I just assumed she’d already tested it while waiting for Saffron to show up. That, or she was aiming to miss in case the thing fired.
RE: the plot hole. Maybe it’s changed automatically at the same time of day? Then Mal and Saffron just have to make sure to deposit the gun before three o’clock, or whenever? (I haven’t watched this episode prior to posting this, so I don’t remember exactly how the whole heist went down.)
Re: the Jayne line, yeah, that was funny. In my opinion, the line could have been said intelligently, if whoever gave even a slight cue that he/she was repeating the question that saffron herself had brought up, in a ‘that’s a good point’ kind of way. But Jayne is just totally clueless, which is what makes it so funny.
As far as the trash disposal, I think that it’s supposed to be a manual control or a manual override. They dropped the gun in and then very deliberately sent it off. I’ll check this in a bit. Can anyone else confirm or poke a hole in it??
Well, if you look in the dumpster, it’s about half full of all sorts of nasty garbage. Presumably a floating mansion with scores of people wandering around setting up for a party will stack up the garbage pretty quick, since it was only about 5 or 10 minutes after Mal and Inara watched the houselady dump the garbage the last time. I’m still not clear on whether the button itself is what calls the garbage drone, or if it just flushes the garbage into the dumpster. Like maybe you toss the stuff in and realize you just threw your wedding ring in too, it gives you that last chance for redemption to get it out before flushing it into the dumpster, after which it’ll get taken off to be incinerated.
There’s a button that you hit to get the trash taken away. Kaylee mentions it when she’s going over the plans.
From the script:
And if she did, there’s a few things that could mean. She could have meant she could think him to death (very scary), or she could have meant that she could do something like shoot him with her eyes closed (also scary, but something we’ve already seen her do).
Or she could have been joking.
Naked Mal.
What else can one say?
It would have only been fair to have YoSafBrig end up naked?
Again, I mean?
Another vote in favor! It’s only fair, after all: we saw waaaaaaay more of Mal than we ever did of Saffron. 
Which is what fascinates me about River. She can make these goofy remarks with a really dry delivery (“I didn’t get you anything” on Simon’s birthday; “I threw up on your bed” early in War Games) and she can be really scary too (the shooting scene in War Games). It all leaves me wondering whether the funny moments are actually scary…
GT
I always thought that she mainly said that because she knew it was precisely the sort of thing that would scare the willies out of Jayne, who is not only spooked by her to begin with, but who also appears to believe in witchcraft and the like.
That’s my take on it too, El_Kabong. She’s messing with Jayne’s mind.
That’s the kind of stuff I find annoying. I’d like to introduce her to Westley Crusher. Maybe they’d run away together. 
That’s exactly what I think. He doesn’t have to believe her 100%, even 25% would be enough to give him the heebie jeebies.
You know, I always thought that if the show had gone on long enough, there was a good chance Jayne & River would hook up eventually. Go ahead, laugh me off the boards, Sure, River is a super genius and Jayne is well, the opposite. But both have a simple, child-like way of seeing the world, they both seem particularly at odds with each other. Seems like future romance to me. Or at least, something Joss Whedon might have thought about. Other than the preacher, everyone else on board is hooked up, or at least has a serious sexual tension thing going on with someone else.
Ew! Not that it isn’t an interesting idea (and certainly one that fits the Jossian mold ;)), but… eew!
In all seriousness, though, Joss notes in the “Serenity” commentary that Jayne has a minor crush on Kaylee, as evidenced in numerous small ways, so he’d have to get over that, first.
That’s true! And I can’t help but think that Jayne’s crush on Kaylee is part of the dislike he has for Simon - even if it’s not a conscious thought.
Yes. I have to admit it, this was my fear over the continuation of the series. River-ex-machina. The previews for the movie do very little to allay [sp?] said fear.
I was assured above that the movie isn’t a re hashing of the show, but it seems to consist of the crew joining and some big bad ass Black guy chasing River around. That seems familiar…
I always thought Jayne was just protective of Kaylee, in a jerkish older brother sort of way. Every time Kaylee says something nice about Simon, or stands up for him in anyway, Jayne immediately slams one or both of them.
Jayne probably has a secret crush on every woman on board Serenity.
As for his getting over his crush on Kaylee, I think his initial being freaked out by River, and maybe a bit afraid, over time would be replaced with fascination, then who knows? River talks a might funny most of the time, and a lot of it don’t make sense, but she never talks down to you. Plus everyone on board, even Simon, talks to, and treats River like a child. Except Jayne. And if he ever did start talking to her, he probably wouldn’t talk to her that way. Jayne doesn’t know how to talk down to people, even kids probably.
Well, the protectiveness could also be a side effect of him liking her. Let’s take a tally of who Jayne picks on among Serenity’s crew
Kaylee: Cute bubbly cheerful mechanic girl,
River: Crazy cute kinda crazy genius girl
Simon: Stuck-up smart brother of the crazy girl who has caught the eye of Kaylee.
Zoey: Nope, Jayne pretty much does what she says, argues from time to time, but doens’t give her trouble or pick on her otherwise.
Mal: See above. Very loyal to Mal, in fact. At least until the right price comes along, and he’s as much as told Mal this, so it’s understood between them.
Book: Nope. In fact, Jayne’s downright amiable towards Book. When not off going about their seperate duties, the two are always hanging out, joking around, etc.
Wash: Not really, it’s sometimes hard to tell if Jayne notices Wash until Wash starts complaining about something being dangerous. Otherwise Wash flies the ship and Jayne lifts heavy objects and blows stuff up.
Inara: Jayne teases and flirts with Inara, but never gives her trouble. Inara doesn’t even get upset when he refers to her “Whorin’” from time to time, while any mention of this from Mal gets a swift response.
So what we have on the list of people Jayne gives trouble to: Cute mechanic girl, cute mechanic girls proto-romantic interest, moon-brained sister of aforementioned mechanic’s interest.
Figure he’s aggressive toward’s Simon cause Simon is his prime competitor (indeed, Simon is beating him handily) in the race for Kaylee’s affections. He teases Kaylee because he likes her, and the teasing gets mean if she’s swooning over Simon. River is Simon’s sister, someone who Simon obviously is very protective of, so Jayne is aggressive torwards her by extension. On top of this add the fact that Jayne is the only non-Simon member of the crew that River teases, probably in part as a response to Jayne’s teasing, and due to her own protectiveness of Simon. Aside from that, she’s an attractive (and definitely unique) woman who despite being super-smart, never talks down to Jayne or implies that he’s somehow mentally hindered. Indeed, a lot of her teasing is playful in nature too (“Jayne’s a girl’s name.” with a grin comes to mind). And what has Joss taught us about boys and girls who are always picking on eachother?
I get this impression a bit now with him towards Kaylee and River, but not so much to the other two crewmembers. He pretty much maintains what on Serenity passes for a professional relationship with Zoey, and Inara as well. Any additional interest he has towards her probably has more to do with her job than with Inara herself (because what single guy wouldn’t spend time wonderin about what Inara does while she’s at work?
As for the becoming fascinated with a scary thing after the scaryness wears off: I used to be terrified of spiders. Now I find them quite fascinating, if I’m sure I’m out of their imediate reach. I can see the same thing happening torwards a beautiful but scary girl (well, at least once she stopped slashing at me with sharp things or grabbing random loaded guns of mine)
Having not seen the movie…
I’m betting that River dies. One way or another her arc gets resolved. No point to continuing her character. And it saves the show from a River Ex Machina.
I’ve (sadly) heard that two people die. To me, the most disposable would be Book and Inarra. Sadly, they supposedly get no screen time so it can’t be them.
That leaves River and…someone? My guess would be Jayne, but I really hope not.
But I’m hoping I’ve heard wrong, and nobody need correct me or confirm me. I’ll wait till September.
-Joe