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Post by joxerlives on Aug 4, 2010 11:19:09 GMT -5
Ok, so I caved. Firefly never grabbed me the way Joss' other shows did but October is just too long to wait for season 2 of Dollhouse on DVD. Please note I haven't seen the entire series yet so please avoid spoilers for me. SERENITY
The good; The 'treasure' mislead is very clever indeed as is the mole, we think it's Simon then Book. Love Kaylee's parasol. The Mal/Jayne face off at dinner is powerful as is Mal telling Jayne to shut up on Persephone but then agreeing he's actually right. It's a small gesture but love it when Simon is about to give River an injection and she sticks her tongue out.
The bad; The opening battle scenes are too dark, I can barely work out what's going on. They appear to operate on Kaylee yet keep her clothes on (like Buffy at the end of season 6). Passing the Reaver ship is a tense moment but stupid when you think about the physics as Joss admits on the commentary. Shouldn't Jayne bring his own rifle to the gunfight, what if there were no snipers? What if they're rifles were inaccurate/faulty and how does he use a weapon not zeroed for him? The Reavers just letting the Serenity go then arbitarily coming back for it later with no adequate expectation is just stupid and lazy writing or am I trying to find logic in the actions of madmen? (The Reavers, not the writers). Can't they just take the markings off the food? Why does Mal peg the guy in the hat for the best shot when he's got an ancient Colt repeater rifle? How come Mal shoots Dobson in the head yet he doesn't bleed as he and Jayane chuck him out the door?
Best line; Mal; "How's business?" Inarra; "None of yours" also like; Zoe; "She shot you" Mal; "Yeah, she did a little bit" plus a new spin on the old Whedon fallback "Standing right here!"
Packing heat; whilst Buffy was an avowedly anti-gun series Joss seems to have changed his mind from season 4 of Angel onwards. Maybe he got robbed? AI and Dollhouse often use guns (Echo, demonstrating her familiarity with a pistol "4 brothers, none Democrats"). Firefly takes that to a new level and is a show Frank Castle would almost dig; Mal and Jayne pack Colt revolver style pistols, Zoe uses a cut-off Winchester carbine. They both use H&K G36's in the war and Mal uses a .50cal Chinise anti-aircraft machine gun to down the skiff. Dobson uses an Astra pistol and a couple of different models of Sig, one of which Simon keeps. Anyone tell me the sniper rifle Jayne uses?
Kinky dinky; Naked Summer Glau, a cause for joy as anyone who ever watched The Sarah Connor Chronicles knows ("Put'em back in the holster"). Mal tells Kaylee he's considering tying her up, gagging her and throwing her into the hold. She then kisses him and says she loves him. Much like Willow maybe there's a lot of kink beneath that sweet and innocent exterior? "Force is ok" Wash likes to watch Zoe bathe, Inarra also does it unabashedly in front of Book, causing him to gawp. Kaylee certainly knows how to eat a strawberry, maybe Inarra taught her how? Zoe says the Reavers will "Rape us to death" if they are boarded. . Notches on the Serenity bedpost; Inarra;1-a paying customer who wishes to make her his kept woman Wash; 1-the missus Zoe; 1-the hubby
Capt subtext; Is it just me or does the Dortmunder resemble the World Trade Centre? The might of 'imperialism' cruising for a fall? I always figured all spaceships were sleek to enable them to perform at least some atmospheric flight but maybe the Dortmunder is like a supertanker, so vast that it never sees port. Some nice kinship between Inarra and Kaylee, they seem tight, Inarra describing her as 'very dear'. Kaylee thinks River is a 'real beauty' and calls her 'sweetie'. Some have argued for an incestuous subtext between Simon and River in the same way people saw it between Spike/his mum, Buffy/Dawn/Joyce, Connor/Cordelia. You can almost see why they'd think that, Simon hugging naked River and the little stroking gesture when he holds her hand but as with the other examples I'm not convinced, I just think they're a very devoted brother and sister (they're all each other have in the world). When Book comments that the Serenity "Doesn't look like much" Kaylee replies that "She'll fool you", are they flirting? Joss comments she's 'Open to everyone'. Mal thinks he's better than Badger and Badger knows it and resents it. Of course Mal also thinks Simon is a better than him 'rich boy' and he resents that, possibly because Simon epitomises the Alliance.
How'd they get away with that? 'Good dogs', funny but hoooooooo! Also Mal shooting the horse! Mal fooling Simon about Kaylee dying is nasty as hell. Zoe, Jayne and Mal open fire on Patience and her gang first with Zoe also shooting the guy in the back as he tries to flee, Jayne threatening Dobson with knife torture and Mal causually gunning him down when the Reavers arrive.
Total Serenity crew; 7(8?) Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Wash, Kaylee, Inarra. Mal invites Simon to join and I guess River comes with him? Book not really part of the team yet.
Subverting the Hollywood cliche; We see Mal go to the bathroom on a spaceship, something only Babylon 5 has shown before. Simon's dramatic, slow motion run to the sick bay (much like Buffy in Becoming) only to find his patitent alive and well. The crew then laugh uproariously at him. The crew doesn't kill the Reavers but are happy enough to simply get away with their lives.
Whedon cliches; (see I spelt it right!); Devoted siblings, haunted charismatic leading man. Teenage girls with superpowers. Hookers. Arguments where everyone talks over one another. Naked girls in boxes (like Darla in Angel) Bondage; The Fed tied up. Knocked out; Book; 1 Simon; 1 Kayleigh; 1 Women good/men bad; Mal's jealous attitude towards Inarra is very nasty, you can see why Joss cast Nathan Fillon as the misogynistic Caleb in the last season of Buffy. Inarra's trick commenting about her speeding up the clock was probably intended as a joke but he instantly realises it was a huge mistake, inadvertently insulting her.
Kills; Mal; 7-presuming the skiff is manned Mal kills at least 3 Alliance soldiers, 2 of Patience's thugs, Dobson and Patience's horse. The way Mal and Jayne dump the body is gruesomely callous but when the Reavers are coming I guess you don't hang about. Zoe; 2-2 off Patience's men, one of whom she shoots in the back. Jayne; 2-the same Happy high-class hookers in Space (the title the porn industry wished they'd thought of!); Prostitution a recurring theme in the Whedonverse, here the nature of ladies (and gentlemen) of the night and their work is explored. Ironically Inarra the high class hooker is considered the one who makes the honest living in the crew, some planet's not even letting a ship dock unless they have companion onboard. Book comes across less refined hookers plying their trade at Eavesdown spacedocks. Mal seems to take perverse delight in teasing Inarra by describing her as a 'whore'. She teases him back saying she gave Simon '... a free thrust'. Mal thinks River is a sex slave Simon is smuggling to the frontier. Know the face? Whedon alumni- Joss likes to reuse the same actors in his series, let's count up their appearances (let me know if I miss any) Nathan Fillon-3; Firefly, Caleb in S7 of Buffy and Dr Horrible Gina Torres-2; Firefly and Jasmine in S4 of Angel Alan Tudyk-2; Firefly and the villainous/heroic(?) Alpha in Dollhouse (haven't seen season 2 so don't spoil it for me) Adam Baldwin-2; Firefly and Marcus Hamilton in S5 of Angel Summer Glau-3; Firefly, Dollhouse and the prima ballerina in the LEGENDARY S4 Angel ep 'Waiting in the wings'. Carlos Jacott-3; The Fed in Firefly, Ken in the 'Anne' ep of Buffy and Richard Straley in 'The Bachelor Party' ep of Angel. Andy Umberger;3-the captain of the Dortmunder in Firefly, D'Hoffryn in Buffy, the psychic surgeon in the Angel ep 'I fall to pieces'. Mark Shepherd;2-Badger in Firefly and later turns up as one of Ballard's FBI colleagues in Dollhouse. Also a BSG alumni. Alliance good or bad?; It says much for the skill of Joss' writing that he could have made the Serenity crew the out and out good guys and the Alliance all bad. But throughout the series we see that actually the order and civilizing influence of the Alliance is very good news for a great many people. Not everyone supports Mal and his crew of outlaws who like the galaxy wild and untamed, resenting that it's "getting awfully crowded in my sky" (one man's freedom another man's anarchy?). Inarra says it best when she declares that Mal likes being 'lost in the woods' whilst Mal's view is that 'goverments are for getting in a man's way'. At the end when they've escaped Mal declares them 'Out of the woods'. In many ways they're like the Roundheads vs the Cavaliers in the War of the Three Kingdoms (modern historians shy away from the term 'English civil war' as it also involved Ireland and Scotland and Britain didn't exist yet), the Confedracy vs Union in the US Civil War and the Republicans vs Nationalists in Spain, one side with the romance and glamour and one side with the might and right. As the end of the battle of Serenity shows romance and glamour are no match for unity of purpose and an overwhelming military-industrial complex. Note the Alliance soldiers wear Nazi stormtrooper style coal-scuttle helmets. Much like Dollhouse or Angel Investigations taking over WR&H in the final season here we have shades of grey. I wonder if Joss ever watched the British sci-fi series Blake's 7 when he lived in the UK? It also has a small band of rebels in a spaceship pursued by an all powerful and authoritarian Terran Federation. Here the Alliance cruiser leaves the Serenity alone in order to rescue the survivors from their fake distress call, a low trick in anyone's book. Badger appears to be dealing in slaves which you would imagine wouldn't happen in Alliance territory (US Civil War again?). The Fed doesn't kill Book or Kaylee even though he has the opportunity and motive too, he even apologises for accidentally shooting her and says he doesn't want to hurt anyone. He seems a good enough guy just doing what he considers a perfectly reasonable job. His argument to Simon about coming back to the Alliance almost seems to persuade him. Even Shepherd is unsure who is right or wrong.
Fanfic; Plenty of stuff showing Zoe and Mal shacking up together during the war before she met Wash
Missing scenes;.
Western cliches; If you're old enough you surely remember the wonderful documentary series 'The American Civil War', the emotive Serenity music strongly resembles it. Mal speaks of the Alliance 'waltzing through serenity valley' much in the same way Sherman went 'marching through Georgia'. Shooting the horse is very Magnificent 7 whilst Zoe's cut down carbine is very Steve McQueen. Firefly speak; Gorram=goddam. Weak tea=not good Back birth=idiot Sticky=corrosive acid Skiff=Alliance attack craft Humped=screwed Companion=high class courtesan Shiny=good Shot; Zoe shot but her body armour takes the hit Mal; 2-shot by Patience offscreen and onscreen. Kaylee;1-shot by Dobson Crew injured; Simon kicked around by everyone, Book bludgeoned.
Reminds me off; Do we need to say 'Millenium Falcon', right down to it's gunslinging captain? (does this mean Jayne is Chewie?) The skiff crashing is very reminiscent of the dropship impacting in Aliens. Speaking of which the whole Firefly idea is very similar to what Joss created in Alien 4 for The Betty, an outdated ship full of outlaws with a glamorous female second in command, River and Jayne strongly resembling Winonna Ryder's and Ron Pearlman's characters. Ripley is a female Mal at the end, having regained her crew, her ship, her little girl and her humanity and finally made it back to Earth (Alien 4 is not a great film but at least rescues the series after the travesty of Alien3, the worst sequal of all time). Interestingly the Firefly set is built upon the one they used for filming Alien 4 and Joss comments that the flightdeck of the ship was modelled on that of the Nostromo from Alien. Wash is very Xander with his battling dinosaurs whilst Kaylee is very Willow/Fred, Joss even describes her as having the Alysson Hannigan quality. Joss describes Jayne as 'the Cordelia' of the group in that he says out loud what everyone is thinking (sorry Adam, I think Charisma is a LOT prettier) The crybaby trick is reminiscent of Sheriden's ruse during the battle of the line in Babylon 5. The ship 'Brutus' at the spacedocks remind anyone else of Colonial One from BSG? Simon remind anyone else of Christian Bale? Simon/River very Buffy/Dawn and 'The Gift' is even mentioned. The Zoe/Mal/Wash relationship somewhat similar to Willow, Xander and Oz/Tara, great asexual love between the first 2 causing a little resentment and tension with the third, romantic partner. The Alliance rather resemble the Initiative from season 4 Buffy. The scene where we think Kayleigh has died is reminiscent of Cordy in 'Lovers Walk'. 'Crazy Ivan' is a term used in 'The Hunt for Red October' (when a Soviet sub circles around to check if it's being followed). Simon says to River 'You're a dummy' just as Willow says to Tara at the end of the S5 Buffy ep 'Family'. Badger checking the slave's teeth may have been taken from Spartacus.
Questions and observations; Note Mal kisses his cross before taking on the skiff. Is that why he shows hostility to Book later over grace, he's lost his faith? Note even Jayne does say grace. Mal seems to resent Simon as a 'rich kid', he's a very working class hero. Simon tells Mal to dope Kaylee which you shouldn't do with a stomach wound but maybe their drugs are more advanced? Who are the underground movement Simon claims helped him free River? Did Jayne free the Fed? The Serenity reminds me not so much of a bug as off a goose. I always thought at the end Wash was giving some sort of weird futuristic thumbs up, hilarious to think he's actually faking steering the ship and in the widescreen we see there's no control there. Mal tries to put his past behind him but still can't give up his resentment against the Alliance, won't beg to work for them. He also resents Inarra, Book and pretty much everyone. In the future they still use platinum for money. Marks out of 10; 7/10, interesting but not brilliant from the beginning by any means
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Hellbound Hyperion
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Post by Hellbound Hyperion on Aug 4, 2010 13:19:48 GMT -5
He mentions this on the commentary, that because it's a sci-fi/Western show he can't avoid using guns. He's still anti-guns, it's just not a point he can make in a show with two genres dominated by guns most of the time.
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Post by joxerlives on Aug 5, 2010 9:37:21 GMT -5
He mentions this on the commentary, that because it's a sci-fi/Western show he can't avoid using guns. He's still anti-guns, it's just not a point he can make in a show with two genres dominated by guns most of the time. Very true, a western without guns is like a medical show without people yelling 'Stat!'. But note Angel and Dollhouse also make increasing use of firearms?
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Hellbound Hyperion
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Post by Hellbound Hyperion on Aug 5, 2010 10:53:31 GMT -5
He mentions this on the commentary, that because it's a sci-fi/Western show he can't avoid using guns. He's still anti-guns, it's just not a point he can make in a show with two genres dominated by guns most of the time. Very true, a western without guns is like a medical show without people yelling 'Stat!'. But note Angel and Dollhouse also make increasing use of firearms? In Angel, Wesley was the one using guns the most; it meshed with his character development. Can't really speak for Dollhouse pre-apocalypse. Generally, Joss won't give his heroes guns unless it would be silly not to, as in Firefly. Remember, Buffy hates using guns, and Angel, Gunn, Fred, etc. were more likely to use crossbows, swords, or axes.
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Post by VampSlayer on Aug 6, 2010 4:41:06 GMT -5
Reading this makes me want to go back, and watch Firefly... Again. This show is so amazing. x.x
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Post by joxerlives on Aug 6, 2010 10:53:26 GMT -5
Hey jump on board, doing The Train Job this weekend
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Post by joxerlives on Aug 7, 2010 13:42:08 GMT -5
The Train Job The good; We see a more moral side to the Serenity crew and love the face-off between Jayne and the other without Mal around.
The bad; The sick bay design is rather stupid, wouldn't you want some privacy rather all those windows for people to see in? No one notices Serenity flying alongside the train?
Best line; Zoe (about to fight the bar thugs); "Jayne?" Jayne (shrugging) "Hey, I didn't fight in no war" plus Zoe; "I have an image of that guy hanging from the ceiling" Mal " I have an image of that guy not being me" and Mal; (of ripping off the Alliance goods) "I would do it for free" Zoe; "Can I have your share?"
Packing heat; I'm reliably informed by the folks on the yuku Xena forums that the sniper rifle Jayne used in Serenity is a Blaser R93. The bar thugs pack a Colt 45, Glock and 44. Automag. The Alliance troops use H&K MP5s and SA80s.
Kinky dinky; Sexy belly dancer.
Notches on the Serenity bedpost; Inarra;1-a paying customer who wishes to make her his kept woman Wash; 1-the missus Zoe; 1-the hubby
Capt subtext; Mal talks of 'being on the edge' then 'moving towards the middle', possibly alluding to the frontier and the central planets. Innara and Kaylee have a big girly hairstroking session (how the Summer's girls on Buffy used to express physical affection for one another). Inarra remarks to Kaylee "We could experiment". Mal seems keen on the idea and refers to Inarra 'servicing the crew' but she dismisses that as his 'lonely pathetic dreams'. Summer points out that Mal=Bad in Latin/French. Mal tells Zoe he loves her but it's all part of their cover(?) How'd they get away with that? People on meathooks, never a good thing. River being experimented on also not good.
Total Serenity crew; 7(8?) River comments of Serenity "This isn't home". Book is now part of the crew with no backstory but still wonders about his role onboard. Jayne doesn't consider Simon or River part of the gang. Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Wash, Kayleigh, Inarra, Book, Simon, River(?).
Subverting the Hollywood cliche;
Whedon cliches; (see I spelt it right!); Devoted siblings, haunted charismatic leading man. Teenage girls with superpowers. Hookers. Babbling insane girls with truth in their madness. Bondage; Knocked out; Jayne by Simon Book; 1 Simon; 1 Kaylee; 1 Jayne;1 Women good/men bad;
Kills; Mal kills Crow and Zoe kills at least 2 of his men Mal; 8- Zoe; 4- Jayne; 2- Happy high-class hookers in Space (the title the porn industry wished they'd thought of!); Kaylee seems fascinated by the details of Inarra's profession. Inarra claims a companion gets to pick and choose her clients which I think is about as realistic and truthful as the Dollhouse staff pretending to themselves that they don't hire the Actives out as sexual submissives. Mal still needles Inarra about her hooking but does so more subtlely and less nastily than he did in 'Serenity'. The nature of the companions work is left very vague here, if you hadn't seen Serenity you wouldn't know exactly what her job is, she could be a beautician. Inarra enjoys turning the tables on Mal, pretending he's her indentured man (some form of community service in the future?). Know the face? Tom Towles plays the thug in the bar, he's also Cooper in the far superior remake of Night of the Living Dead and guest starred in Anthony Head's series VR5 (in which he essentially plays a prototype Giles) Whedon alumni- Joss likes to reuse the same actors in his series, let's count up their appearances (let me know if I miss any) Nathan Fillon-3; Firefly, Caleb in S7 of Buffy and Dr Horrible Gina Torres-2; Firefly and Jasmine in S4 of Angel Alan Tudyk-2; Firefly and the villainous/heroic(?) Alpha in Dollhouse (haven't seen season 2 so don't spoil it for me) Adam Baldwin-2; Firefly and Marcus Hamilton in S5 of Angel Summer Glau-3; Firefly, Dollhouse and the prima ballerina in the LEGENDARY S4 Angel ep 'Waiting in the wings'. Carlos Jacott-3; The Fed in Firefly, Ken in the 'Anne' ep of Buffy and Richard Straley in 'The Bachelor Party' ep of Angel. Andy Umberger;3-the captain of the Dortmunder in Firefly, D'Hoffryn in Buffy, the psychic surgeon in the Angel ep 'I fall to pieces'. Mark Shepherd;2-Badger in Firefly and later turns up as one of Ballard's FBI colleagues in Dollhouse. Also a BSG alumni. Jeff Rickets;3- one of the blue handed men here and Weatherby on Buffy/Angel plus the spiderdemon at the end of Angel season 4 Gregg Henry; 2- he's one of those faces that occur time and again in TV/movies and he later recurrs in the Dollhouse ep 'Ghost', one of my favourite eps of season 1. Alliance good or bad?; Again we see people who are pro-Alliance and not just upper class types like Simon. Here the Alliance provide medecine for needy and as the Sherrif points out they weren't the ones whole stole it.
Fanfic; Interesting ST:TNG fic where Picard learns that the Fedearations use of warp drive is destroying a sentient species who live in subspace. He protests to Starfleet Command but he's then asked what the alternative is, should they give up space travel leaving Starfleet defenseless against the Ferengi/Borg/Romulans? In the end he decides to toe the party line but accepts that the 'Prime directive' is an exercise in hypocrisy. Missing scenes;.
Western cliches; Mal is thrown through the bar window but in the future it's a forcefield. Telegraph poles beside the train track even in a world with inter-stellar travel. Jayne's 'aiming for his head' remark may be a reference to The Magnificent 7. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid/Jesse James also big on train heists (anyone watch the 'Deadliest warriror' showdown where The James Gang goes up against Al Capone? For my money it's James by a mile, he's a trained soldier and a combat veteran whilst Capone probably never faced a target who fought back. Firefly speak; Gorram=goddam. Weak tea=not good Back birth=idiot Companion=high class courtesan Gengish=competent Doh-ma=understand/understood? Rutting=bloody (or perhaps 'fraking'?) Shot; shot by the Fed during the robbery. Mal; 1- Kayleigh;1- Jayne;1- Crew injured;
Reminds me off; Mal refers to 'We'll rise again' which relates to the Confedracy in US Civil War. Does anyone else expect Niska to tell a story about Meerkats and try and sell Mal cheaper car insurance? (if you're a Brit you'll understand that, if you're not don't worry about it). The town of Paradiso may refer to the old Western series 'Paradise'. Crazy genius River is very Drusilla/Pylea Fred, drugged Jayne reminiscent of AI in 'Spin the Bottle'. Wash's Hawaiin shirt is very Xander especially the one he lent to Spike in the season 4 ep Doomed. The 'we're not going' remark is reminiscent of Aliens where Ripley goes to rescue Newt. Joss in his commentary draws comparison from Mal to Angel. Of course the Alliance remind you off Starship Troopers but then Joss explains why on the commentary. Questions and observations; We now know the war ended 6 years ago. Inarra has been on the ship 8 months. Here we have a much more upbeat, likeable Mal, perhaps the events of Serenity mellowed him? He even says 'It's the right thing to do'. Book refers to the 'Fuzzy wuzzies' referring to Kiplings poems concerning the Sudan campaign Britain fought against Islamic fundamentalists in C19th (and we're still doing it today!). What is the chain of command on Serenity? It seems to go Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Wash, after that anyone's guess. Note Mal doesn't kill the Fed on the train, just knocks him out. Joss refers to Inarra and Mal as Beatrice and Benedict from 'Much ado about nothing', check out the Kenneth Branagh version for the Beatrice and the Duke (Denzel Washington) proposal scene alone. Joss refers to Firefly as Star Trek;TNG dark underbelly, much as what was explored in DS;9. Marks out of 10; 5 out of ten, nowhere near as good as Serenity, not a bad ep in itself but feels cheap in comparison to it's predecessor, like Charmed to Buffy.
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Post by joxerlives on Aug 9, 2010 11:19:27 GMT -5
Bushwhacked
The good; Clever of Mal when he's asked about the brother and sister he replies 'There are no children on this boat', exactly what you'd immediately think if someone referred to siblings. Good interrogation scenes, especially Jayne's and some tense stuff with the bomb defusal, very Juggernaut. Love River's delighted reaction to seeing the stars.
The bad; Zoe comments that there were no signs of a struggle but surely the crew would have fought to the death against the Reavers? Why didn't the Reavers eat the bodies if they're cannibals? Best line; Commander; "You fought with the Captain during the war?" Zoe; "I fought with a lot of people Commander; "What about your husband?" Zoe; "I fight with him too" Packing heat; Would conventional guns work in a vaccum? Maybe if they had futuristic ammo? The Alliance Commander packs a Barretta pistol when boarding Serenity. His troopers seem very impressed with Jayne's private arsenal, presumably the NRA sided with the Alliance as there seem to be no gun laws in the future.
Kinky dinky; Sweaty cast playing a variation of basketball, Zoe's top especially revealing. Wash goes enthusiastically into detail about Zoe's amazing legs and 'what's above them'.
Notches on the Serenity bedpost; Inarra;1-a paying customer who wishes to make her his kept woman Wash; 1-the missus Zoe; 1-the hubby
Capt subtext; Inarra comments 'We're all running away from something'. She calls River 'sweetie' much as Kaylee does. Kaylee is very defensive of the Serenity, perhaps she identifies with the ship as herself. How'd they get away with that? Corpses bouncing off the windshield. The suit scene once again demonstrates the crew's rather cruel sense of humour. Self mutilating psychotic survivors.
Total Serenity crew; 7(8?) Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Wash, Kayleigh, Inarra, Book, Simon, River(?).
Subverting the Hollywood cliche; Mal punches the survivor. When the Alliance show up the crew bravely give up without a fight.
Whedon cliches; (see I spelt it right!); Devoted siblings, haunted charismatic leading man. Teenage girls with superpowers. Hookers. Babbling insane girls with truth in their madness. Bondage; Mal placed in handcuffs by Alliance Mal; 1 Knocked out; Book; 1 Simon; 1 Kaylee; 1 Jayne;1 Women good/men bad; Zoe tells Jayne to shut up or he'll scare the women.
Kills; Mal; 9-Mal kills the survivor Zoe; 4- Jayne; 2- Happy high-class hookers in Space (the title the porn industry wished they'd thought of!); Once again Inarra is the one with the respectable job, the Alliance commander not able to believe she's associating with this of bunch of lowlives. Know the face? Doug Savant of course is Tom Scavo in Desperate Housewives, a show Nathon Fillon, Julie Benz and many other Whedon alumni guest star on. I keep expecting Lynette to show up and remind him to pick up the kids. He's also one of the soldiers in Godzilla. Whedon alumni- Joss likes to reuse the same actors in his series, let's count up their appearances (let me know if I miss any) Nathan Fillon-3; Firefly, Caleb in S7 of Buffy and Dr Horrible Gina Torres-2; Firefly and Jasmine in S4 of Angel Alan Tudyk-2; Firefly and the villainous/heroic(?) Alpha in Dollhouse (haven't seen season 2 so don't spoil it for me) Adam Baldwin-2; Firefly and Marcus Hamilton in S5 of Angel Summer Glau-3; Firefly, Dollhouse and the prima ballerina in the LEGENDARY S4 Angel ep 'Waiting in the wings'. Carlos Jacott-3; The Fed in Firefly, Ken in the 'Anne' ep of Buffy and Richard Straley in 'The Bachelor Party' ep of Angel. Andy Umberger;3-the captain of the Dortmunder in Firefly, D'Hoffryn in Buffy, the psychic surgeon in the Angel ep 'I fall to pieces'. Mark Shepherd;2-Badger in Firefly and later turns up as one of Ballard's FBI colleagues in Dollhouse. Also a BSG alumni. Jeff Rickets;3- one of the blue handed men in Firefly and Weatherby on Buffy/Angel plus the spiderdemon at the end of Angel season 4 Gregg Henry; 2- he's one of those faces that occur time and again in TV/movies, the Sherrif in The Train Job and he later recurrs in the Dollhouse ep 'Ghost', one of my favourite eps of season 1. Alliance good or bad?; Mal mocks the idea of the Alliance turning up to rescue their taxpayers whereupon they do exactly that. The Commander has seen torture during the war, by the Alliance to the Browncoats or vice versa? He comments that 'For some the war will never be over', does he mean for him or for Mal? He shows genuine concern for the dead passengers and when the pseudo-Reaver breaks free his first act is for a guard to be placed on the ships nursery. He leads the Alliance team onto the Serenity himself. In the end he lets them all go.
Fanfic; Missing scenes;.
Western cliches;. The term bushwhacked and bushwhacker comes from the US Civil War where both sides sponsored bands of guerillas to operate behind their opponent's lines. In reality these were little more than state sponsored brigands, the movies 'Ride with the Devil' and 'The Outlaw Josey Wales' giving a good idea of their actions. The most famous of all was Jesse James, a former bushwhacker who became a robber and outlaw because he couldn't accept the war was over, just as the Alliance Commander accuses Mal of doing here. Firefly speak; Gorram=goddam. Weak tea=not good Back birth=idiot Companion=high class courtesan Gengish=competent Doh-ma=understand/understood? Rutting=bloody (or perhaps 'fraking'?) Chin-cha-da=hell Purple belly=officious bureaucrat Ta-gow=Oh god! Shot; . Mal; 1- Kayleigh;1- Jayne;1- Crew injured;
Reminds me off; The ghost ship is very Marie Celeste with hints of Alien and 2010 (especially the way it spins). How they find the survivor is very similar to the marines discovering Newt in Aliens. Jayne's description of his unseen attacker as 'big, strong' recalls the commandos describing Buffy after she rescues Willow in the s4 ep 'The Initiative'. Mal's talk of the darkness is similar to Nietschze's observation that if you stare into the abyss for long enough it stares back into you. The booby trap reminds me of an effect from Babylon 5, something the Drakh would use. Questions and observations; I somehow feel the red balloon they find on the ship has some significance but I just can't think what? According to the Commander there are 40,000 Firefly type craft in the galaxy. It's been 4 months since The Train Job as Inarra says she's now been with the crew nearly a year. Exactly why does the Commander want to know the details of Zoe and Wash's marriage? Three eps in we have yet to see a real Reaver although here we get a glimpse of a pseudo one. How intelligent are they? They can operate spaceships and leave a boobytrap so they must have some sentience? Marks out of 10; 7/10, interesting
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Hellbound Hyperion
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Post by Hellbound Hyperion on Aug 9, 2010 12:03:05 GMT -5
They're not cannibals per se. The guy you see in Bushwhacked is pretty much what a Reaver is. There's more details about them in Serenity (the film), the show doesn't give away much about them beyond this episode and the description Zoe gives in Serenity (the pilot episode).
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Post by joxerlives on Aug 10, 2010 10:29:25 GMT -5
Shindig
The good; Kaylee is the belle of the ball and isn't she WONDERFUL! Mal swordfighting and lots of good stuff with Badger, especially his conversation with River. Adore Mal's looks of amazement as Jayne knows what 'pretentious' means. The bad; The cows in the final scene are amazingly quiet whilst Mal and Inara are talking. Best line; Kaylee; "Great party, huh?" Debutante; "Not as good as last year" Kaylee; "Why, what did they have last year?" Debutante; (looking Kaylee up and down) "Standards" To quote Cameron on The Sarah Connor Chronicles 'Bitchwhore much?" Also like; Kaylee; "Maybe that's him over there?" Mal; "That's the buffet table" Kaylee; (hungrily) "How will we know if we don't ask?" Packing heat; Swords this time. Badger's men use an MP40 Schmeisser, an Uzi and an AK-47, the guest at the party seems to have a Colt .32 pocket pistol. Jayne packs what looks like a Mossberg shotgun on the Serenity. Kinky dinky; Naked Wash and Zoe get it on again, Zoe complimenting Wash that he 'knows all the steps'. Inarra's outfit at the party is also quite something. Kaylee comments that Mal's outfit shows off his backside and Inara subsequently spanks it with her sword. Notches on the Serenity bedpost; Inara is hired for the evening but we've no idea if they have sex or not so I'll put him down as a possible. Inarra;1-a paying customer who wishes to make her his kept woman, 1 possible, Atherton. Wash; 1-the missus Zoe; 1-the hubby
Capt subtext; Wash jokingly refers to 'jealous men like me' regarding Zoe but is he really joking or sending Mal a not so subtle message? When Kaylee says 'Look at the pretties' Mal asks if she means the girls or the clothes? Mal and Jayne snigger as Badger implies he has his hands on some diamond testicles. Mal observes Atherton is such a catch 'I'm liable to sleep with him myself'. How'd they get away with that? Mal gratuitously stabbing Atherton after he's defeated him in the duel. Mal's remark comparing Kaylee to a sheep dancing on it's hind legs is INCREDIBLY insensitive, Jayne's gynacologist joke in the ep Serenity is less offensive.
Total Serenity crew; 8(9?) Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Wash, Kaylee, Inarra, Book, Simon, River(?).
Subverting the Hollywood cliche; After sex it's Zoe who wants to sleep and Wash to stay awake. When Mal claims he cannot run Inara correctly points out that he runs away all the time. Mal is far from stoic when complaining about his wounds later. Whedon cliches; (see I spelt it right!); Devoted siblings, haunted charismatic leading man. Teenage girls with superpowers. Hookers. Babbling insane girls with truth in their madness. Fake cockneys. Bondage; Mal; 1 Knocked out; Book; 1 Simon; 1 Kaylee; 1 Jayne;1 Women good/men bad; It's not enough for Atherton to simply hire Inara for her charms he wants to own her completely and deny her to other men, like she's some form of possession. Kills; Mal; 9- Zoe; 4- Jayne; 2- Happy high-class hookers in Space (the title the porn industry wished they'd thought of!); Inara greets several other companions at the party. They are used by rich men as status symbols, who has the best one get's the most kudos. At the end she freezes him out, no other companion will now work for him after how he's treated her. Mal refers to the companion training school as a whore academy (jeez the man has NO CLUE!) Know the face? Larry Drake is familar to 80s TV viewers as Benny in LA Law, the nicest man in the world and to horror fans from Darkman and Dr Giggles where he plays the nastiest men in the world. He also stars with Whedon alumnis Alyssin Hannigan in American Pie 2 and Amber Benson in the dreadful B-movie Gryphon. Whedon alumni- Joss likes to reuse the same actors in his series, let's count up their appearances (let me know if I miss any) Nathan Fillon-3; Firefly, Caleb in S7 of Buffy and Dr Horrible Gina Torres-2; Firefly and Jasmine in S4 of Angel Alan Tudyk-2; Firefly and the villainous/heroic(?) Alpha in Dollhouse (haven't seen season 2 so don't spoil it for me) Adam Baldwin-2; Firefly and Marcus Hamilton in S5 of Angel Summer Glau-3; Firefly, Dollhouse and the prima ballerina in the LEGENDARY S4 Angel ep 'Waiting in the wings'. Carlos Jacott-3; The Fed in Firefly, Ken in the 'Anne' ep of Buffy and Richard Straley in 'The Bachelor Party' ep of Angel. Andy Umberger;3-the captain of the Dortmunder in Firefly, D'Hoffryn in Buffy, the psychic surgeon in the Angel ep 'I fall to pieces'. Mark Shepherd;2-Badger in Firefly and later turns up as one of Ballard's FBI colleagues in Dollhouse. Also a BSG alumni. Jeff Rickets;3- one of the blue handed men in Firefly and Weatherby on Buffy/Angel plus the spiderdemon at the end of Angel season 4 Gregg Henry; 2- he's one of those faces that occur time and again in TV/movies, the Sherrif in The Train Job and he later recurrs in the Dollhouse ep 'Ghost', one of my favourite eps of season 1. Alliance good or bad?; Would the Alliance allow slavery (or dueling?) on their worlds? Or are they like the Union forces in the American Civil War/British Empire in the 18/19th century, abolishing it wherever they go? Fanfic; Mal and Inara getting together after this ep is common but a sizeable minority like to pair her up with Atherton, presumably the same folks who think Kate Winslet should have stuck with Billy Zane in Titanic (Mae West's quote of wanting a man who's "handsome, rich and cruel" springs to mind") If you like things a LOT more adult there's also one where Kaylee's admirers invite her to an after hours party and then indulge in group sex with her, more or less consensually (ie she starts off as less but ends up as more). Missing scenes;. Reputedly there was a scene where we see Mal unload the walking arsenal he carries in his pockets before entering the ballroom plus a derringer he has Kaylee carrying for him in her stockings tops. Also a scene where we Larry Drake's character and Badger fall out and Inara gossiping with her fellow companions at the dance.
Western cliches; Nice in a western series to finally have the Serenity with a hold full of cattle, once again food is one of the most precious commodities in the Fireflyverse, especially some good steak as Jayne observes earlier in the episode. Firefly speak; Gorram=goddam. Weak tea=not good Back birth=idiot Companion=high class courtesan Gengish=competent Doh-ma=understand/understood? Rutting=bloody (or perhaps 'fraking'?) Chin-cha-da=hell Purple belly=officious bureaucrat Ta-gow=Oh god! Won-gwa-pee= to urinate or defecate Gosa=excrement Shot; . Mal; 1- Kayleigh;1- Jayne;1- Crew injured; Mal pretty badly sliced up in the duel at the end. Reminds me off; Deranged River talking in her faux cockney accent is VERY Drusilla indeed. Inara the high class lady of the night is very Darla and her love/hate relationship with brooding hero Mal somewhat akin to Darla and Angel. Mal's hatred of slavery is reminiscent of Han Solo. The bitchy girls at the party are awfully like the Cordettes on Buffy. Kaylee's hilarious expression as Mal tells her that he has a job for her is very like Willow's when Riley's wife Sam makes suggestions for Xander's wedding in the s6 Buffy ep 'As you were'. Wash is a bad poet, much like Spike and not really an action man as with Xander. Jane comments that the Serenity crew are the misfits who don't fit in much like the Scoobs at Sunnydale High. Kaylee's rescuer at the party does indeed remind me of an older Clark Gable as the commentary observes but also of Dr Huer from the old Buck Rogers TV series. Questions and observations; They still have the peerage system in the future. Unfortunately they've also got slavery too, even on a fairly civilized world like Persephone . 'Magic' Jane Espenson, hooray! Inara seems to have a thing about slumming, she really is out of place in the Firefly crew and certainly in the bar Mal and Jayne take her to. More social climbing by Badger but he's useless at it, crustless sandwiches (cucumber?) mixed with wood alcohol hooch, no wonder he needed Mal to be the middleman for him in the deal, at least he can fake class convincingly. Kaylee's surname is Lee Fry. She once again shows her love of fruit, both mangoes and strawberries as does Badger who's at the apples again. Zoe's remark about Jayne slitting her throat and taking over the ship again suggests he's the unofficial 3rd in command. However he wants to rescue Mal when Badger comes to the ship. Mal is in many ways too honest and honourable for the criminal world, he's probably more like the Alliance than he cares to admit but can't stand submitting to their authority. Marks out of 10; 7/10 pretty good .
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Post by joxerlives on Aug 13, 2010 5:52:53 GMT -5
Safe
The good; River dancing is just wonderful as is Simon's happiness at it. The scene where the rest of the crew rescue them is terrific as is Jayne looting their stuff. The bad; Can someone please explain to me exactly when the hillbillies work out that Simon is a doctor? Also what sort of supplies do they have for him to work with? Best line; Jayne; (pretending to read Simon's diary) "Dear diary, today I was pompus and my sister acted crazy" Packing heat; Everyone's guns sound very different in this ep, more zingy and less like conventional firearms. The villains/cops 6-shooters also seem to hold an inordinate number of rounds. The lead cop packs a 44. Magnum. Mal and Jayne use Mossberg shotguns and Zoe utilises a full size Winchester rifle rather than her normal cutdown version. Kinky dinky; Kaylee wants to bite Simon all over? Jayne seems to derive pleasure from having watched the cows being fed by beautiful women (presumably Kaylee and Zoe rather than Inara and River?) Notches on the Serenity bedpost; Inarra;1-a paying customer who wishes to make her his kept woman, 1 possible, Atherton. Wash; 1-the missus Zoe; 1-the hubby
Capt subtext; Is Kaylee the duck and Inara the swan? How'd they get away with that? Skinning the hare is nasty but makes it's point. Burning witches at the stake.
Total Serenity crew; 9 Simon and River's status onboard confirmed Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Wash, Kaylee, Inarra, Book, Simon, River(?).
Subverting the Hollywood cliche; Clever mislead, we think the hillbillies are savages but actually they're just desperate people who need a doctor. Whedon cliches; (see I spelt it right!); Devoted siblings, haunted charismatic leading man. Teenage girls with superpowers. Hookers. Babbling insane girls with truth in their madness. Fake cockneys. Misguided religious zealots. Numbered t-shirts. Bondage; River tied to a stake Mal; 1 River; 1 Knocked out; Book goes unconscious after being shot Book; 2 Simon; 1 Kaylee; 1 Jayne;1 Women good/men bad; Kills; Mal; 9- Zoe; 4- Jayne; 2- Happy high-class hookers in Space (the title the porn industry wished they'd thought of!); Know the face? High School Musical star Zac Efron as young Simon, he'll later star in '17 Again' with Whedon alumni Michelle Tractenberg. Whedon alumni- Joss likes to reuse the same actors in his series, let's count up their appearances (let me know if I miss any) Nathan Fillon-3; Firefly, Caleb in S7 of Buffy and Dr Horrible Gina Torres-2; Firefly and Jasmine in S4 of Angel Alan Tudyk-2; Firefly and the villainous/heroic(?) Alpha in Dollhouse (haven't seen season 2 so don't spoil it for me) Adam Baldwin-2; Firefly and Marcus Hamilton in S5 of Angel Summer Glau-3; Firefly, Dollhouse and the prima ballerina in the LEGENDARY S4 Angel ep 'Waiting in the wings'. Carlos Jacott-3; The Fed in Firefly, Ken in the 'Anne' ep of Buffy and Richard Straley in 'The Bachelor Party' ep of Angel. Andy Umberger;3-the captain of the Dortmunder in Firefly, D'Hoffryn in Buffy, the psychic surgeon in the Angel ep 'I fall to pieces'. Mark Shepherd;2-Badger in Firefly and later turns up as one of Ballard's FBI colleagues in Dollhouse. Also a BSG alumni. Jeff Rickets;3- one of the blue handed men in Firefly and Weatherby on Buffy/Angel plus the spiderdemon at the end of Angel season 4 Gregg Henry; 2- he's one of those faces that occur time and again in TV/movies, the Sherrif in The Train Job and he later recurrs in the Dollhouse ep 'Ghost', one of my favourite eps of season 1. Alliance good or bad?; Mal runs to the Alliance in order to save Book, how that must choke him! They seem reluctant to provide but don't say no outright. Then our Shepherd slips them an ID card? Hmmmmm. Fanfic; Missing scenes; Reputedly scenes where the Alliance question the Tam's parents after Simon rescues River, River reading Ruby's mind and seeing her tragic story plus paying Badger his share, his hoodlums unable to believe that Mal doesn't try to rip them off, much to Badger's chagrin at Mal's moral superiority again. Western cliches; Hillbillies kidnapping folk. Zoe actually shoots the gun out of one of the bad guy's hand. Firefly speak; Gorram=goddam. Weak tea=not good Back birth=idiot Companion=high class courtesan Gengish=competent Doh-ma=understand/understood? Rutting=bloody (or perhaps 'fraking'?) Chin-cha-da=hell Purple belly=officious bureaucrat Ta-gow=Oh god! Won-gwa-pee= to urinate or defecate Gosa=excrement Tien-sha-duh=rubbish Los-soh-ret=crap Dien-dyododo-chowen=bastard Wah=what the hell? Mah song=quickly Jin-seen-yung=idiot Shot; .Book shot during a the gunfight with the cattle Mal; 1- Kayleigh;1- Jayne;1- Book;1- Crew injured; Simon knocked around yet again, he seems to be everyone's punching bag. Reminds me off; River on the pyre reminds of Buffy, Willow and Amy tied to the stake and almost burnt as witches by M.O.O Questions and observations; So, what is Book's past and why do the Alliance treat him like a VIP once he identifies himself? Is he a former Alliance General guilt-ridden by his role during the war? A former spy who sold out the Independents? A scientist who carried out experiments like those conducted on River? Mal finally makes a deal and actually earns some more or less honest money from it. Presumably this pays for the slap up meal the crew enjoy at the end of the ep. Mal asks why things never go smooth for them, once again we see that he's not really suited to a life of crime. As we suspected River and Simon were pro-Alliance before River's ordeal, casting the Browncoats as the enemy in their games. The locals describe the Serenity as a fancy vessel, would do Kaylee's heart good to hear that but it really underlines how remote and backward they are if they think that. This ep is set 3 weeks after the last so a planet 3 weeks travel from Persephone must be remote indeed. Jayne enjoys smacking the cows around? Once again father's get a hard time in the Whedonverse although the Tam's parents seem nice enough folks. Marks out of 10; 7/10, nothing very startling here, nice to have River and Simon confirmed as part of the crew and I like the dance scene
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Post by joxerlives on Aug 14, 2010 10:20:30 GMT -5
Our Mrs Reynolds
The good; The Mal/Jayne exchange on the wagon cracks me up every time. Some great acting by Christina Hendricks and the scene where everyone stands around judging Mal upon meeting his bride is hilarious. Some nice tension too as they ingeniously slip the net.
The bad; ?
Best line; Mal; "How drunk was I last night?" Jayne; "I don't know I passed out" plus Mal; "You've the same right as anyone to live and kill people"
Packing heat; One of the bandits appears to pack a Springfield rifle. Jayne shows Mal 'Vera', his 'Callahan full bore autolock assault rifle' which needs oxygen to work. I must say I was totally fooled by this scene, I knew Jayne wasn't threatening Mal but I thought he was actually giving the gun to him as a wedding present.
Kinky dinky; Mal cross dresses. The bandit leader demands 'one on one time' with Jayne's missus. Zoe refers to Saffron as Mal's 'nubile slave girl'. When Mal finds a naked Saffron in his bed she declares she's 'made herself ready for him', she started without him? She 'swells to think of you in me' as indeed does he. It's been a 'long while' for Mal. Wash likes forward women. Jayne never kisses his women on the mouth. Another thank you kiss from Mal to Kaylee.
Notches on the Serenity bedpost; incredibly Mal resists
Inarra;1-a paying customer who wishes to make her his kept woman, 1 possible, Atherton. Wash; 1-the missus Zoe; 1-the hubby
Capt subtext; Obvious jealousy from Inara, the only other member of the crew who's not laughing at all this. Also jealousy from Zoe, maybe over Mal but also over Wash seeming to like Saffron. Note her pride later when she learns that Wash resisted and stayed true to her. Kaylees's the only one who doesn't feel jealous, she feels for a crying Saffron describing Mal as a monster for upsetting her. Huge battle of seduction between Inara and Saffron but who's conning who? Like all straight men Mal loves the idea of two women together, thinking that Inara kissed Saffron rather than him.
How'd they get away with that?
. Total Serenity crew; 9 Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Wash, Kaylee, Inarra, Book, Simon, River
Subverting the Hollywood cliche;
Whedon cliches; Devoted siblings, haunted charismatic leading man. Teenage girls with superpowers. Hookers. Babbling insane girls with truth in their madness. Fake cockneys. Misguided religious zealots. Numbered t-shirts. Girls with botanical names (Willow, Saffron, Jasmine). Absent fathers, Mal raised by his mother and 40 ranch hands. Bondage; Mal; 1 River; 1
Knocked out; Mal by the goodnight kiss, Inara by a secondhand goodnight kiss, Wash the old fashioned way Book; 2 Simon; 1 Kaylee; 1 Jayne;1 Mal; 1 Wash; 1 Inara; 1
Women good/men bad; If Saffron is to be believed girls on the backward planet are kept in a 'maiden's home' and given away in arranged marriages. Mal decares Saffron 'No one's property'. Zoe takes exception to the idea that she might cook for Wash.
Kills; Mal, Zoe and Jayne kill 2 of the bandits each. Jayne kills 2 of the wreckers. Mal; 11- Zoe; 6- Jayne; 6-
Happy high-class hookers in Space; Saffron refuses to be a 'doxy' and expresses contempt for them. Mal never beats around the bush and refers to it as 'whoring'. Inara actually thinks the arranged marriage is degrading. Also she reveals her speciality is washing her client's feet.
Know the face?
Whedon alumni- Joss likes to reuse the same actors in his series, let's count up their appearances (let me know if I miss any) Nathan Fillon-3; Firefly, Caleb in S7 of Buffy and Dr Horrible Gina Torres-2; Firefly and Jasmine in S4 of Angel Alan Tudyk-2; Firefly and the villainous/heroic(?) Alpha in Dollhouse (haven't seen season 2 so don't spoil it for me) Adam Baldwin-2; Firefly and Marcus Hamilton in S5 of Angel Summer Glau-3; Firefly, Dollhouse and the prima ballerina in the LEGENDARY S4 Angel ep 'Waiting in the wings'. Carlos Jacott-3; The Fed in Firefly, Ken in the 'Anne' ep of Buffy and Richard Straley in 'The Bachelor Party' ep of Angel. Andy Umberger;3-the captain of the Dortmunder in Firefly, D'Hoffryn in Buffy, the psychic surgeon in the Angel ep 'I fall to pieces'. Mark Shepherd;2-Badger in Firefly and later turns up as one of Ballard's FBI colleagues in Dollhouse. Also a BSG alumni. Jeff Rickets;3- one of the blue handed men in Firefly and Weatherby on Buffy/Angel plus the spiderdemon at the end of Angel season 4 Gregg Henry; 2- he's one of those faces that occur time and again in TV/movies, the Sherrif in The Train Job and he later recurrs in the Dollhouse ep 'Ghost', one of my favourite eps of season 1. Christina Hendricks; 2-Saffron in Firefly and a bar maid in the Angel ep 'The Prodigal'. She'll later star in Mad Men with Whedonverse alumni Vincent Kartheiser.
Alliance good or bad?; One of the bandits they kill is the wayward nephew of a senior alliance member. Mal&co probably wouldn't be in trouble but with Simon and River on board they don't want to chance it so don't hang around.
Fanfic; Plenty where Saffron seduces Mal, Inara and any and all of the entire crew. The adventures of Mr and Mrs Reynolds also popular.
Missing scenes;
Western cliches; Settlers in gingham dresses that would look apt in Oklahoma. Mal's mum owned a ranch, he really was a cowboy.
Firefly speak; Gorram=goddam. Weak tea=not good Back birth=idiot Companion=high class courtesan Gengish=competent Doh-ma=understand/understood? Rutting=bloody (or perhaps 'fraking'?) Chin-cha-da=hell Purple belly=officious bureaucrat Ta-gow=Oh god! Won-gwa-pee= to urinate or defecate Gosa=excrement Tien-sha-duh=rubbish Los-soh-ret=crap Dien-dyododo-chowen=bastard Wah=what the hell? Mah song=quickly Jin-seen-yung=idiot Nu-shu-quong=nice going
Shot; . Mal; 1- Kaylee;1- Jayne;1- Book;1-
Crew injured; Wash gets a nasty old crack on the skull. Amazingly no one hits Simon for once.
Reminds me off; Here we see the gang as hired guns running bandits off a small town, much like the Magnificent 7 (or The A-team?). Saffron uses the term 'doxy' which I've only ever heard used before by Wes on Angel about Cordelia and her friends. Wash's story of geese juggling reminds me a little of Steve Martin's film The Jerk. The wreckers are very Jamaica Inn/The Fog. Mal's assertion that he beats Saffron because of his loyal crew of friends is very like Angel to Marcus in Carpe Noctem and Spike's definition of why Buffy always triumphs.
Questions and observations; The opening dirge is very Xena. We see the friendship between Mal and Jayne developing to a great degree, they seem more like buddies in this ep than before. Is Bau a real dish? We learn a little more about Mal, he's from the planet Shadow. The way the wreckers refer to the Firefly she sounds like the Volkswagon Beetle of spaceships. Note Saffron seduces Mal not with her body so much as flattering him for his morality. Inara pretty handy in a fight, maybe they teach more than footwashing at the academy. Why don't they all just pile into Inara's shuttle when they're being lured into the net? Or if they depressurise the cargo bay wouldn't it alter their course? Presumably the suit keeps pumping oxygen in when the visor is shattered allowing Vera to still function in a vaccum. Very little River in this ep, does she even have any lines? . Marks out of 10; 8 bordering on a 9, really good, up there with Serenity as the best ep so far, funny, thrilling and some great character moments, really like Saffron and I hope we might see her again, I hope the rest of the series is this good.
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Hellbound Hyperion
Bad Ass Wicca
$20 per soul, no refunds[/B]
Dude, you just rescued a puppy![Mo0:18]
Posts: 2,268
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Post by Hellbound Hyperion on Aug 14, 2010 15:49:26 GMT -5
They do. Remember Shindig? She's a trained sword fighter as well.
Because the shuttle is on the ship, and launching it would only delay the inevitable.
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Post by joxerlives on Aug 15, 2010 12:07:26 GMT -5
JAYNESTOWN
The good; The bit where the gang see Jayne's statue alone had me laughing out loud, then the song is even better. Inara's confusion over her client referring to Jayne but she thinks it's Mal is also hilarious. The River/Book scenes where she tries to correct the bible are terrific. Also love the bit where Zoe welcomes her boys home and her faked adulation of Jayne once she hears the story.
The bad; Handing Stitch the loaded gun is deeply stupid, no matter what the magistrate's motivation. What IS the cargo they pick up? Stitch fires a shot in the air when we first see him confront Jayne but doesn't work the action and eject the spent cartridge until he shoots the mudder, he actually threatens Mal with an empty gun.
Best line; Kaylee (to Inara who's off to see a client) "Have good sex!" also like; Simon; (upon learning of Jayne's folk hero status) "This must be what going mad feels like" upon hearing the Jayne song; "No, THIS must be what going mad feels like" plus Wash; "Let's go to the crappy town where I'M a hero" and; River (to Book whilst correcting the Bible); "Just keep walking preacher man!"
Packing heat; I'm informed that Zoe's cut down carbine is referred to as a 'mare's leg', possibly because of it's kick? Stitch has a sawn-off Remmington shotgun.
Kinky dinky; Simon finally tells Kaylee that she's pretty and they get all snuggly over 'mudders milk' (nice pun).
Notches on the Serenity bedpost; Jayne possibly sleeps with the barmaid but unconfirmed. Inara has another paying customer.
Inarra;2- 2 paying customers, 1 possible, Atherton. Wash; 1-the missus Zoe; 1-the hubby Jayne; 1 possible, Jaynestown groupie.
Capt subtext; I thought that the toppling of the Jayne statue was actually a comment about the similar destruction of Saddams statue during the liberation of Iraq but that actually happened afterwards (much as The Initiative on Buffy was very Guantanamo Bay but also occured beforehand)
Total Serenity crew; 9 Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Wash, Kaylee, Inarra, Book, Simon, River
Subverting the Hollywood cliche; Big tough Jayne whimpers as he pulls the surgical tape off his skin
Whedon cliches; Devoted siblings, haunted charismatic leading man. Teenage girls with superpowers. Hookers. Babbling insane girls with truth in their madness. Fake cockneys. Misguided religious zealots. Numbered t-shirts. Girls with botanical names (Willow, Saffron, Jasmine). Absent/overbearing fathers.
Bondage; Mal; 1 River; 1
Knocked out; Book; 2 Simon; 1 Kaylee; 1 Jayne;1 Mal; 1 Wash; 1 Inara; 1
Women good/men bad; Really like Inara's 'what makes a man' speech to her client. Not so fond of Jayne casually tossing his groupie aside the next morning with only a goodbye spank of her ass.
Kills; Jayne kills Stitch Mal; 11- Zoe; 6- Jayne; 7-
Happy high-class hookers in Space; Inara kisses on the mouth. Her guild gives her enough leeway to reject her clients father if she'd wished to but she seems genuinely fond of the son. Ceremony plays an almost more important part for her in her work than the sex.
Know the face? Kevin Gage who plays Stitch essentially recreates his role of the odious Waingrow in the wonderful Michael Mann film 'Heat', best cops and robbers story off all time.
Whedon alumni- Joss likes to reuse the same actors in his series, let's count up their appearances (let me know if I miss any) Nathan Fillon-3; Firefly, Caleb in S7 of Buffy and Dr Horrible Gina Torres-2; Firefly and Jasmine in S4 of Angel Alan Tudyk-2; Firefly and the villainous/heroic(?) Alpha in Dollhouse (haven't seen season 2 so don't spoil it for me) Adam Baldwin-2; Firefly and Marcus Hamilton in S5 of Angel Summer Glau-3; Firefly, Dollhouse and the prima ballerina in the LEGENDARY S4 Angel ep 'Waiting in the wings'. Carlos Jacott-3; The Fed in Firefly, Ken in the 'Anne' ep of Buffy and Richard Straley in 'The Bachelor Party' ep of Angel. Andy Umberger;3-the captain of the Dortmunder in Firefly, D'Hoffryn in Buffy, the psychic surgeon in the Angel ep 'I fall to pieces'. Mark Shepherd;2-Badger in Firefly and later turns up as one of Ballard's FBI colleagues in Dollhouse. Also a BSG alumni. Jeff Rickets;3- one of the blue handed men in Firefly and Weatherby on Buffy/Angel plus the spiderdemon at the end of Angel season 4 Gregg Henry; 2- he's one of those faces that occur time and again in TV/movies, the Sherrif in The Train Job and he later recurrs in the Dollhouse ep 'Ghost', one of my favourite eps of season 1. Christina Hendricks; 2-Saffron in Firefly and a bar maid in the Angel ep 'The Prodigal'. She'll later star in Mad Men with Whedonverse alumni Vincent Kartheiser. Jack Jabaley; 2-the bartender here and Xander's friend Tito the Plumber from Buffy.
Firefly speak; Gorram=goddam. Weak tea=not good Back birth=idiot Companion=high class courtesan Gengish=competent Doh-ma=understand/understood? Rutting=bloody (or perhaps 'fraking'?) Chin-cha-da=hell Purple belly=officious bureaucrat Ta-gow=Oh god! Won-gwa-pee= to urinate or defecate Gosa=excrement Tien-sha-duh=rubbish Los-soh-ret=crap Dien-dyododo-chowen=bastard Wah=what the hell? Mah song=quickly Jin-seen-yung=idiot Nu-shu-quong=nice going
Shot; . Mal; 1- Kaylee;1- Jayne;1- Book;1-
Crew injured; Simon gets roughed up AGAIN! He's beginning to remind me of Joxer the Mighty. As Kaylee observes "You got to be steeley, can't let men be stomping in you so much"
Reminds me off; Bare chested Jayne reminds me off the late Kevin Smith playing Ares in Xena. River sounds very like Fred when she starts talking physics when rewriting the bible. Book with his hair down reminds me of an Afro-American Albert Einstein. 'You fought the law' may refer to the song by The Clash. Mal's remark about the Mudder's Jayne fixation being about what they need as opposed to reality is reminiscent of the Dollhouse's philosophy.
Questions and observations; So, beer was intended to keep the masses down? I wonder what went wrong? Surely Stitch can't have been wholly in the box for 4 years, his muscles would have atrophied until he couldn't walk and no one would be able to stand the stench to realease him. A town so backward they don't even know what a menu is, Simon really is in hell. He comes off the ship and starts really participating in their crime for the first time. Interestingly Zoe is left behind and Mal takes Wash with him, maybe because there's not going to be any gunplay in Canton. Jayne starts to develop a conscience, he and Mal beginning to bond again in the final scene. Stitch is one tough hombre to keep fighting with a Bowie knife in his chest (take that Deadliest Warrior who said the stiletto was better). Magistrate Higgins got what he wanted, his son is now a real man, standing up to his overbearing father. . Marks out of 10; 8 out of 10, fairly lightweight but truly very, very funny episode with a Jayne brought to the fore for the first time and some absolutely killer lines.
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Post by joxerlives on Aug 19, 2010 12:25:26 GMT -5
Out of Gas
The good; Really, really good, a classic 'submarine' story told with comedy and tension yet with wonderful character touches too. Lovely little details like even when they're all freezing to death Jayne stays in his shirtsleeves or Simon mourning the loss of his brithday.
The bad; I'm almost a little disappointed that Mal just bought Serenity at a second hand spaceship sale, I always thought he won her in a card game or stole her from the Alliance (or even the Independents?) in the dying days of the war.
Best line; River (to a frightened Book); "Don't worry preacher, we won't suffocate. We'll freeze to death first"
Packing heat; Mal shot with a Browning 9mm.
Notches on the Serenity bedpost; Bester gives Kaylee a tour of his engine room
Inarra;1-a paying customer who wishes to make her his kept woman, 1 possible, Atherton. Wash; 1-the missus Zoe; 1-the hubby Kaylee;1-Bester
Capt subtext; Interestingly Inara says that she loved Serenity the moment she saw her too, just as Mal did. She also says 'I don't want to die at all'. One theory I've heard throughout the series is that she's actually slowly dying (like Darla) and that the syringe we see her with in Serenity was for medecine rather than narcotics or a suicide kit. Here she says that she doesn't want any of the crew just bursting into her room unannounced, she's not bashful of her nudity, could she be hiding something else? Is this part of the 'little clues' they speak of in the commentary?
How'd they get away with that? Never liked needles, bad enough to watch Simon inject Zoe but watching Mal do it to himself is even nastier.
Total Serenity crew; 9 Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Wash, Kaylee, Inarra, Book, Simon, River
Whedon cliches; Devoted siblings, haunted charismatic leading man. Teenage girls with superpowers. Hookers. Babbling insane girls with truth in their madness. Fake cockneys. Misguided religious zealots. Numbered t-shirts. Girls with botanical names (Willow, Saffron, Jasmine). Absent fathers. Clever use of extensive flashbacks (Fool for Love, Lies my Parents told me, Are you now or ever have been?)
Knocked out; Zoe rendered unconscious by the explosion Book; 2 Simon; 1 Kaylee; 1 Jayne;1 Mal; 1 Wash; 1 Inara; 1 Zoe; 1
Happy high-class hookers in Space; We're informed that companions don't kiss and tell, as you would expect of people who listen to the pillow talk of the rich and powerful.
Whedon alumni- Joss likes to reuse the same actors in his series, let's count up their appearances (let me know if I miss any) Nathan Fillon-3; Firefly, Caleb in S7 of Buffy and Dr Horrible Gina Torres-2; Firefly and Jasmine in S4 of Angel Alan Tudyk-2; Firefly and the villainous/heroic(?) Alpha in Dollhouse (haven't seen season 2 so don't spoil it for me) Adam Baldwin-2; Firefly and Marcus Hamilton in S5 of Angel Summer Glau-3; Firefly, Dollhouse and the prima ballerina in the LEGENDARY S4 Angel ep 'Waiting in the wings'. Carlos Jacott-3; The Fed in Firefly, Ken in the 'Anne' ep of Buffy and Richard Straley in 'The Bachelor Party' ep of Angel. Andy Umberger;3-the captain of the Dortmunder in Firefly, D'Hoffryn in Buffy, the psychic surgeon in the Angel ep 'I fall to pieces'. Mark Shepherd;2-Badger in Firefly and later turns up as one of Ballard's FBI colleagues in Dollhouse. Also a BSG alumni. Jeff Rickets;3- one of the blue handed men in Firefly and Weatherby on Buffy/Angel plus the spiderdemon at the end of Angel season 4 Gregg Henry; 2- he's one of those faces that occur time and again in TV/movies, the Sherrif in The Train Job and he later recurrs in the Dollhouse ep 'Ghost', one of my favourite eps of season 1. Christina Hendricks; 2-Saffron in Firefly and a bar maid in the Angel ep 'The Prodigal'. She'll later star in Mad Men with Whedonverse alumni Vincent Kartheiser.
Alliance good or bad?; Mal talks of the Serenity representing freedom to him, that they can 'live like real people' which he doesn't feel able to do with the Alliance. They're sneaking about under the radar 'the way it should be' even when it takes them hugely out of the way, it hurts the crew. Now of course, flying under the radar and living as an outlaw from civilisation is all very well UNTIL something goes wrong (or to put it another way, even anarchists dial 999/911). Wash lacks Zoe/Mal's antipathy towards the Alliance and resents that Mal's hatred for it has landed them in this mess and may cost Zoe her life. Interestingly Inara was in favour of unification and supported the Alliance in the war, just as River and Simon did. Mal's no fool, he's suspicious of the 'rescue' crew, knowing there's no honour or trust in the wilderness.
Missing scenes; Rumoured to be a scene where we see Mal and Zoe meet for the first time during the war, she catches him stealing supplies for his unit and then he realises she's doing the same.
Firefly speak; Gorram=goddam. Weak tea=not good Back birth=idiot Companion=high class courtesan Gengish=competent Doh-ma=understand/understood? Rutting=bloody (or perhaps 'fraking'?) Chin-cha-da=hell Purple belly=officious bureaucrat Ta-gow=Oh god! Won-gwa-pee= to urinate or defecate Gosa=excrement Tien-sha-duh=rubbish Los-soh-ret=crap Dien-dyododo-chowen=bastard Wah=what the hell? Mah song=quickly Jin-seen-yung=idiot Nu-shu-quong=nice going
Shot; Mal shot by the other captain Mal; 2- Kaylee;1- Jayne;1- Book;1-
Reminds me off; The opening with the camera panning around the empty ship is very Alien again. Mal's leadership under pressure is inspired and he reminds me of great Irish Unionist hero Ernest Shackleton (check out Kenneth Brannaghs excellent version of the story) and of Apollo 13. Wash with his moustache and Hawaiin shirt is very Magnum PI. Kaylee is actually very close to her daddy, just like Fred. The whole ep very similar to the Space; Above and Beyond episode 'Who monitors the birds?' which Joss cites as his inspiration for the Buffy ep 'Hush' plus the Babylon 5 ep Walkabout.
Questions and observations; This almost strikes you as a third pilot, we're introduced to the crew one by one and everyone's role on the ship is explained. Bester kinda reminds me of the workman in porn who turns up to fix something at the lonely housewives home. Book seems a lot more scared than everyone else which seems atypical of the character we know. Has he had a similar exeprience to this in the past? Is the gun Mal finds something he planted earlier for just such an emergency or one that was left lying around by Jayne or something?
9/10; eps like this tell me why Firefly has such a devoted fanbase, hope the rest are like this
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Post by joxerlives on Aug 20, 2010 11:00:45 GMT -5
ARIEL
The good; Lot's of it, if I were to have 2 favourite scenes it would be the admissions nurse just casually accepting the dead bodies into the hospital and Mal remembering what drugs to take by writing it on his hand. Mal's final interrogation of Jayne also excellent, you get the idea he saves him to spare the rest of the crew having to deal with his betrayal rather than for his own sake. The scene where River, Simon and Jayne flee the blue-gloves is a masterclass in building suspense, they haven't seen anything but the approaching screams of their victims coupled with River's terrified babbling produce a real sense of dread.
The bad; . Simon saving the patient is very blatantly designed to make us feel better about the crew stealing medicine from a hospital (but I love River's smile of pride when he does it).
Best line; Inara; "What have you guys been up to?" Kaylee; "Oh, we killed Simon and River, stole a bunch of medecine"
Kinky dinky; Wash wants to take Zoe to a naked beach Notches on the Serenity bedpost;
Inarra;1-a paying customer who wishes to make her his kept woman, 1 possible, Atherton. Wash; 1-the missus Zoe; 1-the hubby Kaylee;1-Bester
Capt subtext; Inara is going for a medical examination which she says is routine. But if we follow the theory that she's actually sick ....? Mal once again demonstrates his intimacy with Kaylee, hugging her in a very familar fashion at the end.
How'd they get away with that? The blue gloved men repeatedly cutting into River's head to perfom brain surgery, ugh! Then to top it all they slaughter the cops with a device which causes uncontrollable bleeding from it's victims. . Total Serenity crew; 8 for this ep, Book is 'away at an abbey'? Do we ever get any other explanation than that? Simon refers to Serenity as 'home'. Mal makes it clear that he continues Jayne's act of betrayal against any of the crew to be against them all Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Wash, Kaylee, Inarra, Simon, River
Subverting the Hollywood cliche; Simon teaches Mal, Zoe and Jayne enough ER speak to get into the hospital but the admitting nurse just accepts their word as paramedics that the patients died. But Jayne's put so much effort into learning all these medical terms he insists on using them. Which I think is very human. When struggling with the guard it's Jayne who is the one to be bitten when it's normally the other way around, the hero is the one who traditionally does the biting to even the odds against a superior oppenent.
Whedon cliches; Devoted siblings, haunted charismatic leading man. Teenage girls with superpowers. Hookers. Babbling insane girls with truth in their madness. Fake cockneys. Misguided religious zealots. Numbered t-shirts. Girls with botanical names (Willow, Saffron, Jasmine). Absent fathers. Clever use of extensive flashbacks
Bondage; Simon, River and Jayne in cuffs Mal; 1 River; 1 Simon; 1 River; 1 Jayne; 1
Knocked out; Simon and River drugged into near death. Jayne knocked out by Mal. Book; 2 Simon; 2 Kaylee; 1 Jayne;2 Mal; 1 Wash; 1 Inara; 1 Zoe; 1 River; 1
Kills; Jayne kills the Alliance marshall with his bare hands Mal; 11- Zoe; 6- Jayne; 7-
Happy high-class hookers in Space; Inara is expected to undergo a standard medical as a companion once a year (or is she? see subtext). She states the Companion policy about non-commercial dating is 'complicated'.
Whedon alumni- Joss likes to reuse the same actors in his series, let's count up their appearances (let me know if I miss any) Nathan Fillon-3; Firefly, Caleb in S7 of Buffy and Dr Horrible Gina Torres-2; Firefly and Jasmine in S4 of Angel Alan Tudyk-2; Firefly and the villainous/heroic(?) Alpha in Dollhouse (haven't seen season 2 so don't spoil it for me) Adam Baldwin-2; Firefly and Marcus Hamilton in S5 of Angel Summer Glau-3; Firefly, Dollhouse and the prima ballerina in the LEGENDARY S4 Angel ep 'Waiting in the wings'. Carlos Jacott-3; The Fed in Firefly, Ken in the 'Anne' ep of Buffy and Richard Straley in 'The Bachelor Party' ep of Angel. Andy Umberger;3-the captain of the Dortmunder in Firefly, D'Hoffryn in Buffy, the psychic surgeon in the Angel ep 'I fall to pieces'. Mark Shepherd;2-Badger in Firefly and later turns up as one of Ballard's FBI colleagues in Dollhouse. Also a BSG alumni. Jeff Rickets;3- one of the blue handed men in Firefly and Weatherby on Buffy/Angel plus the spiderdemon at the end of Angel season 4 Gregg Henry; 2- he's one of those faces that occur time and again in TV/movies, the Sherrif in The Train Job and he later recurrs in the Dollhouse ep 'Ghost', one of my favourite eps of season 1. Christina Hendricks; 2-Saffron in Firefly and a bar maid in the Angel ep 'The Prodigal'. She'll later star in Mad Men with Whedonverse alumni Vincent Kartheiser. Ira Steck; 2-The intern here and the vamp Buffy fights in 'Lies my parents told me'. Michael Nagy; 3-one of the hospital staff here, the Rat Pack vamp Jay-Don in the Angel ep 'The Shroud of Rahmon' and Alfonse (one of vampWillow's lackeys) in the Buffy ep Dopplegangland. Cathy Cohen; 2-the admitting nurse here and the estate agent who hits on cool Xander in the Buffy ep The Replacement.
Alliance good or bad?; Zoe and Mal are so rabidly anti-Alliance they won't even set foot on a core world or even look out the window (afraid they might like what they see?). The rest of the crew doesn't share their prejudice and are keen to to get off the ship, Kaylee never having been on a core planet before. Does Mal protect River and Simon from the goodness of his heart or to stick 2 fingers up to the Alliance? The Serenity crew steal medecine from a hospital, sure they can replace it but still? On the other hand the blue-gloved men have conducted horrific medical experiments on River and brutally slaughter a station full of cops just because they heard River talk?
Firefly speak; Gorram=goddam. Weak tea=not good Back birth=idiot Companion=high class courtesan Gengish=competent Doh-ma=understand/understood? Rutting=bloody (or perhaps 'fraking'?) Chin-cha-da=hell Purple belly=officious bureaucrat Ta-gow=Oh god! Won-gwa-pee= to urinate or defecate Gosa=excrement Tien-sha-duh=rubbish Los-soh-ret=crap Dien-dyododo-chowen=bastard Wah=what the hell? Mah song=quickly Jin-seen-yung=idiot Nu-shu-quong=nice going Mai-hong=hello Sheinou-niou=no good Mei, mei=ok(?)
Shot; Jayne shot by some form of stun weapon Mal; 2- Kaylee;1- Jayne;2- Book;1-
Crew injured; Jayne viciously sliced by River and gives her a busted lip in return. Jayne busted up by the guards and by Mal.
Reminds me off; Simon saving the patient is a scene right out of The Fugitive whilst the blue-gloves are very X-files. Forget to mention it in Out of Gas but of course Bester is the name for both a famous sci-fi author and Walter Koenig's character from Babylon 5.
Questions and observations; Ironically the ambulance is a Soviet Hind-model helicopter gunship in disguise. What does 'copper for a kiss' mean? Is it like 'Penny for the guy'? Why do the blue-glove men seem to kill anyone who has heard River talk, even Alliance police? To cover up the secret of what they did to her or does she have some form psychic illness that they're scared she's passing on? Ironically the one time they actually make some decent money it's all the idea of Simon, who Book aside is probably the least criminally inclined of the entire crew, even Jayne impressed by his plan. Do they sell the drugs they steal for their medical or narcotic value? . Marks out of 10; 8/10, very good stuff, hugely entertaining, we see the Firefly crew pull off a complicated heist and do it with much more aplomb than the Scoobygang or Angel investigations ever managed. We think the main character of the piece is going to be Simon but in a clever turnabout instead it actually turns out to be Jayne and his crisis of conscience is very well written and acted by all.
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Hellbound Hyperion
Bad Ass Wicca
$20 per soul, no refunds[/B]
Dude, you just rescued a puppy![Mo0:18]
Posts: 2,268
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Post by Hellbound Hyperion on Aug 20, 2010 12:34:01 GMT -5
I think Ron Glass needed to be away from shooting that week for something else. You'll notice that Zoe isn't in Out of Gas very much - she got married during shooting of that episode and then went on honeymoon.
Meimei (妹妹) means "little sister". Xiao meimei (小妹妹) is an endearing term for a little sister (Xiao, by itself, means "little"). You'll hear Inara (and occasionally Mal) call Kaylee "xiao meimei" sometimes, as a manner of endearment. She means a lot to them and is basically the sweet, innocent little sister of the crew.
*prays that his Chinese characters post alright*
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Post by joxerlives on Aug 21, 2010 10:37:54 GMT -5
War Stories
The good; So lovely to see Kaylee and River playing together at the start like excited children with Mal and Inara looking on like a pair of devoted parents. Exciting ambush and final rescue and some nice comedy with Inara and her client and the crew's reaction to her. Also hints that River may be a lot more dangerous than we ever thought she might be and some nice character stuff between her and Simon.
The bad; How exactly does Niska find out where Mal and co are doing the deal? Aside from that not much.
Best line; Wash; "I am a large, semi-muscular man" also like; Jayne; (aroused by the sight of Inara kissing her female client goodbye); "I'll be in my bunk" Zoe; "Jayne grab your weapon!" portending of things to come; 'No power in the verse can stop me' said by River and Kaylee in 2 VERY different ways.
Packing heat; Nikka's thugs use Blazer R93's in their ambush and Uzis, Steyr AUG's and Baretta submachineguns in the station. Wash packs a huge Colt Cobra 44. Magnum in addition to his Mossberg shotgun, Simon a Glock and Kaylee has a Bren 10 pistol, Sonny Crockett's gun from Miami Vice. Anyone tell me what Book's gun is?
Kinky dinky; The henchman is reading some truly ancient porn when the Serenity arrives, did the Alliance ban Playboy or something? Zoe tells Mal to 'Take me sir, take me hard', naughty schoolgirl style prompting Wash to give his wife a hearty spank on the ass as foreplay for their 'bunk time'..
Notches on the Serenity bedpost; Inara's first female customer. Mal confirms that he and Zoe never had sex. Inarra;3+1 possible, Atherton. Wash; 1-the missus Zoe; 1-the hubby Kaylee;1-Bester
Capt subtext; So the whole idea of the River/Simon incest vibe was actually given to people by Alan Tudyk's in his commentary for this ep? Doesn't give a jot of evidence for it though. Inara's first female client, as Kaylee observes "They look so glamorous". Love her 'God!" expression as Jayne leers over them. The latent jealousy between Mal, Zoe and Wash comes to a head, noticeably Zoe never promised to obey Wash but does Mal. Of course she picks Wash to save over Mal which must reassure him. The central message seems to be that Zoe loves them both equally but Wash in a sexual romantic way and Zoe as a friend/war buddy.
How'd they get away with that? Mal and Wash horribly (yet somehow quite amusingly) tortured by Niska. Stops being funny when he cuts Mal's ear off! . Total Serenity crew; 9-Book back. The whole gang don't hesitate to cowboy up and go Saving Private Mal. Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Wash, Kaylee, Inarra, Simon, River, Book
Subverting the Hollywood cliche; Amazingly Niska escapes. Mal actually wants the guys to shoot the torturer rather than deal with him himself. Wash does his 'Leave no man behind' schtick whilst cocking about the smallest pistol you've ever seen.
Whedon cliches; Devoted siblings, haunted charismatic leading man. Teenage girls with superpowers. Hookers. Babbling insane girls with truth in their madness. Fake cockneys. Misguided religious zealots. Numbered t-shirts. Girls with botanical names (Willow, Saffron, Jasmine). Absent fathers. Clever use of extensive flashbacks
Bondage; Mal; 1 River; 1 Simon; 1 River; 1 Jayne; 1
Knocked out; Mal knocked out/dead but then revived Book; 2 Simon; 2 Kaylee; 1 Jayne;2 Mal; 2 Wash; 1 Inara; 1 Zoe; 1 River; 1
Kills; Inara takes no part in the combat and Kaylee never even fires her gun. Hard to tell amongst all the confusion but I'll give Zoe and Jayne 4 kills each and Wash 2. 3 kills for River. Despite both participating in the gunfight neither Book nor Simon kill anyone. Mal; 11- Zoe; 10- Jayne; 11- Wash; 2 River; 3
Happy high-class hookers in Space; Everyone seems to be insatiably curious of whom the Companions are hired by, even Book, they're the futuristic equivalent of Heat magazine. She seems to specialise not so much in the sexual aspect of her job but in making everyone feel special.
Whedon alumni- Joss likes to reuse the same actors in his series, let's count up their appearances (let me know if I miss any) Nathan Fillon-3; Firefly, Caleb in S7 of Buffy and Dr Horrible Gina Torres-2; Firefly and Jasmine in S4 of Angel Alan Tudyk-2; Firefly and the villainous/heroic(?) Alpha in Dollhouse (haven't seen season 2 so don't spoil it for me) Adam Baldwin-2; Firefly and Marcus Hamilton in S5 of Angel Summer Glau-3; Firefly, Dollhouse and the prima ballerina in the LEGENDARY S4 Angel ep 'Waiting in the wings'. Carlos Jacott-3; The Fed in Firefly, Ken in the 'Anne' ep of Buffy and Richard Straley in 'The Bachelor Party' ep of Angel. Andy Umberger;3-the captain of the Dortmunder in Firefly, D'Hoffryn in Buffy, the psychic surgeon in the Angel ep 'I fall to pieces'. Mark Shepherd;2-Badger in Firefly and later turns up as one of Ballard's FBI colleagues in Dollhouse. Also a BSG alumni. Jeff Rickets;3- one of the blue handed men in Firefly and Weatherby on Buffy/Angel plus the spiderdemon at the end of Angel season 4 Gregg Henry; 2- he's one of those faces that occur time and again in TV/movies, the Sherrif in The Train Job and he later recurrs in the Dollhouse ep 'Ghost', one of my favourite eps of season 1. Christina Hendricks; 2-Saffron in Firefly and a bar maid in the Angel ep 'The Prodigal'. She'll later star in Mad Men with Whedonverse alumni Vincent Kartheiser. Ira Steck; 2-The intern here and the vamp Buffy fights in 'Lies my parents told me'. Michael Nagy; 3-one of the hospital staff here, the Rat Pack vamp Jay-Don in the Angel ep 'The Shroud of Rahmon' and Alfonse (one of vampWillow's lackeys) in the Buffy ep Dopplegangland. Cathy Cohen; 2-the admitting nurse here and the estate agent who hits on cool Xander in the Buffy ep The Replacement.
Firefly speak; Gorram=goddam. Weak tea=not good Back birth=idiot Companion=high class courtesan Gengish=competent Doh-ma=understand/understood? Rutting=bloody (or perhaps 'fraking'?) Chin-cha-da=hell Purple belly=officious bureaucrat Ta-gow=Oh god! Won-gwa-pee= to urinate or defecate Gosa=excrement Tien-sha-duh=rubbish Los-soh-ret=crap Dien-dyododo-chowen=bastard Wah=what the hell? Mah song=quickly Jin-seen-yung=idiot Nu-shu-quong=nice going Mai-hong=hello Sheinou-niou=no good Mei, mei=actually been informed that it means 'little sister' Niou-se=lame
Shot; Jayne get's clipped during the rescue Mal; 2- Kaylee;1- Jayne;3- Book;1-
Crew injured; Mal and Wash tortured half to death with Mal's ear cut off. Thankfully Simon reattaches it.
Reminds me off; The desert hill where they get ambushed is the same one Buffy fights the First Slayer on in Restless.
Questions and observations; Niska returns as a recurring villain, I've often thought that Dollhouse and Firefly fall short of Buffy and Angel's success partly because they didn't have the interesting and exciting returning villains those series specialised in. Apples again, I'm beginning to formulate a theory that the entire series is actually about fruit. Alan Tudyk states that he believed Wash flew a couple of missions for the Browncoats during the war then was interned by the Alliance before seeing any action. Jayne and Book are workout buddies. Note that Jayne still takes the time to loot the bodies at the ambush site (and presumably recover the drugs from there and the money later from Niska's space station). Note it's Book who rigs the bomb on the mule. So what is River who can effortlessly shoot three gunmen without even looking? Did the Alliance's experiments turn her into some sort of supersoldier and is that why they're so desperate to retrieve her? Or is she some form of X-men style evolving super being and the Alliance's experiments were designed to prevent her becoming dangerous? Or some secret weapon one of the sides developed during the Unification war and are now trying to cover up? Is that what scares Kaylee at the end? Zoe cooks for Wash at the end which takes in greater significance if you've watched 'Our Mrs Reynolds'. . Marks out of 10; . 8/10 and again bordering on 9, continuing the high standards of Ariel.
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Hellbound Hyperion
Bad Ass Wicca
$20 per soul, no refunds[/B]
Dude, you just rescued a puppy![Mo0:18]
Posts: 2,268
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Post by Hellbound Hyperion on Aug 21, 2010 16:17:50 GMT -5
Man, if this had actually been the full season/two-season arc it was going to be... Ah well. I like your speculations re: River. Keep 'em up, as she's one of the main focuses of the film. Benefits of watching on DVD instead of FOX's botched order: continuity! Firefly is the reason I decided to learn Chinese in college. "Xiao" and "meimei" are two words I learned very early on. "Xiao" is a general term of endearment when used in front of someone's name, or their relationship to you (as we see with xiao meimei). It's helpful for reading Japanese, too, as Japanese borrows heavily from Chinese and Japanese uses traditional Chinese characters when doing so. Yay language!
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Post by joxerlives on Aug 22, 2010 7:00:48 GMT -5
Cool, is the dialogue real Chinise or do they make it up as they go?
Trash
The good; Real white knuckle stuff with Zoe and Kaylee on the garbage barge, Indy snatching his hat close. Also love a paralysed, terrified Jayne at Simon's mercy calling out 'Anybody there?" only for River to stick her head around the corner of the door, for such a little thing she can be extremely sinister ("When did your little sister become unbelievably scary?"). 2nd appearance for Saffron and when you see her turn up you just know it's going to be a good one, the interplay between her and Mal and the bitchy rivalry between her and Inara is delicious. Really like Monty too, hope we see him again, with beard or without.
The bad; Doesn't anyone notice a bloody great spaceship like Serenity screwing with the garbage?
Best line; Saffron; (of Mal) "He's my husband" Mal; "Well who the hell in the galaxy ain't!?" plus Doren; (after Mal has explained they're here to steal his property but that Saffron lied to him) "I appreciate your honesty...not you know, a lot...but...."
Packing heat; The whole plot revolves around 'The Lassiter', an antique laser pistol of untold value (check out Jayne's double take when he hears the name). We've seldom seen projectile energy weapons in the Fireflyverse, most people seem to still rely on lead. Noticeably the police on the core worlds seem to use some form of advanced stun guns whilst those on the outer planets stick with bullets. Because they need more firepower out in the wilds or just haven't been issued the new weaponry yet? Inara with a gun, the first time we see her with one. Needless to say it's an elegant, delicate looking affair, maybe a Ruger .22 or something similar.
Kinky dinky; Naked Mal. Give Joss his due, whilst he has plenty of female nudity on his shows he makes sure there's plenty of male eye candy too (Spike, Angel, all the Actives in the Dollhouse showers). He frisks Saf-Brid-Yol commenting he's "never been there before'.
Notches on the Serenity bedpost; Inarra;3+1 possible, Atherton. Wash; 1-the missus Zoe; 1-the hubby Kaylee;1-Bester
Capt subtext; One thing that was suggested to me in feedback for my review of War Stories is that Inara's customer was able to provide sophisticated medical equipment at the drop of a hat which Simon uses to sew Mal's ear back on. At the end the crew wonder out loud how she's able to do that so easily but if we do believe that Inara is sick, maybe this was all intended for her as part of her treatment? Inara accuses Mal of avoiding the core planets not through his hatred for the Alliance or wish to avoid law enforcement but because he's jealous of her clients and wants to stop her working. Mal doesn't mind be called a thief, he just objects to being a 'petty' thief? Or does Inara just mean he's petty about her and a thief? Perhaps Inara resents Saffron so much because she recognises her as a fallen version of herself? How'd they get away with that?
. Total Serenity crew; 9-Inara refers to 'our cut' and actually participates in the plan which is unusual for her (or at least she's the backup for when it inevitably all goes wrong). Simon and River inform Jayne they won't kill him for his betrayal because they consider him part of their crew. Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Wash, Kaylee, Inarra, Simon, River, Book
Whedon cliches; Devoted siblings, haunted charismatic leading man. Teenage girls with superpowers. Hookers. Babbling insane girls with truth in their madness. Fake cockneys. Misguided religious zealots. Numbered t-shirts. Girls with botanical names (Willow, Saffron, Jasmine). Absent fathers. Clever use of extensive flashbacks. Women in boxes.
Bondage; Mal; 1 River; 1 Simon; 1 River; 1 Jayne; 1
Knocked out; Jayne by an electric shock Book; 2 Simon; 2 Kaylee; 1 Jayne;3 Mal; 2 Wash; 1 Inara; 1 Zoe; 1 River; 1
Women good/men bad; Even by his standards Jayne is amazingly crude to Simon and River, threatening to show then his 'man parts' and proclaiming that 'womenfolk ain't to be trusted'. Saffron leaving Mal naked in the desert in undoubteldy funny although would it have been acceptable to us if Mal had done the same to her?
Kills; Mal; 11- Zoe; 10- Jayne; 11- Wash; 2 River; 3
Happy high-class hookers in Space; Inara refers to her 'house mistress', presumably some form of high-ranking companion supervisor/tutor. She also refers to the Geisha dolls Mal has been smuggling, a similar profession to her own. Is she Mal's Geisha Doll? Mal calls Saffron a 'Dirty, dirty whore' as an insult, once again showing how his mind works. Saffron asks Doren if he regards her as his 'Princess in the tower', maybe suggesting she was a companion who made the mistake of becoming a kept woman as a couple of Inara's past clients have wanted of her.
Whedon alumni- Joss likes to reuse the same actors in his series, let's count up their appearances (let me know if I miss any) Nathan Fillon-3; Firefly, Caleb in S7 of Buffy and Dr Horrible Gina Torres-2; Firefly and Jasmine in S4 of Angel Alan Tudyk-2; Firefly and the villainous/heroic(?) Alpha in Dollhouse (haven't seen season 2 so don't spoil it for me) Adam Baldwin-2; Firefly and Marcus Hamilton in S5 of Angel Summer Glau-3; Firefly, Dollhouse and the prima ballerina in the LEGENDARY S4 Angel ep 'Waiting in the wings'. Carlos Jacott-3; The Fed in Firefly, Ken in the 'Anne' ep of Buffy and Richard Straley in 'The Bachelor Party' ep of Angel. Andy Umberger;3-the captain of the Dortmunder in Firefly, D'Hoffryn in Buffy, the psychic surgeon in the Angel ep 'I fall to pieces'. Mark Shepherd;2-Badger in Firefly and later turns up as one of Ballard's FBI colleagues in Dollhouse. Also a BSG alumni. Jeff Rickets;3- one of the blue handed men in Firefly and Weatherby on Buffy/Angel plus the spiderdemon at the end of Angel season 4 Gregg Henry; 2- he's one of those faces that occur time and again in TV/movies, the Sherrif in The Train Job and he later recurrs in the Dollhouse ep 'Ghost', one of my favourite eps of season 1. Christina Hendricks; 2-Saffron in Firefly and a bar maid in the Angel ep 'The Prodigal'. She'll later star in Mad Men with Whedonverse alumni Vincent Kartheiser. Ira Steck; 2-The intern here and the vamp Buffy fights in 'Lies my parents told me'. Michael Nagy; 3-one of the hospital staff here, the Rat Pack vamp Jay-Don in the Angel ep 'The Shroud of Rahmon' and Alfonse (one of vampWillow's lackeys) in the Buffy ep Dopplegangland. Cathy Cohen; 2-the admitting nurse here and the estate agent who hits on cool Xander in the Buffy ep The Replacement.
Alliance good or bad?; Mal actually shows real sympathy for Duren even though Saffron claims he's an Alliance war criminal, pronouncing him the one guy 'who don't have it coming'. Maybe Mal is starting to put the war behind him? (Or did his own share of looting which is how he afforded the Serenity?)
Firefly speak; Gorram=goddam. Weak tea=not good Back birth=idiot Companion=high class courtesan Gengish=competent Doh-ma=understand/understood? Rutting=bloody (or perhaps 'fraking'?) Chin-cha-da=hell Purple belly=officious bureaucrat Ta-gow=Oh god! Won-gwa-pee= to urinate or defecate Gosa=excrement Tien-sha-duh=rubbish Los-soh-ret=crap Dien-dyododo-chowen=bastard Wah=what the hell? Mah song=quickly Jin-seen-yung=idiot Nu-shu-quong=nice going Mai-hong=hello Sheinou-niou=no good Mei, mei=little sister Niou-se=lame Hey-shu-peegou=dumbass Moon brain=inbred? Jus-sa-gran=dupes/suckers Swa-shi=petty, small time
Shot; Mal; 2- Kaylee;1- Jayne;3- Book;1-
Crew injured; Mal gets a bloody nose from Saf-Brid-Yol.
Reminds me off; Inara's pistol is reminiscent of Princess Leia's in Star Wars. The police vehicles remind me of US Navy Viking ASW planes. The phonebox amongst Doren's collection may refer to Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Floating balloons on tethers as we saw in The Initiative and may refer to The Prisoner. One of the fences Mal suggests is called Ellison, again a famous sci-fi author.
Questions and observations; All the mechanics on the Serenity seem to (literally) revolve around the one moving part, it's like the engine on the Beatles' Yellow Submarine or something. So what did happen to Heinrich the security guy? Saffron refers to a fence she has standing by on Prersephone to buy the Lassiter, does she mean Badger? Simon is noticeably dressing down now, no longer so dandy as he used to be (like Wes on Angel). Does River just sense Jayne's betrayal on Ariel or can she actually read his mind? Check out Kaylee's flowery cup, you just instinctively know it's hers. It seems to be you can now fix spinal damage with a simple injection. So, River tells Jayne that she can kill him with her mind? Does she mean by telling what she knows? Because she's so much smarter than him? Or does she mean literally, implying once again the supersoldier/Dark Phoenix from the X-men idea? . Marks out of 10; 8 out of 10, an awful lot of fun to be had, as Mal says at the end, it's a good day. For me Firefly is very much hitting it's stride at this point.
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