Serial Serenity: Serenity Part 2 By Rachel

A World of Trouble
In the kitchen, Simon tells the story of River to the crew of Serenity. His story is juxtaposed with shots of him treating River in the infirmary. He first speaks of himself: how brilliant he was in medical school and so on. He does this to illustrate how smart River is; that she made him look like an “idiot child.” He says that River was “more than gifted: she was a gift.”

Her family sent River, then 14, to a special school sponsored by the Alliance. It was an exciting program and she wanted to go. After a while, communication stopped. After several months of no contact, Simon got a strange coded letter from River. Deciphered, the letter said “they’re hurting us.” For two years, Simon searched for River. Finally (with a lot of money and a little luck) a group saying they could get River out of the testing facility contacted him. Simon picked River up on Persephone in cryogenic sleep and booked passage on Serenity.

Mal, incensed that Simon has brought so much trouble down on his ship and crew, informs him that he and River will get off the boat at Whitefall. An argument erupts; some saying leaving them on Whitefall would be murder, some saying that they should get rid of Simon now. After declaring that Serenity is not a town hall, Mal is threatened by Inara: if he throws Simon and River out, she will leave too. Mal tells her it is a good idea she leave because she is not a part of their “business.”

Simon follows Mal into the hallway, asking exactly what kind of business they run and why Mal is so afraid of the Alliance. He theorizes that Mal is such a lap-do, he probably should be working for the Alliance, anyway. Mal punches Simon.

[nms:Whedon Firefly,4,0]

Bribery
In his bunk, an already angry Mal informs a tied-up Dobson that Jayne will be asking some questions in a not-so-polite way. Mal leaves and Jayne tells Dobson he’s going to cut on him until he spills how much the Alliance knows. Before Jayne can lay a finger on him, Dobson cracks and says the Alliance knows absolutely everything. Jayne, disappointed that he doesn’t get to torture Dobson, reads right through the lie: the Alliance doesn’t know a thing. Dobson tells Jayne that if he helps him, he’ll get a slice of the huge reward offered for River. Jayne asks if helping Dobson out means turning on Mal. Dobson replies, “Yes, it does.” Jayne starts to smile.

Campfire Stories
Mal is called to the bridge again: there is a small vessel on the radar emitting a lot of radiation. Wash tells Mal the mystery ship is operating without core containment. Red flags go up instantly in Mal’s mind: Reavers. Mal gets on the intercom to warn the passengers. They all react in silent terror. Mal informs them that they are not going to run, or else the Reavers will chase them. They will hold course and hope the Reavers just pass them by.

As Zoë runs to the bridge, Simon stops her. He thinks that Reavers were just from scary campfire stories. She tells him: “If they take the ship, they’ll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skins into their clothing. And if we’re very, very lucky, they’ll do it in that order.”

The crew waits as the Reavers pass: Book praying over Kaylee, Simon checking on River, Inara readying a vial to use for suicide, Jayne loading his weapons, Mal, Zoë, and Wash on the bridge. The Reavers hold course and Serenity is in the clear – for now.

Mean Old Man
Back in the infirmary, Kaylee wakes up. Very groggy, she says how nice Simon is. Mal tells her that she shouldn’t have a crush on him because he will be leaving soon. She tells Mal her being shot was not his fault, he should have more faith in people, and that he is a good person. Mal says he’s just a mean old man. He holds her hand as she passes out.

Lost in the Woods
In her shuttle, Inara gives Simon some medical supplies, hoping they will help Kaylee and River. She quietly lets Simon know that Kaylee is very important to her. He apologizes for his role in the events of the day and admits he doesn’t really know what he is going to do. She reassures him, saying they are all “lost in the woods, even the Captain – the only difference is he likes it that way.” Mal enters saying the woods are the “only place [he] can see a clear path.”

After exchanging insults with Inara, Mal follows Simon out to the hallway and tells him that Kaylee is dead. In slow motion, Simon runs to the infirmary to find Kaylee sitting up with a goofy grin on her face waving at him. Cut to the bridge where Mal, Zoë, Wash, and Jayne are laughing hysterically. “Ah, ya should’a seen his face!”

Government Goods
Approaching the moon Whitefall, Serenity is hailed by Patience (Bonnie Bartlett). She is surprised to hear from Mal because she shot him over salvage rights last time they saw each other. Mal is upfront about the cargo’s Alliance imprint. Impressed by his honesty, she says they have a deal. She will give them coordinates of a rendezvous point on terra and signs off. Mal, thinking Patience should have bartered the price down a bit more, thinks she just might shoot him again. Unfortunately, Mal knows they have to deal with her so they can get paid. Zoë suggests trying their luck on other moons, but Mal says they can’t depend on luck. They have obstacles they have to deal with one by one.

In his bunk, Dobson slowly cuts through the duct tape binding his hands.

Impatience
Serenity arrives at the rendezvous point a while before the exchange to check out the area. According to Zoë, it is a great place for an ambush. Jayne buries the cargo away from the meeting point and meets up with Mal and Zoë. After what is one of the funniest moments in the second half (“Testing…can you hear me?” “I’m standing right here.”), Jayne heads up to higher points to look for snipers.

Back on Serenity, Book goes to visit a now-free Dobson and gets knocked out.
At the rendezvous, Patience rides up with several men on horseback. Mal is very upfront and just wants to make the trade.

Jayne kills a sniper and takes over his gun, training it on Mal.

Dobson finds a hidden gun on Serenity and heads for the infirmary,

Mal gives Patience a sample of the goods, what appear to be copper-colored bars. She opens one up and takes a bite. The cargo is food with protein, vitamins, and immunizations. Patience tosses Mal 200 platinum.

River wakes up in the infirmary and Dobson grabs her as a helpless Kaylee watches. He drags River to the cargo bay.

A very old west standoff begins at the rendezvous point. Neither party wants to turn their back on the other. Patience informs Mal that she really doesn’t want to part with money she doesn’t have to. Mal, seeing that he is at the disadvantage, gives her the coins back in hopes she’ll let them walk away. Jayne takes out one of Patience’s men, a gunfight begins, and Zoë is shot in the chest.

Simon and Wash and talking on the bridge when Kaylee comes over the intercom: “He took her.” As they run to intercept Dobson, and alarms goes off on the bridge: the Reavers followed Serenity.

Simon catches up with Dobson and River, tackling Dobson as they are about to leave the ship.

Mal and Jayne take out almost all of Patience’s men. Zoë, lying in the ground, shoots one man as he is riding away. Mal approaches Patience who is hiding behind a horse. Patience shoots Mal in the shoulder. Not happy about being shot by Patience again, Mal checks that Zoë’s body armor worked and the shoots the horse Patience is hiding behind. The horse falls, trapping Patience. Mal goes to her, get the money back and leaves her “to run [her] little world.” Jayne runs up, telling them to hurry: “The gorram Reavers followed us!”

Return of the Reavers
Simon and Dobson scuffle, struggling for the guns. Finally, Simon gets one and points it at Dobson as Wash comes over the intercom announcing that the Reavers are back. Dobson begins reasoning with Simon: he is not a killer and Dobson is just doing his job of upholding the law. Book slowly enters, obviously very hurt from the blow given by Dobson.

As Wash watches the scary-ass Reaver ship closing in on Serenity’s location, he radios Mal and the others: “Where the hell are you guys?”

Mal, Zoë, and Jayne are also closing in on Serenity via horse.

Back on the ship, Dobson tells Simon that he and River will be found eventually; that there is no place they can hide. As the hatch lowers to let the captain and others in, Simon is distracted and Dobson grabs another gun, shooting at Simon but missing. Dobson catches River and holding a gun to her starts what we think will be a very long speech about how he WILL be taking River in. Mal enters and without skipping a beat shoots Dobson away from River. Mal doesn’t have time for all this silliness. He and Jayne take Dobson’s body and chuck it off the ship. Serenity takes off.

As Wash tries to maneuver away from the Reaver ship in a somewhat Zen state, he asks that Kaylee get to the engine room. Mal tells Inara that she is to take the civilians into town in her shuttle. Jayne and Book carry Kaylee to the Engine room, Inara, Simon, and River head to the shuttle.

In the engine room, Kaylee directs Book and Jayne to do things that will help them go to full burn. Mal tells Wash they need to do an “Ivan” ala Hunt for Red October or Top Gun. Much chasing (that is hard to describe in print) later, Serenity’s engines are turned one at a time, completely reversing her course. They fly right past the Reaver ship and go for hard burn, knocking the Reavers out in the wake of there jump out of the moon’s atmosphere.

Mal announces to the crew that they are “out of the woods.” They will need some repairs and fuel soon, but for now, they are fine. He takes the helm from Wash, who goes off with Zoë to celebrate. Kaylee, in the engine room, pats Serenity: “That’s my girl.”

Still Flying
In Inara’s shuttle, she tends to Book’s bleeding head. As he sits before her, he confesses that he thinks he is on the wrong ship. She tells him he is exactly where he ought to be. This is my favorite shot in the episode, by the way – the preacher blessed by the harlot.

In River’s room, Simon and River finally have a chance to talk. She tells him she didn’t think he’d come for her. He tells her she’s a dummy and holds her while she cries.

On the bridge, Jayne tells Mal that they should get rid of the doctor and the girl as soon as possible. Mal guesses that Dobson tried to make a deal with Jayne and asks him why he didn’t turn. Jayne says the money wasn’t good enough. Mal asks him what will happen when the money IS good enough, to which Jayne responds: “Well, that’ll be an interesting day.”

Simon enters the bridge as Jayne leaves. He asks Mal where he plans to dump River and himself. Mal surprises him by offering him the post of ships doctor. Simon asks how will can trust that Mal won’t kill him in his sleep. Mal responds: “If I ever kill you, you’ll be awake, you’ll be facing me, and you’ll be armed.” Mal remarks that he has had a good day because they are still flying.

My Two Cents:
Now that we have gone through a play-by-play of the episode (it is much better seen), I want to share some theories/observations with you.

1.There is a theme running through Firefly of lost faith. This issue is continually dealt with in the relationship between Mal and Book. Not that they are enemies, quite the contrary, but the two disagree greatly on the whole “God is looking out for you” front. So keep looking for quiet comments and glances between the two as they struggle to confirm their own beliefs.

2.While we are on Book, he is a complete mystery to me. It is unfortunate that this character could not be explored in a second or third season of the show. He knows things that a shepherd usually doesn’t know. In this episode, as Kaylee instructs him on how to go for a fast burn, he actually knows where engine parts are and what he is doing. In addition, he was pretty stealth taking out Dobson. There is more there than we know. We will get more questions about Book than answers in this series. I am interested to know what your own theories are on this one.

3.The relationship between Mal and Jayne as set up in the end of Serenity Part 2 is very important. What WILL happen when Jayne gets an offer he can’t refuse? That is coming up in about eight episodes.

4.The arc of the Simon/River story drives the series and is the basis for the movie Serenity. There are stand-alone episodes, but River is really the Samantha Mulder of Firefly.

For those of you wanting deep, philosophical renderings of the series, your not gonna get it here. This is a beginners guide to Firefly, which means there will be a synopsis of each episode and then my personal feeling on what has transpired. I will offer bits of trivia as I find them, and I will draw conclusions that may never be proven (we will never know what could have been.) I am not going to drop any hugely theoretical bombshells (like my theory that Aunt Petunia is a Squib, but that is a whole other article all together!).

Also, as I mentioned at the beginning, this is a series written for a female-based website, so of course I will be trying to focus on the buildup of the strong female characters Firefly has to offer. At this point in the game, those complexities have not presented themselves. So stay tuned to see how the female leads in Firefly form the structure of one of the greatest television shows ever made.

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Sources (besides my brain, I mean):
Firefly – The Complete Series
Fireflyfans.net
Internet Movie Database
Serenity Official Visual Companion
You Can’t Take the Sky: A Firefly Site
Whedonesque