Firefly

S01E04) This is an episode that’s a bit difficult to place. It’s got a very funny premise at its core, but when the episode’s finished, you can’t help but feel like there should have been more. At least that’s the feeling I got while watching it.

The best part of ’Jaynestown’ is the reaction of the crew to Jayne’s sudden fame. Simon and Inara find it highly disturbing, Mal and Kaylee find it mildly amusing, and Wash and Zoe find it hysterical. Book and River seem to be indifferent.

One small scene I loved was the shot of Serenity entering the moon’s atmosphere. The detail of the land below just struck me as incredibly well done CGI-wise. I guess it’s always possible they just used stock footage from NASA, but it looked cool nevertheless.

One again we see another glimpse of what Inara’s "business" is all about. Companions choose their suitors, and they follow strict traditional guidelines before performing their, um, duties. This is clearly where the line is drawn between registered companions and outright prostitutes.

Again a little more in the way of Kaylee and Simon getting together, though obviously Simon doesn’t seem to find the right things to say when it comes to charming Kaylee. It seems that Simon really wants to like Kaylee beyond friendship, but his stuffy upbringing leads him to think it’s not exactly the right thing to do.

Jayne, the man of the hour. He revels in his newfound fame for a short 24-hours or so, then it all comes crashing down. We see a lighter side of the man, one that doesn’t fit what we’ve learned of him up to this point. The Jayne we’ve come to know wouldn’t have cared at all about the townspeople and would have cashed in on his fame as soon as possible. We see he’s actually human after all. I think being placed as episode #4 was a poor choice, as we didn’t yet get a good read on who Jayne is.

One last thing. I know this is sci-fi and all, but how would one explain that land lock issue at the end of the episode? What the heck would stop a ship from leaving the ground from afar? They made it sound like they put the boot on their landing gear.

Jayne-ism of the episode :

"You guys had a riot, on account of me? My very own riot?"