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1.5 Safe Jayne: "See? That's my whole problem with picking up tourists. They ain't never what they claim to be." Not my favorite episode, but it had its interesting points. Like, Simon would die for his sister, or with her. Shepherd Book has some weird connection to the Alliance. And beagles are easier to transport than cows. The flashbacks showed that Simon and River have always had a strong connection, and their parents weren't in tune with them at all. And that Serenity is more of a real home for them than their expensive estate in Capital City. (The Tam estate was oddly dark, which I think symbolized its lack of welcome and safety.) There was also a transparent comparison between Tam Senior and Mal. Tam Senior abandoned Simon and River out of fear of... what? Legal trouble? Loss of his good name? He told Simon, "I will not come for you." And now skip ahead to Mal, who made a commitment to Simon and River despite the possibility of much more serious consequences. Mal said he wouldn't leave them, and he didn't. He came back for them. Note that in the initial flashback, Tam Senior paid attention to Simon but completely dismissed River. In the later flashbacks, I suspected that Tam Senior knew what was being done to River and condoned it somehow, perhaps in exchange for medical opportunities for Simon. Was it a sexist choice? My son the doctor, perhaps? Or was River just too strange and brilliant for her parents? Simon showed some serious heroism. His willingness to sacrifice himself for his sister was amazing, as well as touching. River was kind of amazing, too, showing her psychic power several times: with the cattle, when Book was shot, reading little Ruby's mind. She picked up on the Patron's murder, too, and knew when Mal had come back for them. But honestly, River really needs to learn how to keep her mouth shut. And Simon needs to tie her to his wrist before they leave the ship. The Western drawl and Chinese slang sometimes sounds affected to me, and this was one of those times. And I'm not fond of episodes where our heroes nearly get burned at the stake; Joss was repeating himself. Ah, well. Bitch, bitch, bitch. Bits and pieces: -- The flashbacks took place eleven years ago. Which made Simon about what? Twenty-five? -- Simon and River were gone for five minutes, and Jayne was tossing their rooms. -- I liked the juxtaposition of the gunfight with cows and River's frenetic dancing with the townpeople. -- River's clothing in this episode was childish and frilly, and accompanied oddly by black shorts and boots. The clothing sort of went with how strange and divided River is. -- Kaylee and Inara couldn't tell a (wooden) duck from a swan. Maybe ducks and swans are extinct. -- Mal's papers say he is "Captain Harbatkin." -- Jayne was wearing a tee-shirt with "28" on it. -- She says rich, he says crap. Potato, potah-to, Kaylee and Simon are way too different. Let's call the whole thing off. -- The bad guys ran off, and Serenity left. What happened to the cows? -- This week's planet: Jiangyin, described as a backwater. The planet Greenleaf was mentioned but was too far away. And we spent some quality time on the Alliance cruiser Magellan. Quotable quotes: River: "The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds, given adequate vacuuming systems." Mal: "See, morbid and creepifying I got no problem with, long as she does it quiet-like." Mal: "You know, they walk just as easy if you lead 'em." Jayne: "I like smackin' 'em." Zoe: "Next time we smuggle stock, let's make it something smaller." Wash: "Yeah, we should start dealing in those black market beagles." (Note the dog reference. There's almost always a dog reference.) Jayne (reading): "Dear diary. Today I was pompous and my sister was crazy. (turns the page) Today we were kidnapped by hill folk, never to be seen again. It was the best day ever." Mal: "You know, I'm startin' to find this whole planet very uninviting." Zoe: "Captain will come up with a plan." Kaylee: "Well, that's good, right?" Zoe: "Possible you're not recalling some of his previous plans." River: "You gave up everything you had to find me. You found me broken. It's hard for you." Simon: "I'm sorry, Dad. You know I would never have tried to save River's life if I had known there was a dinner party at risk." Mal: "Appears we got here just in the nick of time. What does that make us?" Zoe: "Big damn heroes, sir." Mal: "Ain't we just?" Two out of four stars, Billie View all comments or post a comment. |
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