Shindig

Firefly Episode Review

In which Inara has crap taste in men and Kaylee gets a pretty dress.

What Happened

Serenity returns to the planet Persephone, where Inara makes a date with Atherton, a local nobleman. Annoyed already, Mal shoots his mouth off and hurts Kaylee's feelings. Fortunately, he finds a way to make it up to her when Badger offers to arrange a meeting for Mal with a man at the ritzy party Inara and her escort will be attending. So, Mal buys Kaylee a pretty dress and they're off to the ball.

At the party, Mal upsets Atherton by paying Inara too much attention. When Atherton refers to Inara as a whore, Mal hits him. The good news is the nobleman who blew off Mal's offer to illegally transport his cattle offworld reconsiders. The bad news is that Atherton challenges Mal to a duel. Back at the ship, Badger holds the crew, keeping them from causing trouble by rescuing their captain.

Inara tries to help Mal get out of the duel, but he refuses. He also asks her not to take Atherton up on his offer to make her his personal Companion. The next day, Mal is doing very badly against Atherton, when Inara offers to stay on Persephone if Atherton will spare Mal's life. Mal responds to her generous offer by beating Atherton to a bloody pulp. When Atherton threatens Inara with "you'll never work in this town again," she points out that isn't how it works. She's putting him on a blacklist.

"You'll have to rely on your winning personality to get women," Mal's new friend observes.

What We Learned

• The key to many situations is giving Jayne a big stick and standing back.
• The crew of Serenity clears out of a lot of places in a hurry.
• Mal's new nickname is Captain Tightpants.
• There's nothing dishonest about getting your goods to those that need them.
• "Mussing" up the face of a snooty brat will often "endear" you to other snooty people.
• Mal backs down from fights all the time.
• Companion training includes sword-fighting.
• It takes less than a pound of pressure to break skin.
• What we would consider a "cockney" accent indicates that a person is from Dayton Colony.
• River can mimic accents.
• Mercy is the mark of a great man. Mal is just an okay man.

Best Line

Badger: "Of course, you couldn't buy an invite with a diamond the size of a testicle, but I got my hands on a couple."

What Did I Think?

I'm still a little bored by the predictable angst of Mal and Inara's relationship, but whatever...