Can I come in now?
Nov. 17th, 2002 07:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwynSpoilers for Firefly epside 11/15
One of the things I'm enjoying most about Firefly and a few other shows this season that I really like is that they're taking fairly standard plots and somewhat cliched or traditional storylines and doing something fresher with them. This week's Firefly was a good case in point, and reminded me a little of many of the movies I've liked most in the past few years, all of which could easily have been dismissed as the same story from any number of predecessors, but all of which succeeded in doing something different and more interesting with the elements.
This ep didn't settle for the caper gone awry -- Zoe and Mal got in and got out, with a minimum of fuss and tension, and got their "cargo." It was the other storyline, the infiltration for Simon to run tests on River, that went wrong, and then only because Jayne sold them out, not becuase it was a weak attempt to build drama and tension by random trouble from the cops or the security forces. Even then, in the end, it was handled and solved efficiently and quietly by Mal and Zoe with help from Wash and Kaylee -- but I guess there are definitely people who qualify that efficiency as boring.
I suppose it would be boring if you're looking for lots of action, but I loved that they were able to solve it on their own, and that the action with Simon, River, and Jayne was less about a lot of fisticuffs or gun battles than cleaning up the mess Jayne made and keeping River from doing more damage. And the blue-hand guys were really creepy, with one of the cooler ooky devices in recent memory. That little ultrasonic wand thingamabob was pretty gosh-darn nifty, and for the first time the Alliance and this sort of Section One they have going on seem genuinely threatening and really freaking scary.
Most of all I liked that Mal figured out what Jayne had done, and that we finally saw that Jayne is in fact capable of shame (and I'm not complaining about the nice little shirtless Jayne shot, not at all, nor the glimpse of Those Arms, why do you ask?). It's hard to blame him for his dislike of River, especially, because for someone like Jayne, who looks at things extremely simply, she's going to be pretty difficult to swallow, and then she goes and slashes him like that... his next step of getting rid of them both seems like a logical course of action for him to take.
And you can even see why he'd distrust and dislike Simon, since he represents all the things a mercenary simpleton would abreact to -- the intellect, the privilege, the innocence. The threat of everyone finding out just what Jayne's capable of, the realization that what the rest of the crew believes about him matters and that this is, for better or worse, home for him, was a nice touch, especially because he *knew* absolutely that Mal would send him out that doorway in a heartbeat if he didn't reconsider. He's not going to get away with this stuff anymore, and he actually cares about the others knowing that, which adds a nice little tension, because he'll be struggling with his nature now for the rest of the series (which, I understand, may not be long -- I'd heard this was the week Fox would be deciding the fate of the show). He's not a good guy, not trustworthy, but now he has to act differently, being on notice, and it'll be tough. The teamwork required to pull off this heist foreshadows what Jayne may have to face if the series goes on -- that he has to really play on a team now, and Mal knows just what he's capable of and is going to make damn sure Jayne plays or is thrown out. (And Mal... geez, he's my competent guy fetish in spades.)
I thought Simon's line to River at the end was heartbreaking and beautiful. I've wondered where they could go with these two -- the past couple episodes revolving around them have added nice layers, and I'm so curious to see where it can go. Simon? He's just such a li'l cutie-pie I could eat him with a spoon.
I still love that Firefly uses lots of real historical touches and allegory to create a world that's at once familiar and unfamiliar, and that they don't rely on the usual action show cliches. I'm sure people wish there were fights like on Buffy and Angel each week, but much as I love a good Buffy-battle, it doesn't fit with this world where people are trying to survive by their wits and to find a place of their own in a universe where they're dispossessed and cast off. This show makes me really happy, and since MDs (which is a crappy show that makes me really happy because it has William Fichtner -- again with the great arms! -- and John Hannah being cute together) is off for the whole month and may not be around much when it comes back in December, and Alias is still struggling in the ratings, and Buffy may not be on after this year, I need something to make me really happy.
One of the things I'm enjoying most about Firefly and a few other shows this season that I really like is that they're taking fairly standard plots and somewhat cliched or traditional storylines and doing something fresher with them. This week's Firefly was a good case in point, and reminded me a little of many of the movies I've liked most in the past few years, all of which could easily have been dismissed as the same story from any number of predecessors, but all of which succeeded in doing something different and more interesting with the elements.
This ep didn't settle for the caper gone awry -- Zoe and Mal got in and got out, with a minimum of fuss and tension, and got their "cargo." It was the other storyline, the infiltration for Simon to run tests on River, that went wrong, and then only because Jayne sold them out, not becuase it was a weak attempt to build drama and tension by random trouble from the cops or the security forces. Even then, in the end, it was handled and solved efficiently and quietly by Mal and Zoe with help from Wash and Kaylee -- but I guess there are definitely people who qualify that efficiency as boring.
I suppose it would be boring if you're looking for lots of action, but I loved that they were able to solve it on their own, and that the action with Simon, River, and Jayne was less about a lot of fisticuffs or gun battles than cleaning up the mess Jayne made and keeping River from doing more damage. And the blue-hand guys were really creepy, with one of the cooler ooky devices in recent memory. That little ultrasonic wand thingamabob was pretty gosh-darn nifty, and for the first time the Alliance and this sort of Section One they have going on seem genuinely threatening and really freaking scary.
Most of all I liked that Mal figured out what Jayne had done, and that we finally saw that Jayne is in fact capable of shame (and I'm not complaining about the nice little shirtless Jayne shot, not at all, nor the glimpse of Those Arms, why do you ask?). It's hard to blame him for his dislike of River, especially, because for someone like Jayne, who looks at things extremely simply, she's going to be pretty difficult to swallow, and then she goes and slashes him like that... his next step of getting rid of them both seems like a logical course of action for him to take.
And you can even see why he'd distrust and dislike Simon, since he represents all the things a mercenary simpleton would abreact to -- the intellect, the privilege, the innocence. The threat of everyone finding out just what Jayne's capable of, the realization that what the rest of the crew believes about him matters and that this is, for better or worse, home for him, was a nice touch, especially because he *knew* absolutely that Mal would send him out that doorway in a heartbeat if he didn't reconsider. He's not going to get away with this stuff anymore, and he actually cares about the others knowing that, which adds a nice little tension, because he'll be struggling with his nature now for the rest of the series (which, I understand, may not be long -- I'd heard this was the week Fox would be deciding the fate of the show). He's not a good guy, not trustworthy, but now he has to act differently, being on notice, and it'll be tough. The teamwork required to pull off this heist foreshadows what Jayne may have to face if the series goes on -- that he has to really play on a team now, and Mal knows just what he's capable of and is going to make damn sure Jayne plays or is thrown out. (And Mal... geez, he's my competent guy fetish in spades.)
I thought Simon's line to River at the end was heartbreaking and beautiful. I've wondered where they could go with these two -- the past couple episodes revolving around them have added nice layers, and I'm so curious to see where it can go. Simon? He's just such a li'l cutie-pie I could eat him with a spoon.
I still love that Firefly uses lots of real historical touches and allegory to create a world that's at once familiar and unfamiliar, and that they don't rely on the usual action show cliches. I'm sure people wish there were fights like on Buffy and Angel each week, but much as I love a good Buffy-battle, it doesn't fit with this world where people are trying to survive by their wits and to find a place of their own in a universe where they're dispossessed and cast off. This show makes me really happy, and since MDs (which is a crappy show that makes me really happy because it has William Fichtner -- again with the great arms! -- and John Hannah being cute together) is off for the whole month and may not be around much when it comes back in December, and Alias is still struggling in the ratings, and Buffy may not be on after this year, I need something to make me really happy.
