My favorite Quote for Gorram is in “Train heist”
Jayne “Do you know what the chain of command is? It is the Gorram chain I beat you with until you understand I am in command”
good stuff.
I’ll see Scorpio’s request, and up it with a pretty-please (with sugar or acceptable sugar substitute on top) for a translation of some of the Chinese phrases on Firefly.
Look closely at Alliance flags – they’re a collage of the Stars and Stripes and China’s Flag.
It was mentioned on http://www.fireflyfans.net that Londinium and Sinon were the “capital worlds” of the Alliance, perhaps the former separate capitals of both the Anglo and Sino clusters of colonies. Mal makes mention of Londinium in “Serenity” when they first dock at Eavesdown Docks and Inara tells her client about Sinon in the same ep.
still shielding my eyes from the rest of this thread
I just had to pop in and report that Netflix delivered DVD 3 and DVD 4 should be along shortly. I finished watching “War Stories” (that was great) and am now starting on “Trash.” (Is that Mal naked? How did he get in that predicament? Well, I’m about to find out!)
Damn. This show is good. I am inconsolable when I think there’s only one more DVD left to go . . .
I even did a search for old “Firefly” threads from 2002, which were enlightening. I enjoyed the “Ariel” thread, but resisted bumping it to the top. But I just had to express my delight with this show somewhere!
Well, back to finishing “Trash.” Gotta find out why Mal is alone and naked in the desert!
Just finished watching the series again in “disk order” and the series made a little bit more sense (actually, everything pretty much fell into place after watching “Serenity pts. 1 & 2”).
I was so depressed watching “Objects In Space,” knowing I was going to have to wait for so long to see any new Firefly.
Damn you, FOX! Damn you all to hell!
Everyone thinks nowadays for sci-fi to thrive it has to be mindless eye-candy (Lucas) or shiny-happy Federation types with canned dialogue (ST:TNG actually had decent dialogue once it hit its stride, about season 3 onward).
I could just about believe Firefly was real, because they talked like real people do, even the stupid ones (think Jayne, “She’s in congress?”)
I don’t think Jayne is stupid at all. He just has no interest in “book-learnin’” or social niceties. But he’s by no means just dumb muscle. He acts fast in a crisis, even one not involving shooting people, such as in “Out of Gas” when he knew on his own how to seal off the lower decks after the fire. And he often assists Kaylee with mechanical stuff, welding and so on. I think he’s extremely smart and competent in the things that are important to him, things involving his personal comfort and survival, and is just not interested in anything else.
He still has some pretty clever dialog now and again, like in “Serenity”: “I’ve got ten percent of this job! Let’s see, ten percent of nothing is…(mimes writing an equation)…carry the nothing…” Heh. That’s one of my favorite bits.
Yeah, I’d agree with you on that, Ferrous. I guess it’d be more accurate to say that with Jayne, there’s no interlocutor between his brain and his mouth.
“What’d y’all order a dead guy fer?”
Do the “Hands of Blue” guys look slightly…inhuman to anyone else? The bug-eyed guy…he just don’t look right to me. And I’m not talking about wearing blue surgical gloves all the time.
I went back and listened to River a lot more closely since seeing “Ariel” to try to divine any particular meaning from her babble, but couldn’t. I’m thinking the “Hands of Blue” people (Blue Sun?) are just right ruthless SOB’s.
I’m with you, ExTank on Book. He definately has an unseemly past, the precise nature of which we may never know (sigh). He may well have been sent to or had to hide out at a monastery for political reasons. I also think that at some point in time he genuinely “got religion” and his beliefs are real and heartfelt. Which of course just makes him all the more interesting of a character …
NOT LOOKING—STILL NOT LOOKING AT WHAT EVERYONE ELSE HAS WRITTEN
Whew! Netflix says that DVD 4 should arrive soon. Probably Monday. Then I can really read this thread.
I read more of the old Firefly threads (posted as each episode first aired) and it struck me that you guys didn’t see the pilot first. (I believe you saw The Train Job?) Well, that seems terribly inconvenient. The pilot was so very good and explained so much. Especially how Simon and his sister came to be on Serenity. I’m glad I’m seeing the series in “order.”
Now that I’m close to finishing up this series (only three episodes more to go sniff) I am really enjoying the characters more and more. I think my favorite character still is Shepherd Book. Just 'cause it is. I really like Book. (And he was really cool in “Ariel.”) I also like Kaylee. But I am surprised at how much more I am liking Simon, someone I really didn’t like all that much at first. He seemed like a stuffed shirt pretty boy. Eye candy for the show. But he’s turning out to be a really admirable character.
I like Mal, of course, and I like Zoe. Well, I like everyone. And Jayne gets extra points for being so hilarious.
Well, I will try to stay away from this thread until DVD 4 comes.
Well, we only know about the religious leanings of two characters: Book, and Mal. The others might still be observant, despite their shady occupations. Besides, they’ve got both a shepherd and a fancy high-class lady with them, both of whom would be the sort of person you don’t casually curse around. Except for Mal, when he’s acting like a prick.
Ah, but he used to be very religious. It wasn’t until the war ended that he became so bitterly atheistic. And old habits die hard. If he spent his entire life saying “gorram” instead of “goddamn,” it seems likely that he’d keep to that habit of speech.
Or am I just putting too much thought into this?
Miller: maybe, I dunno. The others could be somewhat observant, but it occurs to me that one need not be observant of any particular religion to remain respectful. As regards Mal: whatever his angry feelings at God and religion, he’s never been actively hostile towards Book; occasionally aggravated, sometimes brusque, but never hostile. Of course, Book started as a paying customer.
As when Book is praying silently over Tracey’s casket in “Messages,” and Jayne asks Book if he wants to be alone, obviously offering to leave the cargo bay and leave Book and Tracey in peace.
I haven’t gotten any read off of many of the other characters in regards to religion specifically, but just about everyone treats Shepherd Book with respect, so it may be culturally universal to treat holy people with respect in general. Book’s quiet dignity and gentle humor alone would certainly garner him some respect from just about anybody short of Reavers.
But something just occured to me: Book started as a paying customer in “Serenity,” but never seemed to get off the ship, as in “arrive at his destination.” Is he still a paying customer? The ship’s official chaplain? Or just a tag-a-long? The crew’s annoying conscience? With a group that angry at God and with that many guns, I’d be real carefull about “annoying” any of them too much.
A minor nitpick: Book didn’t show up in “Ariel” - he was at a monastery the whole time they were doing the hospital heist.
Funny you mention the “stuffed shirt pretty” bit cuz if you notice, he seems to get more and more “loose” about how he dresses as the season progressed.
I’m glad we have another browncoat joining the ranks. Shiny!
Well I dared to read your post!
Yeah, you’re right. “Ariel” was the one where he was absent. I lamented his absence in that episode. (I wonder if the actor, Ron Glass, had another committment or something?) Wonder why I named that one. It was . . . oh, yeah, “War Stories,” right? Where Mal and Wash are held hostage by scary psycho guy from the Train Heist episode, and the rest of the group rescues Mal at the end. Book was very cool in that one.
Shiny indeed! And I hadn’t noticed it, but I’m sure you’re right about Simon loosening up his wardrobe as the series progressed. He always wears vests, though. Don’t tell me if he gives those up—I want it to be a surprise! 
Yeah, I’m recruiting one too: been watching the DVDs with my nine-year-old son. He’s recently been heard to use “shiny” in everyday conversation.
I just got the Firefly DVDs as a birthday present. I never once saw the show when it was on the air, so my getting it was purely out of word of mouth and the fact that I’m a gigantic Buffy fan.
So far I’ve watched up through Jaynestown, and I really, really like this show so far.
Captain Reynolds? Well, let’s just say any qualms I may have originally had about him being Caleb went right the hell out the window about 30 seconds into the pilot. Best. Captain. Ever. And? Scorching hot. Mind-numbingly hot.
I’m looking forward to finishing up the rest of the eps so I can join everyone’s outrage at it being cancelled.
And I swear Simon was making googly eyes at Mal for like the first three or four eps. I was looking forward to them as a couple. But then, I guess that’s what slash is for…
I think Simon’s expression typically look more like a deer caught in the headlights than anything else; he seems perpetually baffled by the ship and crew (which seems understandable enough). About the only times he relaxes and looks “normal” is when he’s doing his doctor thing in Med Bay or when he’s just talking, usually one-on-one.
I don’t think he does well in groups, especially groups like Serenity’s crew.
And shy guy? Wait until you see Trash. I wonder if they really would’ve aired that episode as-is.
Careful guy. I was eviscerated for suggesting that in a newsgroup. 
I wonder if Trash and the one with the prostitutes (both outstanding episodes) aren’t part of the reason for cancellation.
Another recent convert here. I bought the series for my brother for Christmas, we watched it together, and then I went out and bought it for myself. Now, I’ve converted my mom, but she’s going to have to buy her own series.
Things I’ve learned:
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the crew (and just about everyone else) curses in Mandarin. Joss said that pretty much everyone in the Alliance is bilingual English/Mandarin. One of the reasons they use Mandarin is so they can say things like “rat humping mother lover” and not get the censors mad at them. There are many sites out there that post the scripts from the show along with translations of the Mandarin.
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Blue Sun, according to Joss, would have come into play a great deal more if the series had continued. They are part and parcel of the government, and the guys with the blue hands work for them. They are behind River’s demensia and her abilities.
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Earth-that-was was abandoned by people after space was colonized, most likely because the environment was toast. If you look at “Heart of Gold”, when Mal meets with the villain, there’s a shadow puppet play going on (birds/ships flying away from the globe). One of the transcripts I’ve read contained a translation of the Mandarin narration, which said something along the lines of “the earth wept tears that turned to acid and burned away everything.”
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Nathan Fillion is the hottest thing with a Y chromosome ever to walk the face of the earth.
I’ve written a little Firefly fanfic, if anyone’s interested.
Is it due to:
Trash - having some Mal nudity?
Heart of Gold - suggestive bj?
About Trash and HoG, I was kinda bugged by how those eps turned out. I mean, compared to {OoG, Ariel and WS}, these eps just seemed sloppy. I guess with those previous 3 eps being the gems of the show and FOX’s constant put-down of the show, it was hard to maintain that level of excitement.