Firefly S01 E04 – Distractions

Previously: Mal tried to be all nice and recuse a guy off a Reaver-hit ship, except that guy turned out to be more Reaver, less guy.

Shindig

Marines: We open at a bar that’s a generic, dusty, space, future bar. (S: Ah, yes, just your typical “dusty, space, future bar.”) Jayne is drinking out of what looks like a small soup pot and he and Mal are playing pool with some fellas we don’t know. The poll balls fritz out for a second and they all complain about it loudly. The guy at the bar points to a sign that says, “management not responsible for ball failure.” It’s fantastic that they have real tables and cues but holographic pool balls because this is space and the future, people. Things have changed.

Sweeney: I wonder if that was just a random grab bag thing. “Here’s the stuff we’re working this episode. Quick — what things should we make FUTURISTIC?” They’ve made excellent choices on that front so far, though I’m intrigued by the physics of physical cues and holographic pool balls.

Mari: Bar Fella is telling a story about how he made tons of money transporting labor. Slave labor, Mal clarifies, in a way that just lets you know that this guy is messing with his moral sensibilities. Also, this pool table has got pinball machine sound effects. Bar Fella goes on about how the slaves didn’t complain about their meager rations. Jayne takes his pool turn and Mal stands back, over to where Inara is sitting, watching the game and drinking daintily.

Mal tells her it might be a good idea to head back to the ship now. She says she’s having fun watching Jayne poke things with his big stick. It’s possible that’s not quite what she said. Mal insists that she clear out, as there seems to be a thief about and by that he means that he stole the Bar Fella’s wallet. He won’t notice until it’s time to buy the next round of drinks. And it just so happens that it’s time to buy the next round of drinks. A fight breaks out. There is much breaking of pool cues and wooden chairs, so it’s kind of shame there isn’t a vampire around to stake. Mal ushers Inara out as she snarks to the bartender that it’s a lovely place and she’ll tell her friends.

Sara: “It’s a vintage bar with holographic pool balls!” Yup. That would probably sell me.

Mari: “Nathan Fillion might be there.” YEP.

SWEENEY CAN’T TAKE THIS SONG FROM MEEEEE.

Establishing shot of Serenity in space. We join Wash and Zoe on the bridge. Zoe is pointing out that they always seem to be leaving places in a hurry, probably since Mal insists on stealing from the rich and giving to his poor pocket. She says that they might be docking at Persephone for a while, which Wash finds exciting. Zoe is surprised, because she figured being on land that long might make him “land crazy.” I wonder if that’s like how when I work for too long and I get crazy. Probably not.

Mal joins them and admires the sunset over Persephone. Zoe calls Persephone their second home and Mal’s all, “NOPE,” because there are too many people to avoid there. Sounds like home to me.

 
 
Because Wash has been happily chatting away and not paying attention, they approach Persephone a little too quickly. Wash tries to play cool as he grabs the helm again. Mal is actually cool as he exits the bridge.

Sweeney: Steve the Pirate doesn’t get enough screen time. He’s delightful!

Mari: Sexy Shuttle. Inara is looking at a few pictures on a screen. She selects one and the man starts babbling about how time with Inara would honor his honor. She stops him and I wonder if this is a pre-recorded video or if she just hung up on this dude. That would be rough. Dishonor on his honor, if you will.

Sara: I wondered the same thing! It’s even harsher than just hanging up on a phone call because he saw the look of complete boredom on her face before disconnecting.

Sweeney: Sidebar: I had to look this actor up because I know him and while there are several items I could claim it’s from, the reality is that I know him from 1 episode of Veronica Mars and as the first (AND BEST) boyfriend of Amanda Bynes on What I Like About You

Mari: Another man’s face pops up on her screen. Inara selects him and he is helpfully identified as Atherton Wing by this futuristic, space Skype program. This guy’s opening line is, “there’s the smile made of sunlight.”

image

Smarmy.

Sara: Plus his name is Atherton. Smarmy just comes along with that name, probably. 

Mari: Right from the womb.

Inara politely thanks him for his invitation to the social event of the season. Inara accepts his invitation, but says she must take her leave as someone is knocking on her… shuttle. Space is weird.

It’s Mal, come to announce that they’ll be landing soon and the local time will be 10 in the morning. I’m sure that’s perfectly useful information, but also, this feels like a little bit of an excuse to come see Inara. Thanks for the time, darling, how about the weather, you know?

Mal spots Atherton’s picture still on Inara’s screen and notes that she’s worked with him before. Inara blocks her screen with a curtain. Mal doesn’t really get the hint and comments that Atherton is young and must be rich to afford Inara’s rates. Inara says she supposes so, as he’s engaged her for several days. Mal says Atherton must have stamina, but doesn’t seem to be pleased with Inara’s, “yes he does.” You set yourself up, Mal.

Sara: I love how Inara handles herself. Every single time he makes a nasty comment about her profession, she doesn’t deny or apologize or downplay her job – bitch just owns it. Whenever Mal says something rude, I always have a minute of wanting to defend Inara and feel bad for her, but then I’m reminded that girlfriend doesn’t need any of my defending. She’s got this. 

Sweeney: I’m so in love with Inara. Morena Baccarin is perfect not just because she’s unnaturally gorgeous but also because her poise and carriage and general EVERYTHING is perfect.

Mari: Inara mentions that she’ll be attending a ball with Atherton, and Mal asks if all the other men will be there with dates they paid for. Inara continues to class up the shuttle when she refrains from punching Mal and just says that the other men probably couldn’t attract a companion. Inara finally tells Mal that he should probably go deal with that “it’s 10 in the morning issue,” which I think is her calling him out on his BS excuses to hang out in the Sexy Shuttle. Mal pulls on his suspenders and says he is wearing more of an evening look, anyway.

Sweeney: Again I am so fascinated by this show’s compelling case for legalizing prostitution. In this scene it was Inara who was selective. We just watched her review her Companion Facebook (M: A+) in which she had the option to do plenty of jobs and chose the one that most appealed to her. (You know, as opposed to being stuck in shady dealings where all your customers are inherently criminals.) Mal’s comments (which are obviously more about his jealousy / feels than anything else) don’t really even hold much merit because of that power dynamic.

Mari: Persephone. The crew is walking along and Kaylee is in awe of all the pretty things in the window. She points out one particularly poofy, Pepto Bismol pink dress. Zoe, bless her heart, says that if she’s going to wear a dress, it’s going to have some slink to it. Wash excitedly says he’ll buy her a slinky dress and promptly asks Mal for money for a slinky dress. Jayne offers to chip in and without missing a beat, and tacked on to the end of a laugh, Zoe says, “I can hurt you.” She’s fantastic.

Conversation turns to Inara getting to wear pretty things in her line of work. Mal starts to get annoyed, asking them all to move as he’s carrying a heavy load. Kaylee doesn’t move and keeps talking about how Inara gets to wear whatever she wants. Mal snaps: What are you gonna do in that rig? Flounce around the engine room? Be like a sheep walkin’ on its hind legs. Jayne laughs gruffly. Jewel Staite gives A+ hurt face as she gingerly touches her hair and walks away. Gina Torres gives A+ F-YOU face, as she grabs a bag from Mal and says she’ll see him back on the ship. Mal’s face tells us that he feels bad about what he said, but regret after the fact doesn’t really change that it happened.

Sweeney: Being rude to Kaylee was stupid and rude because KAYLEE, but Zoe’s reaction was perfect. Jayne’s obliviousness — “is she mad about something?” — also made me giggle.

Mari: Worrying about Kaylee’s anger is cut short as Mal turns around to find that he’s being held at gunpoint. Badger, or better known around these parts as Weasel Lavigne, swaggers over, as he thought they might have a sit down. Mal isn’t interested but Weasel wasn’t asking, he was volun-telling.

Cut to Weasel Lavigne’s weasel-y lair. He’s giving Mal and Jayne food and drinks. I was about to call them fancy, but apparently the secret ingredient in the drink is wood alcohol. Nothing tastes good enough to ingest blindness. Jayne doesn’t seem to mind.

The last time Mal was in Weasel’s lair, he was “all manner of unwelcome,” so he’s wondering what’s going on now. There is a man named Warrick Harrow who wants to sell some product off-planet, which is illegal, so Warrick is in need of a smuggler. Weasel would do the job himself, but Warrick doesn’t like him, and mouth full of finger sandwiches, Jayne asks if it’s because he’s seen Weasel’s face. In fact, Warrick doesn’t think Weasel is respectable enough to deal with, but Mal might have a chance. Mal reminds Weasel that last time they had a deal, Weasel left them high and dry. Weasel’s take on it is that Mal thinks he’s better than everyone. It truly is one of Mal’s character flaws, but also, he is better than practically everyone and not only because of his man beauty. (S: Though that certainly doesn’t hurt matters.)

Anyway, Mal says that his snootiness is what Weasel is now in the market for. See, there’s this fancy event that will be a safe meeting place. Weasel says,  “you can’t buy an invite with a diamond the size of a testicle. I got my hands on a couple.” Mal and Jayne giggle because it doesn’t matter the size of the stick in your pee-goo, unintentional testicle jokes are funny.

Classical music takes us to the fancy event. Couples are being announced as they enter and one guy sets off some sort of grid-like weapon detector and has to turn in his gun. No guns at the fancy event, sir. Atherton and Inara are announced and we get a good look around the ballroom. There’s lots of food, dancing, a string quartet and just about everything else you’ve ever seen in a period film or BBC mini-series. Inara greets a few people around the room, including an older man who she speaks to in Chinese. I’ll let Sweeney guess what she said.

Sweeney: Inara’s too classy for me to translate. Some sort of extended, incredibly polite greeting complimenting this frail old man. (L: “You’re looking wonderful, old friend.”) Also, I approve of The Great Contrivance Spirit arranging to get the gang together at a ball. Traumaland loves its dances.

Sara: It’s interesting that in the future, we would revert back to period dress for balls and such. I’m on the fence about believing whether that would actually happen or not. On the one hand, movies make those balls look magical. On the other, can you imagine how difficult it is to pee while wearing one of those huge dresses?

Sweeney: I see you were paying attention to Spencer’s experience as Mary Queen of Scots?

Mari: Atherton smarms that half the men in the room want Inara on their arms. Inara jokes, “Only half? I must be losing my undefinable allure.” Atherton thinks it’s not so undefinable: all of the men in the room want her in their beds. Inara looks embarrassed by the comment and quickly covers that up by saying she’s looking for wine. Girl, yes. Find you a Big Ass Goblet of Win. Atherton finds the fact that he can mortify Inara a good thing, and calls her “singular” before they start dancing.

Engine Room. Kaylee is tinkering when Mal finds her. She doesn’t want to speak to him, but he tells her there is no need to speak. He has a job for her.

Shmancy Ball. Atherton is offering Inara the opportunity to stay on Persephone as his personal companion and to finally get off that gos se ship. Inara scolds him for his language and he’s all, “GOS SE, GOS SE, GOS SE.” Something like that. Inara doesn’t accept his rent-to-own offer, but she doesn’t decline it either. At that moment, the people-announcer announces a “Miss Kaywinnit Lee Frye and escort.” Inara stops dancing and turns toward the entrance and asks, “Kaylee?” Girl. If my name were Kaywinnit Lee, I’d go by something else too. She’s wearing the Pepto Bismol dress and Mal, in some western formal wear, is her escort. Inara sees Mal and is all, “GOS SE.” (Read: Crap.)

After a Not Commercial Break, Kaylee is predictably impressed with her surroundings and Mal is worried his pants are tight. TURN AROUND AND SHOW US, MAL. LET US BE THE JUDGES OF THAT. (S: +1)

No such luck. (S: Rude.)

Kaylee wants to find Inara and say hello, but Mal wants to find the man they are looking for. He describes him to Kaylee, who is distracted by a platter of strawberries paraded by her. “Is that him,” Kaylee asks. Mal: That’s the buffet table. Kaylee wants to know how they can be sure if they don’t question the buffet table. She smiles real big and is generally adorable, even in enough ruffles to make it an extreme possibility that she’ll catch a draft and fly away.

Sweeney: Also, Kaylee calls him Captain Tight Pants and I got really excited because you’ve referred to him as that and I didn’t know that was ~*a thing*~ BUT NOW I DO.

Mari: His tight pants are the most legit thing. That’s probably not what you meant. But yes, thing.

On Serenity, Book, Jayne and Simon are playing some form of futuristic poker and betting with chores. River is walking around in the background and then she starts going a little loopy about some canned goods. Simon and Book rush over to calm her down and Jayne takes the opportunity to steal back some of the pot Book just won. After River calms down a fair bit, Jayne asks if they are going to play cards or screw around.

Cut to a sweaty post-coital Wash and Zoe looking like they just had a grand ole time. Wash tells Zoe she can’t fall asleep. He tells her that “sleepiness is just weakness of character,” and LIES. TAKE IT BACK, WASH. (S: PITCHFORKS! (butnotbecauseffort)) Zoe doesn’t believe that slander against sleep either so Wash tries a different tactic and says that as acting captain, she can’t fall asleep. Zoe jokes she knows that if she does sleep, Jayne will slit her throat and take over, but they can’t stop it. Wash says he’ll read a nice poem at her funeral.

 
 
 
Kaylee picks a strawberry from the food table and tries to make small talk with a nearby man. He bows and leaves quickly. Kaylee next finds herself a group of mean girls, because they are present through all of space and time. Kaylee introduces herself, and gushes about how great the party is. One of the mean girls says last year’s party was better. Kaylee asks what they had last year. “Standards.”

Sara: YOU BITCH. HOW DARE YOU MAKE KAYLEE’S FACE LOOK SO SAD.

Sweeney: MY HEART. IT HURTS.

Mari: The Lead Mean Girl asks Kaylee about her dress, and the poor, sweet girl answers all poor and sweetly about how she couldn’t resist the ruffles. Mean Girl says that it looks store bought. Kaylee’s face falls for a second time, but an older gentleman comes to her rescue. He comments on how pretty Mean Girl looks, and how it must’ve taken a dozen slaves a dozen days to get her into it, but her father says that it only takes a school boy’s wink to get her out of it. Effectively slut shamed, Mean Girl runs away with her posse.

Mal finally spots Warrick and talks to him about moving his goods off world. Those two don’t exactly hit it off, but they find common ground by insulting Weasel Lavigne. That is interrupted by Atherton and Inara. Introductions are made all around, and when Mal wakes a comment about the chandelier almost outshining Inara, Atherton grips her like a possessive jerk. The Zoomy Cameraman makes sure we noticed the death grip right before Mal asks Atherton if he can borrow Inara for a dance.

Sara: I like how Mal asks Atherton in a way that doesn’t allow him to say no. “I’ve heard SO MUCH about how generous you are… want to show everyone your generosity and let me dance with your date?”

Mari: Inara and Mal have a dance-versation, which is like a conversation, just with dancing. Mal says he was talking business when Inara came over and interrupted him. She thinks he was staring and he insists he just gave her a quick glance. The truth favors Mal, from what we saw of it. They keep flirt-bickering about how Mal is a dishonorable but honest thief and Inara is an honorable but dishonest fancy prostitute. Mal takes issue with Atherton parading Inara like he actually “won” her, which is weird because it’s still pretty objectifying. Mal concludes that he has no say in whether Inara stays with Atherton or not. They change the subject to adorable Kaylee instead.

Speak of the giant ruffle, she’s hanging with a bunch of older men, talking mechanics.

 
Sara: This is hands-down my favorite part of the episode. From what we see, Kaylee fits right in with all of these distinguished-looking men. These guys didn’t immediately write Kaylee off as being a silly little girl in a pink dress trying to talk Man Stuff. They treat her exactly as they would have treated a male in her position. Not to mention, after the old man tells the guy requesting a dance to step off, Kaylee gets right back to talking about mechanics instead of being swept away by the idea of a guy asking her to dance. And the fact that she’s doing all of this in a RUFFLY, PINK DRESS. I say, again: Suck it, gender roles!  

Sweeney: I love this paragraph almost as much as I love that little moment. 1430 FOR YOU, SARA.

Mari: Seconded!

Inara and Mal finish up their dance and Atherton smarms on over, and grabs her roughly away. Mal calls after them and says there’s no need to get handsy. Atherton says Inara is his, though Mal thinks she belongs to no one. Atherton gets up in Mal’s face and says he paid for her, and that no matter how much you dress her up, she’s still a… We don’t hear the end of that because Mal punches him IN THE FACE. The string quartet hilariously and considerately stop playing, so everyone can properly stop and stare. Inara heaves a big, “Oh, Mal,” sigh, but he thinks it’s no big deal because Atherton was out of line. It is a big deal, however, because by punching him IN THE FACE, he has in fact challenged him to a sword duel.

All of this is explained to him by Warrick, who doesn’t have much faith in Mal’s ability to make it out of the duel alive, but does offer to be his second and is endeared by the fact that someone punched that smarmadouche Atherton in the face. Mal will be put up in lodgings for the night so that he won’t run away. Kaylee says the party was fun up until the punching.

Serenity. In the cargo hold, Jayne is doing some gratuitous pull-ups. If you’re watching along, I’ll just give you a moment to enjoy.

Jayne hears someone knocking on the ship door and grabs his rifle to investigate. Turns out it’s Weasel Lavigne with the news that Mal’s got himself into trouble. We cut to the rest of the crew gathered. They start formulating a plan for breaking Mal out, but Weasel reveals that he’s there to stop any such plots, as he doesn’t want his name attached to that heap of trouble. Jayne appears again up on the hold’s balcony thing, ready to shoot at Weasel with his rifle. Zoe says he shouldn’t do that and then gestures towards the door. Weasel’s men are there, and they’ve got guns and Kaylee.

Inara sneaks into Mal’s room that night, as she says Atherton is a heavy sleeper. Mal’s bumbling around with his sword and, after some flirt-bickering, Mal asks Inara why she’s still attached to the smarmadouche. She says because it’s her decision. He thinks Atherton made it pretty clear that he has no regard for Inara, though she thinks he pushed him into an insult to justify the face punching. Mal admits that things have gotten very complicated. Inara offers him a way out, as she’s found an escape route. Mal will not run, however, saying he was defending her honor and that he never runs from a fight. Inara’s all, “LOL. Yes. You do.” He does, but not this time. He asks Inara for a few sword lessons.

The crew is playing cards and whispering quietly amongst themselves about contingency plans and whether they’ll attack all at once, lead some of Weasel’s men away and pick them off, or use a diversion.

 
 
 YES. Wait. My vote doesn’t count. (S: WHY NOT?)

Book has been standing off to the side this whole time, reading the Bible. He approaches Simon now and places a hand on his shoulder. Simon turns and sees that River is coming into the cargo hold. Simon stands and tries to get River to leave, all while Book tries to block Weasel’s view of them. River gets loud, though, weirdly telling him to “pull!” (really, River? Fart jokes?) and Weasel spots them. He asks who she is and what her secret is. River, now picking up a Cockney accent that mimics Weasel’s, says that she’s got plenty of secrets but she won’t be telling him them. “Anyone off Dyton Colony knows better ‘an to talk to strangers.” The crew all looks at each other, astonished. River keeps on, guessing about Weasel’s history and concluding, “And now you’re what? Petty thieves with delusions of standing? You’re a sad little king of a sad little hill.” With that, she tells Simon to call her if anyone interesting shows up and saunters off, leaving everyone stunned and Weasel slightly enamored.

Sara: This is just… incredible. River’s entire demeanor changed when she slipped into that accent. This little scene makes me so excited for more River moments in the future, because she is obviously hiding one hell of a lot of cool shit in that brain of hers. 

Sweeney: YES. COOL SHIT HIDING IN THE BRAIN. I didn’t even know how to process the awesome thing that just happened, but your second sentence there sums it up pretty nicely.

Mari: Persephone. Inara tells Mal to attack, and he does, with like a running start. Inara avoids his attack easily and taps that ass. Sorry, I mean with her sword. She tells him that he always attacks the same way, and that he needs to change it up and worry less about strength and more about speed.

Sara: This is such an interesting moment. I’m not saying that I agree with Mal, but his point is true. Every nasty comment he’s ever made has been about her profession and not about her personally. So from his point of view, he isn’t the same as Atherton at all. But Inara comparing him to Atherton just shows that she obviously sees a connection there. Both men are disrespecting her, whether it be through comments about Inara or comments about her profession. 

Sweeney: You’re killing it today, Sara. I’d only add that while it seems pretty clear that Mal’s comments are more the petty consequence of the fact that he has feelings for Inara, which her profession complicates. I get it. That said, it doesn’t change the fact that he is disrespecting her when he says shit like that, which is ALLTHETIME.

Also, getting back to the show’s prostitution commentary, this is sort of the other side to it — the emotional labor aspect. However, there are a lot of professions that require emotional labor with infinitely less autonomy on the part of workers.

Mari: It all comes back around, also, to Mal feeling like he’s better than others. He doesn’t see that his job is also something that others can look down on. He thinks what he’s doing is better than what Inara is doing, giving him leave to pick the fights he picks with everyone else. It sucks because LEAVE INARA ALONE.

They get back to bickering about who breaks what rules. Mal concludes that Inara will follow the rules for a nice life, even if it means being a slave. Mal asks her not to take the offer. He does it while averting his gaze and shuffling his feet. He doesn’t want her to end up with the man who kills him. Well, that’s his excuse anyways. They look at each other longingly for a beat and then Inara says she has to go.

The next day, it’s duel time. The fight starts and Mal gets in the first cut, across Atherton’s chest. Because he has that snooty problem, he takes a second to gloat by saying that he hears swords are sharp. Off to the side, Warrick says Mal thinks he’s doing well and Inara responds that he’s being toyed with. Atherton steps up his game and slices Mal’s arm and knocks him in the face. Mal watches as Atherton puts his sword behind his back. Inara, providing the color commentary, tells Mal not to fall for that, but there he goes, charging into Atherton. He gets stabbed in the stomach for his trouble. Warrick says this won’t take long at all.

After a Not Break, Mal is bleeding and limping around, but he keeps on fighting for a bit before Atherton gets him on his knees and breaks his sword at the hilt. Atherton holds his own sword up to Mal and smiles. Inara calls out for him to wait, and says she’ll stay as his exclusive companion if he’ll let the captain live. Atherton looks away, and Mal uses this distraction to knock the sword out of Atherton’s hand and then punch him in the face. Mal grabs the sword, slices Atherton’s face and hits him with a sword-punch. I’m not sure how a sword-punch works exactly, but it was pretty awesome to watch.

Sara: This scene made me think of that Game of Thrones moment: You don’t fight with honor!” “No. But he did.

Sweeney: It was super awesome. Going into this scene I was groaning about how contrived it would be for our hero, who had never held a sword before, to miraculously win this. This was such a perfect BAMFy way to resolve that. It’s also interesting that you mention GoT and honor codes because this show spends a lot of time investigating Mal’s strong-but-particular sense of what constitutes honor.

Mari: Warrick comes over to say that now that Atherton is down, Mal has to finish it, because it’s humiliating for a man to lie beaten. Mal says that is awful, but also that mercy is the mark of a great man. Mal stabs Atherton in the stomach a little bit and says, “guess I’m just a good man.” He stabs him again. “Eh, I’m alright.” Mal throws the sword to the side and Inara helps him walk away.

Atherton calls to Inara, and Warrick tries to tell him to stop embarrassing himself. He calls Inara a whore and yells at her for setting this up after he bought and paid for her. He tells Inara that she’ll never work again, but that’s not how it works in the companion world.

Sweeney: Again! So interesting! In an illegal prostitution context, it would be easy for a disgruntled John to, say, tip off the authorities or, worse yet, physically harm her with no repercussions, because CRIMINALS. Even as this douche canoe suggests maiming her, it’s a threat that carries so much less weight when Inara maintains that power. That’s sort of the point — when both people are engaging in seedy, criminal behavior, everyone is less protected from, you know, seedy, criminal behavior.

Mari: Warrick tells Mal that he didn’t have to wound Atherton, and Mal’s all, “LOL. Yeah. But it was funny.” Warrick says that if Mal is willing to work that hard to protect his property, he’ll have it in Mal’s hold before midnight. They shake on a deal well struck, if you consider being stabbed in the gut worth it.

Back on the ship, the crew has finalized their plan, with Simon being the diversion. It’s all too late, though, because Mal comes limping in with Inara, saying he’s never seen a lazier crew. Weasel asks if they have a deal, and Mal confirms and tells him to get off the ship. The crew crowds around him to see how badly he’s hurt, and Jayne explains that they were just about to spring into action. Except for Wash. He was going to watch.

Later, Kaylee goes down into her bunk. She turns on some classical music and just looks at her Pepto Bismol dress fondly.

Mal and Inara sit on those balcony walkway things in the cargo hold, drinking wine, courtesy of Kaylee’s inter-engine fermentation system. Mal laughs and flinches. Inara asks if he’s in pain, and he says he got stabbed, and lifts his shirt a little, but Inara refuses to look at the wound. Mal says he doesn’t like fancy parties, but Inara points out it wasn’t all bad. He lined up exciting new crime! Mal does like having cargo and even enjoys the prospect of being bait for other scavengers.

Inara stares at Mal’s face for a moment before thanking him for his brutish ways of defending her honor, even though she never wanted him to. Mal admits that he probably should’ve stayed out of her world. Inara doesn’t even know if it is her world. She wasn’t ever planning on staying on Persephone.

 
 
 
 The shot pans back to reveal that their new cargo is a bunch of cattle. Nice of them all to be quiet while Mal and Inara were having that heart to heart.

Sara: I just want to say that I love so much about this episode. The Inara story line was pretty eye-opening. While Inara is highly respected and does hold a lot of power, we can see that things still aren’t perfect for women in this line of work. There are still assholes out there who think of them as property and lesser. I really like this aspect of the story, because it’s so believable. The Kaylee stuff was also such a great way to cut through gender norms. At the beginning of the episode, we have Kaylee looking at a beautiful dress and wishing it was hers; at the end, she’s in that beautiful dress, talking mechanics with a bunch of men. There are no gender rules to follow around here, it seems, so Kaylee can have her cake and eat it, too. And lastly, the Mal stuff gave us a little to chew on. It doesn’t necessarily make his comments less rude, but we can understand why he thinks it’s different now. Basically, this is my favorite episode so far, so I had to gush a little. 

Sweeney: +1 to everything you just sad re: Inara and Mal. Even as this show is pointing out a significant shift in the power dynamics of that relationship, I appreciate that it’s not without making it clear that it’s still pretty complicated. There are still assholes. There are probably also less attractive/perfect women than Inara in this business too, and that raises some other questions.

Independent of the prostitution thing I got weirdly hung up on, agreed with everything else too! This episode was lovely. I wrote “KAYLEE!” three separate times, without context, so I sure hope I addressed whatever I meant by all that squee. I also loved all the Zoe/Wash which OH MY GOD WHY DID I TYPE THOSE WORDS. My Whedon PTSD is kicking in. I’m all, “Oh, and I loved when these people were happy,” and then immediately want to unsay/think it because it means bad things are coming, doesn’t it? This episode was so! much! fun! and it occurs to me that fun like that is usually a big trick. SHIT.

Mari: Knowing the future isn’t always all that great.

 

Next time on Firefly: Book is critically injured and Simon is kidnapped, as the hits keep on coming in S01 E05 – Safe.

 

Marines (all posts)

I'm a 30-something south Floridan who loves the beach but cannot swim. Such is my life, full of small contradictions and little trivialities. My main life goals are never to take life too seriously, but to do everything I attempt seriously well. After that, my life goals devolve into things like not wearing pants and eating all of the Zebra Cakes in the world. THE WORLD.





Nicole Sweeney (all posts)

Nicole is the co-captain of Snark Squad and these days she spends most of her time editing podcasts. She spends too much time on Twitter and very occasionally vlogs and blogs. In her day job she's a producer, editor, director, and sometimes host of educational YouTube channels. She loves travel, maps, panda gifs, and semicolons. Writing biographies stresses her out; she crowd sourced this one years ago and has been using a version of it ever since. She would like to thank Twitter for their help.





Sara (all posts)

I'm a 30-something with three kids who spends an embarrassing amount of time watching teen television dramas. There's a whole lot of Internet out there, and I plan on reading all of it before I die.





 

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