What is your favorite episode?
POSTED BY: Litwolf689
UPDATED: Sunday, May 23, 2004 21:25
VIEWED: 20609
PAGE 4 of 7
Just because I've thought of this before, I'll give my entire list...
1) War Stories. Favorite episode by far, and the one I've watched at least twice as many times as any other episode. It's kind of hard to pinpoint exactly why it's my favorite, but it does include my favorite scene of the series (see my avatar/tagline).
2) Shindig. I agree with whoever said it before, I love everything Jane Espenson does.
3) tie: Serenity, Out of Gas. Probably the best episodes in terms of execution, and probably the two most consistently good episodes, but they're just not my favorites.
5) tie: Our Mrs. Reynolds, Trash. Sort of one story, really. Just very enjoyable to watch.
7) Ariel
8) Jaynestown
9) The Train Job
10) Objects in Space
11) The Message
12) Bushwhacked
13) Safe
14) Heart of Gold
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I must say I am surprised by all the praise for War Stories. That is the only episode I really DON'T LIKE AT ALL. It is painfully difficult to watch, with the gruesome torture scenes and all. There is little humor in the episode and most of what there is falls flat. It's all very grim, and the "conflict" between Mal and Wash seems really forced to me. The only priceless moments are in the interplay between Simon and Book.
Oh, and yeah, Ron Glass as Book is awesome. He's come a long way since Barney Miller, and he adds something to almost every episode.
My favorites:
1) Jaynestown -- it's just plain funny. There isn't a slow moment either. The scenes between River and Book (fixing the Bible, the hair) are comic genius.
2) Trash -- one of those times the follow up is better than the original (Our Mrs. Reynolds). Lots of humor, lots of action, and Inara is finally in on the heist.
3) Shindig -- OK, the actual duel isn't the best, but the clash of cultures at the party is handled well. The interchange between River and Badger is priceless.
4) Serenity -- It draws you into the series and sets the stage incredibly well. What was Fox thinking not running it first?
5) Our Mrs. Reynolds -- You have Saffron and you have "Special Hell". What more could you want?
"Just keep walking, preacher man."
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I'll have to go for the two obvious ones at the moment - Out of Gas and Objects in Space. To that I'll add The Message.
The Message worked for me because the guest casting was so good (yes its cheesy, and I know I shouldn't have, but I choked up when Tracey asked Mal and Zoe for the final favour, and it has that fantastic final sequence - music and all).
Out of Gas caters to my need for stupid heroes. By that I mean the sort of guy or gal that doesn't know when they are beat. Goes back to growing up with Peter Parker, who month on month got pounded on but kept getting up, because he didn't know when he was beaten.
Objects in Space is just fantastic. The opening sequence is so haunting, and Summer Glau's delivery of "she understands, but doesn't comprehend" makes you want to step in and protect her. Then there's that fantastic shot of Summer standing, listening. Just so this doesn't get Summercentric, Jewel Staite's performance in the engine room with Early is so believeable. Its the tiny movements, the flaring of the nostrils and the eyes that convince you.
I can't say enough about the character of Jubal Early, and the way he is played gives him an odd, detached logic. Clearly, in his mind, he is the hero (as the often say, you play the villan as the hero in his story), until River gets into his head. Finally, the "I'll be your bounty Jubal Early" line feels like a pivotal point in the season, that after this episode the baseline would have been set for the show to progress (had they shown the episodes in order).
Objects in Space is one of those TV episodes I can watch over and over and see something new. It ranks up there with West Wing's Two Cathedrals, Babylon 5's best episodes, and the best of Buffy and Angel. Its such a risky episode, in that it clearly goes above the head of the big explosions in space crowd (who probably make their own "boom" sounds when the sound effects don't oblige), and really makes you think. I'm glad Joss' commentary doesn't give away too many of the layers, merely suggests points to take a third or fifth look at.
"I threw up on your bed"
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Mal actually says " It's a real burden, being right so often"
But 'Out of Gas' definitely the best, shows what a great Cap'n Mal really is...
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“It's a real burn, being right so often.”
Yeah, but she's OUR witch...so cut her the hell down...
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Mal walks up ramp BOOM! shoots him dead. I just really love that scene for some reason.
I could watch it everyday...and do.
Smells like crotch...
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Even in the old Star Trek and ST:Next Generation, I, too, always loved the shipbound episodes...just more intense, for some reason...
He looked bigger when I couldn't see'im
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I don't know why by out of all the eps, I just can't stand to watch Our Mrs. Reynolds. Something about Saffron just bugs the snot outta me. but oh well. Here's my list of favs:
1) Out of Gas - love the sequences of flashbacks and how Mal can push himself so hard when bleeding to death. The only problem I had with this ep was that as he bled, his pants (cream colored) never got stained with blood.
2) Serenity - loved the opening sequence. I also love the part where Mal takes out the Fed (Dobson, I think?).
3) War Stories - I think the humor was actually very good in this ep. It was black humor, so if that isn't your type of humor I can see how it would fall flat. Also the torture scenes, while admittedly gruesome, were realistic and showed how strong Mal really is. I loved the scene where Zoe and the others shoot the torturor.
4) The Message - the music was excellent throughout the ep, but especially during the last scene. The other most poignant part was right after Mal shoots Tracey. You can see the tears going down Mal's face and Mal's voice breaks as he says "I just carried the bullet for a while." I also loved Jayne's hat.
5) Objects in Space - loved the last scene between Mal and River. It was funny. I also loved how graceful River moved about.
6) Bushwhacked - The scenes with the other ship and how the crew handled everything throughout the whole ep was great. The fav line from this ep belongs to Jayne: "He looked bigger when I couldn't see him."
7) Ariel
8) Jaynestown
9) The Train Job
10) Heart of Gold
11)Trash
12) Safe
13) Shindig
14) Our Mrs. Reynolds
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Okay. . .here we go for me. . .
Like the rest of you, I cannot pick a single episode. . .and if the series is brought back, I doubt I will ever have a favorite episode. Here's why.
Serenity: There's not much that sums it up more for me than the 'we're still flying' line. As a pilot, I can tell you that there's nothing like it.
Safe: In my work with kids, I've had the opportunity to work with kids who remind me alot of River. . .seeing the joy break through the constant confusion when she is dancing brings a tear to my eye. But I swear, if Simon grabs her wrists one more time, I'm going to punch him.
Also in Safe: Mal is the kind of leader I hope to be. "Why did you come back?" "Because you're part of my crew." "Yeah, but you don't even like me. . .so why did you come back?" "You're on my crew. Why are we still talking about this?"
Ariel: Maybe this is just my imagination, but it looks to me as if when Jayne is with Simon and River in the diagnostic ward, and Simon explains what they did to River. . .it looks like it's finally 'dawning' on Jayne that River isn't just some random loon and he's immediately guilty for even thinking of selling her out. . .but he feels as if he really has no choice but to follow through now. I think that's why he asked Mal not to tell everyone the truth, and also why he bought the crate of apples, etc. etc.
The Train Job: Mal saying "I don't think he does."
Trash: Simon has every motivation and method to get serious revenge on Jayne, but simply tells him, "You know what? I'm not playing this game anymore."
Out of Gas: Once again. . .Mal shows me that if I ever command a unit, I want to be the type of leader that he is. "You would have done the same." "I think we can already see that I wouldn't"
Objects in Space: After the 'dinner table conference' and everyone goes to bed, you see Mal sitting at the table and anyone who's ever had to lead a group recognizes that look of agony. He doesn't even want to THINK about having to deal with this. I think River will easily become a 'surrogate daughter' figure for Mal. When she is floating down from Early's ship, you truly expect Mal to wrap his arms around her. His grin suggests that if they weren't in suits, she would have gotten a kiss on the forehead.
The Message: This tears my heart out, because I've been there once or twice when some poor kid has passed on after a nasty encounter with the bad guys out here in Afghanistan.
This is just SOME of it. I could spend all day waxing poetical on my favorite parts of each episode, but I won't bore you.
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"Wash. . .we got some local color happening. A grand entrance would not go amiss."
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Quote:
Originally posted by canttakesky:
Train Job made an instant fan out of me, and is still my favorite. I cry every time Mal says, "I don't believe he does." That one line got to the heart of Mal.
I guess you should be a little glad for some of the network's "notes", because in the commentary, Joss and Tim indicated that the original concept of Mal was much darker and morally ambiguous, and that they probably would not have returned the cargo...
RIVER
Purple elephants are flying.
MAL
Good. Thanks for the update.
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I think a better way to think about it, is this is where Mal was GOING to be, maybe in a year, maybe two, maybe more.
The network notes just made them push that up, so rather than see him become, effectively, a hero, he starts as one.
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