Underrated episodes

POSTED BY: est120
UPDATED: Wednesday, February 8, 2006 23:28
VIEWED: 6459
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ARCADIA

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 6:34 AM

I would definately agree that "The Train Job" and "Bushwacked" are the most underrated episodes of Firefly. I can see why. They are weaker than the others, but they definately have their moments.

Afterall, who can forget the end of the train job when Mal kicked that goon into the engine? Or Inara coming in and rescuing Mal and Zoe when they were detained? Or Simon drugging Jayne? Expositiony as it was in places, it was a fiar episode (in fact, if it were not for the fact that they were trying to cram exposition in it where it did not belong, it would have been a damn fine episode). Also, it is just amazing that it was written over a weekend. It's an amazing feat.

"Bushwacked", in light of the BMD, is mucho importante. It's the only episode besides the pilot when we really learn anything about the Reavers. If this episode had not aired, I have serious doubts that the movie would have been possible (well, it would have been different, I think, at least). Plus, the interogation is awesome (Wash was the best). River gets to be River (I was so happy for her when she was star gazing). And, down as it is, I feel we get real insight into Mal the moment when he allows Book and Inara to do a service for the dead, then immediately tells Kaylee that he just let them do it to get them out of his hair while the salvage things from the ship. It just highlights how broken he is. Oh, and Jayne tricking Simon about the suit, priceless.

Wow, I feel lots of affection towards Bushwacked now.

"Objects in Space"
River: It's just an object. It doesn't mean what you think...

GOODNIGHTKISS

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 6:56 AM

My absolute fav is "War Stories" but it never seems to be the one other people automatically think of... perhaps it's because it was the first ep I saw the whole way through... or perhaps it's because Wash is my fav character... I'm not sure, but that episode is so emotionally diverse and interesting, and it is just a joy to watch! It makes me sad when my friends and I plan marathons with a limited number of eps, and they leave it off the list! :(

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NUCLEARDAY

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 10:10 AM

hmm... I have to say I'll always a special place in me for the Bushwhacked episode. (Though from the other responses, maybe it's not all that under-rated.) That was the first episode I caught back when the series was still flying. While there was some stuff I'd later found I had all wrong (somehow heard Zoe's interrogation wrong and thought that she was married to both Mal AND Wash for the longest time...), still not a bad introduction to the 'verse. The interrogation scenes I'd always remembered, and it was me having kept those scenes in memeory that made me go and rent the movie. (Loved all the characters' parts in that, but Jayne's always stuck with me.)

Really, when I try to single them out, and think of what episodes are the weakest, I just keep coming up with what makes each one special. The ones I watch less often are Our Mrs. Reynolds, and Trash, but those are ruttin' hilarious every time I do. Loved watching Trash the first time. Mal's nekkid, and he has that line about "Yeah, that went well..." And it's not until the end of the ep that I realized he wasn't being sarcastic :P

ASARIAN

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 12:52 PM

Bushwhacked, while underrated perhaps, stars River, gazing at the stars, marveling at the wonder of it all, like a child. A girl that cannot not feel, feels it all. And what she sees is beauty. How awesome is that! With what she's gone through, you'd expect her outlook on the Verse to be a tad grim. Instead, she beams, from ear to ear, truly lost in the Majesty of it all.

What powerful message! That's the signal you cannot stop. And when it reaches you, it touches you. And suddenly you want to hold! Simply that, to hold the line! And you don't even know what line exactly. But you know you want to hold it. For her. For ever.

--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam.

ELOISA

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 2:10 PM

The definition of 'underrated' looks to be in doubt here. For instance, the mention of Out of Gas looks to be completely undeserved, as it's the one that's most frequently quoted as being the best episode (including in a recent thread on this site). If it gets consistently excellent reviews it can't be underrated.

War Stories was very controversial - it's a love-hate thing, I think. It's my favourite episode - I think OOG is the best - and with the number of people who concur I think it's hard to argue that it's actually underrated. The only arguments for it being so are that the people who hate it often do so for reasons that are unfounded, namely that torture and lesbianism don't advance the plot, whereas actually they do (if you include Inara's deleted scene asking her client for armed help to break Mal out).

I concur with several other people that my favourite genuinely underrated episodes are Bushwhacked and Safe. It's interesting to note that the BDM and, to a lesser extent, the pilot episode, were as dark as Joss Whedon originally wanted the series to be, and both these episodes are in a similar vein - more brooding and serious.

***
http://forums.ffonline.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19
Creative Writing

OLDFOGEY

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 3:44 PM

I'm not aware of there being any underrated episodes.
OoG is my favorite cuz of all the reasons already
said better by other people.
War Stories is my favorite too In Spite Of the
godawful torture scenes.
All the other episodes are my favorites too.
They all get 10's by me. How's that underrated
I wonder.

OLDFOGEY

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 3:45 PM

Oh, oops. Were we supposed to be talkin about
other shows besides Firefly?

ASARIAN

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 3:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Eloisa:

I concur with several other people that my favourite genuinely underrated episodes are Bushwhacked and Safe.

You wrote a good post, but you lost me at "Safe." As a hopelessly smitten River Tam addict, I am willing to bet vital parts of my anatomy, even though I've only been here for two weeks, that "Safe" ranks very high among people like me. River's dancing, Simon's "Light it!", and, of course, River's "You found me broken" speech, plus what Simon said in my tagline, make it one the most moving River episodes. And since FireFly is a show about River...

--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam.

UNREGISTEREDCOMPANION

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 4:03 PM

I don't think Heart of Gold gets much credit. Some of our more macho members have consider anything that focuses on Inara (or companions) too much to be boring.

I (naturally) disagree and thought the scenes between Nandy & Mal to be awesome. Great chemistry. Jayne's scenes with the blonde cracked me up. I also like the ending (that is always the best way to deal with a ego maniacal bastard).

Best line? "Lady, I must say, you're my kind of stupid."

Heart of Gold and Shindig are my 2 favorite episodes.

~~~~~
"Funny and sexy. You have no idea. And you never will."

EST120

Wednesday, February 8, 2006 4:18 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by oldfogey:
Oh, oops. Were we supposed to be talkin about
other shows besides Firefly?

Actually, that is what I was hoping for when I posted this thread. I was hoping people would talk about all three shows, not just Firefly because there are so few episodes of Firefly, I think all of them have had multiple threads for each!

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