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Episode Studies by Clayton Barr enik1138-at-popapostle-dot-com |
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The crew of the smuggling ship Serenity take on some passengers, not knowing the people may be even more hazardous to carry than their standard cargo.
Read the full episode summary at the Firefly and Serenity Database
Didja Know?
This study covers hour 1 of the two-hour premiere episode "Serenity" of the Firefly TV series. I have chosen to retain the title "Serenity" for hour 1 of this episode, with hour 2 falling under the title "Government Goods" in a separate study (as I prefer to keep a 1-hour episodic TV series in 1-hour chunks). It seems to me that all the "Serenity" titles in this franchise could get confusing; there's the premiere 2-hour (now 2-part) episode "Serenity", the movie Serenity, and the re-branding of the franchise as Serenity (since Fox still owned the rights to the name Firefly but creator Joss Whedon owned the rights to the franchise itself). So I've tried to pare them down, keeping just this first of hour of the premiere as "Serenity" and the re-branded franchise name of Serenity (I've divided the movie Serenity into three ~42-minute episodes, each with a unique title as well).
The TV show's theme song "The Ballad of Serenity"
was written by series creator Joss Whedon and performed by
blues singer Sonny Rhodes.
Take my love, take my land
Actress Rebecca Gayheart was originally cast as Inara, but during filming of this episode, Joss felt the fit wasn't right and Morena Baccarin was brought in for the role instead.
The stories presented thus far in the Serenity universe all take place in a single, rather large, star system containing dozens of planets and hundreds of moons, many of which have been terraformed to support human life, often referred to as "the 'Verse". "Earth-that-was" is never seen, but occasionally mentioned as no longer being capable of supporting the large numbers of humans that had lived and bred there, so the species fled to this newly-discovered system (now long ago in the timeline of the series). The TV series takes place in the year 2517. As the series progresses, we learn that the United States and China had become a merged culture and ruling government of Earth, and now of the new star system, a government called the Alliance.
Through the course of the series, it seems to me that the setting of the Firefly/Serenity universe is Joss Whedon's version of the original trilogy of Star Wars films, on a smaller scale. Note the similarities to the Imperial government of Star Wars and the Alliance one here; even the uniforms are similar (though the costumes were actually originally used in the 1997 film Starship Troopers), and the large military ships are another commonality (Joss has borrowed the "Alliance" name of the rebellion of Star Wars and given it to the "evil" government instead). The Browncoats (otherwise known as the Independent Faction) are the "Republic", which lost the war. Mal is Han Solo and Serenity his Millennium Falcon. Inara is Princess Leia (ok, a hooker Princess Leia). Shepherd Book is, essentially, a lost Jedi like Obi-Wan Kenobi (spiritual, but more than able to defend himself and others in a physical battle). River is the new hope, like Luke Skywalker; capable of great things if she can adapt and learn about herself in time, all the while evading the clutches of the government that wants to use her for its own ends. The "outlying worlds" of the system are analogous to the Outer Rim worlds of the Star Wars galaxy. I'll be pointing out other similarities as we go through the individual studies.
In addition to the Star Wars analogies above, the concept of a single solar system with a fairly large number of human-inhabited worlds is reminiscent of the star system of the Twelve Colonies of Man in Battlestar Galactica.
IMDB states, "Some of the weapons used in the series were contemporary with the time of production and chosen based on their somewhat futuristic look. No modifications were made by the prop department to either disguise them or make them look more futuristic. Alliance soldiers are seen carrying British SA80 rifles and Heckler & Koch MP5s, both in variant models. The Browncoats are seen using Heckler & Koch G36 rifles."
Didja Notice?
The Prelude of this episode depicts the final volleys of the Battle of Serenity Valley in 2511, six years prior to when our saga proper begins.
During the Battle of Serenity Valley in the prelude, Mal tells the corporal they need some gorram air support. This is 'Verse-speak for "god damn".
At 1:37 on the DVD, Mal refers to the enemy as "those arrogant Khangs". Possibly "Khangs" is a reference to Du-Khang, the site of a protracted battle between the Alliance and the Independents as suggested in the later episode "The Message".
At 1:47 on the DVD, notice that Mal pulls a crucifix pendant from under his shirt collar and seems to make a quick, silent prayer before kissing it and rushing off once again into the battle. This is in stark contrast to his disdain for God and religion as captain of the Serenity six years later. It would seem that he feels it was a betrayal by God that the Alliance won the war for control of the system.
At 1:55 on the DVD, we see several metallic drums in the trenches of the battle. One of them seems to be labeled "CREAPURE". To my knowledge, Creapure is a brand of creatine monohydrate, often used as a food supplement capable of building muscle mass and also increasing cognitive ability. Perhaps, the Independent Faction was feeding this to their troops to keep them strong and sharp in battle?
The Chinese characters on the gun sight above represent: Power Consumption; Meters; Apex; Meters; Angle; "Ping" sound; "Ping" sound. (Source: Firefly-Serenity Chinese Pinyinary)
Obviously, Mal would later go on to name his Firefly-class transport ship the Serenity after this battle in which his side all but lost the war.
At 5:15 on the DVD, we can see the explosive goo is already in place around the airlock control even though we won't see Mal apply it until 23 seconds later.
Both Jayne and Zoe use the word "humped" here in place of "fucked", as in, upon detecting an approaching Alliance cruiser, "If they find us at all, we're humped."
As they activate the decoy called the cry baby, Mal says "Cry, baby, cry," to which Wash responds, "Make your mother sigh." These are lines from the 1968 Beatles song "Cry Baby Cry."
Notice that the cry baby canister is made from a can of Blue
Sun Coffee.
Throughout the series, notice that in space no one can hear you scream. Or shoot or fire your engines. Firefly is the rare (only?) science-fiction television series that actually obeys the physical law that sound does not travel in a vacuum.
The commander of the Dortmunder orders a bulletin put out on the cortex about the Firefly freighter with possible stolen goods. The cortex is later revealed to be the future equivalent of the internet, on an interplanetary scale. He also orders Interpol to be flagged on the incident. In the real world, Interpol is the shorthand name of the International Criminal Police Organization. Possibly here it has simply been expanded to be the Interplanetary Criminal Police Organization.
Having escaping the Dortmunder, Wash tells Mal, "We look shiny, Captain." In the 'Verse, "shiny" means "good" or "valuable".
At 12:08 on the DVD, the bar Mal holds up from the Alliance
crate has what may be Chinese characters imprinted on it.
(According to the
Firefly-Serenity Chinese Pinyinary, this same symbol
appears on the Dortmunder captain's metal chest pin and is
Tong meng Chinese for "Alliance")
Although they at first appear to be some kind of metal bars,
"Government Goods" reveals them to be nutrition/immunization bars.
Notice the door in the Serenity corridor at 13:32 on the DVD. This is the entrance to ever-cheerful Kaylee's quarters and it has Christmas lights strung up around it.
A number of erotic figurines are seen on Inara's shuttle at 14:47 on DVD.
During her after-sex conversation with her customer, Inara talks about the planet Sihnon. This is one of the major core worlds, with an Eastern influence. Inara was born there, and it is also where most companions receive their training, suggesting the Companion occupation has a geisha influence.
Notice that, as Inara's customer leaves, he is wearing an Alliance uniform, indicating he is a member of the Alliance military.
Kaylee tells Mal the compression coil on the Serenity's engines may need to be replaced soon, but he denies allowing her to purchase a replacement while they are on Persephone, possibly leading to the malfunction that puts the ship and crew in trouble later in "Out of Gas".
At 17:52 on the DVD, a figure (presumably a production crewmember) can be seen moving to screen right to hide as Wash drives the Mule down the cargo ramp. At 18:00, a production crewmember's hand can be seen grabbing the front bumper of the Mule, presumably to pull the vehicle forward.
At 18:11 on the DVD, the food vendor at Eavesdown Docks advertises "Good dogs!" Rather than "hot dogs", this appears to refer to the barbequed meat of actual dogs as evidenced by the live dogs held in cages in the background and the ragged chunks of meat shown cooking on the barbie. Some Asian countries, including China, are known to consume dog meat.
At 18:35 on the DVD, a ship-hand tries to tempt Shepherd Book into booking his travel on the Brutus. The side of the Brutus shows that it is (or was) part of the Orion Cruise Line.
Mal walks past a sign that says TG Freight at 19:00 on the DVD. TG Freight is the front company of the criminal on Persephone known as Badger.
At 19:07 on the DVD, notice that Badger's desk appears to be made out of two crates for support and (at 19:27) grilled plating as the desk top. Also notice some kind of old-style phone on the left-hand side of screen.
Anyone able to identify the artist of this Good Girl Art in
Badger's office at 19:22 on the DVD? Email me at the address
at the top of the page or post on our
Facebook page. Is it the work of Alberto Vargas
(1896-1982)?
At 19:25 on the DVD, a man appears to be acting as stenographer during the meeting between Mal and Badger.
Looking at the items on his desk, around his office, and his way of dressing, Badger appears to have an affinity for old-timey stuff.
Mal uses the term "tetchy" in reference to Badger. In the 'Verse, this means "sensitive" or "complaining"; possibly a twist on "touchy".
At 22:28 on the DVD, the shipping container behind Shepherd
Book appears to have a sign labeling it "Super Food".
There's a large Blue Sun corporate sign behind Book and Kaylee at 22:58 on the DVD. The Chinese characters on it also say Blue Sun, Qing Ri.
Book reveals that he was a shepherd at Southdown Abbey (presumably on Persephone). It's not revealed why he chose to leave the abbey.
At 24:15 on the DVD, Jayne says, "No ruttin' way." Since "rutting" is the mating of ruminant mammals on Earth, Jayne is essentially saying, "No fuckin' way."
When Inara docks her shuttle with Serenity at Eavesdown docks at 26:58 on the DVD, a Lambda-class Imperial Shuttle (from the Star Wars films) can be seen taking off in the background.
Notice that the dining table in the kitchen area of the Serenity appears to be a common wood table, though with metal supports. The chairs are a mismatch of various types; individual chairs seem to come and go over the course of the episodes.
During the dining sequence, Mal and Kaylee use chopsticks to eat, while the rest use forks and spoons.
At 34:50 on the DVD, there is what appears to be a hookah in Inara's shuttle on the right-hand side of the screen. It is seen in later episodes as well.
When Simon is being arrested by Dobson, Mal refers to the young, rich doctor as Lord Fauntleroy. "Lord Fauntleroy" is a term of derision used by English speakers to refer to a young, pampered brat of a boy. The name is derived from the 1886 children's novel Little Lord Fauntleroy, though in the book, the young Lord is quite humble and compassionate.
When Mal tries to pick up his discarded gun again, Dobson tells him to get away from it, saying, "Do you think I'm a complete back-birth?" I'm not sure exactly what "back-birth" means, though it has been suggested by some fans that it is a reference to someone with a birth defect.
At 41:47 on the DVD, we see that Kaylee has a puffy teddy
bear patch sewed onto her pants leg.
Notes from the book Firefly: Still Flying, a retrospective of the series
The small keyboards that appear on walls throughout Serenity's rooms and hallways are actual Motorola KDT480 keyboards, originally used for the mobile police computer terminals found in squad cars.
Memorable Dialog
we will rule over all this land.wav even if they were looking for it.wav do you mind if I say grace?.wav
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