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A note, before we begin. The second half of this episode is where newcomers to the series see all of why they love Joss, all over again. It makes my eyes go leaky more times than I can see well enough to count.
And now...
This is your captain speaking...“This is your captain speaking. We're going along fairly smoothly at a normal cruising altitude and speed. Soon, attendants will be coming along with a light snack and a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. We ask you to respect that this is a non-smoking flight. Oh, and there's Reavers.”
Well... that's not quite how Mal's speech goes. The scene steadily goes through shots of the crew. There's Zoe, listening gravely. Jayne loads a big gun in intense silence. Inara readies something to be injected; it's runny, black, and unmarked. Book watches over Kaylee and River, who are unconscious in the infirmary. Zoe quickly explains to Simon just what it is that Reavers do, then makes for the bridge.
This scene is slow, tense. There's waiting, waiting and more waiting. Even the background music seems to be taking its time, dragging its feet, watching the seconds sliiiiiiiiiide past. And not without good reason – the Reaver ship is big, and it seems to be only just holding together. No-one else would even think of flying in such a contraption.
It goes by. Wash relaxes, and Mal slowly exhales. The whole scene takes a moment to release its pent-up tension. Viewers who are easily stressed are especially happy, as Mr Heart Attack wanders off to strike down a McDonald's patron instead.
Kaylee recovers from the shooting.We cut to the infirmary a little bit later. Mal stands there, looking at River. Kaylee grabs his attention; Mal turns, and they have a bit of a talk. Seems our Kaylee is recovering well from Dobson's earlier episode. Mal tries to convince her that he's a mean, old man while he lays a blanket on her to keep her warm. She tells Mal that it's nobody's fault.
Her eyes close, her hand slips out of his.
Meanwhile, Simon's with Inara. Inara gives him foil bags of DOOM (well... DOOM for pathogens, at least). Inara has a bit of a swipe at Mal; Mal enters just in time to defend himself. Mal and Inara have a territorial squabble. Simon slips out, leaving thelovers others to argue a moment longer.
Simon starts on his way back toward the infirmary. He's got work to do, and he looks intent on doing it – and since he doesn't have a cane, he might just get it right the first time. Mal stops him, and explains that Dobson could ruin everyone's lives, that Simon should deal with him, and that he mightn't have the time.
Simon looks confused. “Kaylee's dead,” says Mal. Simon is shocked, aghast, devastated, emotionally shipwrecked, shattered, torn to tiny bits, and a little bit upset, too. He turns and runs, heading down the stairs at almost a sprint (let's see House do that) and promptly arrives at the infirmary, only to see Kaylee...
Talking to Shepherd Book. She smiles and waves with cute waggly fingers. Simon *blinkblinks*, looks back over his shoulder, and promptly declares Mal to be psychotic.
Upstairs, on the bridge, the Serenity crew are laughing themselves senseless. Suddenly, the console bleeps. Wash flicks his Doing Stuff switches, turns, and answers the call.
It's Patience. She and Mal have a bit of a talk about the goods, the Alliance stamps, and a rendezvous point. Mal stares for a moment, thinking about the conversation.
“I believe that woman's planning to shoot me again,” he says.
The act ends with a shot of Dobson sawing away at his restraints with a scrap of metal. If only he could get his hands free, he might be able to start bouncing a ball off the door.
Serenity lands on Whitefall. Mal and Zoe head off on foot, while Jayne goes for a little driving trip.
Soon enough, we're in a big desert valley. Jayne runs up, hands Mal a bit of the cargo, and checks to make sure that his transmitter works over a (not-so-)long distance – nearly 30 inches, to be precise. Mal picks spots where snipers are likely to be; Jayne heads off to deal with them, as Mal and Zoe walk down to the valley floor.
Back on the ship, Book decides to go and pay Dobson a visit. He announces himself, and explains that Dobson is in “more danger than-”. The end of Book's sentence is cut off by a flying fed, armed with something heavy, blunt and metallic.
He whaps Book a few more times, then sets off toward Somewhere Else.
Jayne takes aim?We cut back to Mal and Zoe, as Patience and a few of her friends arrive. One of her lads has a big, shiny top hat; seems to be that hats are something of a fashion amongst the vile and criminal in this slice of the 'verse.
Words are exchanged; it's all terse, tense, untrusting. Even the little trees that dare to grow in the sand and the rocks can smell a double-cross in the air.
Jayne creeps up on a sniper, knocks him out, and peers through the rifle scope. He sights on Mal, and grins wickedly.
Dobson creeps into another room, and pounces on his suitcase. He digs out a little computer, but can't connect to the Cortex. Sometimes your big, fancy Interwebs just don't connect in these isolated areas. Furious, he smashes it. Not that it really matters - the crew have all defriended him anyway.
He rips out the false bottom of the suitcase, and takes out a gun. And another gun. Something tells me he should be digging two graves, right about now.
The exchange goes on, out in the sun and the heat. Mal tosses over his little bit of the cargo; Patience has a look at it. She peels back the metallic bit – seemingly the foil of the future – and sniffs at it.
Mal explains it's 'food'. No wonder they get so excited about a little box of strawberries, out there in the black. She cautiously nibbles at it, then tosses a small bag to Mal. It gives the satisfying little clink of money.
River wakes up. She's terrified. She starts looking about the infirmary...
And Dobson grabs her, putting a gun to her head. He aims his other one at Kaylee, and threatens to kill her if she moves. Kaylee is horrified; Dobson slips back out of the room.
Mal gives Patience the location of the goods – buried, of course, a little ways off. Their bargaining reaches an end. Everyone stands about, a mite awkwardly.
It's important to have a hat,
in this part of the 'verse.Mal explains he'd appreciate if they'd ride out first. Patience explains she never lets go of money she doesn't have to, and makes some unfriendly remarks about Mal. Reynolds looks at one of Patience's men; the one with the hat, and the big gun. Patience introduces him as Two-Fry.
Mal looks him over. “Two-Fry. Nice hat,” he says. Two-Fry's part in this episode is ended by a hole through his hat and a tumble off his horse. A firefight erupts; Mal and Zoe hold their own against Patience's gang as the horses panic.
The gang returns fire; one hits Zoe with a shotgun. She flies back, and lands amid a puff of dust.
Simon and Wash are talking. Suddenly, Kaylee's voice comes over the intercome, weakly whispered. She says that he took River.
Simon and Wash bolt for the door; Wash is stopped by a beeping noise. He turns back, and looks at the screen.
“Oh don't. Don't you dare,” he says; things seem to be going wrong all over.
Mal's firing on Patience's lads. Jayne picks them off from the hillside, one by one. He's not the brightest bulb in the hallway, but he knows how to shoot.
Yay for talented PR.
We cut back to Serenity. Dobson's heading for the airlock. Simon goes for a flying tackle, knocking Dobson clear of River. They lie there hurting for a bit; River, terrified, backs into a corner.
Simon Tam: 3. Gregory House: 0.
For a moment, we're up with Jayne. He misses a shot, swears about it, and the target jumps on a horse to ride away. Back down at ground level, Zoe raises her gun and shoots him dead. Patience stands behind a horse, shotgun resting on the saddle.
Zoe complains that her armour's dented. Mal says she was right about it being a bad idea; she thanks him. Seems to be a pattern with these two.
Patience tries a little threat; Mal shoots the horse, which falls on top of her. He wanders up, explains that he gets paid when he does a job, and tells Patience to run her little moon.
And then Jayne runs up. Apparently, the Reavers have followed them.
High above the valley and the moon, the Reaver ship flies into the atmosphere with all the grace of an albatross on morphine.
Dobson dives for the gun – and Simon jumps on top of him. They struggle. Dobson elbows Simon, and crawls for a gun. Simon grabs the other one. Dobson aims at River. Simon aims at Dobson. Say hello to Señor Standoff.
Upstairs, Wash is readying the ship to be out of there before the Reavers catch up. He's calm, focused, and completely oblivious to what's going on in the cargo bay.
Simon holds the gun on Dobson with a shaky hand. Seems he doesn't want to kill, but he's not about to let anyone hurt River. Dobson tries to explain that he doesn't mean to hurt anyone, that he's just upholding the law. The sight of Book, struggling to stay upright, tells a very different story. Dobson is still talking to Simon; Simon is panicky, indecisive.
Fedtoss!Outside, the others ride into the shot. Jayne and Zoe send the horses away. Mal strides up into the hold, draws, and shoots Dobson without a word. Say goodbye to Señor standoff.
Simon drops the gun, and goes over to River. Mal and Jayne pick up Dobson's body as Zoe starts closing the ship up. They run to the end of the ramp, play Fed-toss, and dive back into the ship. You really can't help but feel like they've done it before – maybe even more times than Jayne can count to.
Zoe and Mal are up on the bridge with Wash as the ship gets off the ground. The Reavers are closing – and fast. Wash is strangely calm; serene, even.
We cut to the external view. Serenity is moving fast, but the Reavers are still gaining on them. Wash says he needs Kaylee in the engine room; Jayne legs it down to the infirmary.
Mal talks to Inara in the hallway. He tells her to get herself and the civilians into her shuttle, and make sure they're safe. Inara protests.
Mal looks at her, and just says her name – all meaningful like, and in a way that encourages nothing in the way of argument. “Go,” he says, and very gently pushes her away. Inara leaves, and Mal goes back up to the bridge.
Jayne is carrying Kaylee out of the infirmary as Inara arrives. She tells the other three to go with her; Book heads off to help Kaylee, and tells Simon to go and look after River. Inara takes the Siblings Tam to her shuttle, while Book goes after Jayne.
In the engine room, Kaylee is leaning against the bulkhead. Jayne and Book stand by, waiting. Wash's voice comes over the intercom; Kaylee talks the other two through setting up for full burn.
Back up on the bridge, things are looking bleak. Wash and Mal settle on going for a Crazy Ivan.
The Reaver ship is slowly gaining on Serenity. The magnetic grappler warms up, ready to ruin an already-bad day.
On the bridge, Wash is still unnaturally serene. He flicks his Doing Stuff switches, and waits.
“Ok”, cones Kaylee's voice over the intercom. Wash slams down one of the levers, and Serenity flips over. Wash shouts “Now!” into the com; the back of the ship spins furiously, and glows brighter than ever. The ship speeds off into space, leaving their pursuers far, far behind.
Wash eases off on the controls. He looks rather pleased with himself, in a way reminiscent of cats and canaries. Mal and Zoe are amazed, and the rest of the ship is relieved.
Zoe explains that she needs Wash to tear off all her clothes, and drags him from the bridge.
It's enough.We end the episode with Mal and Simon. Mal offers Simon a place with the crew, until he and River can find better. Mal explains that it's been a good day, since they're still flying. Simon thinks for a moment, and he tells the captain that it's not much. Mal just stares out into space.
“It's enough,” he says, almost to himself.
And now...
Act Four
This is your captain speaking...
Well... that's not quite how Mal's speech goes. The scene steadily goes through shots of the crew. There's Zoe, listening gravely. Jayne loads a big gun in intense silence. Inara readies something to be injected; it's runny, black, and unmarked. Book watches over Kaylee and River, who are unconscious in the infirmary. Zoe quickly explains to Simon just what it is that Reavers do, then makes for the bridge.
This scene is slow, tense. There's waiting, waiting and more waiting. Even the background music seems to be taking its time, dragging its feet, watching the seconds sliiiiiiiiiide past. And not without good reason – the Reaver ship is big, and it seems to be only just holding together. No-one else would even think of flying in such a contraption.
It goes by. Wash relaxes, and Mal slowly exhales. The whole scene takes a moment to release its pent-up tension. Viewers who are easily stressed are especially happy, as Mr Heart Attack wanders off to strike down a McDonald's patron instead.
Kaylee recovers from the shooting.
Her eyes close, her hand slips out of his.
Meanwhile, Simon's with Inara. Inara gives him foil bags of DOOM (well... DOOM for pathogens, at least). Inara has a bit of a swipe at Mal; Mal enters just in time to defend himself. Mal and Inara have a territorial squabble. Simon slips out, leaving the
Simon starts on his way back toward the infirmary. He's got work to do, and he looks intent on doing it – and since he doesn't have a cane, he might just get it right the first time. Mal stops him, and explains that Dobson could ruin everyone's lives, that Simon should deal with him, and that he mightn't have the time.
Simon looks confused. “Kaylee's dead,” says Mal. Simon is shocked, aghast, devastated, emotionally shipwrecked, shattered, torn to tiny bits, and a little bit upset, too. He turns and runs, heading down the stairs at almost a sprint (let's see House do that) and promptly arrives at the infirmary, only to see Kaylee...
Talking to Shepherd Book. She smiles and waves with cute waggly fingers. Simon *blinkblinks*, looks back over his shoulder, and promptly declares Mal to be psychotic.
Upstairs, on the bridge, the Serenity crew are laughing themselves senseless. Suddenly, the console bleeps. Wash flicks his Doing Stuff switches, turns, and answers the call.
It's Patience. She and Mal have a bit of a talk about the goods, the Alliance stamps, and a rendezvous point. Mal stares for a moment, thinking about the conversation.
“I believe that woman's planning to shoot me again,” he says.
The act ends with a shot of Dobson sawing away at his restraints with a scrap of metal. If only he could get his hands free, he might be able to start bouncing a ball off the door.
Act Five
Serenity lands on Whitefall. Mal and Zoe head off on foot, while Jayne goes for a little driving trip.
Soon enough, we're in a big desert valley. Jayne runs up, hands Mal a bit of the cargo, and checks to make sure that his transmitter works over a (not-so-)long distance – nearly 30 inches, to be precise. Mal picks spots where snipers are likely to be; Jayne heads off to deal with them, as Mal and Zoe walk down to the valley floor.
Back on the ship, Book decides to go and pay Dobson a visit. He announces himself, and explains that Dobson is in “more danger than-”. The end of Book's sentence is cut off by a flying fed, armed with something heavy, blunt and metallic.
He whaps Book a few more times, then sets off toward Somewhere Else.
Jayne takes aim?
Words are exchanged; it's all terse, tense, untrusting. Even the little trees that dare to grow in the sand and the rocks can smell a double-cross in the air.
Jayne creeps up on a sniper, knocks him out, and peers through the rifle scope. He sights on Mal, and grins wickedly.
Dobson creeps into another room, and pounces on his suitcase. He digs out a little computer, but can't connect to the Cortex. Sometimes your big, fancy Interwebs just don't connect in these isolated areas. Furious, he smashes it. Not that it really matters - the crew have all defriended him anyway.
He rips out the false bottom of the suitcase, and takes out a gun. And another gun. Something tells me he should be digging two graves, right about now.
The exchange goes on, out in the sun and the heat. Mal tosses over his little bit of the cargo; Patience has a look at it. She peels back the metallic bit – seemingly the foil of the future – and sniffs at it.
Mal explains it's 'food'. No wonder they get so excited about a little box of strawberries, out there in the black. She cautiously nibbles at it, then tosses a small bag to Mal. It gives the satisfying little clink of money.
River wakes up. She's terrified. She starts looking about the infirmary...
And Dobson grabs her, putting a gun to her head. He aims his other one at Kaylee, and threatens to kill her if she moves. Kaylee is horrified; Dobson slips back out of the room.
Mal gives Patience the location of the goods – buried, of course, a little ways off. Their bargaining reaches an end. Everyone stands about, a mite awkwardly.
It's important to have a hat,
in this part of the 'verse.
Mal looks him over. “Two-Fry. Nice hat,” he says. Two-Fry's part in this episode is ended by a hole through his hat and a tumble off his horse. A firefight erupts; Mal and Zoe hold their own against Patience's gang as the horses panic.
The gang returns fire; one hits Zoe with a shotgun. She flies back, and lands amid a puff of dust.
Simon and Wash are talking. Suddenly, Kaylee's voice comes over the intercome, weakly whispered. She says that he took River.
Simon and Wash bolt for the door; Wash is stopped by a beeping noise. He turns back, and looks at the screen.
“Oh don't. Don't you dare,” he says; things seem to be going wrong all over.
Mal's firing on Patience's lads. Jayne picks them off from the hillside, one by one. He's not the brightest bulb in the hallway, but he knows how to shoot.
Yay for talented PR.
We cut back to Serenity. Dobson's heading for the airlock. Simon goes for a flying tackle, knocking Dobson clear of River. They lie there hurting for a bit; River, terrified, backs into a corner.
Simon Tam: 3. Gregory House: 0.
For a moment, we're up with Jayne. He misses a shot, swears about it, and the target jumps on a horse to ride away. Back down at ground level, Zoe raises her gun and shoots him dead. Patience stands behind a horse, shotgun resting on the saddle.
Zoe complains that her armour's dented. Mal says she was right about it being a bad idea; she thanks him. Seems to be a pattern with these two.
Patience tries a little threat; Mal shoots the horse, which falls on top of her. He wanders up, explains that he gets paid when he does a job, and tells Patience to run her little moon.
And then Jayne runs up. Apparently, the Reavers have followed them.
High above the valley and the moon, the Reaver ship flies into the atmosphere with all the grace of an albatross on morphine.
Act Six
Dobson dives for the gun – and Simon jumps on top of him. They struggle. Dobson elbows Simon, and crawls for a gun. Simon grabs the other one. Dobson aims at River. Simon aims at Dobson. Say hello to Señor Standoff.
Upstairs, Wash is readying the ship to be out of there before the Reavers catch up. He's calm, focused, and completely oblivious to what's going on in the cargo bay.
Simon holds the gun on Dobson with a shaky hand. Seems he doesn't want to kill, but he's not about to let anyone hurt River. Dobson tries to explain that he doesn't mean to hurt anyone, that he's just upholding the law. The sight of Book, struggling to stay upright, tells a very different story. Dobson is still talking to Simon; Simon is panicky, indecisive.
Fedtoss!
Simon drops the gun, and goes over to River. Mal and Jayne pick up Dobson's body as Zoe starts closing the ship up. They run to the end of the ramp, play Fed-toss, and dive back into the ship. You really can't help but feel like they've done it before – maybe even more times than Jayne can count to.
Zoe and Mal are up on the bridge with Wash as the ship gets off the ground. The Reavers are closing – and fast. Wash is strangely calm; serene, even.
We cut to the external view. Serenity is moving fast, but the Reavers are still gaining on them. Wash says he needs Kaylee in the engine room; Jayne legs it down to the infirmary.
Mal talks to Inara in the hallway. He tells her to get herself and the civilians into her shuttle, and make sure they're safe. Inara protests.
Mal looks at her, and just says her name – all meaningful like, and in a way that encourages nothing in the way of argument. “Go,” he says, and very gently pushes her away. Inara leaves, and Mal goes back up to the bridge.
Jayne is carrying Kaylee out of the infirmary as Inara arrives. She tells the other three to go with her; Book heads off to help Kaylee, and tells Simon to go and look after River. Inara takes the Siblings Tam to her shuttle, while Book goes after Jayne.
In the engine room, Kaylee is leaning against the bulkhead. Jayne and Book stand by, waiting. Wash's voice comes over the intercom; Kaylee talks the other two through setting up for full burn.
Back up on the bridge, things are looking bleak. Wash and Mal settle on going for a Crazy Ivan.
The Reaver ship is slowly gaining on Serenity. The magnetic grappler warms up, ready to ruin an already-bad day.
On the bridge, Wash is still unnaturally serene. He flicks his Doing Stuff switches, and waits.
“Ok”, cones Kaylee's voice over the intercom. Wash slams down one of the levers, and Serenity flips over. Wash shouts “Now!” into the com; the back of the ship spins furiously, and glows brighter than ever. The ship speeds off into space, leaving their pursuers far, far behind.
Wash eases off on the controls. He looks rather pleased with himself, in a way reminiscent of cats and canaries. Mal and Zoe are amazed, and the rest of the ship is relieved.
Zoe explains that she needs Wash to tear off all her clothes, and drags him from the bridge.
It's enough.
“It's enough,” he says, almost to himself.
.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-17 09:49 pm (UTC)