FIREFLY, Season 1 Episode 9, “Ariel”

Viewed at home, 10/12 at 7 PM

If the last episode was the best episode so far, this one is definitely the worst of them (though, to be honest, even this is better than half the stuff on TV these days). I watched it yesterday but wanted to wait a bit to see if after some time had passed I’d think differently. Unfortunately, I don’t. Even the episode title is unoriginal. Here’s why:

The plot was so awfully predictable. If I wanted to watch a good heist movie, I’d rent “Ocean’s Eleven.” The crew raid an Alliance hospital. Half the episode is spent planning it and the other half executing it. They run into some trouble, escape, and everyone gets away happy. I can’t really think of anything truly accomplished by this episode. Simon got to do some kind of brain scan on River, but we (the viewers) learned nothing new, only the obvious fact that her brain has been tampered with. The crew stole valuable medicine to sell later. I was really hoping that some new information on River would be revealed – it’s been too long since any revelation was made about her and it looks like there’s more waiting ahead. Come on, writers – it’s been nine episodes! I need something!

What was interesting about the story was the fact that Jayne finally went rogue. There was a short exchange in one of the previous episodes where Mal asks Jayne what would happen if the money he was paid became not good enough, and Jayne answered that in that case, they’d all have to watch their backs. Well, here’s where that actually happened, and the results weren’t pretty. Jayne sold out Simon and River to the Alliance, got them all captured, and then chickened out when he realized he might not be getting the payment he’d been promised. He ended up helping them escape, but Mal knew the traitor was Jayne, which led to a fantastic little scene towards the end when Mal locked Jayne out of the cargo bay, trapping him between the doors and the open sky. The captain took the betrayal very personally, but eventually accepted Jayne’s apology, though I wonder if said apology was truly heartfelt.

Thoughts:

• River IS getting worse. Slashing Jayne with a knife went a little too far. I wonder if she saw what he was going to do to them later on in this episode.
• Best scene: Mal, Zoe, and Jayne trying to remember their paramedic alibis. Three people who are so very good at their real jobs utterly failing at even pronouncing medical terminology correctly. HA.
• “Two by two, hands of blue” – while these two blue-gloved men were shown in a previous episode, it is only in this one that we finally see what they can do, and it is creepy. They use some kind of fold-out device that makes people bleed out of every crevice in their bodies. Yuck.
• It was great to see Simon as a doctor. He really is good at his job, as evidenced by his saving a patient from some poor incompetent.
• What happened to Book?

Quotes:
“Can you not do that when we’re…. ever?” –Simon
“If I wanted schooling, I’d have gone to school.” –Jayne
“You turn on ANY of my crew, you turn on ME.” –Mal
“The next time you decide to stab me in the back, have the guts to do it to my face.” –Mal

Rating: 2.5/5. When you can skip an episode and not know the difference, it’s not a good episode. This one does nothing for the overall story and the plot was dull and uninspired. Saved only by the merits of the fantastic cast and the great dialogue.

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