# Firefly question: Do you kick the vengeful bad guy into the engine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151 "2012-07-23T17:43:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/41 "2012-07-24T01:37:16Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Rhymers cannot be trusted. Everybody knows that. So no brownies, then? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/42 "2012-07-24T02:35:44Z")
Ethics, schmethics. Niska has made it extremely clear that he strongly believes in following through on promises. His main muscle has made it crystal that he will be coming back to carry out Niska’s promise regarding Mal’s failure to hold up his end of the bargain. The guy is Niska’s best henchman; ergo if someone is coming after them anyway, might as well be Niska’s _second_ best henchman. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/43 "2012-07-24T02:47:48Z")
H’m. Which reminds me, did they ever show what happened to the cooperative henchman? I suspect that if he went back to Niska, he ended up wishing he’d been kicked into an engine rather than going through what Niska would have done to him. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/44 "2012-07-24T03:09:32Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > [For **Maserschmidt.**](http://www.fireflyfans.net/bluesunimages/F60BD8E43779CD349996465C10B36449.jpg) Engine…kick…vengeful…what? Oh, never mind. You know where to find me. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/45 "2012-07-24T04:30:52Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Do you mean ‘Kaylee’? I’m in no way uptight or prudish, but I can’t see River and Simon getting it on. I just can’t see either one of them even considering it. Wife saw Sean Maher’s, as she describes it, “lack of nervous energy” right off and wanted to tell Kaylee she was barking up the wrong tree. ETA: I haven’t asked her assessment of Nathan Fillion. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/46 "2012-07-24T04:42:24Z")
Firefly answer: Full well I do. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/47 "2012-07-24T04:42:33Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Which,of course, is not true. Mal had limits to what he’d do to protect his Serenity and her crew. Those limits, I’m assuming, are somewhere beyond “shooting a cop in the face because he’s pointing a gun at a stowaway, let alone a member of his crew.” Got it. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/48 "2012-07-24T18:42:33Z")
I don’t care, I just want some magic brownies that don’t make me need to tweak my insulin 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/49 "2012-07-24T19:52:08Z")
Well, on the one hand Niszka was demonstrably not impressed, not enough to refrain from capturing and torturing Mal when he had a chance to. So ventilating the knife guy didn’t carry the point across loud 'nuff. On the other hand, note that it only happened after Mal & Co. pretty much stumbled right on top of Niszka’s evil overlord lair - but nobody actively came looking for them, no bounty hunters or the like. Well, not from Niszka anyway. Could be chunking that one ornery dude saved the lives of any amounts of hopefuls would have gotten a taste of Vera otherwise. Not that Mal particularly cares about _that_, I don’t think, but still. Oh, and \*\*silenus \*\*? No engine grease all over her face. That’s a deal breaker :). ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/50 "2012-07-24T20:09:10Z")
Well, it’s hard to set up a multiseason story arc where they keep coming up against Niska’s displeasure, when your series only lasts half a season. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/51 "2012-07-24T20:16:48Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Oh, and \*\*silenus \*\*? No engine grease all over her face. That’s a deal breaker :). [For **Kobal2**.](http://denyaraythern.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/tumblr_lhtki2ckca1qgjdsro1_500.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/52 "2012-07-24T20:19:01Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I don’t care, I just want some magic brownies that don’t make me need to tweak my insulin 😃 I’d settle for some magical wish-granting planks. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/53 "2012-07-24T22:05:29Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > H’m. Which reminds me, did they ever show what happened to the cooperative henchman? I suspect that if he went back to Niska, he ended up wishing he’d been kicked into an engine rather than going through what Niska would have done to him. Well, since the first henchman didn’t do anything but make threats, I’m guessing Niska wouldn’t want an underling presuming to decide on the specifics of the retribution for the boss. And Niska would want the money and the information. And refusing to take the money hadn’t worked too well. Aaaand, Niska’s only going to hear what #2 tells him. I think #2 is at risk just working for Niska, but isn’t at greater risk for delivering the cash. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/54 "2012-07-24T22:52:07Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > [For **Kobal2**.](http://denyaraythern.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/tumblr_lhtki2ckca1qgjdsro1_500.jpg) I’ll be in my bunk, masturbating like a mofo. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/55 "2012-07-25T07:55:03Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Wash finds the coil and chucks it in “Ariel”, which is the episode right _after_ “Out of Gas”. You’re right. But it does get mentioned _before_ OoG. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/56 "2012-07-25T09:15:17Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > You’re right. But it does get mentioned _before_ OoG. Yep. Kaylee complains about the compression coil in “The Train Job”. ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/57 "2012-07-25T10:10:54Z")
I think one of the key points of the Serenity movie is that we see Mal increasingly in a really bad place - he kills two people (one guy before he gets taken by the reavers after the payroll robbery, and I think one wounded guy later in the film). I can’t imagine the Mal of the TV series doing that. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/58 "2012-07-25T14:22:09Z")
By wounded guy, you mean the survivor of the Alliance ship that just massacred Book and everyone else at Haven and was probably planning to kill Mal and his crew if able, right? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/59 "2012-07-25T14:48:35Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > [For **Kobal2**.](http://denyaraythern.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/tumblr_lhtki2ckca1qgjdsro1_500.jpg) … I’ll be under the engine’s big spinny thing. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151/60 "2012-07-25T15:32:29Z")
> [@DragonAsh](#): > > I think one of the key points of the Serenity movie is that we see Mal increasingly in a really bad place - he kills two people (one guy before he gets taken by the reavers after the payroll robbery, and I think one wounded guy later in the film). > > I can’t imagine the Mal of the TV series doing that. We have no reason to think that Mal is a Kryptonian, or even Captain Hammer. Killing the fellow who had been captured by the Reavers was a genuinely merciful act. _Not_ killing – to keep the stain of his blood of his hands – would have been not merely foolish but actively cowardly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-question-do-you-kick-the-vengeful-bad-guy-into-the-engine/629151.md?page=2)