RW346 - Firefly S01E02-03 - Train Whacked

In this weeks episode of The Firefly Rewatch, Cory and Tom lose the loot more than once as they discuss episodes 2 & 3, "The Train Job" and "Bushwhacked."

The Train Job:

Written by: Joss Whedon & Tim Minear

Directed by: Tim Minear

Original airdate: September 20, 2002 as episode 1

After a good old fashioned bar fight ensues on Unification Day, Mal and crew head off to see one Adelai Niska, a man known for his unforgiving nature if displeased with your job performance. His job is seemingly simple: steal a set of boxes from a train. However, once Mal and Zoe board the train, they discover it is occupied by dozens of Alliance soldiers. 

The heist begins perfectly, with Jayne landing down through a hatch in the train ceiling, and getting the cargo up, but a soldier happens upon them and begins firing, hitting Jayne in the leg as Mal and Zoe subdue the soldier. The two head back to the main compartment, tossing a smoke bomb as a distraction so they can blend in with the other passengers as Serenity flies away safely. 

The Serenity crew debate what to do with Jayne pushing to go finish the job with Niska, while the others vote for staying and waiting for Mal and Zoe, with Book reasonably starting that Niska would likely not be happy if the captain does not return to complete the deal. Meanwhile when the train stops at the next town, Paradisio, Mal and Zoe pretend to be newlyweds, explaining to authorities that their “uncle” told them they could find a job here before they learn that everyone in the town contracts a degenerative disease due to the nature of the ore underground that is mined with the stolen cargo being the only medicine known to help them all live normal lives.

Back on Serenity, Jayne begins to assert his command by ordering them to take off for Niska, but Simon, pretending to give him pain meds for his injury, actually gives him a sedative which makes him pass out and allowing the rest of the crew to come up with a plan to rescue Mal and Zoe, involving Inara’s credentials as a companion. Claiming Mal and Zoe are escaped servants, she is easily able to pass their security checks and retrieve them. Mal and Zoe let the rest of the crew know that they plan to return the meds and will deal with Niska later, however his right hand man named Crow has shown up, seeking them out after they missed the rendezvous. A fight ensues with the Serenity crew eventually gaining the upper hand. Mal tries to give the money back to Crow to tell Niska the deal is off, but Crow balks and threatens him instead leading Mal to kick him into the engines of the ship, killing him. The next in command of Niska’s crew is then much more agreeable to delivering by Mal’s message. 

Mal and Zoe go to return the meds, but are met by the sheriff who had a suspicion about them, but is appreciative that they changed their minds after learning of the town’s problems. They take the meds back to town while back on board Serenity, Simon fixes up Mal’s wounds as they discuss River’s mental issues and how to deal with them as she sits in her quarters repeating a rhyme about “hands of blue.”

Elsewhere, the Alliance officer who received the report of the train theft but ignored it, talks with two men who have questions about the incident, two men who happen to be wearing blue gloves. 

Shiny Trivia:

Niska was played by Michael Fairman. We’ve seen him before in the Quantum Leap episode “The Great Spontini” as Judge Mulhearn. Indeed, he’s played a judge on more than one occasion, most notably in LA Law. He’s had a long career of guest appearances in sitcoms and dramas, with a recurring role on the original Cagney and Lacey show and a short stint of 61 episodes in the soap opera Ryan’s Hope. More recently, he has had a recurring role in The Young and the Restless as well as a role in Jim Carrey’s series Kidding, the story of a children’s TV show host dealing with his family falling apart. 

The Sheriff was played by Gregg Henry. He’s had roles in The Killing, The Following, Hung, and The Riches, and guest starred The Gilmore Girls, Murder She Wrote and 24. He also played Grandpa Quill in the movie Guardians of the Galaxy. Most recently, he has had recurring roles in Scandal and Black Lightning. We’ve seen him before in the Voyagers! episode “The Bully and Billy” as Teddy Roosevelt. 

Crow was played by Andrew Bryniarski. We’ve seen him before in the Lois & Clark episode “Virtually Destroyed” as X. He appears mainly in action oriented roles, most notably Street Fighter, Hudson Hawk and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Most recently was in 2018’s American Dresser.

The Fed was played by Eric Lange. He was in Lost as Stuart Radzinsky. He had a main supporting role in Nickelodeon‘s Victorious, and most recently appeared in Narcos, Man in the High Castle, Escape at Dannemora, Waco, Easy To Assemble and The Bridge. 

Bushwhacked:

Written by: Tim Minear

Directed by: Tim Minear

Original airdate: September 27, 2002 as episode 2

When the crew of Serenity comes across an old derelict spaceship, followed by a floating corpse in space, they immediately decide to check it out, not just just for survivors, but barring any, for supplies and provisions. The ship appears to be deserted, with things left in such a state that if the crew abandoned the ship, they did so very quickly, as they left behind basic survival supplies. After seeing the crew wrapped up  and hung from the ceiling, Mal reasons that the ship must have been attacked by reavers and orders everyone back to Serenity. Jayne finds himself attacked by the sole survivor of the ship but manages to get off a shot. They track down the survivor and Mal punches him, knocking him unconscious in order to get him back aboard their ship. 

With the survivor locked in the infirmary, Book asks to go to the ship to lay the people to rest to which Simon agrees to help, and Jayne is ordered to retrieve the survival supplies. In the meantime, Kaylee has to work out a way to get Serenity safely away from the derelict as the Reavers have installed a booby trap that would blow up any ship that docked and then tried to leave. Luckily Kaylee’s skills manage to deactivate the trap and with the supplies loaded, Serenity takes off. 

Another problem turns up in the shape of The Alliance, who have also found the derelict ship while on patrol and decide to check the firefly class ship out as well, especially given that a similar ship had a flag issued about it weeks ago for possibly harboring a known fugitive and his sister. Mal plays nice with the Alliance captain, Hardin, by not hiding their cargo and going along with their wishes and interrogation. Simon and River, on Mal’s instructions, hide on the outside of the ship in spacesuits to avoid detection. 

In the infirmary of the Alliance ship, the survivor, brought there by the Alliance doctors, has suddenly started attacking them, becoming, as Mal tells Harkin, a reaver himself after he witnessed their atrocities. The survivor escapes and makes his way back to Serenity to hunt on familiar territory while Mal convinces Harkin to let him come along to help. 

Once back upon his ship, they search the vessel for the survivor before he appears suddenly and takes out the Alliance’s men. Mal manages to grab the survivor from behind and breaks his neck, using his cuffed hands as a weapon, saving Harkin, who then releases the Serenity crew in exchange for Mal’s good deed. The Alliance does however, keep the cargo Mal and company salvaged, and blows up the derelict ship for good measure.

Shiny Trivia:

Tim Minear was the executive producer on Firefly. He got his start as an intern on the set of the film Re-Animator, and got his first writing credit for the movie Diggin’ Up Business, starring Lynn-Holly Johnson from For Your Eyes Only. He wrote for several TV series across the 90s, most notably for Lois & Clark, where he also served as executive story editor, and later on The X-Files. He teamed with Joss Whedon for the series Angel where he branched into directing, returning to that position again for both Firefly and Dollhouse.

Doug Savant played Harken. He played Brad in the original Teen Wolf movie. He went on to play Matt Fielding on 5 seasons of Melrose Place, and left the show during the first episode of the 6th season. He was also a lead in Desperate Housewives for 175 episodes and has had a few guest roles in NCIS, SWAT, 24 and the new MacGuyver. He also had one-and-done roles in the Rush Hour TV series, X-Files, Notorious and Castle.

Branden Morgan played the survivor. He also played Rudolph Valentino in an episode of The Sarah Connor Chronicles (s2e11). He was also a “fan” in Black Sheep, and most recently appeared in Fast and Furious: Supercharged, a new 3D HD ride at Universal Studios where he played an FBI agent. 

The derelict spaceship set was recycled from an old "Power Rangers" series.

Whats Next?

Cory and Tom will be discussing episodes 4&5, "Shindig" & "Safe."

Thanks:

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

Contact Us:

Send in your feedback to TheRewatchPodcast@gmail.com

Follow the show on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and discuss Seaquest with the fans on Reddit

Support the Show:

Head over to our TeePublic store today and buy some merch! Every item sold sees a small return to us to cover our hosting costs and we appreciate every perchance.