(Spoilers) Firefly Film Festival #8: "Out of Gas"

Cafe Society
21

This is absolutely my favourite - just the best 40 mins of TV ever. Everone’s already covered most of my points, there’s just a couple lines that stand out for me:

Inara:“A Companion doesn’t kiss and tell”
Mal:“So there is kissing…” Zing!

River: “You’re afraid we’re going to run out of air. That we’ll die gasping. But we won’t. That’s not going to happen. We’ll freeze to death first.”

Inara: “Mal, you don’t have to die alone.”
Mal: “Everyone dies alone.”

Inara: “The Alliance has no quarrel with me. I supported Unification.”
Mal: “Did you? Well, I don’t suppose you’re the only whore that did…”
[something]
Inara: “…that’s the last time you get to call me ‘whore’”
Mal:[something like “Of course”? If he’d said “As you wish.”, I just might have had a fangasm]

Also, the end of Mal’s exchange with the “pirates” says so much about how he views himself:
pirate:“you’d have done the same”
Mal:“well, we can plainly see that I haven’t”

Man, so much to love. “Sex Kaylee” is just a bonus…

22

Oh, and I forgot this great bit of wordply. The show’s writers write like people who really love the craft over the paycheck(Trekwriters, I’m looking at YOU)

Mal: You are very much lacking in imagination.
Zoe: I imagine that’s so, sir.

23

This is my favorite episode, no question. The crew of Serenity is more like a family than any other TV family I’ve ever seen. Who would’ve thought you could cram so much emotional impact into an hour-long TV show?

Everyone’s performances were fabulous, but the scenes that got to me the most were Mal’s (hunkering under blankets in the cockpit waiting to die alone, leaving bloody handprints all over the hallways, fumbling with and dropping the catalyzer, "you’ll all still be here when I get up? ::sniff:: ).

I love how not even imminent death can make Jayne any less … Jayne.

Favorite lines that haven’t yet been mentioned:

Kaylee: Sometimes a thing gets broke can’t be fixed…

Simon: It’s just… it was my birthday.

Jayne: She did something to her shuttle, Mal. Smells funny.
Inara: I told you, that’s incense.

Mal: Didn’t I order you off the ship?
::Wash says how Zoe made them come back for Mal when she woke up::
Zoe: Won’t happen again, sir.

24

Huh. That’s kinda disappointing, actually. I thought the scene was more clevererer with Bester coming by, overhearing Mal’s reference to Kaylee, and still not realizing he’s gonna be fired (“What do you need two mechanics for?”) misappropriating the compliment in a charmingly clueless sort of way.

This to me seems like more of a farmer’s daughter thing - very practical about sex, since they’ve grown up around it their whole lives. It certainly does add a whole 'nother layer to Kaylee’s character.

25

I taped it then watched the first couple minutes but had to stop the tape.

"Oh, shit! Star Trek usually waits for the second season before they trot out the ‘everybody’s suffocating but are saved in the nick of time’ plot. There goes another promising series down the tube. :frowning: "

That was before I learned to Trust Joss. Does he always turn cliches on their heads?

26

I’m going to disagree with you there. I’ve seen video of myself taken before I was married, and there’s definitely a character difference. When Wash comes on the ship at that point, he’s on an interview. He’s presenting himself as a pilot, but he’s also “interviewing” the ship. He and Serenity are getting to know each other, and so he’s having as much fun as he’s ever had.

Once he’s had a honeymoon with Zoe, flying a Firefly-class freighter drops down to at least #2 on his list of “most fun he’s ever had”.

27

My very favorite episode. (I wouldn’t even trade it for Yo-saf-brig.)

Um…most of the things I can think of to say have already been said by somebody; I’ll just mention the music, which I thought was very well done in this episode, especially in the scene when the rest of the crew abandons ship and Mal is walking through the ship to the cockpit, dogging all the hatches behind him. Also, some great illustrations of the “no sound in space” principle, and I think a nice demonstration of how that can actually add to the dramatic impact if properly done.

28

Yet another classic episode. Since everyone’s pointed out the good about this ep, though, I’ll go ahead and point out a bad.

The commentary brings it to the viewer’s attention, but it’s still worth noting: that is one dinky gun Mal uses to force the salvagers off the ship. Nathan Fillion does an excellent job with what he has, but really. There’s 4 or 5 guys there, all with weapons, Mal’s bleeding from a gut wound, and he’s got a tiny holdout pistol. It’s hard to see the salvagers leaving because of that. The first time I saw this episode, I figured they were simply going to humor him; go back in their ship, wait until he bleeds to death, then take Serenity at their leisure.

The rest of the episode is absolutely wonderful, but that one scene feels forced. As the commentator says, it would have worked far better for him to have a big, menacing shotgun or something.

29

I didn’t think that was an issue at all. Sure, they could try to take him, and he’d at most get one, maybe two of them before he died, but none of the pirates want to take a risk on being that one guy he takes down. Plus, even a simply wound would likely be fatal to a bunch of pirates, days away from any port, with no on-board doctor, no money for expensive medical procedures and probably a price on their heads at any planet with a decent medical facility. Basically, they’re a bunch of cowards who only tried to take Serenity because they thought they could get it at absolutely no risk to themselves. Once that plan was scuttled, they just took off. Not like the whole thing actually cost them anything, except the price of one port compression catalyzer.

30

I think the important thing about the dinky-gun-vs-crowd-of-people thing is where (or rather who) you aim at.

31

It’s also possible that they WERE back in their ship, off at a safe distance waiting for him to die, but then those two shuttles arrived with all those people, and their plan went to hell.

32

When I was a kid I watched one of Kenny Roger’s “The Gambler” movies. They had a scene where Kenny pulled a Derringer pistol when confronted with three bad guys. The head bad guy laughed and said, “He can only get one of us with that thing.” Kenny’s response was, “Who’s it going to be?” and all three bad guys left.

This “problem” was for me such a welcome change from the typical bad guy always fighting to the death because he don’t care about his own life. Which is stupid. A few might be psychotic, but there is no profit in being dead. I thought the pirates reacted exactly like I would, although, I would have put a second round in Mal’s head before turning my back on him, but that is just me.

33

This episode contains what might be my favorite Firefly moment, the thing that sums up the intelligence, humor, and emphasis on character that are the show’s hallmarks.

It’s during the Jayne flashback. Mal and Zoe stand with their hands up being menaced by three dirty thugs, Jayne among them. Neither Mal nor Zoe seems particularly concerned, because they know where the loot is and so they’re not in any real immediate danger from these lowlifes, but they’re still in something of a stalemate. Mal says something to this effect, that as long as the cargo remains hidden they can stand there all day.

Jayne says: “Tracked you down easy enough.”

And Mal cocks his head, turning his eyes to the suddenly very interesting third thug, and he says, musingly, “Yeah, you did.”

In that split-second, Mal learns what he needs to know about the situation, and he understands what he needs to do to get out of the pickle. From that moment on, he may still have his hands up, and he may still have three weapons pointed at him, but make no mistake, he is absolutely in charge of the scene. The shift is extremely subtle, but it’s unmistakable; right there, he takes command, and the three thugs — or, rather, the two thugs who aren’t Jayne and who therefore don’t interest Mal — don’t have a chance. And what’s more, it’s a scene wherein our hero has a gun pointed at him, and he escapes not with action but with wit: he is clever and he talks his way out of trouble. A lesser show would resort to a brief distraction and then have the hero tackle or shoot somebody; Firefly, not so much. :slight_smile:

Oh, and best of all, Zoe doesn’t miss a beat. She picks up on Mal picking up on it: she gets his play instantly, and she backs him right up.

I love this moment so much, when I’m watching this episode, I sometimes rewind just so I can see Mal cock his head and say “yeah, you did” a couple of times. It’s just so perfect. He goes from not looking at anything in particular (and therefore looking at everything at once) to turning his hawklike eyes right at Jayne; volumes are communicated in that one glance. It’s perfectly written, it’s perfectly acted, and it’s perfectly directed: quiet, subtle, based entirely in character instead of action or pure plot. It may be my favorite unsung moment of the entire series.

34

Yes. In fact, he is famous for it.

Although I wouldn’t quite say “on their heads.” He twists them so you are surprised, but without making you feel betrayed.

<snerk>

I do have to agree, though, that the old Wash seemed less mature.

And I wish that the guys from the other ship had said something like, it isn’t worth it, we’ll pick this up on our way back. But it didn’t affect how much I loved this episode. I agree that this sets up a trio of episodes that changed the scale for a good series for me.

35

I did think there were two plot holes - well, plot weaknesses, rather than holes. They’ve already been mentioned, but the two things that bug me:

First, the thugs from the other ship leaving. I can understand them getting off the ship while the gun is pointed at them; but as soon as they’re gone, they know that they’re facing one wounded guy on a broken ship. I would expect them to sneak back around, board some other way, or something.

Second, the whole “seal the other doors up” - I don’t see how this saves oxygen, exactly as scr4 says.

However, I like the episode so much, I ignore both of these…

This episode is really great in showing Mal’s acting (excuse me, Nathan Fillon’s). Cervaise’s favorite above is a prime example, but also every scene Mal has alone in the ship. He’s not saying anything - but you can see how he’s feeling, what his problem is, where he’s trying to go, how difficult it is, how he presses just to keep moving - just from his expression, body language, and pace.

36

Leading to another great line.

Bad Captain: Catalyzer is a nothing part.
Mal: It’s a nothing part until you don’t got one.

How many times have you been in a “Oh fuck, if only I had a [whatever*] I’d be fine” situation?

-Joe

*Twist tie, screwdriver, quarter, gum, HDD jumper, etc - any $.10 part will do

37

I may be talking out my ass, but when Mal was closing the doors, could it be that he was conserving heat, and not air?

As for the pirates not waiting around for Mal to die and taking the ship some other way, they have to know that however lonely Mal is now, he had a bigger crew at some point, just to get a Firefly out there. Either they’re coming back at some point, or Mal is bug-fuck crazy enough to have killed them all and disposed of the evidence, or something even more bizarre is going on. With so many unknowns, it makes perfect sense for them to decide “Screw it,” and just leave.

Also, they might simply not have the right equipment to force a boarding of another ship in space. We saw the Serenity’s crew use that thermal gel to melt their way into the cargo hold of that ship in the first episode, but maybe that stuff is harder to come by than we know, or the other ship used all theirs up, or they were worried about booby traps, or… or… or…

There are enough possible explanations as for why they just left, it doesn’t bother me in the least that they never offered one in the show itself.

38

My second favorite episode, behind “Objects in Space.” Everything’s been pretty well talked through, though, so I’ll just give credit where it’s due.

You are my favorite critic, on the boards or off.

I’ve never rewound the scene, but I have paused right at that look Mal gets when he says “Yeah, you did.” I’ve even tried to practice it in the mirror a few times but have been forced to admit to myself that I am not a big damn space-western hero. Before now, though, I never had the words to describe why I love that flashback so. Thank you.

39

A similar scene for me was in the pilot, when Badger says, “You’re late!”, and Mal instantly sees what Badger is trying to do, turns the situation around on him and puts him on the defensive. Mal is smart.

40

See, I don’t have a problem with this. A spaceship must be compartmentalized, to protect from loss of atmospheric integrity (it’s also a handy option to have for ship-to-ship combat or mutiny). Implicit in that is that they have control over the atmosphere in those sections. Air has to be pumped in under normal circumstances, so they should be able to pump out the air and keep it in the occupied areas, limiting the waste of oxygen.

But that’s just me. I probably read too much Heinlein as a kid.