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1.12 The Message Mal: "You murdered yourself. I just carried the bullet awhile." See, I knew he wasn't dead. But he turned out to be, anyway, and in more ways than one. The shopping expedition in the space station with the sideshow barker, post office, and junk food was country fair crossed with Star Wars. (The final scene with Wash piloting Serenity through mountain chasms also had a Star Wars flavor.) But the whole thing about the aliens wasn't just to give us a funny scene, or to finally address the whole alien issue (as in, there aren't any in this fictional universe). Mal and Zoe expected their old war buddy to share their code of honor. It didn't occur to them until it was staring them in the face that Tracey would take advantage of their loyalty. Tracey was an alien to them. It said a lot about them that, even betrayed, Mal and Zoe retained their honor. They showed Tracey compassion, and carried out his final request, to return his body to his parents. Jonathan M. Woodward gave an outstanding performance, with a very effective death scene. I liked him; then I hated him; then I felt sorry for him; then I even teared up a bit for him. There was also an interesting insight on Zoe from the only other person we've met so far who knew her when. She was a robot back then, and now she's not, huh? Tracey's astonishment that Zoe was married suggested Wash might have had something to do with the change in Zoe. Which made sense. It was nice to see Simon and Kaylee start to connect... except that he blew it again. What girl wants to hear that she's a guy's only option, even if it's true? At least the clumsy and cold Simon is a better possible mate than Tracey turned out to be. At least Kaylee is no longer in awe of Simon and is relating to him on her own terms. Maybe there's hope for that relationship. Jayne's ugly hat was a sight gag that just kept on giving. Until the end. As we were watching Tracey's parents bury him, Jayne's hat reminded us that parents love their children, no matter how they turn out. Serenity being buried under the rocks and snow on St. Albans was a precursor of Tracey's poignant funeral scene. It was also like a funeral for Firefly. Even though it wasn't the last episode in the DVD set, this was the last episode that they filmed. Bits and pieces: -- The flashbacks to the "Battle of Du-Khang" seven years ago were visually pretty stunning and effective. And somehow, the Starship Troopers uniforms looked even more Nazi-like than before. -- The autopsy scene was very good. The way Tracey shrieked when Simon cut into him was downright startling, even though I could feel it coming. -- They got a fine guest star to play Lieutenant Womack, who wasn't operating under the auspices of Allied Enforcement. -- It appeared that Mal was having trouble unloading the Lassiter they stole in "Trash." -- "Gut runners" and "wet ware." Smuggling organs in a person? Bleah. -- Jayne has a mom. And someone in his family named Mattie is still sick from something with a Chinese name. -- When Mal and Zoe were carrying Tracey's "casket" to the ship, they wouldn't allow anyone else to help them. It was for the two of them to put their comrade to rest, and no other. -- The space station had a neon sign on the outside that said, "Blue Sun." There was also a blue sun tattooed on the back of Tracey's shoulder. -- Jayne admitted at one point that death makes him horny. -- Mal has never heard of the Mona Lisa. -- This week's planet: St. Albans, which appeared to be pretty cold. And Womack got his command stripes at Silver Hold colonies. -- In this week's hair report, Inara's hair was suddenly straight. -- Jonathan M. Woodward also played good gone bad in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. So I was sort of expecting him to appear good and turn out bad. Being a fan has its drawbacks. Quotable quotes: Wash: "Omigod, it's grotesque. Oh, and there's something in a jar." Simon: "I really know how to show a girl a disgusting time." Inara: "So do aliens live among us?" Kaylee: "Yeah. One of them's a doctor." Wash: "A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything." Jayne: "What did y'all order a dead guy for?" Tracey: "I didn't know you were out there." Zoe: "Sort of the point. Stealth. You may have heard of it." Tracey: "I don't think they covered that in basic." Zoe: "First rule of battle, little one. Don't ever let them know where you are." Mal: (guns blazing) "Whoo-hoo! I'm right here. I'm right here! You want some of me? Yeah, you do. Come on. Come on!" Zoe: "'Course, there are other schools of thought." Mal: "I mean, in all my life, I will never love a woman the way this officer loved that lip ferret." Mal: "Using corpses for smuggling is a time-honored, repulsive custom." Tracey: "When you can't run, you crawl. And when you can't crawl, when you can't do that..." Zoe: "You find someone to carry you." They carried him. At least three stars. This was a very good episode, Billie |
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