Firefly: Objects In Space

December 2nd, 2008

Episode 13

Synopsis

River wanders around Serenity, and we hear things from her point of view, as she reads the minds of the various crew members. She eventually reaches the ship’s lower deck where she picks up a branch – which is actually a gun. Mal disarms her, and scolds Simon for failing to keep an eye on his sister.

In deep space, Jubal Early, a bounty hunter, sits in an odd spaceship consulting pictures of River.

As Mal Scolds Jayne for leaving his gun unattended, the bounty hunter leaves his ship in a space suit and walks along the Serenity’s outer hull. He peeks through a window to see Kaylee telling the others about River’s spooky ability with firearms (War Stories). Mal concludes River may be a danger to his ship and crew. Shepherd interrupts a potential moment between Kaylee and Simon.

Undetected, the bounty hunter boards Serenity and pulls out a gun. He sneaks along the halls and knocks out Mal. He then confronts Kaylee in the engine room, threatening to tie her up and rape her if she doesn’t cooperate. The bounty hunter continues on and disables Shepherd.

Simon hears a noise, and checks on River. The bounty hunter pulls a gun on Simon. River isn’t in her room, and the bounty hunter wonders if a room still serves its purpose when empty. He threatens to hurt Kaylee if Simon doesn’t produce River.

As Simon and the bounty hunter search each room, the hunter admires the spacecraft and licks a pole. He disables Inara and searches her quarters. Once in the cockpit, he tells everyone via the intercom that he wants River or he’ll kill Simon. Just then, River’s voice is heard, saying she’s not on the ship, but is in the ship, and is the ship itself.

The various crew members want to attack the bounty hunter, but River holds them back. River tells Mal to make his way to the cockpit. She probes the bounty hunter’s mind and he becomes frightened. He then realizes River has boarded his spacecraft. He begs River to not touch the controls. She offers to go with him, saying she has become a threat to the Serenity crew. Just then, Simon attacks the bounty hunter and is shot in the leg.

The bounty hunter puts his space suit back on and begins to return to his ship. Mal, dressed in a space suit, comes from behind and kicks him into space. River leaves the bounty hunter’s ship and joins Mal outside the Serenity.

The Serenity crew return to their usual routine, as the bounty hunter drifts alone in space.

Thoughts

Very cool to see things from River’s point of view in the intro. Since this technically is the series finale of sorts, it’s a good time to get some explanation of River’s state of mind. Some of her strengths are shown as she saves the Serenity crew. She learned how to use the space suit in the episode Bushwhacked .

I chuckled at Jayne pulling the curtain off his weapons and then returning to sleep. We also have more hints of Simon and Kaylee’s potential romance, but since this is the last episode, their relationship was sadly unconsummated.

Not sure about the philosophizing bounty hunter Jubal Early. According to Wikipedia, his meandering espousings are a tribute to existentialism. There’s a similarity between him and River, both removed from the physical world. I consider him a precursor to The Operative from the movie Serenity.

Previous Episode: Heart Of Gold

TV Shows: Firefly

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