out of gas spoilers are for sure

POSTED BY: sparda
UPDATED: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 08:28
VIEWED: 10568
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YINGFOCHUNG

Friday, March 23, 2007 3:47 AM

I'm a teacher, so I'll just say 'punctuation and spelling are your friends'.

Then I'll say, I'm new and I'm jumping in like I know everyone - sorry. But I have a question:
Why didn't the bloke who turned up, answering their distress call and carrying a catalyser-thing, just shoot Mal in the head? Why leave him to die over hours instead of just doing the job right and taking the ship with no worries? Unless he planned to chuck him out the back door at some point.

Just wondered. And why, when the lone Mal is pointing a (let's face it) rather weeny pistol at them, do they all just back off? There are more of them, they have bigger, shinier weapons.

Don't get it. But then I don't get why a herd of wildebeest run from a single lioness, either...

Sorry for interrupting, carry on...

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"Dammit Mal, I forgot ma line!"

CERES

Friday, March 23, 2007 9:40 AM

I think the 'not shooting someone in the head' happens in loads of movies and TV shows. Just when you think it would be the obvious thing to do the person is left alive to carry on with the plot. Think how many James Bond movies would finish after half an hour if the villain just shot him in the head.

The crew of the other ship outnumbered Mal but they had upset him just a little, so they couldn't judge what he would do. Even if they killed him he would shoot some of them first and I guess they didn't think it was worth it.

................................

You can question the meaning of life on a floaty
island of your own for a while.

DONCOAT

Friday, March 23, 2007 11:18 AM

I'm guessing that Mal and Zoe aren't the only ex-soldiers running around the 'verse. The salvage ship's captain could well be another.

People who are trained to use firearms (such as soldiers and law enforcement types) are taught to aim for the largest body mass, that is, the torso. The chances of hitting something at all are much higher, and it's likely to be something significant that will at least disable the target, if not kill outright. The head is a much smaller target and far easier to miss.

This sort of training is likely to kick in during any sort of gunplay, even when the target is close enough to have a good chance at making a head shot. Also, in a "quick draw" situation, it takes a fraction of a second longer to raise the gun to aim at the head rather than the body, and that could make all the difference.

Now, as to the rest of your question: um. Well, maybe because it's kinda funny to see five or six mean ol' bad guys held at bay by a wounded man with a little pea shooter?

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I'm pointin' right at it!

YINGFOCHUNG

Friday, March 23, 2007 11:55 AM

Pity ~ works for me, LOL

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"Dammit Mal, I forgot ma line!"

CLEMENTINE

Friday, March 23, 2007 2:01 PM

Not to be a film weenie, but I love the direction in this episode. Joss manages to pull off a lot of cool tricks in Firefly: the tracking from space to River's face in OiS and also the long tracking shot that ends that ep. "River!"

For OoG, he differentiates the present and the near and distant past with colour and focus. And he makes a lot of cool transitions that don't involve cuts. Zoe and Mal walk out the door at the back on "Cause it's a death trap?" and then Mal collapses into frame, bleeding to death in the present. Wow, that is some cool for TV!

Check out John Sayles' Lone Star for a guy who also pulls it off spectacularly.

P.S. I'm blown away by the Amazon numbers for Firefly. Maybe we'll get a new special edition of that too. Just to hold us until the new eps.
________________________________________________

Holding 'till the Captain gets back.

KINETIC

Friday, March 23, 2007 2:26 PM

The only scene I had a prolem with was Kaylee being with that idiot mechanic.

___________________________

RedHeads cause grey hair.

CERES

Friday, March 23, 2007 4:19 PM

But I think that's the great thing about the people in Firefly, none of them are perfect and they all have human failings. Bester might not have been the best choice that Kaylee ever made but she's human.

I love the direction in this too Clementine.
..................................

You can question the meaning of life on a floaty
island of your own for a while.

YINGFOCHUNG

Friday, March 23, 2007 4:49 PM

I have to agree with everyone one here on OOG. Up until then Our Mrs Reynolds had been my favourite (for obvious reasons), but the way OOG was shot (love those 'memory' shots, LOL) blew me away.

I loved the way Kaylee got her job offer and then bounced out of that engine room going "don't leave without me" (if I've got that right), she was so lovely!
And I saw more of the gent in Mal in that whole scene with Kaylee than perhaps any other - just so many little looks, little nuances, little *things* that made it a fab flashback.

I can't see the Wash one without thinking of the moustaches in the gag reel though. Gets me every time... It's Zoe's face, like she's not actually wearing one at all, the "what's so funny?" look on her face.

Ace.

*sigh*

-------------------------------

"Dammit Mal, I forgot ma line!"

MAGHAFFAR

Friday, March 23, 2007 5:03 PM

This ep is also my fave, and shows, incidentally, that a HUGE reason Firefly is what it is is because of Tim Minear. Having just finished watching season 1, disk 3 of "Buffy" where all the eps were either written or storied by Joss, I was left feeling less than satisfied (I just Netflixed "Kolchak: the Night Stalker" series from 1974 -- now THAT was a great horror show!). 'Course that was season 1, and I'm sure Joss learned a lot doing Buffy and Angel, so by the time he got to Firefly, he was ready to "spread his creative wings" which he did admirably. Just wanna point out IMHO Firefly without the contributions of Tim Minear might not have lasted even half-season that it did. Also shows that the folks at FvX were looking at the Nielson ratings instead of "Out of Gas". If I only have time to show a potential BCC (Browncoat Convert) one episode, it is always OoG. I remember when I first watched it, I was overwhelmed with the sense that this was MOTION PICTURE quality storytelling. I was happy to have seen it unsullied by commercials, as such banal intrusions would have irritated me to no end having to wade through the tripe to get back to the story. Last point: to me, OoG is the one ep that is really and truly about Serenity as the main character in the show and as the fulcrum upon which the lives of the crew pivot, especially Mal. After losing his faith in God, the only faith he still has is in his ship and (most) of his crew -- "Why didn't you turn on me, Jayne?" "Money wasn't good enough" "What happens when it is?" "Well... that'll be an interesting day." -- that's why Mal's line in the BDM about "Love keeps her in the air when she oughtta falls down..." always chokes me up. And about kaylee & Bester? I LOVE that part! Talk about a great comic twist -- and also ironic that Kaylee doesn't ask her folks if she can have sex with a total stranger, just if she can leave with a bunch of other total strangers on a boat she just fixed. And yah gotta love the Jayne intro. "You share a bunk?" "With THAT one." Just the moment where the guy he's talking about takes an aggressive stance and gestures menacingly with his gun just floors me every time. And Inara's telling line: "You want me... you want me on your ship." First part's true; don't know about the second, tho.
The only flaw (purely from a camera P.O.V.) is at the end in the infirmary when Book takes Mal's hand but we don't actually see that moment in a fuller shot. Wanted to see that. OK, wo-de da-jia, wo-wan-le.

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KINETIC

Friday, March 23, 2007 5:15 PM

Sorry Ceres I must not have been specific enough. My problem was jealousy, pure and unadulterated jealousy.

___________________________

That's just what we call pillow talk baby!
The Baltimore Ravens and Orioles the Internet and scifi. Now you know everything about me.

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