Serenity does indeed establish that the Firefly 'verse is a single star system.
I don’t know why Zoe said quadrant… in Star Trek a quadrant is a quarter of the entire galaxy and would take about 75 years to cross at maximum warp (see Voyager for example). But Star Trek was inconsistent about quadrants as well. I chalk it up to two possible explanations: in real life, the writers just didn’t bother to look up it (just like with Star Wars and parsecs). In the show’s universe I would rationalize that in the time since the earth was all used up some units of measurement don’t mean the same thing as they used to.
Others include:
Book: “Yes, I’d forgotten you’re moonlighting as a criminal mastermind now. Got your next heist planned?”
Simon: “No. But I’m thinking about growing a big black mustache. I’m a traditionalist.”
Mal: “Ah, the pitter patter of tiny feet in huge combat boots.” (to Kaylee and River) “Shut up!”
Zoe: "Preacher, don’t the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?
Book: “Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps.”
For me, this episode is largely Wash and Zoe. That argument they have is the most real domestic I’ve seen on broadcast TV.
The explanation given for the Parsec thing (granted, it was in the Expanded Universe, so your mileage may vary) the Kessel Run (which, according to Han, the Millenium Falcon ran in 15 Parsecs or something like that) was a trade/smuggling route that went around a cluster of black holes. Basically, the shorter the distance, the closer to the black holes you were, so the faster your ship had to be to avoid getting sucked in. Of course, in the book where Han does this, he’s being chased by Imperial customs ships, comes close to loosing most of the hull plating on the bottom of the Millenium Falcon due to the gravity force, and then has to dump his cargo of glitterstim spice to further lighten his ship to escape the gravity well. He neglects to mention all that other stuff to Ben and Luke in Star Wars though.
I think you’re more or less right about this, although I’d phrase it as getting Wash on board with Mal. It wasn’t so much that he was apart from everyone else so much as he was apart from Mal. It’s in Wash’s job requirement to do what Mal says while he’s piloting, but other than that he felt no real loyalty to Mal; his loyalty was to Zoe, and he went along with what she wanted. And then there’s the whole jealousy thing (“What this marriage needs is one less husband”) to boot.
And while this episode cemented Wash’s loyalty to Mal, I think we already saw the beginnings of it in Out Of Gas. I forgot to mention it in the previous thread, but in OOG, before Mal says “Go see to your wife,” Wash gives him the most soulful look that shows more than mere concern. The argument they had about boosting the signal really jumped Wash’s respect for Mal up a couple of notches. Between that and Mal supporting Wash during the torture, it’s no wonder Wash is now ready to die for him.
While I love this scene and think it’s hilarious, it also puzzles me. Why on earth did Zoe think it was something Mal needed to do for himself? As far as I’m aware, Mal has no personal grudge against the lackey, unless he’s pissed at him for the torture, but that doesn’t seem like something over which he’d need to exact revenge. The guy is just Crow’s replacement doing the job for Niska. Did the lackey owe Mal $20 or something? I can see Zoe saying that if Mal were tussling with Niska, but not the guy whose name I don’t think we’re ever even told.
My favorite scene in the entire episode is the one Orual mentioned above:
[after Zoe just offered money for the two men]
NISKA
And to me… they are worth more. I
think it is not enough.
Zoe clenches her jaw muscles. Fucker’s not going for it.
NISKA (cont’d)
Not enough for two. But sufficient,
perhaps, for one.
She looks at him. Sees where this is going.
NISKA (cont’d)
So you now have a question to make an
answer. It is for you, pretty lady,
and only you, now to ch–
ZOE
(cuts him off)
Him.
She points at Wash. Niska’s a bit thrown.
ZOE (cont’d)
I’m sorry. You were going to ask me
to choose, right? Didja wanna finish?
It was the utter lack of hesitation, the fact that she would never have conceived of choosing anyone other than her husband that made me fall in love with that scene. For her, it was never a choice. It didn’t matter that selecting Mal would’ve been the smarter choice, as he was more capable of rescuing Wash than Wash was of rescuing him.
…or it could be that she realized Wash needing saving, and if anyone could hang on until being rescued, it was Mal.
Or, maybe, when it comes down to it, Wash is her husband. He comes first. And now he knows it.
I agree, the argument is so realistic. I love this marriage. I love that Wash doesn’t back down, and that Zoe takes her licks. I also love that Wash isn’t physically jealous–I think he is a pretty good lover, and believes if that were all there was to it, he could win.
He is jealous of the respect and the regard, and until he has a war story of his own, he doesn’t get the connection. The point of war stories is that there was a war–something terrible, maybe too terrible to really look in the face. For Wash, the torture was like that, and now he gets that the connection is shared horror, and the stories are sort of a celebration of having survived.
I think Mal shows something that is also rare on TV–the military responsibility mindset. He is not their father (although he is a sort of big brother to Kaylee), he expects them to do their duty and will kick their butts if they don’t (or even lock them into an airlock for mutiny). On the other side, they will be taken care of first, and he will die for them. Wash used to see a boss, now he sees a leader.
Actually, I found choosing Wash to be the ultimately smarter decision. Consider:
If she chooses Wash, Mal stays behind to be tortured. This sucks, but Mal is a soldier and one stubborn bastard. He can hold up under the pain for as long as he has to.
If she chooses Mal, Wash stays behind, and he most definitely wouldn’t survive for very long. More importantly, Wash had already been antsy over Zoe’s relationship with Mal. He thinks she cares more about Mal than him. Had she chosen Mal, that would’ve broken his heart and probably ended the marriage if he somehow survived. Mal likely understood why Zoe would choose Wash, but Wash probably wouldn’t have understood why Zoe would choose Mal, even if they came back to storm the station and get Wash back just like they did with Mal. The damage would already be done.
Keep in mind, too, Niska wanted Mal. Wash’s capture was incidental; he’s just part of Mal’s crew. She knows Niska and knows he wants to keep Mal alive and in pain. “He’ll keep him alive, days if he can.” (paraphrased from memory) If Niska had been left with just Wash, it’s quite probable Niska would’ve gotten bored with torturing some schmuck he didn’t care about, and probably would have killed him very shortly after Zoe and Mal left.
Just watched the episode. Outstanding combination of action and relationship development. Shepherd Book is one preacher you don’t want to get on the wrong side of.
Adam Baldwin continues to deliver; unlike a lot of actors, he doesn’t look silly holding a huge assault weapon. Jayne hasn’t exactly been the most loyal character in the past; possibly he’s trying to make up for what happened in “Ariel”.
Definitely possible. After their showdown in Ariel, Jayne quite likely wants to try and redeem himself in Mal’s eyes.
In fact, wouldn’t this be the first episode where Jayne’s acting selfless? He buys the apples for the crew (more than anything, I’m positive this is a silent way of trying to make up for what he did), he throws in his wad of money to buy Mal and Wash back, and despite his grumblings about suicide, he joins in the rescue attempt with no mention of getting paid for it, something he’s always sure to do when they’re on a job.
