Firefly - Objects in Space

[Sarge]

This episode really creeped me out. Jubal Early is one twisted bounty hunter.

Joss' unparallelled character work continues. The interaction between Serenity's crew with both River and Early added depth to everyone.

FF's bizarre sense of humor was much in evidence, too. "If wishes were horses, we'd all be eating steak." "River's hard to keep track of even when she's not incorporeally possessing a spaceship." And my personal favorite, "Well... here I am."

[Lt.Khrys Antos]

A darn good episode.

Shame the show was cancelled though, this bounty hunter could have been a great recurring character.

[Sho-sa Kurita]

I loved this episode. As for dialogue, how 'bout:

"Am I a lion? Hmmm."

-- Daniel

[Perrryyy]

To each their own.

I hated the ep. Gave up half way through it when it looked like the bounty hunter wanted to rape Kaylee

This is the kinda crap they want from the series now?

Still not happy with the series being cancelled but if that ep was an indication of where the show was headed, I'm glad it's on its way out.

[Eric R.]

Perrryyy. Perrryyy, Perrryyy. You missed the whole context of that it was a great scene. It one acknowledged the tension such a situtaion would present second it was a bieutiful illustration of the power of terror of the mind. Early never intended to waste time raping her however Kaylee was totally convinced he would just because he could. Early simply eliminated Kaylee for a time by paralysing her with fear.

I agree with everybody else Early was the best villian I have seen TV produce in a long time. Its obvious JW had plans for him why else the Darth Vader esq tumbling in space at teh end?

Everybody keep you hopes up and hope JW can sell the show to some other more caring network.

[Perrryyy]

Didn't miss the point at all. I HATE scenes like that.

I got an idea, let's have a disguisting scene where we border on RAPE!



Uncalled for in sci-fi, let alone anywhere else.

[Sho-sa Kurita]

Obviously we're in disgreement here, but I don't think it was uncalled for.

It would be uncalled for if it advocated rape or even just said "Eh, it's not that bad." But it didn't. Nor did they actually have rape committed on-screen or off. In fact it was presented as a pretty terrifying and unpleasant thing. Just because something is unpleasant doesn't mean it shouldn't be used. If he was a nasty on Law and Order or CSI or something, nobody'd say anything because it's a crime show. Firefly is a drama first, sci-fi second, and there are bad people in the 'verse.

In fact he was a nasty villain. If all he did was come on, wave his gun around and hit people he'd be like any other villain, and who cares, then? One of the things I like about Whedon is that he's willing to shock and surprise his audiences. Not just for the sake of it, but a decent dramatic reason. A quote from him before the show aired on why there weren't any aliens -- "I can write people who are a lot scarier than anything you'll see in latex." Well, there you go, this dude was pretty scary.

-- Daniel

[prophetsteve]

Well, there you go, this dude was pretty scary.

True. And I agree with you, that this wan't out of place.

However, something like this should be used sparingly, for the right reasons - to instill dramatic impact, to make the audience uncomfortable (which I think Whedon was going for) and hate the character. Too much of this and then the impact is lost and the series starts to become too dark and unacceptable. Concidering I believe this is the only time this has happened in Firefly, I think I can cut him some slack

[Balok]

Early had some fairly serious psychiatric problems. At a minimum he was sociopathic, and possibly he also suffered from dissociative identity disorder or schizophrenia. He *had* to be written the way he was in order to establish that. I submit that the fact that you hated the scene, Perrryyy, is proof that it worked the way in was intended to. Early looked at Kaylee, deduced what it was that most terrified her, and exploited that to paralyze her. The fact that he did it provides a point of definition for him, and the fact that it worked provides a point of definition for her.

At one point, I thought he'd possibly been subjected to treatments like those River was subjected to, at some point -- "use a fox to catch a fox". There was not, however, sufficient evidence to make this more than conjecture.

[Sarge]

Perrryyy, I was also shocked and dismayed at the casual and callous way Early used the "R" word. But, like Prophetsteve said, if it's only used at the dramatically appropriate moment (which had better not arise on anything like a regular basis), I'm willing to endure it. As long as it's kept in its proper context and only used to define the darkest and most amoral character on the show, it actually adds a whole layer of evil to a villain.

If you ever get a chance, I'd suggest watching the rest of the episode. All's well that ends well, and Objects in Space ends well indeed.

[Cluttered Mind]

Originally posted by Sho-sa Kurita
If he was a nasty on Law and Order or CSI or something, nobody'd say anything because it's a crime show.

Interesting you should say that. Richard Brooks, who played Early, also played Paul Robinette, the first of the long line of Law and Order ADAs.

But it was a great episode. How many of you actually wondered, if even for a split second, if River had actually <SPOILER ALERT> melded with Serenity? </END SPOILER>

Cluttered Mind

[Argyle]

Originally posted by Cluttered Mind
How many of you actually wondered, if even for a split second, if River had actually <SPOILER ALERT> melded with Serenity? </END SPOILER>

I'll admit it. My thoughts were mostly, "Naw, she couldn't have," but I did wonder for a while.

[prophetsteve]

But it was a great episode. How many of you actually wondered, if even for a split second, if River had actually melded with Serenity?

Yep. I did.

My first thought was, oh my gosh - is Whedon doing another quasi-fantasy schtick that is the staple of so many low-budget scifi shows? Can't be. He wouldn't be _that_ cheesy. Who he?

Then when I found out what River had actually done, I wondered it my reaction was exactly what Whedon wanted, all along. Almost made me feel stupid for doubting him. Wierd.

[Eric R.]

Here too, of course my first thoughts were all no not another ship with a soul I mean Andromeda and Moya where enough already! Its almost on verge of becomeing too prolific like aliens with a host body.

[kimq]

The bounty hunter greatly paralled Boba Fett for me. I can imagine Fett using the same tactics. I can even imagine him saying SOME of the same lines without too much difficulty.