Which one is your least favourite Firefly episode?
POSTED BY: Khyron
UPDATED: Thursday, March 22, 2007 00:07
VIEWED: 56043
PAGE 3 of 16
Wha...?
Am I missing something? Why are so many people hating The Message???
That's one of my favourites. I hear the explanations for Hog and Shindig (and understand them), but... why The Message? Can I get a good reason, please?
"I do the job... and then I get paid. Go run your little world."
-Malcolm Reynolds
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I wasn't a fan of the show when it first came out. My wife had to make me watch it. She knew it was something special.
That said, I don't think there are any bad episodes. The characters are all heads and tails above anything else sci-fi related since the original Star Trek. The writing is right up there with MASH, All in the Family, Mary Tyler Moore, etc.
I am in love with Kaylee, too. I can't believe Jewel hasn't been in any other movies since "Firefly" left TV.
Firefly: Best sci-fi in a long time.
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I had to tack this on to this "worst episode" thread as well.
Gold was easily the dumbest espisode of the bunch. It just does not mesh with the character Mal and what the whole crew is. They are scrounging for jobs all the time and they are *forced* to look out for number-one 90% of the time just to survive.
Who is Mal? "He's not an evil man... He hasn't lost his moral compass completely. He has just given up on the idea of the decency of human nature. Or that anything is worth fighting for, except the next meal and the people around him." ~Joss Whedon
Yet in Heart of Gold, Mal and the entire crew of firefly, risk DEATH in a deadly firefight - a western-style shootout because one hooker doesn't want to give up her baby. (cue Madonna song). The core of the conflict is this, and there's no exposition whatsoever to the interesting and real issues surrounding parental rights in a situation like this.
Instead, we get an entire firefly crew who is willing to kill, and be killed, as a favor.
We see the townsman whose barren wife won't give him a kid, which is reasonable motivation to seek a mother via a third party, yet the story is written to portray him with a shallowness that requires laser interferometry to measure. Why? They could have written him as the hardass town boss who has a valid motivation, but who botched negotiations with the whore. Or she could have been a surrogate who breached contract. All potentially interesting stories leading up to the conflict are ignored. There's not a fair protrayal of two legitimate interests in a conflict (something that Firefly does quite well in the alliance vs browncoat conflict).
To top it off, *it is assumed* that a woman has a higher claim to parenthood of an infant than a man. The attitude of this episode, the whole mental frame of reference is drenched in unjustified feminazi self-righteousness.
It's a mindless hackneyed cliche. It's just a dumbed-down good gals versus bad guys western bang-bang shootemup.
In defense of the producers, i see this as a protest against Fox, who had just cancelled the series during ep 12. To me this episode is a frustrated Firefly ranting at the lameness of the TV world "You want dreck? We can give you dreck! Here! See?"
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I would say Heart of Gold is the weakest of the episodes. That's not to say that it didn't have its moments, because it did.
The Wash and Kaylee scenes were adorable and made me love their friendship. The Wash/Zoe scene was just sweet. Jayne,with the hooker had some great lines. River during the birth scenes was great. Inara crying over Mal was heartbreaking. And the final Mal/Inara scene was just...well, heartbreaking. They were all great moments.
However, I think Heart of Gold is the weakest episode because of the overall plot. As someone said, it felt like a huge western gun it up cliche of an episode. I watch it from time to time, but I usually skip it or just go to the scenes I like.
_________________________________________________
Bad Guy: And I think maybe you gonna give me a little one-on-one time with the missus.
Jayne: Oh, I think you might want to reconsider that last part. See, I married me a powerful ugly creature.
Mal: How can you say that? How can you shame me in front of new people?
Jayne: If I could make you prettier, I would.
Mal: You are not the man I met a year ago.
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I'm not exactly sure if I have least favorite. Like everyone else above me as pointed out, each ep has its moments, but if I had to pick, I'd say The Message. That ep bugs me for reasons unknown to myself, but I always watch it for Jayne and his hat, as well as for Wash's reaction when he see's Tracy on the bridge. This episode, in my opinion, is much better with the commentary. Since it was the last ep they filmed, you get to hear about the cast's end of the line antics from Alan and Jewel.
Also kind of hate the beginning of HoG, it's just too cliche.
Love the Train Job, don't care what anyone else thinks. It may be cheesy, but it's my kind of cheese 
"We will rule over all this land, and we will call it... 'This Land'."
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Minra: I think you are reading far too much into the episode instead of just enjoying the cast and their usual banter.
I try not to dissect a movie/TV program any more than is necessary.
Vic.
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I say Heart of Gold as well. And for one reason above all... that cheesy POS hovercraft.
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ACK!
Shindig is my favorite so far! (I haven't finished the DVDs yet)
Romance! Swordfights! Guys slapping each other in the face!
Poofy dresses!
*sniff*
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i actually really like heart of gold but i think thats just because of the stuff between mal and inara is really well done. it took me ages to actually like inaras character and it was when she broke down and cried int hat episode that made me like her- wow im so cold!
train job is my least favourite episode, its such a weak episode in comparison to the pilot serenity.
"Dear diary: Today I was pompous and my sister was crazy. Today we were kidnapped by hill folk, never to be seen again. It was the best day ever."
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Quote:
Originally posted by Arawaen:
As for Mal sleeping with Nandi in HoG, I am sorry just cause you love someone doesn't mean you don't move on with your life. Inara is married to her work, Mal and her will never be together and happy as long as she remains a companion. I think Inara's hypocrisy is telling. If its 'just sex,' she wouldn't have gotten upset.
I don't know if I agree. Sex means different things to different people. For Inara it's an intrical part of her chosen profession. For Mal, it seems to mean something more, at least to the extent that he does seem to display "puritanical leanings." So for Inara sleeping with someone is just business. For Mal, it should be highly personal. Inara's not crying because Mal porked some chick (one of her best friend by the way); but because emotions that should acompany that action for him.
Phaedra (a bad luck name)
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