In the opening scene of a nude Mal
sitting on a rock in the desert, we
see that he has a tattoo on his
right hip. The image isn't very
clear on screen, so it's difficult
to make out. The tattoo is a real
one sported by actor Nathan Fillion.
When asked what it is or what it
means he has said he got it when he
was 19 and now regrets it. He has
made a number of joking explanations
of what it represents (such as
"Property of Gina Torres", the
actress who plays Zoe). The most
plausible sounding explanation he's
given is that it is an Egyptian
glyph essentially representing
peace. |
|
Mal tells Monty that it was about a half-year ago that he
first bumped into Saffron (in
"Our Mrs. Reynolds").
At 7:48 on the DVD, as Serenity comes in for a
night landing on the moon, we see that it has red and green
running lights on the engines, on the port and starboard
sides, respectively. This is similar to the running lights
on modern day aircraft.
At 7:56 on the DVD, we see the blackened Mule in Serenity's
cargo bay, burnt during the assault against Niska in
"War Stories".
Zoe refers to Monty as a Sasquatch. Sasquatch
is a cryptozoological hominid some
people believe lives (mostly) in the American northwest. It
seems a bit odd that she would use this term since most
denizens of the Verse don't seem to have a lot of knowledge
of Earth-That-Was. Perhaps the term has remained in use due
to similar creatures on some of the worlds, though we have
no indication that any of the worlds of the Verse had
humanoid life
on them before being inhabited by humans from
Earth-That-Was.
The sweater worn by Simon at 15:30 on the DVD looks similar
to the Sandman uniform tunic worn by actor Michael York in
the 1976 film Logan's Run.
When Mal confines Simon and River to their room in order to
avoid Saffron seeing them, Jayne is tasked with telling them
and leaving them some supplies. During the discussion, River
points out that "Jayne" is a girl's name and Jayne says
he'll show her "good and all" that he's got man parts, while
reaching into his pants, which causes Simon to comment on
his crudity. Jayne then makes as if he was merely reaching
into his pocket to leave them a deck of cards. But if you
look back a few seconds on the DVD at 16:13, it's clear his
hand really was sliding into his pants.
Mal is worried about Saffron seeing Simon and River and
turning them in. But she already saw them in
"Our Mrs. Reynolds".
Possibly Mal has implied to her that the two were just
temporary passengers, now long gone.
The large trash bins located on the underside of the
floating platforms of Bellerophon Estates appear to bear the
corporate name Amalgamated Waste Industries.
It's hard to believe that the crew would be able to fly
Serenity right underneath one of the floating estate
platforms without being stopped by security.
At 20:29 on the DVD, the port-side shuttle is visible on
Serenity...but both shuttles have already left the ship in
conjunction with the heist!
The computer screen on the waste bin
at 21:42 on the DVD looks to be
displaying a standard Windows
operating system application
installation procedure! |
|
At 22:12 on the DVD there appears to be a sheet of paper
money mounted under glass on the wall in Haymer's estate,
possibly one of the rare artifacts in his collection of
antiques from Earth-That-Was. As Mal and Saffron make their
way through the display room, we also see an old phone
booth, a pay phone, a candlestick phone, a record player
with 45 rpm records, a model schooner, a couple of vases, a
number of paintings and other hanging artworks, a grand
piano (with a candelabra on it), and a grandfather clock.
Upon seeing Haymer's collection of artifacts, Mal says (in
Chinese), "Holy testicle Tuesday." Do they still have the
same seven days of the week in the Verse as in the modern
western world? It seems they just might, because Zoe
also mentions Sunday in "Triggered".
According to the book Firefly:
Still Flying, a tribute to the
TV series, the Lassiter laser gun
that the crew steals in this heist
was a prop which has appeared in
other Hollywood productions going
back to 1992 (such as Seaquest
DSV). The prop was constructed
from a First Alert ReadyLite
flashlight (circa late 1980s) and an
aluminum foundry casting of a
1960s-era toy laser gun called the
Galactronic Gun. |
|
At 31:57 on the DVD, the police who are chasing Mal and
Saffron arrive at the door the two just exited. But it is
clearly a different door than the previous shot because the
door is a different color, has a different type of handle,
and the interior of the building at the door is different
than what was seen as Mal and Saffron exited.
Mal appears to be wearing blue jeans or something similar
most of the heist, but when he and Saffron are escaping in
the shuttle and he is at the controls in the cockpit, he is
briefly seen in his normal khaki trousers before being in
the jeans again.
When Saffron makes Mal strip down naked, it doesn't make
much sense that he seems to pull his trousers down before he
has even removed his boots!
I like Inara's pistol, seen when she holds Saffron at
gunpoint. Like her, it's sexy. The prop is a slightly
modified Ruger Mark 2.
Thanks to River's sensitivity to duplicity, Simon finally
realizes that Jayne had attempted to betray him and his
sister on Ariel and confronts Jayne about it. This incident
occurred in "Ariel".
River warns Jayne that she could kill him with her mind. Did
she literally mean that she could kill with mind-power? Or
was she just putting the scare into him?
Chinese translations
(Thanks to the
Firefly-Serenity Chinese Pinyinary for the translations) |
Time on
DVD |
Chinese |
English |
4:35 |
Saffron says, "Ben tian-sheng de yi dui rou!" |
"Stupid, inbred sack of meat!" |
7:19 |
Saffron says, "hou zi de pi gu" |
"monkey's butt" |
10:16 |
Mal says, "Yi qi shen hu xi." |
"Let's take a deep breath." |
11:31 |
Inara says, "Suo xi." |
"Petty." |
13:46 |
Jayne's t-shirt has Chinese characters on it which say, "Dai ruo mu
ji." |
"Dumb as a Wooden Chicken" |
14:35 |
Inara says, "Ni men dou shi sha gua." |
"Idiots. All of you." |
16:43 |
Simon says, "bu hui hen de" |
"remorseless harridan" |
17:53 |
Chinese characters on the digital schematic of the Bellerophon
Estates |
parlor |
18:42 |
Large white balloons at Haymer's party have the Chinese character "ying". |
Welcome |
18:42 |
Vertical banner has Japanese writing |
I and Raku: Ikebana to Zouka; Rakuzaka; Taguchiya Ikebanaten;
Ikebana and Artificial Flowers; Rakuzaka; Taguchiya Ikebana Store |
18:47 |
Vertical banner in background appears to have more Japanese writing |
Unknown |
20:37 |
Chinese character "wei" on Serenity's top hatch as Jayne
emerges |
Danger |
21:53 |
Chinese writing on trash bin |
Danger; Electricity; Vapor |
22:17 |
Mal says, "Shen sheng de gao wan." |
"Holy testicle Tuesday." |
31:41 |
Saffron says, "Wang ba dan de!" |
"Whores of sons of bitches!" |
31:47 |
Columns in the estate
have the Chinese character "ying". |
Welcome |
36:47 |
Kaylee says, "Ta shi suo you di yu de biao zo de ma!" |
"Whores in hell!" |
Notes from Firefly Role-Playing
Game Core Book
Monty's transport is called the Restless Soul.
Memorable Dialog
that went
well.wav
devil woman.wav
you and lipstick are a dangerous combination.wav
you
are a tweaked one.wav
people
love those.wav
a petty
thief.wav
what's she doing on this ship?.wav
you better
run.wav
you
didn't see it coming?.wav
I can kill you with my brain.wav
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Episode Studies