Out of Gas: a masterpiece!

While we are all enjoying our respective debates about the nitpicks of the eps, I'd like to pause here to mention that this thread is overwhelmingly a positive one - starting from the title of the thread, declaring the ep a MASTERPIECE...

QT

QueenTiye, Companion Academy, class of 2006

NOTIFY: Y  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME

Quote:

---

Originally posted by QueenTiye:

I started to say no... but then I thought about it, and decided that my answer was yes. I'd think differently about the guy, respect him less if that was how we learned about him. And the issue here is not preferring to fix the engine than have sex! TO the contrary - I'd have liked that in Kaylee. That isn't what we saw. What we saw was Kaylee getting off on having sex next to/on/under an engine. TOTALLY different. And totally unnecessary.
Just my opinion!
QT
QueenTiye, Companion Academy, class of 2006

---

Eh, I figured Bester was full of crap and Kaylee would have been just as happy to have sex somewhere else after she saw the engine, but since they were already up there... Yeah, unlikely, I know, but Bester's comment wasn't a key point for me while I was watching the scene. I think without it that scene would have been a less offensive though.

I agree with how positive this thread has been. I think Tim Minear can be very proud he scripted an episode that has sparked debate.

"I was gonna get me an ear, too." - Jayne

NOTIFY: N  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME

Ok, I'm tired and about to go to bed, so naturally, this is when I choose to have deep, meaningful thoughts--or more likely, my thoughts are just as stupid as they allways are, and I'm just too tired to realize it. But I diverge...


In reading the previous posts here, I really started to think about the whole Mal/Inara/"use of the word whore" debate. After much thought, I've decided that whore is to companion like the n-word is to black. They mean the same thing in the literal, but the first are both needlessly hostile. True, Inara is paid to be a companion to men, which usually entails sex. That said, as long as it is consentual on both ends, then it is no business of Mal's or anyone else's who Inara sleeps with and why. Just as it is none of Inara's business who Mal choses to sleep with and why. For someone that takes such liberities with morality, Mal comes off hyprocritical when he criticizes Inara's profession on what amounts to as solely moral grounds. Mal professes disdain for Inara because he thinks "whoring" is in some way wrong.

For me, Mal's condemnation of Inara borders on out of character. For example:

Select to view spoiler:

---

...in "Serenity," Inara is introduced to Brook as an Ambassador, which he takes literally. Walsh starts to correct him, saying that "Ambassador" was Mal's euphresim for... and Mal cuts him off with: "She's a whore."

---

(Sorry. I just read the shooting script for "Serenity earlier today, and I can't stop thinking about it. I tried to hold out reading it until I saw it air, but--what can I say?--I'm weak.) Anyway, in reading this scene, that line came as a slap in the face. I actually paused and reread the scene up until that line because I could not believe Mal said that. The utmost contempt he had in that line bleed through the page (or the screen). I realized that if I had seen this episode first, I would not have liked Mal at all. It was snotty. It was holier-than-thou. It was cruel.

However later on in the episode, Mal has this moment with Inara--if you've seen/read it, you know what I mean--that seems to indicate something else. But I'll get there later.

Back to Mal and his out of character dissaproval of companions. I say "out of character" because Mal seems to be the kind of person that seriously disaproves of people forcing their beliefs/opinions on others that don't want them. That was what the war was all about to Mal. Someone forcing themselves on him: political rape. I believe that that is why Mal is so curt to Brook. He doesn't like the idea that the reason Brook is there is to graft his moral code on their lives, however passively.

So why does someone that despises preaching try to forces his morality on Inara through his overt disapproval?

My answer goes back to that moment he had with Inara later in the episode, where for a moment, he forgot to be mean to her. He likes her; it's obvious to the point of "duh," yet she represents so much that he cannot stand. The prostituton for one, but also civilzation. She admitted to him right off that she supported unification. But yet, he likes her. And he can't deal with it conciously, so he deals by being mean. It doesn't make it right. I agree with Brook when he told Inara that whatever both he and Mal thought of her career, neither had the right to treat her the way Mal did. So it doesn't make it Right, but it does make Mal human.


How many shows can bost this level of complexity with it characters after only six or seven episodes?

Whew, I should have just written a book. At least then I would be getting money.

________________

"You still don't get it. It's not about right. It's not about wrong... It's about Power." —Morph-O-Monster, "Lessons"

NOTIFY: Y  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME

I don't think Mal is out of character at all. I think you might be searching for stereotypes where there may not be one. It is very common for people to be open to one point of view but very closed to another. It is very common to find people who will rally to the defense of someone being discriminated against for the color of their skin, yet turn around and call someone else a "fag" for having different sexual orientation. This type of hypocritical attitude is very common and very real.

So that Mal may be against some forms of discrimination yet against Inara's lifestyle is totally in character. He's just a little more complex and real then your typical stereotype.

On the other hand, after reading your post again I might actually agree with you, but I'm a little confused about the "out of character" comment.

-----------
In the Dark Ages, Romano-Celtic Britannia was over-run by Viking-like cultures collectively called the Anglo-Saxons. They were led by warlords called Drytinns, and the greatest warriors among them were the Thegns.

NOTIFY: Y  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME

I just find it odd that someone that is so against forcing ones beliefs on others is trying to force his belief on Inara. Even when he caught Kaylee having sex in the engine room, he didn't come down on her for it. He's never mentioned it again so far.

I think you misunderstood what I mean with the "out of character" comment, or perhaps I did not articulate it well. It seems out of character for Mal, but it's not, if you accept the coping mechanism theory.

________________

You know, I think the thrall has really gone out of our relationship.

NOTIFY: Y  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME

Mal's reaction to Inara's occupation doesn't seem too strange to me.

He may have been raised in a conservative community where whoring is frowned on.

We already know that humanity has fractured into a lot of different lifestyles. Look at OMR, when Saffron talks about being raised in the maiden's house (I think it was maiden, but the gist is the same regardless).

Mal just may share this particular blind spot with a lot of people. Or maybe everyone else is more tolerant but they're less so on the planet where Mal was raised.

Or maybe he had a bad experience with a Companion along the way.

I like the blind spot - keeps him from being one dimensional - no Captain Terrific here, just a real guy.

NOTIFY: Y  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME

Test Pattern TV Episode Review: Firefly

Episode: "Out of Gas"
Airdate: 25 October 2002

I'm going to be a broken record and say that Firefly just keeps getting better. "Out of Gas" took the bar and raised it another notch. This was a more serious episode than the previous ones and therefore had plenty of drama. The editing for this episode was also a nice touch as we saw a coherent story while cutting between three different time lines. This kind of editting is not easy to accomplish, and the production staff is to be commended for this.

Tonight opens with the crew of the Serenity enjoying a rather boisterous dinner complete with birthday "cake" for Simon. An explosion and large fire ruins the party and has disasterous consquences. Not only does Zoe end up unconcious, but the engines have decided to pass on. The backup life support has been knocked out, which leaves the ship a little short on breathable air. After a few things have been tried, including sending out a distress beacon, Mal dismisses the crew and is determined to go down with the ship. A ship arrives with the needed engine part, but its captain would rather take over Serenity than lend a helping hand. Before successfully driving the invaders off the ship, Mal is shot in the stomach. He manages to install the part, but falls short of recalling the shuttles to the ship. He wakes up in the infirmary surrounded by the missing crew. Both shuttles return to Serenity, due in part to the efforts of the wounded Zoe.

The basic plot may not sound too complicated, and it really isn't, but this episode was made great by the storytelling. The background was broken up into two separate time lines, relying on a flashbacks. The episode starts with Mal falling to the floor in the cargo bay after driving the invaders off the ship, although we don't find out about them until later. The editting was done in such a way that I was never confused by the story. The editors for this episode need to be congratulated on a job well done. We are also given insight into the arrival of most of the crew, and it fleshes out some much needed backstory. It should be noted that "Out of Gas" was the original pilot episode for Firefly.

I enjoyed the "origin stories" shown for most of the characters. My favorite character flashback involved the hiring of Wash as the pilot. What changed between Zoe and Wash in the intervening time? I hope we will find out more about this as the series progresses.

There are many other things to like about this episode. Alan Tudyk did an excellent job portraying an anguished and angry Wash when torn between the two loves of his life. Also, the color differences between the different periods of time were a big help in figuring out where you were in the story. The super-saturated colors of the character flashbacks were especially appealing to the eye.

Firefly is shaping up to be one of the better shows this season. If you dismissed it after an episode or two, I urge that you give it another chance to impress you. There are many good things going on with the show that I hope will continue in future episodes.



"Older men declare war, but it is the youth who must fight and die. And it is the youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow, and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war"
- Herbert Clark Hoover

NOTIFY: N  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME

Back to the Inara/whore thing: Isn't it interesting how this discussion reveals our own opinions and bias?
Mal uses the word 'whore' in the heat of irony, while bargaining with Inara. He was showing her what he may think of her profession, possibly because he thinks sex and love should go together(an opinion I share)and not as a business deal. I think this is his romantic character, and it's a STORY! He's leading her to possibly come to the same conclusion.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Rhea:

Mal just may share this particular blind spot with a lot of people. Or maybe everyone else is more tolerant but they're less so on the planet where Mal was raised.

---

I don't think that recognizing the real dark dangerous power of sex and sex for a living (in any time period) is a blind spot, or intolerance.
Mal wants better for her, with him!

NOTIFY: Y  | REPLY  | REPLY WITH QUOTE  | PERMALINK  | TOP  | HOME