Firefly - Objects in Space

Drat! I got a day behind! (Even in my weeks behind schedule.) So Serenity: The Unaired Pilot will be up tonight...

Objects in Space. Chronologically the last Firefly episode. This one is a lot of people's favorite. I think that's because it's Written and Directed By. Written and Directed by Joss Whedon usually means there's gonna be tragedy and death. In other Sweden shows there would usually be an episode or two that was W&DB that would give the story arc a good hairpin turn. Characters would change, things would happen. This has some of those traits. I think this is kind of River's "coming out" story. Some of this is repeated in Serenity, but such are the needs of exposition.

So where does this episode fall in the Thirteen? On the DVDs it's last. They actually shot a scene with Mal and Inara two different ways so that it can be moved. It speaks to whether Inara has told Mal that she's leaving yet. The way it's on the DVD, she's talking about having told Mal. The way it aired (on the DVD as an alternate scene) she's obviously thinking about leaving. I'm firmly in the camp that it goes right here. Right after War Stories. Before the unaired episodes. This is last on the DVD because it's a good closer. It's Joss' ep, and it ends on a hopeful note. It shows that they saw the writing carved on the wall in blood that they shot both versions of that scene. But in the unaired eps the crew has a better idea of what River can do. And Inara's announcement that she's leaving was pretty clearly the mid-season cliff-hanger. So I'm sorry, but I think the DVD is Joss playing a bit of a George.

It's a good episode. It builds in so many different directions that it's sometimes hard to remember all of it. The opening crew bits with Simon and Kaylee, Jayne and Book, Inara and Mal, Wash and Zoe, all of it watched and experienced by River (hey look, Summer's a ballerina). A little more on Shepard Book: Man of Terrible Mystery. Mal showing us where he lives, all the time: "None of it means a damn thing."

Then "No touching guns". "She understands. She doesn't comprehend." Nice sureal Joss directed moments.

Then we have pretty much the same shock and surprise we got in Serenity. And Simon has no idea. (Hey it was a movie from a canceled TV show. You want miracles?) Little bit of Ariel echoes with Jayne. He's still got his "Money was too good" secret. (See? If this had aired AFTER Trash, Simon and River would have already known, right?) "Wacky fun." Good lines all around. "Did the math."

Then Jubal Early. Ahhhhh. What are the odds HE was coming back? Your good guys are only as good as your bad guys. And he was a really good bad guy. How do we scare the audience? Put Willow- er, Kaylee in danger. And boy, is she in danger. "That ain't no Shepard." Hrmmm. (Guess Joss is finally going to write The Book book next year. So I guess it's really over. *sigh*)

And River gets to be the movie River in this episode. Mind reading genius indeed. This is where it was all going, and I'm sorry we never really got to stay long. First time I saw this episode I will admit that I didn't consider it outside of the realm of possibility that this was the episode where River became the ship. I mean, why not? It was Written and Directed By.

The other thing that I LOVE in this episode is River and Mal. They didn't really have much to do with each other for all of these episodes. Mal doesn't understand her. And she knows what Mal is supposed to be. Mal is supposed to be the hero. There's always something charming about the two of them. "Don't make faces." And of course they end the whole series together in Serenity.

And we end the show with River and Kaylee and Serenity flying off into the black. And Jubal.

It's over. But maybe we can find some Serenity.