S01.E10: War Stories

[jhlipton]

Obviously setting up Niska to be a recurring villain throughout the show, Sadistic a--holes are always great to root against.

 

Was Wash being petty and jealous?  Probably, but you can definitely see things from his side too.  Zoe should have told him up front that she didn't think going directly to the MDs was a good idea.  What she did was passive BS, and she's better than that.

 

Simon" "I've never killed a man before"
Book: "I was there and I'm pretty sure you still haven't"

 

Wash got at least one, Book got three, River got three ("no peeking"), But Simon didn't get any and Kaylee didn't either.

 

"This is something the captain has to do for himself!"
"No, it's not!
"Oh!" [POW POW POW]

[decembar13]

I love this episode. We got better insight about married life of Wash and Zoe, and we got to see Wash without Zoe (in a pretty scary situation)... Dynamic between Mal and Wash is just great, but that could generally be said about all actors.

 

 

Niska would be great villain if show lasted more than one season.

 

 

And yey! for continuity; Jayne bought apples for the crew - how many of you think it has to do something with guilty conscience he is having for a betrayal from previous ep?

 

 

And for a pretty serious episode, it was quite funny.

 

Zoe: "Preacher, don't the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killin'?"
Book: "Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps."

 

Also, the end with Zoe's deadpan delivery of "take me, sir, take me hard" had me rolling on the floor.

 

Edited because I forgot "I'll be in my bunk" quote!

 

Second edit: spelling! grammar!

Edited May 1, 2014 by decembar13

[ohjoy]

This is was the episode that cemented my love for Zoe. I loved her resolute storming into Niska's lair, and interrupting him to choose Wash immediate and without hesitation -- "I'm sorry; you're were gonna ask me to choose. You wanna finish?" (I know, she obviously was aware that Mal could survive the torture much longer than Wash could, but still.)

[halgia]

This episode is a real showcase for Wash, the torture scene was a joy to watch (probably the only time I'll ever write that sentence in my life), Zoe interrupts the Sophie's choice speech, River doesn't peek, it's not a thing that Mal needs to do on his own, and Jayne is in his bunk. So many great lines.

 

The giant space station tube or whatever was pretty reminiscent of this one: http://i.imgur.com/VvUcEnt.jpg.

 

The Inara subplot is kind of boring. The only thing it added was "OMG it's a woman!", which got Jayne's reaction but that's about it.

 

The Chinese curses are getting more elaborate. Somehow in this universe, people speak Chinese only to curse and once in a while for a few social niceties – fine. But I don't at all buy that for full sentences of complaining about stuff.

[Danny Franks]

I felt for Zoe more than I felt for Wash, in this episode. She's in a tough place, because she does love and respect her husband, but she loves and respects Mal too, in a different way. And they're two very different guys, with very different outlooks on life and very different ideas on how things should be done. Plus, one's her captain, and we know how Zoe is unerringly loyal to him.

 

I do believe that the Wash/Mal tension came from a place that made sense for the characters, though, and it was explored well in this episode. Each one is threatened by the other, and has so much to lose, if they thought Zoe would pick the other over them. It's a tough triumvirate to untangle.

 

Of course, Zoe is badass, so she can handle both of 'em. Not like that... well,  yeah, probably like that.

 

Anyway, the River moment was really powerful, because it was the first time we really saw that, 'hey, this girl is dangerous'. She's not just "whimsical in the brainpan" and unpredictable, she's capable of precise, sudden, efficient violence. And it was beautifully played by Summer, who killed the line, "no power in the 'verse can stop me". Loved it.

 

All that and, "I'll be in my bunk", which has truly transcended the show as a phrase to acknowledge something hawt.

[Raja]

The moments for me were Kaylee's moments of panic especially the last one when River called back "no power in the verse can stop me"

[Joe Hellandback]

On ‎26‎/‎04‎/‎2014 at 8:30 PM, decembar13 said:

I love this episode. We got better insight about married life of Wash and Zoe, and we got to see Wash without Zoe (in a pretty scary situation)... Dynamic between Mal and Wash is just great, but that could generally be said about all actors.

 

 

Niska would be great villain if show lasted more than one season.

 

 

And yey! for continuity; Jayne bought apples for the crew - how many of you think it has to do something with guilty conscience he is having for a betrayal from previous ep?

 

 

And for a pretty serious episode, it was quite funny.

 

Zoe: "Preacher, don't the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killin'?"
Book: "Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps."

 

Also, the end with Zoe's deadpan delivery of "take me, sir, take me hard" had me rolling on the floor.

 

Edited because I forgot "I'll be in my bunk" quote!

 

Second edit: spelling! grammar!

Actually the bible is rather vague, the 10 commandments say 'Thou shalt not kill' but tell that to the first born of Egypt?

On ‎30‎/‎04‎/‎2014 at 4:33 AM, Dougal said:

The Inara subplot is kind of boring. The only thing it added was "OMG it's a woman!", which got Jayne's reaction but that's about it.

It launched a thousand slashfics!

Got the order wrong although that's hardly surprising.

War Stories

The good; So lovely to see Kaylee and River playing together at the start like excited children with Mal and Inara looking on like a pair of devoted parents. Exciting ambush and final rescue and some nice comedy with Inara and her client and the crew's reaction to her. Also hints that River may be a lot more dangerous than we ever thought she might be and some nice character stuff between her and Simon.

The bad; How exactly does Niska find out where Mal and co are doing the deal? Aside from that not much.

Best line; Wash; "I am a large, semi-muscular man" also like; Jayne; (aroused by the sight of Inara kissing her female client goodbye); "I'll be in my bunk" Zoe; "Jayne grab your weapon!" portending of things to come; 'No power in the verse can stop me' said by River and Kaylee in 2 VERY different ways.

Kinky dinky; The henchman is reading some truly ancient porn when the Serenity arrives, did the Alliance ban Playboy or something? Zoe tells Mal to 'Take me sir, take me hard', naughty schoolgirl style prompting Wash to give his wife a hearty spank on the ass as foreplay for their 'bunk time'..

Notches on the Serenity bedpost; Inara's first female customer. Mal confirms that he and Zoe never had sex.

Capt subtext; So the whole idea of the River/Simon incest vibe was actually given to people by Alan Tudyk's in his commentary for this ep? Doesn't give a jot of evidence for it though. Inara's first female client, as Kaylee observes "They look so glamorous". Love her 'God!" expression as Jayne leers over them. The latent jealousy between Mal, Zoe and Wash comes to a head, noticeably Zoe never promised to obey Wash but does Mal. Of course she picks Wash to save over Mal which must reassure him. The central message seems to be that Zoe loves them both equally but Wash in a sexual romantic way and Zoe as a friend/war buddy.

How'd they get away with that? Mal and Wash horribly (yet somehow quite amusingly) tortured by Niska. Stops being funny when he cuts Mal's ear off!

Subverting the Hollywood cliché; Amazingly Niska escapes. Mal actually wants the guys to shoot the torturer rather than deal with him himself. Wash does his 'Leave no man behind' schtick whilst cocking about the smallest pistol you've ever seen.

Kills; Inara takes no part in the combat and Kaylee never even fires her gun. Hard to tell amongst all the confusion but I'll give Zoe and Jayne 4 kills each and Wash 2. 3 kills for River. Despite both participating in the gunfight neither Book nor Simon kill anyone. Mal; 11- Zoe; 10- Jayne; 11- Wash; 2 River; 3

Happy high-class hookers in Space; Everyone seems to be insatiably curious of whom the Companions are hired by, even Book, they're the futuristic equivalent of Heat magazine. She seems to specialise not so much in the sexual aspect of her job but in making everyone feel special.

Shot; Jayne get's clipped during the rescue Mal; 2- Kaylee;1- Jayne;3- Book;1-

Crew injured; Mal and Wash tortured half to death with Mal's ear cut off. Thankfully Simon reattaches it.

Reminds me off; The desert hill where they get ambushed is the same one Buffy fights the First Slayer on in Restless.

Questions and observations; Niska returns as a recurring villain, I've often thought that Dollhouse and Firefly fall short of Buffy and Angel's success partly because they didn't have the interesting and exciting returning villains those series specialised in. Apples again, I'm beginning to formulate a theory that the entire series is actually about fruit. Alan Tudyk states that he believed Wash flew a couple of missions for the Browncoats during the war then was interned by the Alliance before seeing any action. Jayne and Book are workout buddies. Note that Jayne still takes the time to loot the bodies at the ambush site (and presumably recover the drugs from there and the money later from Niska's space station). Note it's Book who rigs the bomb on the mule. So what is River who can effortlessly shoot three gunmen without even looking? Did the Alliance's experiments turn her into some sort of supersoldier and is that why they're so desperate to retrieve her? Or is she some form of X-men style evolving super being and the Alliance's experiments were designed to prevent her becoming dangerous? Or some secret weapon one of the sides developed during the Unification war and are now trying to cover up? Is that what scares Kaylee at the end? Zoe cooks for Wash at the end which takes in greater significance if you've watched 'Our Mrs Reynolds'.

Marks out of 10; 8/10 and again bordering on 9, continuing the high standards of Ariel.