#firefly rewatch

-I'm a big fan of Mal and Jayne in the whole "pain is scary" exchange. I think the timing of it just hits.

-"It's a girl.  She's cute too.  I don't think she's all there; 'course, not all of her has to be."

JAYNE COBB WHEN I FUCKING GET YOU--

I just hate this line.  Jayne that is a mentally damaged, traumatized sixteen year old girl.  She is like twenty years younger than you and she is fresh out of two years of medical torture and she has no idea where she even is or what is real in her environment.  Sure, maybe he was just saying that because he wanted to be as scary/dangerous as possible to intimidate Dobson but that's still not a great angle and I still hate it.  I'm willing to give him some leeway in the this is the pilot meta sort of way, though.  But also I'm going to hit him with hammers I'm going to throw him at a wall I'm going to patiently explain to him that he can't say stuff like that

-what's all that behind Jayne? Newspapers? Do they just keep newspapers to entertain passengers?  How often do you think they even take on passengers at all?

-I'm glad we get everything set up in the pilot but FUCK this crew cannot catch a break. Everyone's reactions to the reavers really sells it,(as does the score!) especially how up front Zoe is with Simon. She just delivers what he needs to know and moves on, and that's what he needs in that moment. I really do love the Zoe and Simon dynamic and I think it develops nicely in the show and would have continued. She can help him understand life on the Rim without being mean for no reason (Jayne) or making it awkward (Kaylee) or being just fucking weird about it (Mal).

-Mal just staring at River. He wants to hate her SO bad but unfortunately he was hardwired with "defend young women" protocol (for better or for worse) and also Kaylee already likes her.

-Mal being so tender with Kaylee...very very important to me.

-Sort of interesting to me that Simon is asking for inoculation packets when a doctor and a student who attended a government military school would probably be the most vaxxed people on the ship.  I would imagine that the minute you're accepted to MedAcad they put you on a schedule to get every single vaccine on Alliance records.

-"Kaylee's very dear. To all of us." Oh I'm sure.

-Absolutely hilarious that Inara is being, all things considered, extremely gentle and understanding with Simon until the moment Mal appears, at which point Simon becomes a prop she can throw.

Inara: "You're lost in the woods. We all are. Even the captain. The only difference is, he likes it that way." Mal: "No the difference is, the woods are the only place I can see a clear path." Simon; overwhelmed, autistic, and concussed: what the FUCK are you two talking about

I am NOT mentally prepared to witness whatever these two freaks have going on I NEED to get out of here.

-The weird tense catwalk scene was the first one they filmed in the whole show! Quite frankly I am impressed with how good Simon's bruise continuity looks from the shuttle to here, because this means that the Inara scene must have been filmed way later considering the recast.

-Do you think Mal turned around and left so soon after dropping "Kaylee's dead" because he knew he would crack and start laughing if he kept looking at Simon? Also Simon's confusion to horror is so tasty.

-There's yet more goofy running on Simon's end, and he sends the punching bag in the cargo bay swinging. Why do we never see anyone using that thing?

-Mad as fuck. There goes Wash's plate from dinner.

-"You depend on luck, you end up on the drift. No fuel, no prospects. Begging for Alliance make-work." First of all, what the hell is Alliance make-work second of all, has this happened to him before?

:((((

one of the hardest-to-watch things when it comes to river, for me, is that she is often Actually trying to tell someone (often simon) what she Knows due to her abilities, but it's difficult for her to communicate in a way that will make sense to the people around her, presumably due to the effects of trauma and brain damage.

GINA TORRES as ZOE WASHBURNE in FIREFLY: WAR STORIES

I know it's a difficult mission... but you and I... have to get it on.

-More goofy Simon running.  Also: get manhandled! pt.2

-Kind of wild that Mal just opens the cryobox?  Dude you don't know WHAT is in there.  What if Simon was dabbling in virology.

-I've watched this show with quite a few people who don't like that River is naked in the cryobox and I totally understand that, but I actually like it, and I'll tell you why.  She's naked, she's weirdly wet/goopy, she's screaming in an environment that is totally new to her, and then she's bundled up in a family member's arms and given a medical checkup.  I think the birth imagery is very interesting!

-"Sean, we need you to convey in this intense and intimidating scene that you have indeed known this girl for all of her life and would sacrifice absolutely everything for her"

Sean Maher: 🫡🫡

-"River was more than gifted…she was a gift."  AAAAAAAAA This doesn't sound like something anyone else said about her.  This sounds like a very tender very genuine Simon sentiment. 

-So when Jayne gets up to pour himself a cup of coffee, he keeps looking at Mal like he's waiting for them to share a "is this guy serious?" look, but Mal only looks when Jayne makes a noise/enters his field of vision.  Mal might not be very happy with Simon at the moment, but he's at least giving him a chance to explain himself.  Jayne continues looking around the room while Simon talks but no one looks back at him. I have more Jayne thoughts: re how I think he fits in on the ship that I'll talk about in The Train Job.

-Ughhhh they really just let Sean Maher do his thing in this scene.  The pausing and the expressions coupled with the music are so effective.  I think Simon is mostly talking directly to Mal in this scene but he's also desperately trying to avoid eye contact with everyone, which is hard with everyone fanned out around him.

-Aside: based on the fact that Simon has an incredibly traditional name and River has essentially a gender neutral hippie name, plenty of headcanons and fanfiction suggest that Simon was actually allowed to name her, which I love.  Just imagine very young Simon visiting his mother and River in the hospital, taking everything in very studiously, holding her with extra care to support her head, picking a name he thinks is pretty as he realizes she's looking right at him…I'm unwell.  As usual.

-Mal tells people to shut up three times in this episode; when they're on the salvage ship, when everyone is quipping about their salvage haul, and this final time, when they're all arguing about killing Simon.  Every time this happens, everyone immediately shuts up.  I think this might be one of the most effective ways to show how much of a leader Mal is.  Firefly doesn't often resort to outright telling us about character dynamics (I'll talk about this later) and I really like that they definitely let Mal's leadership skills be a show rather than tell thing.  You can sort of see Mal's leadership in the Serenity Valley opening when Mal is telling the squad leader to get to high ground and start picking off Alliance soldiers and she's nodding in assent before Zoe even gets the chance to point out that the skiff will kill the squad before they get there.  A squad leader would know that.  Mal just has that effect on people.  One fanfiction I really like calls this Mal's "tractor beam personality". (Tractor beam being the column of light that sucks you into the UFO when you're getting abducted by aliens btw).  Hell, you can see it when Mal asks Zoe "are you ready?" and she just responds with "Always."  Maybe God abandoned you, Malcolm Reynolds, but Zoe did not.

-Also great MalInara set up.  "Maybe I'll leave." "Okay I hope you do" and then she will!  And now you're both upset.  Dumbass.

-A+ Simon moment of listening to a guy who's clearly got like half a foot on him and put him on the floor earlier threaten to Literally Kill Him and think "yeah I should follow this man out of the room and antagonize him"

-I think the immediate assumption about Simon bothering Mal in the hallway is that Simon Just Doesn't Know!  He didn't see the helpful flashback of Serenity Valley like the rest of us.  While the two cut scenes about Simon learning the significance of Serenity do suggest he doesn't know everything, Simon is an educated and presumably informed person living in the 'Verse and there is sort of no way he doesn't know what a long brown coat worn over military pants by a man who is working outside the law means?  So I do think there's a case for it to be interpreted less as ignorance and more "I know exactly what will piss this guy off and for some reason I am going to piss this guy off." Because Simon Tam loves to bother people who are fully capable of killing him dead.

-Hello to the stunt coordinator keeping Sean Maher from cracking his head open.

-So, in the shooting script, the deleted scene follows.  So…deleted scene time:

-Obsessed with basically every single extra in the docks.  Just go through any scene where anyone is walking around in the Eavesdown Docks and pause.  There are going to be five interesting people in the shot bare minimum.  I guess I feel like Book!  He's been in the abbey for a while and is taking in the sights.

-Brutus is part of the Orion Cruise Line (allegedly) which tacks on to my thoughts on the previous overthinking post about the market of space travel.  Do cruiselines have to do the whole "aggressive marketing in person at the docks to whoever walks by"?  My instinct tells me no, and that Brutus is a secondhand ship sold to freelancers or to the junkyard after it was no longer to the standards of the Orion company.

-I love the set dressing for Badger's office.  He has like half a dozen little gadgets on his desk.  What even are those things and does he really need ready access to all of them so badly?  Are those neon wigs?  Why does he need neon wigs.

-I told you that you shouldn't have lied to Zoe!!!  What was the reason for that!! Apologize to her and never do it again.

-I do really like that everyone in that office is armed.  The guards, the dude chilling on the couch, and the transcriber all pulling guns on them is very funny to me.  Also interested in the look Mal gives to Jayne as a sort of down, boy expression (see more Jayne as guard/guardian dog over at @homosexual--mothman).  Mal doesn't make any move to draw his weapon, but Zoe does and then her hand does not leave her weapon.  She also turns towards the closest guy, ready for anything. 

-Not entirely sure what the point is of Badger's monologue? Just to say "you were rude so no deal"?

Mal: you can still offload the cargo we scavenged, so what's your issue, from a business perspective? Badger: You lost the war you're not cut out for thievery you think you're so high and mighty but I run this place you're condescending and I'm the one in charge. Mal: so…are we doing business or what? Badger: no ❤️

-Great camera and lighting in this scene, but I am absolutely not the first person to say that.  The illusion of ships flying overhead is such a good addition; just adds to the atmosphere.

-I'm going to talk more about Jayne's understanding of how Serenity's jobs work later, because I think his antics in The Train Job give me more ammo.  But I do really like Zoe's expression throughout his "10% of nothing" line. She's at her limit with him.

-Love how Blue Sun logos are just everywhere.  No one says anything about it, but it's there.  It was there on the coffee can crybaby and it's all over the docks.  Just an omnipresent company like any of the ones we have in real life. 

-Is the middle of a busy walkway in the center of the docks approximately five paces away from federal officers the best place to have this conversation? There's one like right behind Zoe.

-My darling blorbo appears.  I love Simon in his stupid little glasses.  I love that he only wears them once but they're his defining costume item alongside his vests.  The comic says they're retina scanner resistant lenses but when we see him for the first time there's nothing to suggest they weren't just a sartorial choice and I love that for him.  Drama queen fashionista in his brocade vest and red sunglasses in the middle of pulling off a crime that makes him the 'Verse's most wanted.  Boy put on some cargo pants and a sweater you're at the Eavesdown Docks.  I know he looks amazing sinister Bond villain vibes great for the character introduction but it truly doesn't make sense if you question his internal justification for serving this much while trying to find and book passage on the shadiest ship possible.  Baby they are going to upcharge the hell out of you. 

-Presumably he had some sort of meeting with Kaylee as she was playing barker (like her little convo with Book) which also means she likely saw him in those fucking glasses and a full three piece suit, acting weird and shady as hell, and immediately thought this man is so strange I need him carnally.

-I also think it's funny that Mal gives him three onceovers.  Like Kaylee, really is this what you got for us? Really? This guy?  Extra fun because you can also interpret it in a gay way if you want to, which I do.

-This sequence does give us two really good Zoe and Mal moments. I have such a soft spot for their dynamic.