I didn’t even think of it in that light, but for Zoe, it is clear that Mal and Wash occupy very different places in her universe. Perhaps part of Zoe’s reaction is anger that Wash might be learning “bad habits” from Mal.
That is, Mal is the Alpha Male, and whether Zoe likes it or not (and it’s pretty clear that she doesn’t) he can have any relationship with Saffron he likes – Zoe will never argue with Mal on that point because he is The Captain. However, as soon as Wash says anything positive about Saffron and Mal, she feels that she is free to correct him, perhaps even venting a little of her distaste for Mal’s behavior onto Wash.
I got here late, and pretty much all the good quotes have been taken, but I have to say that my absolute favorite moment in this episode is during the teaser, when Saffron gives Mal the floral head-wreath, and he turns to Jayne and says (though we don’t hear it over the music) “Look at my hat!”
Jayne is the guns expert (just listen to him describe Vera when trying to trade it to Mal for Saffron) and Mal is an ex-soldier. That neither of them would be familiar with how a gun works is pretty odd.
That said, it’s really a very small nitpick, and for all we know, guns in their time might need air. The primary reason that this particular nit is getting picked is that Firefly is usually extremely accurate and realistic when it should be (no sound in space), so it’s unusual to see misinformation like that.
When Inara and Saffron first bump into each other, Saffron says “I thought the other shuttle was yours.”- She then trys to play her way out of the situation by implying that she was actually looking for Inara.
I think this contradiction is what clued Inara onto the fact that Saffron was a fake.
See, I don’t think Zoe has any real fears that Wash is going to pick up bad habits. That’s because the properties of the space that Mal occupies, to use your example, do not overlap with what Zoe wants in a mate. But she also knows that Wash doesn’t understand that, precisely because Zoe is both his Wash and Mal. (“A Warrior Woman.”) And here is Mal, being presented with a strictly domestic, non-military kind of obedience and appearing to get along just as well with it as he does with command of the ship. For Zoe, who clearly delineates the two, it’s both frustration with Mal’s behavior and irritation at the light this casts on her own relationship to Mal that makes her dislike Saffron so much.
But, it may be that I am viewing all Wash/Zoe interaction through the prism of My Favorite Episode Evar, as I mentioned before.
IIRC, Mal sidles up to Jayne and mutters, “How drunk was I?” and Jayne answers, “Dunno, I passed out.” Nice little bonding moment that greatly informs the relationship between the two men, as BayleDomon observes.
Also, just for grins and giggles, I watched the whole series with the alternate Spanish-language track, and Book’s key line “el infierno especial” is just as funny in Spanish as it is in English. (The Spanish cast is actually pretty good, with a couple of exceptions. Definitely better than the French cast.)
Another couple of great lines, just 'cuz (might be paraphrased, working off memory).
During the party:
Elder Gaman: “This stick brings the rain when it is most needed. And so it is with men like you.”
Jayne: sappy drunk “Thank you, friend. I will treasure this.”
Later:
Jayne: “You got a wife? Hell, all I got was that dumbass stick that sounds like it’s rainin’, how come you got a wife?”
“Are you going to kill me?”
“What?? Don’t you stand for that sort of thing. If someone ever tries to kill you, you try to kill 'em right back!”
I know this one’s already been mentioned but I can’t help repeating it because Wash & Kaylee’s delivery was so perfect.
Mal: “She’s no one!” (Saffron starts crying)
Kaylee: “Captain!”
Mal: “Would you stop that!”
Wash: “You brute!”
Kaylee: “Oh, sweetie, don’t feel bad. He makes everybody cry. He’s like a monster.”
It was perfect pay-back for Mal’s comment to Kaylee in Shindig, “It’d be like a sheep walking on its hind legs.”
Wash totally missed his cue. The second Zoe said, “did you see the way she grabbed that glass,” Wash should have wholeheartedly, enthusiastically, agreed with her. "Oh, gosh! I know what you mean. That was just ridiculous! I’m so glad you’re not like her at all honey!
But Wash does the dumb-guy thing, and instead appears to defend this subservient behavior by relating the story about the geese juggling. Bad idea.
I still think Zoe was overreacting though. She took Saffron’s subservience personally, and directed her own insecurity towards Mal, Wash and men in general. She accused Wash of being complicit because he didn’t immediately turn the ship around, but she knew the very first thing Mal did was call for Wash and tell him to turn the ship around and bring Saffron back. Wash explained they couldn’t bring her back because there was already a bulletin out on them for the guys they killed.
Zoe was just plain ol’ pissed that this girl was going to be on their boat for week, acting all subservient and filling the mens’ heads with who knows what kind of nonsense about what a women’s place is.
Everyone would expect Jayne to be a pig about it, but Zoe should have given Mal & Wash a little more credit than that.
Agreed. At the start, Wash tells Mal they can’t land again, and adds on “And you enjoy your honeymoon!” Zoe is very plainly amused in the background. If she wasn’t dredging that up just for ammo at Wash and was truly angry at him about not turning around, we’d’ve seen her amusement fall into a more irritated expression right then and there.
A couple of things about the Spanish track in upcoming episodes, so you aren’t surprised by them:[spoiler]They don’t bother to translate the song in “Jaynestown,” and they leave Nathan Fillion’s bloodcurdling torture screams on the soundtrack in “War Stories” instead of having the Spanish actor try to re-create them. Neither is much of a surprise, I guess, but there you go.
Definitely a fun way to wring another few hours of enjoyment out of the series after you’ve seen the episodes eleventy thousand times.[/spoiler]
