RW344 - Firefly S01E01 - Serenity

In this weeks episode of The Firefly Rewatch, Cory and Tom gather with an interesting crew as they discuss episode 1, "Serenity."

Serenity:

Written by: Joss Whedon

Directed by: Joss Whedon

Original airdate: December 20, 2002 as episode 11

Years after the Unification War between the Alliance and the ultimately defeated Independents, Sgt. Malcolm Reynolds, one of those Independents, has become captain of his own Firefly-Class ship, Serenity, and with his crew travel the spaceways, getting by on providing passage to travelers as well as scavenging whatever they can  to make a profit.

After narrowly escaping the Alliance after raiding one of their old derelict ships, Mal, second in command Zoe and Jayne a tough as nails soldier, attempt to sell their found merchandise but their buyer refuses to pay, due to the goods being branded by the Alliance and containing tracers, lowering their value, leaving Malcolm to take on a number of passengers in order to make some money as they head off to see another possible buyer. Also picked up is the ship’s Companion, Inara, a woman who makes her trade by selling her body to travelers, a service that is commonplace on these types of ships. 

On the way to their destination, pilot Wash lets Mal know that someone aboard has sent a message to an alliance ship that is heading their way. The captain immediately suspects Dr Simon Tam, a passenger who came on board with a large computerized crate and confronts him, however another passenger, a preacher named Book, informs him he’s made the wrong choice, pointing behind him to reveal another passenger named Dobson holding a gun on them all, revealing himself to be an Alliance undercover officer who was tracking Simon. A fight ensues in which the ship’s engineer Kaylee ends up being shot before Dobson is finally subdued and imprisoned. Mal, wanting to hand over Simon to the Alliance to avoid trouble, instead makes a deal with Simon for him to try and help Kaylee using his doctoring skills, and while he easily removes the bullet, indicates that time is required to see if she will heal.

Jayne interrogates Dobson to find out how much he told the Alliance about them and their ship with Dobson offering Jayne a deal if he lets him go, enough money to buy his own ship. 

Meanwhile, Mal, curious about what the alliance wanted Simon for opens up his high tech crate and discovers a girl inside, Simon’s sister River, whom he claims has a super high intellect in fields such as physics and dance but had enrolled in a special program funded by the Alliance which seemed great at first but was apparently used to perform unspecified experiments on the young girl. Simon helped River escape from the facility and was now on the run from the Alliance. 

The Serenity arrives at Whitefall, home of their buyer named Patience, a woman Mal has had dealings with before and has been known to have been shot by in the past. Mal and Zoe meet with her while Jayne scouts the perimeter to search for possible snipers. Patience attempts to renege on their deal, wanting to keep the merchandise and the ones but Mal and Zoe manage to take out her crew and herself before Jayne informs them that a group of Reavers, a traveling raiding party full of murderers and rapists, has followed them here, despite the crew thinking they had successfully evaded them earlier. 

Dobson manages to escape the brig, knocking out Book in the process and takes River as hostage. Simon tries to intervene but Mal arrives and shoots Dobson, saving the day and dumping his body off the ship. With the Reavers on their tail, a recovering Kaylee instructs Book on how to make adjustments that Wash needs in order to cause a fireball diversion so they can escape. 

Book later confides in Inara with all that has gone on, that he is worried he chose the wrong ship but she suggests that he actually might have picked the one where he ought to be. Jayne tells Mal that Dobson said the Alliance will never stop looking for River before revealing that he was offered a bribe but didn’t take it. Mal approaches Simon and tells him a moving target will be harder for the Alliance to find and asks him and his sister to stay on the ship with him employed as their medic to which he readily accepts.

Shiny Trivia:

The main title theme is written by Joss Whedon and performed by Sonny Rhodes.

"Cry baby cry, make your mother sigh" is a reference to the Beatles song from The White Album.

The Alliance officer and soldier uniforms are leftovers from Starship Troopers (1997).

They were aired in this order: 2, 3, 6, preempted, 7, 8, 4, 5, 9, preempted, preempted, 10, 14, 1. Episodes 11, 12, and 13

Alan Tudyk admitted that whenever his character Wash got an order on the bridge, he would always flip the same three switches over his head, no matter what he was told to do.

The cannon Mal uses has a logo on it from Weyland-Yutani, the large conglomerate corporation in the Alien film franchise.

Nicholas Brendon was originally in mind for Mal. However, the shooting schedule conflicted with his commitment to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997). Neil Patrick Harris also auditioned for the role of Simon.

Rebecca Gayheart was cast as Inara. She was let go because of chemistry with the cast.

The Alliance's full title is the "Anglo-Sino Alliance," a merger of USA and China, the last of the world's superpowers, with a blending of the US and Chinese flags.

Carlos Jacott played Dobson. He recently played a tv producer in the Adam Driver and Scarlett Johannsen movie Marriage Story. He’s appeared in guest roles on Psych, Big Love, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, among many others. He was also a main cast member in She Spies with Natasha Henstridge, and appeared in Grosse Pointe Black as Ken and Being John Malkovitch as Larry.

Mark Sheppard played Badger. We've seen him before in the Sliders episode "Net Worth" as Jack. Most recently he was in Doom Patrol as a guest actor and had a major run in Supernatural as Crowley (70 episodes). He also made guest appearances in Warehouse 13, White Collar, Leverage, 24, and Battlestar Galactica. He made a couple of appearances in Doctor Who playing the younger version of his father, Morgan William Sheppard, who also guest starred.

Patience was played by Bonnie Bartlett. She previously appeared in St. Elsewhere as a main cast member. Recently she's been a guest on Better Call Saul, with most of her roles being in the same vein. We have seen her before as Secretary General Andre Dre in the SeaQuest episode "The Last Lap At Luxury." 

Jamie McShane played "Man." Most recently he played Zhaban in Star Trek Picard, as well as a recurring role in Seal Team as Captain Lindell. He played a lead role in the Zach Morris-led (Mark Paul Gosselaar) show The Passage, a show about a botched government experiment that turns a group of death row inmates into infectious vampires. He also had lead roles in Bloodlines, Murder In The First and Southland among others.

Deleted Scenes from this episode include: An extended opening where Mal wonders who’s colors God flies. Book is praying over River and discusses Serenity with Simon as he learns about the battle, saying "history is programmed by the winners."

Inara was to have a disease that kills anyone she has relations with. She treated it with a series of injections.

Star Wars is in Serenity! Check out this link- http://www.geekwithcurves.com/2011/01/han-solos-in-firefly.html

Whats Next?

Cory and Tom will be discussing episodes 2 & 3, "The Train Job" & "Bushwhacked."

Thanks:

For more information, head over to the Firefly-Serenity Fan Wiki. We thank them for compiling information on the show.

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