Firefly

1. Zoe Alleyne – When it comes to the one/two punch of a good leader and great second in command, here, we see the best of them all. Zoe (played by Gina”oh man…she’s so hot!”Torres) served with Malcolm Reynolds(Nathan Fillion) in the war for Unification, where, presumably he did something to win her loyalties. It’s a lot like Han and Chewbacca (however, Zoe is a much more desirable package than the ol’ walking wookiee carpet). We’re never really told (canonically) why these two are paired or why Zoe is loyal to Mal and not the other way around, but, it’s there nonetheless. It becomes much more confusing when, in the pilot episode of Firefly, we see that Zoe would, most likely, be the better captain. She backs Mal sometimes to a fault. She knows he’s wrong, but she’s always got his back. In one of the better episodes of the show, War Stories, Mal is captured, and it is Zoe who mounts a successful rescue attempt with Serenity’s ragtag crew against a fortified space station. If you’ve ever seen the episode, was there any doubt about who number one on this list would be, as she calmly strolls through the halls, shooting anything that moves while dodging bullets? And, think about it. Whenever Mal needs muscle he brings Jayne(Adam Baldwin). When he needs a bodyguard, he brings Zoe. That should tell the whole story right there. Now, that’s a second in command I can get behind. Apparently, so can Gina Torres’s husband, Laurence Fishburne. Heh.

Now, let’s get it out of the way now. The reason Chewbacca is not on this list is that it’s hard to be the number two man in a two man team. So, nothing against the proposal, but that’s the reason he’s not on here. I’m sure there will be others. And, frankly, I like finding out about these things, I do! So, let me have it. Uh…well, let me have it in as constructively a way as possible, thanks.