Considering the opening scene of this episode is shown to
correspond to Mal's confrontation with the pirate crew of
the Walden near the end of the episode, shouldn't
we see Serenity in the grip of the Walden
here at the beginning as we do at the end?
At 2:18 on the DVD, the cables lying on the floor of the
cargo bay in the background have changed position from what
they were just moments before.
Notice at 4:37 on the DVD that even the usually disturbed
River is enjoying whatever funny story has just been
told around the kitchen table.
At 7:35 on the DVD, notice that Mal smacks Jayne on the arm
to stop him from stealing a taste of the frosting on Simon's
birthday cake.
Kaylee tells Mal that damage to the engine was caused by the
catalyzer on the port compression coil blowing out. In
"Serenity", Kaylee warned Mal
that the port compression coil might
need to be replaced soon, but he denied her permission to
purchase a replacement while they are on Persephone at the
time.
In the audio commentary by Tim Minear and David Solomon on
the DVD, Minear says there is a clue in one scene to the Inara back-story
which has not been brought to resolution thus far. Minear does not
specify what about this scene is a clue. I wonder if it's
Inara's response to Simon's lament that he doesn't want to
die on Serenity, where she says, "I don't want to
die at all." Minear also states there is a clue in the
flashback scene of Inara considering the rental of one of
the Serenity shuttles from Mal. In that scene, Mal
takes a guess that she is running from something, otherwise
she'd be making an arrangement to provide her services on a
luxury liner. These secrets were
not revealed in any episode of the single season of Firefly,
nor in any subsequent story to date in other mediums.
However, in the 10th anniversary reunion special
Firefly: Browncoats Unite, which aired on the
Science Channel on Sunday, November 11, 2012, it was
revealed that there was to have been an episode in which
Inara is taken by Reavers, but before they took her, she
injected herself from the syringe. After taking her, the
Reavers gang-rape her. Later, Mal rescues her, finding the
Reaver ship filled with their corpses, none left alive; the
injection she took killed each one after they violated her.
It was also revealed in the special that Inara has a
terminal disease that would have been introduced into the
storyline if the series had continued. There are hints in
this episode and "Ariel" that something may be wrong with
her medically.
Inara states that she loved Serenity the first
moment she saw it. This is something she has in common with
Mal, as we see at the end of the episode.
This episode reveals that Serenity's alarm system
has a female voice to warn passengers (in both English and
Chinese) of life-support failure.
This episode reveals that Mal's first mechanic on
Serenity
was a young man named Bester. Possibly the name was derived
by Joss Whedon from the science-fiction author Alfred Bester
(1913-1987) and/or the Babylon 5 character named
Alfred Bester (which creator, J. Michael Straczynski, has
admitted was inspired by said author).
When Kaylee is trying to point out to Bester the bad reg
couple in the engine, she gets a little irritated at his
cluelessness and says, "I'm pointing right at it." She said
almost the same thing to Jayne, trying to guide him to the port
jet control
in
"Government Goods".
In the flashback where Inara is considering renting one of
the Serenity shuttles for her business, she tells
Mal that no one else on the ship, including him, will be
allowed on board the shuttle without her express invitation.
As we know, Mal has consistently barged into her private
sanctum unannounced since then! After he uses the word
"whore" to describe her work, she also insists that will be
the last time he gets to call her that and he responds,
"Absolutely. Never again." We know this is also untrue.
This episode reveals that the four vertical metal boxes on
the starboard side of Serenity's bridge are
actually lockers. Mal grabs a blanket from one of them as
the temperature falls on the ship.
At
38:15 on the DVD, notice that the pirate captain of the
Walden is wearing a red, pirate-like sash around
his waist. Fitting, since he is essentially acting as a
pirate.
It seems that Wash and Mal must have the same blood type.
Wash is seen donating blood for Mal after his gunshot
injury.
Chinese translations
(Thanks to the
Firefly-Serenity Chinese Pinyinary for the translations) |
| Time on
DVD |
Chinese |
English |
|
1:19 |
Zoe says, "It's a piece of fei-oo." |
fei-oo=junk |
|
1:21 |
Mal says, "Fei-oo?" |
"Junk?" |
|
9:38 |
The Chinese character yi is seen on the infirmary door |
Medical Treatment |
|
11:01 |
Wash says, "Chur ni-duh." |
"Screw you." |
|
18:14 |
Jayne says, "What the guay you two think you're doin'?" |
guay=hell |
|
18:30 |
Serenity's alarm system announces, "Jeo-shung yong-jur goo-jang.
Jien-cha yong-chi gong yin." |
"Life support failure. Check oxygen levels at once." |
|
18:57 |
Mal says, "suo-yo duh doh shr-dang" |
"all that's proper" |
|
22:19 |
Mal says, "Dong-ma?" |
"Understand?" |
|
31:38 |
Chinese character on the door of the bridge. |
lang=corridor |
|
37:49 |
The captain of the Walden refers to Serenity as
"this pile of gosa." |
gosa=crap |
Notes from Firefly Role-Playing
Game Core Book
The pirate ship in this episode is stated to be Old
Nellie, a Kintsugi-class salvage ship. But in
the episode itself, it is called the Walden. The
class name of the ship,
Kintsugi, is the term for a Japanese art of
repairing broken pottery.
Memorable Dialog
ship
like this.wav
got a name all picked out.wav
monastic humor.wav
funny whorin' stories.wav
a companion doesn't kiss and tell.wav
vaguely funereal sound.wav
I
love this ship.wav
you're
afraid.wav
a
little snippy.wav
maybe I should do that.wav
life support failure.wav
you don't have to go down with your ship.wav
I'll
post a sign.wav
I supported unification.wav
that's the last time you get to call me "whore".wav
the ugly
one.wav
well
said.wav
everybody dies alone.wav
it
smells funny.wav
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Episode Studies
