Having spent much of the first few episodes delving into the mind of Mal Reynolds and his relationship to the crew, the writers turn to the passengers on Serenity. Clearly the emphasis is on Simon and River, expanding on what Simon said about his activities before the pilot. Book’s own background is left a mystery, but tantalizing information is peppered throughout the episode.
In many ways, this is simply more of the same: the continuing introduction to the world of “Firefly”. The pilot episode and “The Train Job” covered the background for the series. “Bushwhacked” expanded on the Reavers and Mal’s psychology. “Shindig” set the ground rules for Mal’s relationship with Inara. Now the role for the passengers brought on board Serenity in the pilot comes into play.
Unlike earlier episodes, the opening scene covers a flashback to the Tam family home, eleven years before the beginning of the series. Instantly, one gets the sense of how close Simon and River were from an early age. Gabriel Tam, their father, is definitely sitting at the top of the Alliance social ladder. Unlike the nobles on Persephone, there’s a distinct lack of pretension; however, the underlying arrogance remains.
That arrogance comes across in his stern insistence that Simon become something more than just a normal Alliance functionary. Simon and River are clearly meant for bigger things, as far as the Tams are concerned. Gabriel’s comment that his children would never get anything “second rate” is rather suggestive. Could the Tams have engaged in some Alliance-sponsored genetic engineering, to make sure their children would be so talented?
Whatever the case, River’s condition is not getting better. Ever since she emerged from stasis, her mind has strayed further and further from the norm. From the very beginning, she has been a complication for Mal and the rest of the crew. With River becoming harder to predict (never mind her undefined psychic abilities), Mal is getting very close to the breaking point.
The writers definitely play these scenes as if River is being unfairly judged, given what she has gone through and her inability to control herself. Simon’s sacrifices are plain as day, and Mal seems almost cruel in his treatment of the situation. Then again, wherever Simon is involved in the episode, the scenes are written from his general point of view. Mal’s attitude consequently seems monolithic; the audience doesn’t get to delve into Mal’s conflicted frame of mind.
Simon’s encounter with Kaylee and Inara is just painful. It’s a rule that people lash out in frustration at those that are actually more willing to listen and be sympathetic; those are exactly the people who are most likely to put up with it. Simon speaks without thinking, venting his anger at Mal to Kaylee, because she hangs on his every word. It’s not unlike Mal’s unkind comments in the previous episode, spoken in frustration but directed at the sweetest member of the crew.
One has to wonder if Mal and the rest of the crew came into the cattle sale with so little background information because of the distraction of River’s behavior. It’s never quite hinted that this is the case, but Mal’s exasperation could be an indicator. They certainly fail to check if there are possible complications to the deal; one would think that the information on kidnapping settlers and murder charges against the Granges would have been readily available, as Wash mentions.
The complex interplay between River’s dancing and the gunfight is well done. River’s super-intuitive mind gets a chance to shine, as she figures out the entire dance just by watching everyone else do it once. She clearly takes immense joy from the opportunity to simply emote without judgment. As usual for this series, situations get ever more complicated, as Book becomes a gunshot victim and Simon is abducted in a matter of seconds.
Considering his early hostility towards Book, Mal is damned concerned about the preacher’s welfare. This says a lot about Mal and how his loyalties work. He has no faith left for humankind, but once someone specific demonstrates a reasonable level of honesty and integrity, Mal accepts them without question. Simply by seeing to the best interests of everyone involved, Book has gone from simply being a passenger to being a part of the crew. (At least, that’s how Mal sees it…Jayne is typically more concerned about getting the money from the job!)
Even with his own life seemingly at risk, Simon’s only concern is for River’s welfare. The writers make this clear by immediately cutting to another flashback, this time demonstrating how Simon was the only one concerned enough to figure out that River was in trouble at the Academy. Once again, the calm and even bemused reaction from the Tams is disturbing. Is it possible that the Tams knew what the Academy was all about?
There’s little direct evidence for this supposition, but the Tams seem too dismissive of Simon’s concerns. Simon and River are incredibly intelligent, to the point of seeming excessively so. The Alliance is clearly working on some kind of genetic or medical enhancement of human beings, and if that’s the case, they might have given certain highly-placed families rather substantial rewards to produce the children needed for the experiments. If the Tams knew that River would become part of an experiment, it would explain why they wouldn’t even listen to Simon when River sent her warnings.
Since this episode isn’t written from Mal’s point of view, his reasons for leaving Simon and River behind are left unsaid. This is a definite weakness of the episode, because Mal’s point of view is important to accepting the final scene. The implication is that Mal wouldn’t have turned the siblings in to the Alliance, but he has no qualms about leaving them to their fate if they get caught. But since Mal obviously has a crisis of conscience over that choice, it would have revealed something of his character to see more of that depicted on screen.
As the third act begins, the complexity of the situation is indirectly addressed. It’s entirely possible that Mal understood that Simon and River would be safe for a time, and that Book’s situation is far more pressing. Mal goes through an awful lot of trouble to save Book’s life, eventually making the rather uncomfortable decision to call on the Alliance for aid.
By never quite fleshing out Mal’s point of view, an unexpected message is sent to the audience: Book is more important than Simon and River. If Mal is acting purely out of practical consideration, then one would think that getting the doctor back on board would be more important than saving the life of a man of God, something Mal has little use for. By focusing on Book’s need, the writers suggest that Mal sees Book as serving a critical purpose.
Reading between the lines, one can surmise that Mal knows, on some level, that he needs to find redemption. Just as Mal wants Inara to be on Serenity because he needs someone to love, Mal could subconsciously see Book as necessary to his spiritual redemption. If the first few episodes say anything about Mal, then the overarching message is that Mal keeps certain people on Serenity to keep him from losing himself to despair.
Jayne, of course, continues to demonstrate his mercenary cowardice. It’s shocking that he hasn’t already raided Book’s quarters while the man is still in the infirmary! He shows little or no concern for Book as a member of the crew. It’s a moment played for comedy, but it does underscore the idea that Jayne is what Mal might have become, had his basic human decency been stripped away.
The settlers welcome Simon as if he ought to be thankful for being kidnapped. This is another concept ripped out of the history books, and like similar groups in American history, the religious angle is a primary factor. When Simon objects to being forced to live at the settlement, Doralee replies with a common and facile dodge: that the Lord says, “Judge not.”
Of course, the Lord also says not to steal or covet that which is not yours, but this is an example of a population using religion as an excuse to commit immorality against others. There is no actual adherence to Christian principle. Doralee in particular does a great job of taking Simon’s objections and dismissing them with statements that are self-delusional at best and threatening at worst. For all that, Simon demonstrates that he is a doctor first and foremost; he attends to those with need before addressing his own desires.
The revelation that Book has some connection to the Alliance is shocking at first, but it makes perfect sense. As seen in previous episodes, Book has a great deal of training that he simply shouldn’t have, if he’s just a man devoted to spiritual pursuits. Book has military training, at the very least, and his ability to study those around him is suggestive of intelligence work. If Book was once a highly ranked intelligence operative, perhaps still holding a rank despite having left service, it would explain a great many things.
River’s awareness of her own condition is covered well in her quiet moment with Simon at the settlement. River blames at least some of her issues on the fact that she remembers everything, and she can’t filter the information as real or imagined. Considering that she has also been seen as having psychic abilities, this makes complete sense. When taken in context with what is revealed in “Ariel”, it suggests that the Alliance was looking for someone with incredible intelligence and ability to process information, in the hopes that such a person could endure the information overload that would come with psychic ability.
It’s also interesting that River is aware of what Simon has had to sacrifice for her welfare. If Simon were like most people in the upper social circles of the Alliance (at least, as currently depicted), he would have likely written off his sister completely and seen to his own best interests. Simon, however, is devoted to River, and manages to keep whatever resentment he might feel about his reversals of fortune hidden carefully away.
This is reinforced by the flashback in which Gabriel Tam effectively makes Simon choose between the rest of the family and River. Again, this suggests that the Tams know what is happening at the Academy, and they probably know that the only way to protect themselves is to disavow Simon’s efforts. Simon, on the other hand, is willing to place his life on the line.
The Patron’s priorities are such that it makes one wonder if that’s how the community has dealt with every new addition that doesn’t play along. It certainly would play into the settlers’ delusion that they are following the will of God. Trying to leave can simply be seen as a rejection of God’s will, punishable by death.
Book’s conversation with Mal says a lot about both characters. Mal has every reason to force Book to explain his connection to the Alliance, especially since Book knows about Simon and River and several other less-than-legitimate enterprises. Yet Mal doesn’t push, simply happy to know that Book is going to be all right. At the same time, Book has come to see Serenity as “home”, something very different from his opinion at the end of the pilot episode.
Once again, Mal’s motivations regarding Simon and River are left open to interpretation. Both Jayne and Zoe remind Mal that life would be a lot simpler without harboring fugitives. Zoe is clearly on the fence, based on her earlier comments, but Mal doesn’t counter the idea or give any impression that he intends to go get Simon and River from the settlement.
Regardless, Mal does take the time and effort to get Simon and River back on Serenity. And it’s true that the writers allow Mal to give the most concise reason for it: Simon and River are part of his crew, plain and simple. Except that the audience doesn’t get to see the process by which Simon gains that level of importance, and as seen in future episodes, River is still not fully accepted.
As a result, while the end of the episode is satisfying on a gut level, it doesn’t quite provide the level of insight into Mal’s thinking as it could or should have. The emphasis might be on Simon’s relationship with River, and his willingness to sacrifice everything for her sake, but this is an important turning point for the crew. Instead of being crew and passengers, two separate classes, everyone but River is now considered crew, at least by Mal. How he came to that decision is an important element missing from the episode.
There is another theme to the episode, however, that is fulfilled. It’s not just that Mal accepts these people as a fixture on Serenity now, but Book, Simon, and River have come to redefine what “home” means for them. Like Inara in the previous episode, they can no longer imagine leaving Serenity. “Home” is where one finds refuge, where one feels “safe”, and that is effectively what the episode is meant to convey.
Memorable Quotes
GABRIEL: “I will not have it in my house. But since your mother’s already ordered you one, I guess I should give up the fantasy that this is my house…”
MAL: “Soon as we unload, she can holler until our ears bleed. Although I would take it as a kindness if she didn’t.”
RIVER: “The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds given adequate vacuuming systems.”
MAL: “See, morbid and creepifying, I got no problem with, long as she does it quiet-like…”
ZOE: “Next time we smuggle stock, let’s make it something smaller.”
WASH: “Yeah, we should start dealing in those black-market beagles…”
MAL: “Is it bad that what she said made perfect sense to me?”
BOOK: “Afraid I might be needing a preacher.”
MAL: “That’s good…you lie there and be ironical…”
JAYNE: “’Dear Diary, today I was pompous and my sister was crazy. Today, we were kidnapped by hill folk, never to be seen again. It was the best day ever!’”
ZOE: “Captain will come up with a plan.”
KAYLEE: “That’s good, right?”
ZOE: “Possibly you’re not recalling some of his previous plans…”
MAL: “What kind of ident card gets us that kind of reception and send off?”
BOOK: “I am a Shephard. Folks like a man of God.”
MAL: “No, they don’t. Men of God make everyone feel guilty and judged.”
MAL: “Well, look at this! Appears we got here just in the nick of time. What does that make us?”
ZOE: “Big damn heroes, sir.”
MAL: “Ain’t we just!”
MAL: “Gotta say, doctor, your talent for alienating folk is near miraculous.”
SIMON: “Yes…I’m very proud…”
MAL: “Cut her down.”
PATRON: “That girl is a witch!”
MAL: “Yeah, but she’s our witch. So cut her the hell down!”
SIMON: “So finally a decent wound on this ship, and I miss out. I’m sorry.”
MAL: “Well, you were busy trying to get yourself lit on fire. It happens.”
Final Analysis
Overall, this episode fleshed out the relationship between Simon and River, demonstrating just how willing Simon is to sacrifice for River’s welfare. Book and Simon both become part of the crew in this episode, something that is not quite covered as well as it should have been. The implications regarding Book and the Tams, however, make this an important episode.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Original Rating: 7/10
Final DVD Rating: 7/10
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