Firefly 9 - 11

[schneefink]

Still sick. I am very grateful that I'm living in an age with computers and internet, because I haven't found the time yet to either go to a bookshop or get a library card.


To be honest, after the first few episodes I was a bit puzzled by the hype surrounding this series. Sure, it's good fun and has interesting characters, but not more than other shows. But the third DVD has "Out of Gas", "Ariel", "War Stories" and "Trash", and if it continues like this it's no wonder.

Ariel: Simon planning the perfect heist! I loved him coaching everyone and using his skills for good evil. And they finally showed us that he's an excellent doctor instead of just telling us (even though it wasn't very subtle.)
Jayne selling the siblings out was realistic, especially after River spontaneously cut him with a large kitchen knife ("he looks better in red", seriously.) I was surprised that he was surprised at being double-crossed, though.
Good job making the people with blue gloves really scary. Poor River.
Mal almost spacing Jayne! I do think he would have done it if Jayne hadn't said that last sentence. Probably. I wonder what he would have told the others.

War Stories: How much do I love continuity? Lots. They suddenly have money! I like that money is actually an issue. (The title song, with the line "you can't take the sky from me" - um, actually, that'd be very easy: cut off the fuel supply, or one faulty compression cord...)
If DVDs were fanworks I would have insisted on a torture warning (for Ariel, too). I loved the conversation Mal and Wash had while being tortured (what a weird sentence), I loved all the Zoe & Wash & Mal stuff in there. Believable interesting relationships ♥ and characters ♥
I also loved Kaylee and River playing, apples, Book shooting people in the kneecaps, Simon trying to shoot people, and Kaylee not being able to shoot people. It's okay, River can do it for you! And say "no power in the 'verse can stop me" and look generally scary. In hindsight, that's after Simon tried the new medication - I wonder what else she'll remember.
And great lines, too. Awesome episode.

Trash: Someone (michelel72?) complained about episodes where we first get one scene to "makes things interesting" and then the whole backstory. This was exactly the case here, and it was totally unnecessary. Running across Mal's wife would have been interesting enough for an opening.
Again: continuity, yay! Not only Mal's wife, also all the references to Ariel.
I hated the scene with Mal and Inara. He calls her a whore, but suddenly she's so rude because she calls him a petty thief? Wtf.
As always in science fiction, mechanical engineers and programmers are exactly the same thing, whatever.
The plot wasn't particularly interesting, but I liked the crew being smart and Inara in the end.
Also the Tam siblings and Jayne: priceless. Jayne is a girl's name, heh. Simon talking to Jayne was great, and then River: "I can kill you with my brain." Good cop, scary cop.


Do I really only have three episodes left? :(

Comments

[schneefink.livejournal.com]

It did work well int he A:tla episode! Exceptions prove the rule.

I think the writers did their best to make Mal a lovable rogue, which works more or less for different people.

[sholio]

Threadjack here, but I think the times that technique does work are the times when it adds something narratively to the episode, rather than simply being in there for maximum melodrama. There's an episode of White Collar that used it to good effect too, I think -- I'm not sure if this is one of the ones you've seen, but it opens with a flash-forward sequence, and as the episode builds to that point, you start to realize that what you thought you were seeing in the opening scene was, in fact, the opposite of what's actually happening. Played straight, though, it's generally just an annoying ploy to keep the viewer from switching channels.

[schneefink.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've seen that one! I think you're right; it was like that in the A:tla episode, too. Mal sitting in the desert naked, on the other hand, adds nothing. To the plot, I mean.

(It's very unrealistic that he doesn't have any scars, btw, and while I might buy that Simon is that good a doctor there is no way Mal always had access to that kind of technology.)