FIREFLY, Season 1 Episode 14, “Objects in Space”

Viewed at home, 10/27 at 8 PM.

This episode was NOT meant to be the last episode of the series, and so I’m going to attempt to judge it not as a finale but as a standalone episode. That being said, it will be difficult doing just that because there is so much left unfinished– so many things that I could tell were going to be expanded upon in future episodes. And it is an utter travesty that those future episodes never came to be. What the hell, FOX. What the hell.

All moping aside, this episode ranks up there with my favorites of the series, and it proves once and for all that the true value of the show is not in its unique sci-fi/western theme, but in the characters and how they develop throughout its too-short fourteen episode run. “Objects in Space” focused on River, and her relationship with all the crew. Simple plot (common in many Firefly episodes) involving a bounty hunter (a homage to Boba Fett?), Jubal Early, managing to board Serenity and attempting to capture River. Early is my favorite of the show’s many psycho villains, due mostly to his personality; equal parts brilliant, insane, brutal, and strange. His scene with Kaylee was the most chilling. When he asked her, in all seriousness, “Have you ever been raped?” I really thought he’d do it, and so did she (her reaction was downright disturbing– great acting by Jewel Staite there). His philosophizing was interesting, and his interactions with  Simon, Kaylee, and Inara were just odd. To Simon: “They make psychiatrists get psychoanalyzed before they can get certified, but they don’t make a surgeon get cut on. That seem right to you?” To Inara: “Man is stronger by far than woman, yet only woman can create a child. Does that seem right to you?” He seems to see a lot of injustice in the world, and is fixated on things being “fair,” almost like a child. Judging by how River completely took him apart at the end, something happened in his childhood to make him like this. The last shot of the episode, showing him alive and careening through space, saying “Well, here I am,” was an odd choice of final scene, but it seems obvious to me that the writers were intending to bring him back in future episodes, and were trying to get viewers to wonder what would happen to him. It worked on me, but now we’ll never know.

On to the best part of the episode: the opening scene. River walks in on Simon sharing some story from his old life with Kaylee, and suddenly he looks at her and says, “I would be there right now,” with the unspoken words being very obviously, “if it weren’t for you.” I didn’t quite understand what was going on here until River moves on to the kitchen area, where she encounters Jayne and Book talking about sex. Jayne turns to her and says oddly, “I got stupid; the money was too good,” referring, of course, to his betrayal on Ariel, and suddenly it all comes together: she’s hearing their thoughts, and that is finally confirmation that she is something like psychic. Also, Jayne still feels guilty about Ariel. That’s not all, though; immediately after this, Book growls, “I don’t give half a hump if you’re innocent or not. So where does that put you?” This is probably the strangest part of a very strange episode, and again, it was meant to be a teaser for information that had yet to be revealed about Book’s backstory. It’s hard to make sense of the line, and I’m not entirely sure what it means, but he said it so cruelly, so roughly– so uncharacteristically for him that I’m willing to bet even more than before that his background isn’t entirely as innocent as he’s been letting on. His knowledge of guns, him always being shown working out– Jayne and Book may have more in common then they think, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the writers have been showing these two in each other’s company so often lately.

The scene progresses as she leaves the room, catches Zoe and Wash making out, feels some kind of wave of emotion from them, and then moves on and encounters Mal and Inara arguing about her decision last episode to leave the ship. She runs from them, and in her haste steps on something, bends down, and finds a twig. This cuts to a beautiful overhead shot of her as she is crouching in the middle of the cargo hold floor, which is covered in leaves and branches. The shot is silent and peaceful for a few seconds, and then cuts to the crew panicking. A slow pan over to River reveals that what she is holding is actually a gun. This entire sequence is shot and edited masterfully, and is just amazing to watch. It’s finally some insight into what goes on inside River’s head, and it was so effective that I really felt for River when she ran from what looked like the entire crew shouting at her, yelling, “It’s getting very, very crowded!” There are so many ways that can be interpreted– it is quiet and peaceful in her head, as evidenced by this entire scene, and it could be she meant the thoughts of everyone else were intruding on hers. It could also have meant the room itself, and that she felt overwhelmed by being the center of attention. From watching the entire episode, she may have meant too that the ship itself was getting crowded for everyone, and that she felt herself the cause of it.

This is all just speculation, but the brilliance of the show’s writing is that so many possible meanings can be read into even a fleeting phrase. Case in point: the last line of the episode before the strange cut to Early. River, staring at the game she’s playing with Inara, says determinedly, “I can win this.” Yeah, it could be she’s just talking about the game. But it’s also an optimistic statement about her future– that she can beat whatever it is that’s keeping her from being entirely normal. It’s a perfect, positive but not cheesy way to end off a perfect season of a perfect show.

Thoughts:

• Continuity awesomeness: Wash’s dinosaurs, hailing back to the first episode, are still in their place on the ship’s dashboard.
• Interesting to see the tables turned in the Simon/Kaylee relationship– Kaylee insults Simon by saying his sister is “not human.” It was disappointing to see Book interrupt the long-awaited kiss.
• Simon is only driven to help Early when the bounty hunter warns him that Kaylee is tied up and subject to his every whim.
• I have a feeling Early has something of the same talent River does– the way he was running his hands over nearby surfaces, the way he smelled and then licked the pole, all reminded me of River’s many odd mannerisms.
• Simon gets a lot funnier when he’s really scared.
• Beautiful shot of River floating down from the bounty hunter’s ship into Mal’s arms.
• Of course Zoe would do the messy work of sewing up the doc while Wash stands by and washes. LOVE this couple.

Quotes:
“She understands. She doesn’t comprehend.” –River, on herself
“I can’t keep track of her when she’s not incorporeally possessing a spaceship.” –Simon
“He’s really very gentle. And fuzzy. We’re becoming fast friends.” –Simon, on Early
“How come there’s a guy on board and how come you’re all of a sudden the ship?” –Mal, to River
“I tend to be putting these into people and not the other thing.” –Zoe, on removing the bullet from Simon’s wound

Jayne: So are you saying she’s a witch?
Wash: Yes, Jayne, she’s had congress with the Beast.
Jayne: She’s in Congress?

Wash: Psychic? That sounds like something out of science fiction.
Zoe: We live in a space ship, dear.

Simon: Are you Alliance?
Early: Am I a lion? Funny, I never thought of myself as a lion. But I do have a mighty roar.

Simon: You’re out of your mind.
Early: That’s between me and my mind.

Rating: 5/5. Great way to end off the show, despite the fact that it wasn’t written for that purpose. Finally got some insight into how River’s mind works. I can’t find anything wrong with this episode at all, except that I wish there was more.

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