Firefly - Kaylee's arrival on board (possible spoilers)

[Chronos]

I dunno… While Jayne is definitely protective of Kaylee, it looks more like an “older brother” type of thing to me. And I’m likewise not sure that he would have made a pass at her to begin with: He seems more the type who just attracts women without having to go out of his way to make a pass. Then again, the only women we’ve seen him with were a prostitute and a hero-worshipping fangirl, and Canton is a bit atypical in how they think of Jayne, so I might be mistaken on that.

[DesertDog]

@Phantom Dennis

Did anybody pick up that Jayne, at least in the first few episodes, seemed to be very protective and jealous of Kaylee? I got the distinct impression that Jayne had a bit of a crush on her (as opposed to Inara, whom he merely lusted after, hence the famous “I’ll be in my bunk” line).

Yes, particularly in the pilot episode (Serenity, not Train Job) where she takes a bullet. It’s Jayne crouching outside the sickbay looking extremely worried as they work on her. Later episodes he has more than a couple digs at her – denial of what he’s really feeling. I think he viewed her as more a person than merely a recepticle and one of the reasons he had it in for Simon was his presence, and Kaylee’s obvious preference for him, made her all the more unreachable. Too bad we’ll never know for sure.

DD

[DianaG]

I also get a more “brotherly” vibe from Jayne when it comes to Kaylee. He likes to give her a hard time about her obvious thing for Simon, and he’s definitely got a sibling-like enjoyment embarassing her.

Besides, I’m completely making this up, but I can’t help but think that Mal would *strongly * discourage a Jayne/Kaylee thing.

[Tracy_Lord]

In the commentary to one of the episodes, Joss does mention that Jayne has a little (primitive, for sure) crush on Kaylee. I had picked up a protective vibe, but it makes sense that it’s one of the reasons Jayne is so hard on Simon.

There’s a shooting script for an unfilmed episode in which the crew goes to a carnival and Jayne wins Kaylee a stuffed frog in a shooting contest.

[Fromage_A_Trois]

@Chronos

Was the mechanic an off-worlder, though? I had understood that that was the same planet where Mal bought Serenity in the first place, and that he needed a hotshot mechanic to get it off the ground at all. That would mean that Kaylee, Serenity, and the stupid git were all from the same planet.

I dont’ know… I got the impression that they’d put down on that rock for the mechanic to fix the engine - although the more I think about it, the more likely it seems that they’re still sitting in the same used ship lot.

I also get the “older brother” vibe from Jayne - but he is very immature in some ways. In terms of relationships (as opposed to one-night-stands) I think he’d be a nervous, shy teenage boy, scared to upset his potential girlfriend. He’s not shy of women as sex objects, but as partners I get the impression he’d be useless. Just my WAG.