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Subject: About FIREFLY & Episode Guide [Print This Page]

Author: waterlilybarb Time: 9-12-2007 18:15 Subject: About FIREFLY & Episode Guide

Firefly Aired From September 20, 2002 – December 20, 2002 On FOX.

The Plot:
Firefly is set five hundred years from today in a new planetary system after humanity abandons "Earth That Was". Under the leadership of Malcolm Reynolds, a renegade who fought against the new unified central government (the "Alliance"), the crew of the Firefly-class vessel Serenity struggles to survive any way they can. They fly between the border planets to keep away from the Alliance and below its radar. This series was described as a "science fiction western" but is different from other space-based shows as it features no aliens.

Throughout the series the Alliance are shown to govern the star system through an organization of "core" planets, following its success in forcibly unifying all of the colonies under a single government. Two primary "core" planets comprise the Alliance, one predominantly Western in culture, the other pan-Asian, justifying the series' mixed linguistic and visual themes. The central planets are firmly under Alliance control, but the outlying planets and moons resemble the 19th century American West, with little governmental authority. Settlers and refugees on the outlying worlds ("out in the black" or "heading for the black") have relative freedom from the central government, but lack the amenities of the high-tech civilization that exist on the inner worlds. In addition, the outlying areas are rife with Reavers, a roving cannibalistic race.

Much of the crew's work consists of cargo runs or smuggling. One of the main story arcs is that of River Tam and her brother Simon. River was a child prodigy, whose brain was subjected to experiments. As a result, she displays schizophrenia and often hears voices. It is later revealed that she is a "reader," one who possesses psychic abilities. Simon gave up a highly successful career as a trauma surgeon to rescue her from the Alliance and as a result of this rescue they are both wanted criminals. Simon joins the crew as a paying passenger with River smuggled on board as cargo.

Each of the crew members has a special role:

THE CAST	CHARACTERS
Nathan Fillion	Malcolm Reynolds holds the duty of Captain - he is a defeated soldier who opposed the unification of the planets by the Alliance to no avail. He strives to keep all his crew members on task and Serenity flying safely, while trying to make a living and do the right thing...in his rather flexible moral framework.
Gina Torres	Zoe (aka The Soldier) is extremely loyal to Reynolds as she served with him during the war and owes her life to him. Zoe has the strength and experience to take command of the ship, if necessary.
Alan Tudyk	Wash is Serenity's pilot (and Zoe's husband) - unassuming, self-deprecating, and calm with a sense of humour.
Jewel Staite	Kaylee is the ship's mechanic - an experienced engineer who keeps Serenity flying.
Morena Baccarin	Inara is a 'Registered Companion,' most easily described as a high-priced courtesan or geisha. She is also the person with the highest social standing on the ship and acts as the crew's Ambassador.
Adam Baldwin	Jayne is the muscle of the crew. A tough, uncultured Mercenary, unpleasant and offensively direct, but loyal to those on his crew...usually.
Sean Maher	Simon Tam is the Doctor on Serenity and comes from a wealthy family and has a privileged upbringing. He has spent his life savings and future to save his sister, River.
Summer Glau	River (aka The Fugitive) was experimented on by the government. Her psychic visions (a result of the experiments) are taken at first as babble by the crew but they slowly come to realize that there's more going on than what shows on the surface.
Ron Glass	Book or "The Shepherd," is a wise minister who knows far more about military matters and battle tactics than a man of the cloth should, and his past is shrouded in mystery.

description adapted from: tv.com & IMDb
picture from photobucket

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Author: waterlilybarb Time: 10-18-2007 10:38 Subject: FIREFLY - Episode Guide

Episode 1 - Serenity (1 & 2)
After a flashback to Zoe's and Mal's days in the wars six years previous, we cut to the modern day where the Serenity crew is running a salvage operation on a deserted ship and are forced to flee with the cargo when the Alliance show up. Their buddy Badger refuses to buy the cargo so they head off to the rim worlds after picking up three passengers: Book, Simon, and Dobson. En route someone sends a signal to the Alliance and it turns out to be Dobson, an undercover Federal agent, who arrests Simon but is glad to take the whole crew in. He shoots Kaylee before being captured, and Simon forces Mal to flee in return for his doctoring services. When Mal investigates Simon's cargo he finds a naked woman...
The naked woman is Simon's sister River, a government test subject he helped to escape. After ducking a dreaded Reaver ship, Mal tries and cuts a deal with Patience, an old "friend" but suspects a trap. Patience tries an ambush but the team escapes just as the Reavers return and the Federal agent breaks loose. Mal shoots the agent dead and Wash manages to duck the Reavers. at the end Mal decides to take on all three of his remaining passengers full-time.

Episode 2 - The Train Job
Serenity continues to travel through space conducting illegal runs across the star system, which is under the control of The Alliance. A powerful and fearsome mobster named Adelei Niska demands that the crew of Serenity pull a train robbery. The train is carrying medical supplies for a community, and Reynolds and Zoe get held on suspicion. They get free with Inara's help but realize they were tricked and try to return Niska's money. His henchman isn't too happy, but Mal "persuades" the next guy to take the money back. Meanwhile, two blue-handed, black-suited operatives close in on River.

Episode 3 - Bushwhacked
On a salvage mission aboard a drifting colony ship, the Serenity crew find signs that the crew were killed by the cannibalistic Reavers. They find one survivor, but things take a turn for the worse when an Alliance ship looking for an unspecified Firefly-class ship with brother-and-sister stowaways shows up and takes them in.

Episode 4 - Shindig
On the planet Persephone the crew are contacted by their old "friend" Badger the ruthless crimelord to transport some goods on behalf of a local lord. While at a ball to arrange a transport job with the lord, Mal defends Inara's honor when her current customer insults her. By local custom he unintentionally challenges her date, Atherton Wing, to a duel.

Episode 5 - Safe
On a planet, Simon is kidnapped by locals who need a doctor, while River is threatened with burning as a witch.  Meanwhile, the rest of the crew are forced to seek medical help from an unlikely source when one of their own is shot.

Episode 6 - Our Mrs. Reynolds
While completing a job on a backwater world, Mal is married to a village girl without his knowledge. The girl, Saffron, gets onboard and the crew does not find her until they're already in the air. Mal is not sure what to do with her, but let her come along.

Episode 7 - Jaynestown
Serenity sets down at the mudder colony of Canton where it turns out Jayne is a hero for having dropped a bunch of money there years ago that he and his partner Stitch stole from the local magistrate. The drop was unintentional but Jayne doesn't turn down the attentions. Meanwhile, Kaylee and Simon dance, River rewrites Book's bible, and Inara beds the magistrate's son, a virgin.

Episode 8 - Out of Gas
When Serenity's life support system fails, Mal orders the crew off the ship - but he stays behind.  In a delirious state after Serenity's engine explodes, draining the ship of its oxygen supply, Mal has a series of flashbacks about how he came to own Serenity and form his crew.

Episode 9 - Ariel
When the crew stops at Ariel to drop Inara off for a medical exam, Simon hires them for a job - smuggle Simon and River into a hospital so that Simon can find out what the Alliance did to River. The plan goes off without a hitch - that is, until the Alliance catches wind of the Tam siblings' presence on the planet.

Episode 10 - War Stories
Jealous of Zoe's relationship with Mal, Wash insists (thanks to a bit of scheming) that he go with Mal to try to sell some of the medical supplies the crew stole from the Alliance. In the middle of the deal Mal and Wash are kidnapped by men working for Niska the crime lord, who wants revenge against Mal for the botched train heist. He tortures Mal and Wash until Zoe shows up offering money in exchange for the prisoners. Niska says that the money is only enough for one person and Zoe chooses Wash. Wash realizes that Mal's antagonizing him while they were being tortured was to help keep him alive and kicking. This inspires him to do everything he can to help Zoe rescue Mal from Niska. The rest of the crew jump on board to save the Captain.  Meanwhile Inara extends her services to a council member. To the crew of Serenity's surprise, it's a woman. And Simon continues to treat River with some of the medicine he stole but she suffers the occasional relapse as well as displays a penchant for blind-shooting.

Episode 11 - Trash
Saffron (from "Our Mrs. Reynolds") returns - after Mal breaks up her current gig, she convinces him and the crew to help out with a "perfect crime" that isn't. The crime: go to Bellerophon and steal a criminal's prototype laser gun from his collection. The plan: Saffron and Mal sneak in and dump the gun down the trash, bypassing security, and the Serenity crew grab it from the disposal system. Of course, this is Saffron, and things don't quite turn out as planned... Meanwhile, Simon figures out Jayne betrayed them (in "Ariel") and the two have words.

Episode 12 - The Message
An old war comrade of Mal's and Zoe's, Tracey, mails his corpse to them. He also leaves a message asking them to deliver his body to his family. Some men claiming to be with the Alliance are on the trail of the body and catch up to them demanding the body. The crew can't find anything on Tracey's corpse, but as they prepare to cut it open, Tracey comes back to life. He explains he is smuggling super-organs in his own body. They flee to the planet with the men in hot pursuit and eventually/supposedly agree to give up Tracey. Tracey gets wind of the plan and makes a break for it with Kaylee as a hostage â€“ they shoot him down and Mal reveals they were going to send the officer off since he's out of his jurisdiction and on a personal mission with no authority. Then Tracey dies and they deliver his body for real this time.

Episode 13 - Heart of Gold
The Serenity responds to a distress call from Nandi, an old friend of Inara's, who is running a brothel on the moon of Deadwood. The unsavory leader of the moon's only town where the brothel is located has gotten Petaline, one the girls, pregnant and is demanding that he be given the baby. Nandi enlists the help of the crew of Serenity to defend the brothel and keep the baby with it's mother.  Mal falls for the bordello's madam.

Episode 14 - Objects in Space
The Alliance has placed a bounty on River Tam's head and a bounty Hunter named Jubal Early sets out to claim the bounty and tracks down the Serenity crew. Jubal sneaks on-board the Serenity while the crew is asleep to capture River and Simon and return them to the Alliance, so he can be paid for their capture and only River can stop him.

descriptions adapted from: tv.com
picture from photobucket

Author: waterlilybarb Time: 10-18-2007 10:52 Subject: NOTE

This list is in the order that it was intended to be seen in, and the order in which we have it here on the site. It is not the same order as originally aired on television.

EDIT: Apparently the episodes are misnamed on the VIP site. From what I can tell - they are in the order I have listed above (just with all the wrong names), so start at episode 1 - it's a double episode. If any are not in the order listed above, please post in our Fix the Bugs thread to assist in this matter. Thank you.

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