackle or shoot somebody; Firefly, not so much.

You are my favorite critic, on the boards or off.

I've never rewound the scene, but I have paused right at that look Mal gets when he says "Yeah, you did." I've even tried to practice it in the mirror a few times but have been forced to admit to myself that I am not a big damn space-western hero. Before now, though, I never had the words to describe why I love that flashback so. Thank you.

[Sam Stone]

Originally Posted by Cervaise

This episode contains what might be my favorite Firefly moment, the thing that sums up the intelligence, humor, and emphasis on character that are the show's hallmarks.

A similar scene for me was in the pilot, when Badger says, "You're late!", and Mal instantly sees what Badger is trying to do, turns the situation around on him and puts him on the defensive. Mal is smart.

[phouka]

Originally Posted by NE Texan

Second, the whole "seal the other doors up" - I don't see how this saves oxygen, exactly as scr4 says.

See, I don't have a problem with this. A spaceship must be compartmentalized, to protect from loss of atmospheric integrity (it's also a handy option to have for ship-to-ship combat or mutiny). Implicit in that is that they have control over the atmosphere in those sections. Air has to be pumped in under normal circumstances, so they should be able to pump out the air and keep it in the occupied areas, limiting the waste of oxygen.

But that's just me. I probably read too much Heinlein as a kid.

[Sam Stone]

<Putting ultra-geek mode on>

If you're going to nitpick... Given the size of the ship, there was a LOT of air for Mal. A SCUBA tank holds 72 cu ft of air and can last for an hour, but a human only metabolizes about 5% of the oxygen - the rest is simply exhausted with the CO2. In a closed circuit system (the spaceship), the real limiting factor is CO2 level, not lack of oxygen. If you can scrub the CO2 out of the air, a couple of cubic feet of air is enough for more than an hour.

According to Whedon, Serenity is 191 ft long, about 50 ft high, and probably about as wide. Not all of that is breathable space, but let's say half of it is. Call it 200,000 cubic feet. Let's say a third the air was lost to the fire (there was enough pressure left for the crew to not become hypoxic, so the cabin altitude couldn't have been more than about 12,000 ft, meaning no more than about 1/3 of the air could have been lost). So... There was probably 150,000 cubic feet of air left in Serenity. With CO2 scrubbing, that could last 9 people maybe two years. Without CO2 scrubbing, it gets a little more complex:

Our body makes about 200 cc's of CO2 every minute. So in an hour, we produce 12,000 cc's of CO2, or about half a cubic foot of CO2 per hour. CO2 starts to become toxic at about 50,000 ppm, and can kill you around 500,000 ppm. Let's assume the lower limit, and say that the crew is in trouble once the CO2 level is at about 5%. That means the crew needs to start worrying once they've made about 7500 cubic feet of CO2, which would take the 9 of them about 1600 hours, or about 69 days.

And no doubt, I got something horribly wrong in the calculations somewhere, but suffice it to say that they could have lasted a long, long time. River was right - they'd freeze to death first.

<geek mode off>

[scr4]

Originally Posted by phouka

Implicit in that is that they have control over the atmosphere in those sections.

I was about to say "why would the pumps work if the life support system is down?" but I looked at the script and Jayne says:

I went ahead and closed off all below deck vents.
Diverted what there is to the bridge. It ain't much.
So my advice, seal off everything tight behind you
when you go back up. Might buy you some time.

So you might be right, maybe they still had the ability to move air between compartments.

[FordPrefect]

Originally Posted by scr4

I was about to say "why would the pumps work if the life support system is down?" but I looked at the script and Jayne says:

So you might be right, maybe they still had the ability to move air between compartments.

Well, they still had lights and radio.

[Sam Stone]

As a sanity check to my geekiness, I just remembered that the show Mythbusters did a segment to see how long you could survive being buried alive in a sealed coffin. They put one of the Mythbusters in the coffin set up with Oxygen and CO2 bloodstream sensors, and sealed it up. He was okay 50 minutes later, although his CO2 levels were beginning to rise substantially. An empty coffin is what, about 50 cubic feet? Assume the person takes up the bulk of that space, there could have been no more than 5 or 10 cubic feet of air for him to breathe. If Mal had even sealed himself up in a 10 x 10 x 10 bedroom on the ship, he could have survived for days.

But where's the drama in that?

[Merijeek]

Originally Posted by Sam Stone

As a sanity check to my geekiness, I just remembered that the show Mythbusters did a segment to see how long you could survive being buried alive in a sealed coffin. They put one of the Mythbusters in the coffin set up with Oxygen and CO2 bloodstream sensors, and sealed it up. He was okay 50 minutes later, although his CO2 levels were beginning to rise substantially. An empty coffin is what, about 50 cubic feet? Assume the person takes up the bulk of that space, there could have been no more than 5 or 10 cubic feet of air for him to breathe. If Mal had even sealed himself up in a 10 x 10 x 10 bedroom on the ship, he could have survived for days.

But where's the drama in that?

Funny. You think River's line about how they'd all freeze to death before they suffocated (back when Serentity's air was being used by NINE people) would have already have made this pretty clear. Abundantly clear. Completely clear.

Amazing how obsessive people can be.

-Joe

[Sam Stone]

Yeah, we wouldn't want any actual fans to show up here.

Lighten up.

[Tarrsk]

Yeah... let's keep it nice here. This is supposed to be fun, after all!

'sides, you don't want to scare away any prospective Browncoats out there, do ya?

[FordPrefect]

Originally Posted by Sam Stone

But where's the drama in that?

Besides, why can't people in the future make silly mistakes like people in the present do

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Originally Posted by FordPrefect

Besides, why can't people in the future make silly mistakes like people in the present do

Excellent point! Mal is brilliant about people, but he leaves the math and science to other people on board. For all he (and Jayne!) knew, sealing up the decks was the only way for him to keep on breathing.

Daniel

[merrily]

I also wonder, it may be one thing to be in a small space with air, and it may be another to be in a large space. If there is less oxygen in a large space, it might not be where you can breathe it, if you take my drift.

Mal seem to be extremely good at reading people, he does that continually, but most of all, he does it with Jayne--remember the pilot episode, he knew what Jayne was likely to do, without being there.