FIrefly - Episode 3: 'Bushwacked'
Recap: Serenity hits a dead body in space, and the crew boards a seemingly deserted space vessel. It turns out that the ship was hit by reavers, and they left one survivor, who Mal takes in. An Alliance ship catches Serenity and its captain boards the Firefly, but before they discover Simon and River, they're beset by the survivor - who has gone insane. Mal saves the captain of the Alliance ship and is let go, though stripped of his non-human contraband.
Two distinct halves to this episode. The first half is great - a horror movie for the small screen, menace in every shot as the crew of Serenity explores the dead ship, trying to figure out what happened. The dread is palpable the whole time. Excellent atmosphere here.
The second half of the episode is less scary and a little more procedural - a story about the scruffy outlaw saving the life of, and thus winning over, an authority figure in over his head. The Alliance officer voices his suspicions about Mal and proceeds to mention the war (and we get to learn that Serenity is named after the site of Mal's last battle in the war). One of the best moments here is Mal's openness about his sympathies. When the officer comments that Mal was on the wrong side of the war, Mal draws an important distinction - he was on the losing side of the war, but he's not convinced that that means it was the wrong side.
The other fun part here is the general reaction people have to interrogation. Probably the neatest contrast is that between Zoe's typically cold, stiff, 'none of your business' attitude and Wash's highly affected 'bro-talk,' 'check out her legs!' way of describing his marriage. But then there's also Kaylee's disarming avalanche of jargon, and of course, Jayne's aggressive silence.
One of my favorite aspects to Jayne's characterization - the guy doesn't seem to be particularly intelligent in terms of understanding people. He's a blunt dude who likes pillaging (one of the biggest things that motivates him at the beginning of the episode after reluctance to board the ship) and violence. He's terrified of Reavers. The part that amuses me - despite not being smart, he laughs really hard at what he considers stupid - people's ignorance about spaceships, or space in general - stuff that most people shouldn't be expected to know. But his expectations are just unrealistic, and the weird point of view is really enjoyable.
Jayne has a ton of fun in the weird basketball-like sport that the crew plays at the beginning of the episode. In honesty, that might be my favorite scene of the episode - the day-to-day life of the ship's crew members are the part that really make me care about what they'll undergo later. One strange, little enclosed family.
On the blood relative front - this is River's best episode so far. She and Simon have to hide outside Serenity while the Alliance searches the interior of the ship. And while she has had zero to contribute to the show character-wise for the first two episodes, this time she shows us one point of interest... an open smile. River looks absolutely delighted outside. Why? Is it the playing hooky, or is it the sense of freedom out there? We don't find out, but knowing that she's capable of joy is a huge step forward for her watchability.
As for the plot going forward - we're going to find out much more about River, and soon. I hope we'll learn a bit more about the war. And as for the plot element that gives us our most pulsating musical beats, I feel there's been too much buildup never to see the Reavers in person at this point. Let's see!
Two distinct halves to this episode. The first half is great - a horror movie for the small screen, menace in every shot as the crew of Serenity explores the dead ship, trying to figure out what happened. The dread is palpable the whole time. Excellent atmosphere here.
The second half of the episode is less scary and a little more procedural - a story about the scruffy outlaw saving the life of, and thus winning over, an authority figure in over his head. The Alliance officer voices his suspicions about Mal and proceeds to mention the war (and we get to learn that Serenity is named after the site of Mal's last battle in the war). One of the best moments here is Mal's openness about his sympathies. When the officer comments that Mal was on the wrong side of the war, Mal draws an important distinction - he was on the losing side of the war, but he's not convinced that that means it was the wrong side.
The other fun part here is the general reaction people have to interrogation. Probably the neatest contrast is that between Zoe's typically cold, stiff, 'none of your business' attitude and Wash's highly affected 'bro-talk,' 'check out her legs!' way of describing his marriage. But then there's also Kaylee's disarming avalanche of jargon, and of course, Jayne's aggressive silence.
One of my favorite aspects to Jayne's characterization - the guy doesn't seem to be particularly intelligent in terms of understanding people. He's a blunt dude who likes pillaging (one of the biggest things that motivates him at the beginning of the episode after reluctance to board the ship) and violence. He's terrified of Reavers. The part that amuses me - despite not being smart, he laughs really hard at what he considers stupid - people's ignorance about spaceships, or space in general - stuff that most people shouldn't be expected to know. But his expectations are just unrealistic, and the weird point of view is really enjoyable.
Jayne has a ton of fun in the weird basketball-like sport that the crew plays at the beginning of the episode. In honesty, that might be my favorite scene of the episode - the day-to-day life of the ship's crew members are the part that really make me care about what they'll undergo later. One strange, little enclosed family.
On the blood relative front - this is River's best episode so far. She and Simon have to hide outside Serenity while the Alliance searches the interior of the ship. And while she has had zero to contribute to the show character-wise for the first two episodes, this time she shows us one point of interest... an open smile. River looks absolutely delighted outside. Why? Is it the playing hooky, or is it the sense of freedom out there? We don't find out, but knowing that she's capable of joy is a huge step forward for her watchability.
As for the plot going forward - we're going to find out much more about River, and soon. I hope we'll learn a bit more about the war. And as for the plot element that gives us our most pulsating musical beats, I feel there's been too much buildup never to see the Reavers in person at this point. Let's see!
Comments
Post a Comment