—
Our Mrs. Reynolds
Sara: We start out on an unknown planet, with a group of cowboys on horses stopping two strangers, a husband and wife, driving a wagon. The cowboys tell the guy driving that he’s carrying something that belongs to them. He says that the stranger is going to give him everything he has in the wagon, including some one-on-one time with his missus. The stranger says he might want to reconsider that last one because he married him a “powerful ugly creature,” and as he lifts his head, we can see that it’s lovable, huggable Jayne.
Marines: I really appreciate those cowboy bad boys standing aside and letting this play out fully. They must be as amused by all of this as we are. Legit, Cowboy Bad Boys. Legit.
Sweeney: +1
Sara: Mal and Jayne aim their guns at the head cowboy. Since these guys have been robbing lots of people coming through town, the Captain really doubts that anyone will miss them if their dead bodies show up somewhere. He tells the cowboys not to reach for their guns, or he’ll kill them. “I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you.” Zoe pokes her head out of the back of the wagon and starts firing and it’s suddenly a shootout.
Sara: Before the shootout is over, we cut to night and there are lots of folks dancing around a fire. I suppose that means our Big Damn Heroes won. (M: When your plan involves a bonnet, you pretty much have to win.) Mal is walking with Inara, saying that he knows this isn’t her usual clientele but she is very sweet about the place being lovely. She questions why Zoe couldn’t have been the one in the bonnet and dress earlier, and Mal answers that she needed to be in the wagon for tactical reasons. And plus, cotton dresses are comfy! She asks how Mal would know that, and he tells her that he’s a mystery. She giggles, and they are so adorable.
Sweeney: This whole exchange was precious.
Sara: An old man with a crazy beard shows Jayne a rain stick and tells him that rain is scarce and comes only when it’s needed. Jayne is suuuuuper drunk and thanks the man while also snotting all over his shirt.
Mari: I swear to you there was a touch of sexual chemistry between Jayne and the crazy beard man. Just me?
Sara: I will 100% support this thought.
A cute red haired girl (WHO HAPPENS TO BE CHRISTINA FREAKIN’ HENDRICKS) puts a flower wreath on Mal’s head and gives him a bowl to drink out of. She dances away, and Mal joins her as they spin around the fire. My boyfriend is such a good dancer, you guys.
Mal goes to put some things away and is startled to find Christina Hendricks hiding on the ship. Which is basically every man and woman’s dream come true. (M: Maybe I should start looking behind more things and expecting Christina.) He asks what she’s doing there, and she’s like, “Huh?” and when he questions her further, she finally tells him that she’s his wife. Mal stares blankly for a few seconds before cutting to
YOU CAN’T TAKE THE SKY FROM ME.
When we come back from the best theme song ever, Mal is still staring at Christina Hendricks and asks her to repeat herself. She says again, “I am your wife.” She tells him that that was the agreement that he had with Old Crazy Beard. Zoe and Jayne walk in, and Mal asks Zoe why he has a wife. Jayne questions him all, “You got a wife? How come all I got was a dumbass stick that sounds like it’s raining?” Mal says he doesn’t have a wife, and Christina Hendricks gets sad and apologizes for not pleasing him. Mal, exasperated, tries to explain that that’s not what he means but gives up and sends Zoe to get Wash.
Zoe walks over to the speaker and announces to the ship that the entire crew is needed in the cargo bay. (M: Yep. Love her.) Mal protests, saying that he only said Wash, but Zoe says that everyone should get to congratulate him on his new wedded bliss. Mal says it’s not wedded bliss, because he barely knows the girl and Jayne asks if he can know the girl. Creepy wink. Zoe swats his arm and tells him not to sully the romance, as Mal says Zoe will be washing latrines with her face after this.
The entire crew shows up, and Zoe introduces Christina Hendricks as Mrs. Reynolds. Kaylee adorably gasps and squeals, “YOU GOT MARRIED?” Inara looks shocked, in a not good way. Simon says congratulations, but it sounds more like a question. Wash says they’d always hoped those two crazy kids would get together, before asking who exactly she is. Mal says that she’s no one, and Christina Hendricks starts crying.
Mal continues to get more and more exasperated during this scene and asks CH to cut it out with all that crying. She apologizes, which only makes him feel like more of an asshole. Kaylee hugs her and tells her not to worry because Mal is a monster who makes everyone cry. Mal cries out, “I am not a monster!” as Zoe laughs.
Mari: This show does crazy, family hijinks so well. It feels so homey and familiar that you almost forget the hijinks are sudden wife, the family lives on a ship in space and the crazy is that this shouldn’t actually be funny. But it is. Everyone is funny in their own way, reacting just how you’d think they would.
Sweeney: Agreed. It makes me feel like these people are my best friends and I just want to stay home all day and hang out with my fictional BFFs.
Sara: YES to the reacting exactly how you think would. It reminds me of moments this happened in the Buffyverse.
Mal says they need to turn the ship around, but Wash explains that they can’t unless they want to die, so Mal just has to suck it up and enjoy his honeymoon. Zoe is still giggling in the background, and CH is still crying softly. Mal snaps at her to cut out the crying and Inara snaps at him to be a human being for thirty seconds. Wash continues to screw with Mal, saying, “From one married guy to another…” but Mal cuts him off, yelling that he isn’t married, which only makes CH cry harder.
Mal finally apologizes and tells CH that she has very nice qualities, but he didn’t marry her. Book jumps in to say that Mal actually did marry her last night. Mal steps closer to Jayne and quietly asks, “How drunk was I last night?” Jayne answers, “I don’t know, I passed out.” I’m sorry, guys, I really feel like I can’t do this scene justice. It’s just so funny and it’s all about the delivery, so you should really just fire up your Netflix machine and watch it to get the full experience.
Book tells Mal that the wreath and the drinking of the wine is how marriage works there. Zoe is laughing so hard in the background that she has to lean up against Wash to steady herself. I think Zoe laughing through this entire thing is the best part. Book informs Mal that he is, indeed, a married man. Mal asks how divorce works there, and CH runs off, visibly upset. Kaylee tells Mal, in Mandarin, that he doesn’t deserve her, and Mal responds, also in Mandarin, that Kaylee should mind her own business.
Mari: Precious Kaylee, jumping on the side of the woman she met, like, a minute ago.
Sara: Mal goes to follow CH and when Zoe says he might not be the best person for the job, he responds that it seems CH and himself are the only two people who don’t find the whole thing funny. Ooh, burn. You just got scolded by the teacher!
Mal finds CH in… the boiler room? Yeah, I don’t know. I’m really terrible at the room descriptions on this show. (M: Engine room! Just guess confidently. You’ll be fine.) (S: Or just gchat Mari and ask her because that’s what I do.) He asks if she’s okay, and she says that she just thought he was happy last night. He says that he was because: wine. She asks if he’s going to kill her now, and he tells her he would never. She tells him that she’s heard stories of other men killing their wives when they aren’t pleased, and Mal interrupts to say, “I ain’t them! And don’t you ever stand for that sort of thing. Someone ever tries to kill you, you kill ’em right back.” He tells her that whether she’s a wife or not, she isn’t anyone’s property to be tossed aside. She has the rights, same as anyone, to live and try to kill people, or whatever.
Mari: Malcom Reynolds Feminism: You kill ’em right back.
Sweeney: A+ for both you and Malcolm Reynolds.
Sara: She asks what he’s going to do with her, and he tells her that he can help her find a job working in a factory at their next stop. He tells her they have a week to figure something out. As he goes to leave, she tells him she knows she’d be a good wife. He tells her that he would be a terrible husband. She says that this means they have five days to spend together, and he says not together-together but sure, yeah. CH excitedly jumps up and says she’ll do anything he wants her to do.
Mal asks if CH is hungry and she is suddenly super bubbly as she says she can cook him something. (M: A sammich, maybe?) He tries to say that that isn’t what he meant, but she’s already bounding off to make him a meal like a good little barefoot wife in the kitchen. Before she leaves, she turns back to tell him her name: Saffron.
After she leaves, Book shows up and tells Mal that divorce is a very difficult thing to manage on Saffron’s planet. He also tells Mal that if he takes any kind of sexual advantage over Saffron, there will be a special place in hell for him, in the ring with child molesters and people who talk in movie theaters. +1, Book. (M: I guess Ezra and 87% of the rest of Rosewood will be there…) (S: Not to be confused with the fun hell where all the hard partiers wind up.) Mal tells Book that he’s got a smutty mind, and Book not-apologizes for speaking out of line. He says that he’ll make a room up for Saffron in the passenger dorm. They both go their separate ways, but Book pokes his head around the corner to remind Mal one more time – “The special hell.”
Later, Mal is eating the dinner Saffron made him when Wash and Zoe show up to drool over the smell of it. Mal says that Saffron insisted, and he didn’t want to hurt her feelings by saying no. Wash wants to know if there’s any more, and Saffron apologizes for not making enough for everyone. She does tell Zoe, though, that everything is still laid out if she wants to cook for her husband. Wash uncomfortably laughs, and Zoe gives him the best BAMFY-make-your-own-damn-dinner face.
Sweeney: They are my new favorite TV marriage.
Sara: They sit with Mal, and Zoe asks how he’s liking his new little slave girl, which is totally unfair. When Mal was not friendly to her, everyone called him a jerk. Now that he’s being nice and trying not to hurt her feelings, everyone thinks he’s taking advantage. Not cool, crew. Wash comments on how delicious the food looks and Zoe says, “Remember that sex we were planning to have ever again?”
Mari: Again, not entirely fair. Delicious food is delicious food, Zoe, and there ain’t no harm in saying yummy.
Sara: Mal says that he wishes everyone would stop assuming he’s an “evil lecherous hump.” Zoe says that no one is saying that, and Wash agrees. “Yeah, we’re pretty much just giving each other significant glances and laughing incessantly.” (S: FAVORITE MARRIAGE.) Wash goes to get Mal a refill on his drink, but Saffron snatches it out of his hand and says that’s her job. When Mal excuses himself to go do “captain-y things,” Saffron asks him if he’d like her to wash his feet now. Mal stares at her for a few seconds, stares at Wash & Zoe for a few seconds, and then just leaves without answering.
Sexy Shuttle. Inara is setting up appointments when Mal knocks and asks if he can come in. When she says no, he comes in anyway and says that’s why he never asks. She asks what he wants, and he tells her that he just wanted to hide. She asks if the honeymoon is over, and he says she’s really nice and all, but… Mal hesitantly asks Inara if she ever washes her client’s feet, and she says that it’s her specialty.
She asks for confirmation that they’ll be at the new place for two weeks, and he says he can’t be sure. Inara is obviously upset when she says that he needs to be able to be sure, because she has commitments she has to keep, unlike Mal. He wonders if she’s angry because he has a bride or angry because he doesn’t plan on keeping her.
Inara says that she just finds the whole thing degrading, and Mal shoots back that it’s funny because that’s exactly how Saffron described Inara’s line of work. Inara tells Mal that maybe he should keep Saffron, since they sound like two peas in a pod, and Mal says maybe. “We could be soulmates.” Inara wishes them hundreds of fat children and snaps at Mal, “Can you leave me alone for five minutes please?” Aw. Inara.
As Mal leaves, he yells back at Inara that he wasn’t looking for a fight. He turns to walk down the hall and sees Jayne standing there, with a freaking huge gun.
After the Not Commercial Break, Jayne asks if Mal is ready to take him seriously now. Mal looks slightly concerned, and Jayne goes on that Mal has something he doesn’t deserve. Mal sarcastically tells him that it sure has been a barrel of fun having Saffron around.
“Six men came to kill me one time and the best of ’em carried this.” He describes the gun in detail as he slowly walks towards Mal. When he’s about a foot away, he holds the gun out and says, “It’s my favorite gun,” in an obvious attempt to trade his favorite gun for the girl. Mal says that Saffron has a name and Jayne responds that his gun does too: Vera.
When he gets down to the cargo bay, he finds Saffron. She tells him that if she can’t be married to him, she’d rather work somewhere, like he said, than be married to “the large one.” Mal says that working on a ranch isn’t so bad – his mom owned one and he grew up on it. She asks if his mom raised him, and he answers that she did, along with about 40 ranch hands. He starts to say more but stops himself, surprised that he’s sharing stories about his past like this. Saffron asks if none of the other crew members ever ask him about himself, and he kind of brushes the question off and asks her what her own story is.
Husky Voiceship. Over on a different ship, a guy with a very deep voice is noticing a Firefly coming through and wants to try to catch it since the things are practically indestructible. He tells a guy with a less husky voice that they need to put out the nets. You can catch a spaceship with nets? Okay.
Sweeney: That was my initial reaction too. I was intrigued and then somewhat disappointed by the very technological and not at all fun and cartoony reveal of the actual net in question.
Sara: Serenity. Zoe is telling Wash that Saffron is batshit, but Wash says she was just raised in a really sheltered environment. Zoe is like, “Did you see that bitch snatch that damn glass out of your hand earlier??” but Wash insists that different cultures are just weird. Zoe smirks sarcastically about Wash defending Saffron, saying that everyone knows the Captain doesn’t need to be babysitting a groupie right now. Wash asks when this stopped being funny, and Zoe says it stopped when Wash didn’t turn the ship around and put her ass back where on Triumph where they found her. Wash is upset that she’s blaming him now, and Zoe peaces out to go to bed. But you know that bitch ain’t sleeping. She’s sitting in that bed, wide awake, angry as a hornet.
Mari: Swearing to God that she ain’t never gonna make Wash no sammich.
Sara: Mal goes to his room and finds Saffron in his bed, naked. He bumbles around awkwardly as she tells him that she was making his bed warm. Bitch, that’s my favorite part of going to sleep! (M: YOU ROBBED ME OF THE COOLNESS OF THE PILLOW. She is evil.) She also says that she’s made herself ready for him. “Let’s just glide right past the part where you explain to me what that means.” He asks if she saw that she had her own room. She says they’re supposed to be one flesh since they’re wed and stands up, letting the blanket fall off of her. Mal looks away, all WHOOPSIE NAKED.
He says that he knows what’s morally right, and this ain’t it. She says that she knows this is what they’re supposed to do, because she read her bible. She recites a passage:
“On the night of their betrothal, the wife shall open to the man as the furrow to the plow and he shall work in her, in and again, til she bring him to his fall and rest him then upon the sweat of her breast.” Mal gulps and rolls his tongue back in. (S: “Whoa. Good bible.” LOL.) Saffron says that she knows she doesn’t have any experience and isn’t that pleasing to look at (LOL) but Mal tells her that it’s definitely not that. It’s that she isn’t property to be given away.
Saffron tells him that she’s seen her sisters given to ugly, mean men and she cried for them. And when she was given to Mal, she cried twice as hard. Not because she was sad, but because she had never dreamed to have a man so sweet, kind, and beautiful. “Had I dare to choose, I would have chosen you out of all the men on all the planets the night sky could show me.” Yep, that’ll probably do it.
She walks closer to Mal and tells him that she swells to think of him in her. Wowza! I don’t do Fifty Shades, so recapping sex talk still makes me giggle.
Mari: Ah, yes, I remember when I was all, “but how will I recap the sex?!” when I started Fifty Shades. Little did I know I should’ve been asking, “BUT HOW WILL I RECAP THE MISOGYNY, STUPIDITY AND ABUSE?”
Wow, sorry about that. Tangent.
Sweeney: I will never apologize for Ruined For Life Tangents. It’s our bloggy PTSD.
Sara: You have earned every minute of angry Fifty Shades tangents, girl.
Saffron says that she can see he swells thinking of her, too, or he’s got a pickle in his pocket. *Eyebrow waggle* She begs him to just let her have her wedding night, and Mal is toast. “Oh, I’m gonna go to the special hell.”
They kiss and after a few seconds, Mal steps back and passes out. Saffron says, “Night sweetie,” as we fade to black.
After the Not Commercial Break, Saffron finds Wash by himself. She tells him that she’s never been off of her planet, so seeing the stars is beautiful. Wash shares a story about how on his home planet, you could never see even one star. As he’s talking, Saffron closes the door behind her and says now they’re alone, with no bickering crew or engines or ship. Just the two of them and the stars. She pulls Wash up from his seat and tells him a mythical story. The whole time she’s talking, Wash looks suuuper uncomfortable, by the way.
Mari: I love the soundtrack right now. It’s trying to sell us feels and impending tenderness. Whose side are you on, Soundtrack Man?
Sweeney: Soundtrack Man desperately wants Christina Hendricks and her boobs to be innocent. “It’s a big misunderstanding, you’ll see!”
Sara: Saffron asks Wash the same thing she asked Mal earlier, except with a stars metaphor attached. Wash’s translated response is, “Holy mother of god and all her wacky nephews!” He tells her that he wishes he was somebody else who wasn’t madly in love with someone who can murder him with her pinky. Saffron says that it doesn’t seem like Zoe respects him, but he counters that people don’t really get their relationship at first. He goes to open the door and starts talking about how he and Zoe met, which Saffron rolls her eyes about behind his back. Since her plan obviously isn’t working on him, she kicks him in the head, knocking him out, and leaves.
She goes to the control panel and fiddles with a bunch of wires, doing god knows what. She also puts some fizzy stuff on the door that will prevent them from opening it back? Shit, I don’t know what’s going on right now. We can all figure it out together in a minute, I’m sure. Saffron runs off and runs right into Inara, who has come out of her shuttle because all of the screens are out.
Saffron says that she wishes she had the skills Inara has. Inara asks if it’s to please her new husband, but Saffron says that Mal won’t have her. She says that she’d like for Inara to teach her. Damn, this bitch gets around. Inara mentions Mal saying that Saffron didn’t approve of companion work, but Saffron says that he only said that to keep them apart. Saffron gives Inara Fuck Me Eyes and Inara invites her to the Sexy Shuttle. Saffron wants confirmation: “You will lie with me?” and right then, a red alert signal starts blaring.
Both women immediately switch gears and put their bitch faces on. Inara says, “I guess we’ve lied enough,” and Saffron responds, “You’re good.” Inara says that Saffron is amazing and asks who the fuck she is. Saffron responds, “Mal Reynold’s widow.” She kicks Inara out of the way and runs into her shuttle, closing the doors behind her. She drives the shuttle off into space, and Inara rushes to find Mal.
She climbs down into his room and sees him laying on the ground, passed out. She runs over to him and says in Mandarin, “Merciful, buddha…” and kisses him on the lips. She calls up to the others to get the doctor right before realizing that the poison on her lips is what got Mal. She calls him a stupid son of a… before passing out next to him.
Mari: I don’t know, Inara. A little poison might be worth that kiss…
Sara: When Mal wakes up, everyone is around him and they explain what happened. Basically, Saffron is Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy. (M: A+) Everyone questions Mal kissing Saffron, and Book jumps in to say that it sounds…. special. Hee! Mal looks accusingly at Wash, and Wash proudly says, “Hey! I just got kicked in the head!” Book accuses Mal of taking advantage of Saffron, but he insists that he was the one being taken advantage of.
Inara chimes in, sounding kind of drunk, that she hit her head just like Wash. No kissing for her, no siree, just a bump to the head, just like Wash, I JUST GOT BUMPED IN THE HEAD GUYS. She is so cute. Simon says that this is something that used to happen back home sometimes, to rob men. They called it the Good Night Kiss.
The crew leaves to check on Jayne and Kaylee, who are trying to get the door open to the bridge. Kaylee says she didn’t just lock it, she fused it shut. Hey, I told you we’d get there together! Once they get inside, Kaylee and Wash look over the wiring and realize that Saffron is kind of a genius at mucking things up. If they even try to fix it, the whole system will shut down. At this point, Serenity is set to head somewhere, but the crew has no idea where that somewhere is.
Mal tries to hurry them into a solution, and Kaylee says that it’s his own fault they’re even in that position in the first place. He says, “I was poisoned!” and Inara clarifies, “You were drugged.” Jayne says, “That’s why I never kiss ’em on the mouth.” Oh, Jayne.
Mari: He would have the Pretty Woman philosophy.
Sara: Kaylee says Saffron was obviously brilliant, and Inara says she was well schooled too. She throws in a quick I HIT MY HEAD GUYS, NO KISSING INVOLVED before saying that Saffron was definitely professionally schooled in the art of body language and seduction. Mal asks how Inara knows this, and she says that Saffron tried to seduce her, too. After a pause, Mal asks, “Did she… did you… ” Inara gives him a look and says you can’t play a playa. Ooh, get you one, Inara. She says she shouldn’t have bothered trying, but it seemed like Saffron was in a hurry.
Mal says that her being a professional clears him, as he points at Book and says, “You would have kissed her, too!” Zoe says that Wash didn’t kiss her, and Mal gets all flustered, responding that she was naked! And articulate! And Christina Hendricks! Wash says that everyone talking about sex needs to go find somewhere else to talk about sex.
Husky Voiceship. The men aboard the Husky Voiceship note that the Firefly is almost on them. Huskier Voice says that Saffron is a wonder, and they giggle together like little schoolgirls.
Serenity. The crew has gotten the screens back up, but they still don’t have control over the navigation. Wash notices that Saffron signaled somebody at the location they’re headed, but he doesn’t know who she was communicating with. They see something circular on the radar and Mal figures out that it’s a net. Jayne says, “I don’t get it,” with a clueless expression on his face. “Where are we headed?” Book says they’re headed to the end of the line, and OH. A NET. OKAY. So I’ve been picturing an actual fisherman net this whole time, like an idiot. Here’s what the net actually looks like:
I feel silly now.
Sweeney: Yup.
Mari: It’s okay. I think Christina Hendricks was seducing you too.
Sara: And that Soundtrack Man made everything all confusing!
After the Not Commercial Break, Wash is asking what the net means. Book says that it can tear ships apart. Mal and Book explain to Wash that whoever set it up will stop them, drain all the oxygen, and then take parts from the ship for themselves. How the hell does Book know about all this? More of the suspicious back story from last week, I suppose. Jayne is obviously thinking the same thing as me, because he says that one day Book will have to explain to them how a preacher knows so much about crime. Mal tells Kaylee to keep working on getting around the net. Jayne asks what he needs to do, and Mal tells him to go get Vera.
Mal and Jayne Suit Up, and Mal gives instructions to shoot for the brightest spots of the net, because that should shut it down. Jayne questions the “should” part of that sentence, but Mal doesn’t answer him.
Right as Serenity is flying into the net, Jayne shoots it, shorting the power, which lets Serenity pass through unharmed. He also shoots the Husky Voiceship, killing Extra Husky and Husky Light. Now that they’ve solved that problem, Wash can steer the ship to their next destination. I feel like they should have done a group hug celebration of sorts. Instead, Mal kisses Kaylee on the forehead for being awesome, and Wash says maybe he should refrain from kissing girls for a bit. Mal responds that he just can’t help himself.
Mari: He’s already almost to the point where he can laugh about this. What a guy.
Sara: Snowy World. Saffron is in a small house, wearing lingerie and lots of makeup, when Mal busts in and aims a gun at her. “Honey, I’m home!” They fight, and he gets her pinned down on the floor with a gun to her head. She asks if he’s going to kill her, and he wonders if she can come up with a good reason for him not to. “I made you dinner.” I think I like her better like this!
She asks how he found her, and he said it wasn’t too hard what with her being in their stolen Sexy Shuttle. Oh, and I forgot to mention, HOW DARE YOU TAKE INARA’S SEXY SHUTTLE.
Mari: There is actually a spare shuttle! It’s Sexy Shuttle’s less cool little brother, Subterfuge Shuttle.
Sara: I considered correcting my mistake, but I love this description so much, I’m leaving it.
Saffron says she’s been waiting a long time for a strong man to take her down, and she wiggles underneath him in a sexual way. Mal tells her that if she even thinks about playing him again, she’ll be full of bullets.
He speechifies about how his crew trusts each other and doesn’t have to always be looking for the upper hand because they’re good people who care about each other. Saffron is like, “JFC, can you just kill me now?” which is hilarious. He says she knows he won’t kill her. She tells Mal that it’s actually impressive how long he held out, because most guys are on her within ten minutes. Well, yeah. Christina. Hendricks. Y’all. I’m not a man, and I would probably be on that in ten minutes.
Mal says he has one question for her: What’s her real name? Before she can answer, he punches her in the face and knocks her out.
Mari: Seeee? Malcom is equal opportunity try to kill people who kill you in practice and not only in speech.
Sara: Mal visits to tell Inara that they’re back on course. After the Ship Talk (get it?), he tells her that she’s a very graceful woman. Inara is caught off guard, but smiles and thanks him. Mal gets really close to Inara’s face in that sexy way people on TV can do and questions her story about hitting her head. “You didn’t just trip, did you?” Thinking that he’s figured out what happened, she tells him no, and he smirks, “I knew you let her kiss you!” before walking off, whistling. Oh, Mal.
Mari: I really love this episode. I was watching it over and it still made me laugh out loud in several places. I love that there is this whole, “people are not property! Be nice to them!” message going at the beginning, but then it turns out that Saffron is a big meanie pants. It doesn’t change the message, for sure, but it goes to truly cement how nothing is ever as clear cut as it seems in this universe. There are some holes in the plot, to be sure, (was Saffron just chilling on that planet until she could fake marry someone? Huh?) BUT IT WAS SO MUCH FUN.
Sweeney: This show has been so much fun! There have been so many fantastic comedic moments – which are largely reliant on how quickly and effectively the show introduced its characters. As Mari pointed out earlier, these moments have fun dialogue but they really hit the mark because of this feeling that the character reactions are, “So INSERT NAME HERE!” This is only episode 6 and I already feel like I know these characters surprisingly well.
All that fun has also surprised me a bit. Not that it feels like an incorrect tone or anything of that sort. It’s just that it’s Whedon and everyone has been warning me that soul-crushing feelings lie ahead and I think I braced myself too early and forgot that Whedon likes to butter us up with merriment before all the soul-crushing. Basically, I watch this show in constant terror waiting for some catastrophic thing or another that’s going to suckerpunch my feels. I’m afraid of something but I don’t actually have any idea what that something is. #snowproblems
Sara: After recapping this episode, I went home and watched it again with my husband. There aren’t many shows good enough to make you want to watch the same episode twice in one day, and I laughed just as hard the second time through. Plus, it doesn’t hurt getting to look at Nathan Fillion’s face so much. I keep saying this, along with everyone in the comments, but yes – every episode is my favorite episode.
Next time on Firefly: Jayne, Jayne, Jayne! in S01 E07 – Jaynestown.
I'm a 30-something with three kids who spends an embarrassing amount of time watching teen television dramas. There's a whole lot of Internet out there, and I plan on reading all of it before I die.
Nicole is the co-captain of Snark Squad and these days she spends most of her time editing podcasts. She spends too much time on Twitter and very occasionally vlogs and blogs. In her day job she's a producer, editor, director, and sometimes host of educational YouTube channels. She loves travel, maps, panda gifs, and semicolons. Writing biographies stresses her out; she crowd sourced this one years ago and has been using a version of it ever since. She would like to thank Twitter for their help.
I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.
