Mark Watches ‘Firefly’: Episode 9

In the ninth episode of Firefly, the relationships between Simon and River, and Mal and Jayne are tested when they attempt to heist medical supplies and information from one of the most highly-guarded Alliance worlds. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Firefly.

Seriously, this show continues to get better and better. I’m actually a bit upset that I avoided it for so long, if only because I feel like blaming myself for the show going off the air. THAT IS TOTALLY MY FAULT, OK? I’m all right with each and every one of you blaming me for all of it, ok?

“Ariel” uses one of the better tropes found in western cinema: the heist. Mixed in with the suspense are two relationships strained to their inevitable end: Is Simon actually helping River or hurting her? What happens when Jayne finally gets offered enough money to betray Mal?

The planet Ariel is our first complete look at the Union of Allied Planets; we’ve spent most of the season on the edges of the system, where newer technology is rare and desired. Here, we see the advances humankind has made in the last 500 years. It’s the spectacle we were told would exist long ago. (No, seriously, why don’t we have flying cars yet? The Jetsons are a bunch of goddamned liars.)

Because the crew of Serenity can’t resist flirting with (read: taunting) the Alliance, as Inara goes to have her yearly Companion license renewal exam, Simon decides to give the crew a job: sneak him and River into the medical facility so he can use the equipment to analyze her brain, and he’ll pay them with a large supply of valuable medical supplies via theft.

I wondered exactly how much the opening scene played into Simon’s motivation for this. River had slashed Jayne in what later proved to be a defensive measure because she read his thoughts at the time.) Did Simon’s guilt convince him to finally accept that perhaps there were personal justifications for committing INCREDIBLY ILLEGAL crimes? I’m thinking so.

There hadn’t been a montage in a hot minute, so I smiled as Simon’s voiceover explained exactly how they’d sneak into a heavily-guarded Alliance medical facility. I don’t always think montages are bad, especially in the visual medium, because it can get tedious and time-consuming to have each of these instructions spelled out in explicit detail.

Of course, something is bound to go wrong in these scenarios, and it certainly does: Mal and Zoe are directed to the morgue by a particularly insistent doctor after they’ve dropped off River and Simon. But it’s not nearly as bad as the shocking scene when Jayne slips out of the examination room to call an Alliance officer: he is going to collect a handsome reward for turning in the fugitives.

This was my face when it happened:

That’s right, FIREFLY GIFS fuck yeah.

This show does an excellent job of creating a symmetry between episodes without necessarily going the serialized route like LOST or 24. (And don’t get me wrong, I adore serialized shows/books/comics, etc.) This references the very first episode, when Mal asks Jayne what will happen when the day comes when he’s offered enough money to betray him. “Ariel” explores that possibility and it is not at all what I expected.

Mal and Zoe’s problems with the cranky doctor aren’t that complicated, as they actually manage to get into the supply room and steal so much medicine that they’re certain to be well-off for quite some time. The main thrust of this centers around what happens in the diagnostic ward where Simon gets a chance to use a neuro-imager on River’s brain. It turns out that the Alliance scientists removed her amygdala, which disables her ability to suppress her emotions. It helps explains precisely why she is in so much pain and why her moods shift so much. It’s not really explained why they did this to her, nor how it relates to her uncanny ability to read thoughts, behaviors, moods, and other such things in the people around her. (Clearly this is going to be addressed in the future and I’m glad it wasn’t really answered here. It’s not like I needed to be more interested in the show, but I’m definitely hooked at this point.)

What does the Alliance want with River’s brain? I can’t think of a reason yet, which just means I will probably be shocked by whatever it ends up being. I REALLY LIKE SURPRISES.

Jayne’s actions almost immediately backfire on him; Jose Molina’s writing for this episode is rapid-fire, leaving us few moments to catch our breath as things unfold quickly on the screen. Jayne is betrayed by the Alliance officer he spoke with, who decides to arrest Jayne as well and take the reward as his own. A bad situation turns worse, essentially.

But it all truly goes to shit after Simon and Jayne manage to break free of their captors when they’re being transferred to a detention cell. (And can we have a moment to laugh at the way Simon fought by simply throwing his body on top of the guard? I sincerely laughed really, really hard.) Unsure which way to escape, River utters the creepiest line of the series: “It doesn’t matter. They’re here.”

Cut to the men in blue gloves who I DO NOT LIKE BECAUSE THEY MAKE ME FEEL BAD IN THE TUMMY. Only now, they become a billion times more frightening: they own a sonic device that causes people to bleed from every orifice. NO! SERIOUSLY! It is an awful, terrifying scene and I hope I don’t have to see them do this ever again or even hear it and NO THANK YOU.

Who are these men? Are they not Alliance at all? I feel like that’s been somewhat confirmed, but I’m unsure at this point. WHAT DO THEY WANT WITH RIVER? Oh god, I have so many questions none of them are being answered.

But let’s all talk about the most important/best scene of the episode: Mal locking Jayne in the cargo bay’s airlock as the ship leaves. The unhinged look on Mal’s face as he accuses Jayne of betraying Simon and River is frightening and, just like the sonic weapon thingy, I hope not to see this again. “Out of Gas” showed us just how much Mal loves his crew. (And I’m calling it love, FYI.) Now we see what happens when someone tries to violate that sort of trust and respect.

I thought Jayne would get away with what he’d done and was completely taken back by Mal figuring out what happened. I’m intrigued to see how Jayne interacts with the rest of the crew (especially Mal) in the future.

All in all, one damn fine episode of television.

THOUGHTS

Where is Book most of this episode?
“It’s time to wake up.” I really enjoyed how much this episode showed Simon’s love for his sister.
How are the medical supplies going to influence them in the future? They got away with A LOT of medicine; will they immediately take a new job?

That’s all I got for today!