alas, I fear (due to the shortness of the series) you aren't going to get a 'lot' of Resolution on your questions :( It broke my heart to leave it all out there, mysterious. Serenity helped, to be sure, but oh, oh the heart break only worsened with Wash. Sob.

Sometimes I hate Joss Whedon. He giveth good characters and then he taketh them away :(

Mrs Reynolds was a weirdo ep, but I liked Inara's reaction throughout :)