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Post by William the Bloody on Nov 16, 2004 10:34:46 GMT -5
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Post by Techno-bot on Nov 16, 2004 19:06:09 GMT -5
Well Sara, until Vlad fixes the link so your review comes here to the right place, we'll just have to tell folk about it, cause that was really fun to read!
Part of it was the coincidence of 3 of our fine writers getting over their 'blocks' at about the same time - Vlad had that block with 'The Moth' review - that he overcame, and you and Rob both worked through your blocks at the same time and it just makes me happy knowing 'you're BACK!'
Also, I loved this...
And I loved how Mal's faith in people is rewarded by their faith in him, as your review showed.
Also, thank you for the dialogue quotes at the end. keep doing that ok? Cause they are such brilliant little things...
I'm going to start tonight and rewatch the Firefly eps and get up to date again with where you are, so I can enjoy your reviews even more.
Thanks so much!
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Post by Nickim on Nov 17, 2004 10:52:44 GMT -5
This review was worth the wait, Sara. I really liked what you said here: Maybe they left out how Mal met Zoe because their meeting didn't involve Serenity? Nice observation here: The blue filter was probably to remind us of how cold it was getting on the ship, emphasizing River's "we'll freeze to death first" line. The use of a yellow filter for "nostalgia" scenes is really common. The movie On Golden Pond was shot that way to give everything a feeling a hazy softness, for want of a better description. It's interesting that Mal was a sargeant in the army, not an officer, (maybe the officers aren't always the best leaders) but I totally agree with what you said here: I never thought of this, thanks: Again, I totally agree
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Post by Lola m on Nov 17, 2004 17:05:22 GMT -5
Hey, Sara! How can I tell you how much I loved this most excellent review? I could basically quote the whole thing and just say “eetah” – because that’s pretty much how I felt as I was reading. That each point you made was “Wow! Yes! Of course!” etc. etc.
But that would be a very boring commentary, wouldn’t it? So, I’m gonna try to pick out the highlights.
First, I love your quotes highlighting my favorite continuity example in the whole Firefly series. That damned compression coil – we’ll follow it all the way through to Ariel, when the excess and wealth of the inner planets is shown by a pile of that desperately needed item, lying around the junk yard.
Definitely a cool idea – the crew of Serenity as Mal’s family. ‘Cuz it’s true, but also because you showed me an interesting insight that I hadn’t noticed before - that all the flashbacks showed the ship at rest, grounded, not the action element in the scene. Although I would also argue that your initial thought was correct, too. Because it is also the love story of Mal and Serenity, if for no other reason than that final shot when we see him spot her and realize that he didn’t fall for the fab shiny ship the salesman wanted to show him.
Nice comment that a lack of Zoe introduction scene reinforces the idea that she’s always been there.
Totally with you there scooter on the appreciation for the absolutely wonderful structure of the ep. Written and edited near perfectly to tell the whole story in an understandable but visually stunning way. As you said:
It’s an easy to overlook element just because it is done so well. When the magician is good, the audience can think the trick is easy.
Enjoyed the way you broke down and examined each relationship and showed how it was illuminated in this episode. In particular I liked your comparison of Kaylee and Jayne. Both are very much “feeling” and “instinct” kinds of people. Not so much with the thinking things out in elaborate ways, they tend to go with their gut reaction. And that is how Mal selected them for the crew. Also, as you point out, they are the two crew members who really look up to Mal – admire him. Kaylee adores him and Jayne wants to be like him.
Now to come to your final thoughts about Mal’s wait for something to save his ship and the contrast between pragmatic Mal and “leap of faith” Mal. I think that this episode - that shows how good a leader Mal is, as you rightly point out - is also supposed to make us think of the flashback we don’t get. Mal during the war. Because the kind of leader that Mal is on the ship was likely forged during his time then.
Thanks again for your wonderful words, Sara!
Lola
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Post by Rachael on Nov 17, 2004 21:51:50 GMT -5
Okay, so this is my absolute favorite episode of Firefly. I love many of the others, but this is the one that always manages to make me cry and curse the Fox network execs to the special level of Hell. I think that this was my favorite part of your review: 'Cause, well - dammit! She's been telling him and telling him, and granted money is an issue, but still - winding up adrift in space after an onboard fire totally bites. Right? Guess it's one of those lessons you have to learn for yourself. And then, as always, I'm most focussed on the Mal/Inara moments, so I loved this: It's a sure sign of impending...something...when you can let someone see the real, scared person that you hide from everyone else. And it reinforces the idea that the only person that was really "friend" potential for Mal on Serenity was Inara. Okay, maybe Book. And finally, the lines that make me bawl every time: See? I read! I even manage to comment while dinner's simmering, sometimes.
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Post by Riff on Nov 19, 2004 9:13:34 GMT -5
Well, what an outstanding review of an outstanding episode!
I do think that the relationship of Mal and Serenity is a strand in this episode. The examples you choose here are exactly the ones I would have done. Also, this is clearly a Serenity-centric as well as a Mal-centric story.
Another convincing idea. I would have to agree that Mal’s chief focus is his crew, rather than his ship. I don’t believe, for example, that he would consider sacrificing any crew member to protect Serenity.
Again, the examples you use are perfect. I would add that the opening of this episode with Simon’s birthday “party” emphasises the crew-as-family motif.
Yes. Firefly episodes are so apparently stand-alone (as is the norm in the first season of a Jossverse series) that it is easy to miss the evolving character dynamics. Interestingly, Serenity enters the Wash/Zoe/Mal triangle (if, indeed, it is a triangle), with Wash not wanting to leave Zoe and help the ship, and he and Mal looking dangerously close to a physical fight because of it.
Wow. That’s very well-observed, both in terms of your understanding of the complex plotting (three plots, parallel and yet in different times) and your sense of how lighting and colour are used to emphasise the shifts and the associated themes. I particularly liked your point that the “normal” plot of the action before and following the explosion is shown to us as ordinary.
Eetah. There’s also a previously unglimpsed (as I recall) element in Mal here. He has a surprising level of optimism, and I think that certainly is part of what helps him to survive. This links to your point about Mal and faith, of course. As you indicate later, he feels comfortable enough with Inara to share his doubts, but I don’t think that means his optimism is false.
I’m sure you’re right about that. Would you say they’re friends after War Stories?
The scenes in which Kaylee and (especially) Jayne are taken into the crew are hilarious, aren’t they? ;D
On a more serious level we’re shown that 1) Mal trusts his instincts; 2) He is usually right to do so. This isn’t always the case, though, as his first choice of engineer demonstrates.
I hadn’t noticed that Jayne tends to say “the captain” when Mal isn’t present. That’s definitely significant.
Despite Mal’s occasional derogatory comments about Inara’s profession, I think he does have some sense of (hidden) awe about her status on their first meeting. Inara would have been a fascinating character to develop over a few seasons. It remains to be seen whether this will happen on the big screen.
Though she does set up the rules between her and Mal, we already know that these haven’t been completely adhered to – Mal entering her shuttle without her permission, for example.
If Mal’s religion was dependent on the idea that “God is on our side” and will intervene in the physical universe merely because some of us would like that, then perhaps his abandonment of it wasn’t a great loss.
You are so right that Mal’s avowed and slightly disillusioned pragmatism is greatly undermined by this episode, and he is revealed to be more of an idealist than he would perhaps like others to believe. I rather hope this will be developed in the film(s). Is he in denial about an essential faith he has in “something”?
Eetah, of course.
I first watched Firefly on DVD and, purely by accident, also saw episodes in the wrong order. I think I watched Bushwacked before The Train Job.
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Post by Lola m on Sept 16, 2007 18:17:12 GMT -5
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Post by Spaced Out Looney on Sept 26, 2007 20:04:12 GMT -5
This is such a beautiful episode. Not just one set of flashbacks, but two! I love how each timeline has a different tinting or whatever. And the transitions are fantastic.
And the title, not only a reference to the ship being like a car being out of gas, at a dead stop, but also to the fact that all their oxygen, which is a gas, is depleted.
I love River's, "you think we're all going to suffocate, but that won't happen. We'll freeze to death first." Hee!
Also, I love that Kaylee loves sex.
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Post by Lola m on Sept 27, 2007 20:13:39 GMT -5
This is such a beautiful episode. Not just one set of flashbacks, but two! I love how each timeline has a different tinting or whatever. And the transitions are fantastic. Beautiful is the way to describe it, alright. Beautiful intricate story, beautiful camera work and visuals, beautiful pacing. Heee! Yes! I love that we're given this whole other insight into Kaylee! One makes perfect sense, really, with her character. So full of heart and straightforward and eyes-open and . . . easy. And I don't mean "easy" like people use to be snarky about a woman who likes to have sex, I mean, she goes through life . . . easily. With genuine happiness and lightness.
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