1/2: Bushwhacked:Lost in the Dark

[TechnoSlut]

Written by: Tim Minear
Directed by: Tim Minear
Air date: 9/27/02

A salvage mission goes from dreary to deadly after the crew members find their site ravaged by the cannibalistic Reavers and targeted by an Alliance ship that could do more damage than anyone imagined.

[raenstorm]

Just got done with my viewing. I think I'll have to watch again for more insightful comments but, until then, here we go:

• In the beginning, we are all together even if some of us just watch the others from afar.
  
• "Who's winning?" "I can't really tell. They don't seem to be playing by any civilized rules that I know." (HA!)
  
• "OMG. What can it be?! We're all doomed... who's flying this thing?!?!" LOL I *heart* Wash.
  
• I love how Kaylee talks about ships as if they are people. "You can see she doesn't want to be parked that way..." There's such concern in her voice.
  
• The ship powered down on it's own? So, umm, in the future do ships have a 'sleep' function like computers these days do? Interesting.
  
• So, Simon is afraid of space. Is that like being going on a cruise and being afraid of deep water? Guess that shows us the lengths he'll go to for his sister if he is so afraid of space that he'd brave it to get his sister to safety.
  
• Bushwhacked definition: To attack suddenly from a place of concealment; ambush.
  
• "Not now, dear." LOL... the look on his face is priceless.
  
• "Looked bigger when I couldn't see him." Hmm, doesn't everything?
  
• "Open up. See what's inside." Ok, what's that mean? Is that what Reavers do?
  
• Jayne is afraid of Reavers. So afraid, he doesn't want to admit that it's possible that they walked where Reavers had walked or that anyone could survive such an attack. And, Jayne is all about money but he'll even give up that at the thought of having any slight contact with something Reavers have touched.
  
• Mal is sneaky. His real reasons for doing things will always be a lil' difficult to ascertain. In this case, it is for the good of those he is tricking but will it always be? Of course, he is very loyal to his crew.
  
• Does River have a connection with those around her? She seems almost like an animal, she can sense dangers long before the others. (Or, was it just a nightmare?)
  
• "Is that why you let us stay? So you could use us as bargaining chips?" "Knew there was a reason." Hmm, Jayne showing he doesn't understand how Mal thinks. Yet, Book shows faith in Mal here, urging Simon to do as he says.
  
• LOL... "Junker?!" Kaylee is cute when she gets mad.
  
• ok, these questioning scenes remind me of Checkpoint
  
• "And your husband?" "Fight with him sometimes, too."
  
• LOL!! Zoe says, "We're very private people." and Wash doesn't hesitate to spill why he's with her. Cracks me up. "Have you ever been with a warrior woman?" LOL!
  
• Again, Simon shows his love for his sister, willing to cling to the ship for an indefinite amount of time just to hide from the feds.
  
• The effect of seeing their breath on the mask is wonderful. So, real. What a great way to show us his fear when we can't 'hear' him breathing heavy/panicky or expressing his fear with words.
  
• "It may have been the losing side but still not convinced it was the wrong one." I love that. Mal not switching sides just because he lost.

[Nickim]

What really stands out in this episode is all the references to civilization or the lack of it. In the first scene "we're far from civilization". "Reavers ain't men"--they aren't civilized. "How we treat the dead sets us apart." We show the dead respect, we're still civilized. The Alliance are too civilized. They follow the Letter of the Law to the point that they are almost as heartless as the Reavers.

Shepherd Book knows Mal's heart, that he won't let River and Simon be harmed by "these types", those overcivilized, heartless Alliance police. Yet, when being questioned, Book doesn't lie. The "rules are fuzzier is space", but it's not civilized to lie.

Simon is terrified of being in space while River is thrilled. We all react differently to threatening situations, some become frightened, which leads to the breakdown of civilized behavior. River knows the real in danger is inside the ship, where the humans are, not out in the emptiness of space.

River & the survivor seem to share a connection. They both twist & cry out in their sleep and awake at the same moment. The survivor has lost touch with his humanity, again "Reavers ain't men." The survivor is "on hunt" for humans, because he's not totally human anymore.

River seems to have moved beyond being a mere human, she knows the survivor is there. Simon is wrong, there is something there that can hurt her.
The final scene with the Alliance cop taking the cargo. "He had to...wouldn't be civilized."

Is civilization a mere facade that we abandon when our lives or just our comfort are threatened? Or are we more than just animals who will kill anything that threatens us? "The war's not over." There is no civilization in war. Mal's side lost the war, but he won the battle to retain his humanity.

[William the Bloody]

Okay folks, I rewatched Bushwhacked last night for today because I wasn't sure if I would have the time to do it tonight. I even took a few notes as I watched, which I will get to in a moment.

First, I would like to say that it is perhaps appropriate that I join you guys with this episode since it's the first episode I actually got to see during the first run. And I wasn't massively impressed then! Of course I was watching it away from home with people talking at the time, but it didn't really grip me. I would like to go on record that Bushwhacked is probably tied for me with Safeas my least favorites of the entire series. That being said, it wasn't a bad episode and I did enjoy it. I enjoyed it far more now with my 3rd viewing than ever before.

Now, on with actual discussion of hte episode.

To begin with, the very first lines of the ep:

Inara: Who's winning?

Simon: I can't really tell, they don't seem to be playing by any civilized rules that I know.

Inara: Well, we are pretty far from civilization.

What a great question! Who is winnning indeed. Firefly isn't about winning. More than Buffy or Angel, it's less about "winning" a fight than just about plain surviving. By any means necessary. 'Cept that ain't so either. Mal has a sense of honor, a sense of ethics. Thing is, like most folks, he only extends those rules to those who live by or understand those rules themselves. And he knows that sometimes... well survival and your companions are more important than any sense of chivalry. We will explore this theme again and again in the slightly more than a dozen eps we have to cherish.

Soon after this, this dialogue follows:

Kaylee: Say Doc, why don't you come on down and play for our side. Inara won't mind.

Hmmm. Interesting. Is there anyone else present that doesn;t believe that there is NEVER a piece of thrown away dialogue in a Whedon show? There are so many insights to be found here.
First, Kaylee is inviting the doctor to play for "their side", to join the group, the gang. Second, she invites him "down" The doctor, especially at this point, is still holding himself so aloof and above the rest of the crew, even tho' they have in two short episodes seemingly all aknowledge him (except Jayne) as being one of hteir own. It is this episode itself that shows to what lengths this group of "outlaws" is willing to go to protect River and Simon. Tehy have nothing to gain really by doing this and very much to lose. But then again, they aren't playing by the doctor's oh so civilized rules.


OKay, enough of hte dialogue quotes. (Okay, okay, I admit it. I got wrapped up in watching by this point and forgot to write things down mostly. *L*) Let's go instead to character notes.

Mal- We see that he is still a very damaged man. He has turned his back on the universe that turned its back on him. But, for all his posturing, and even saying he sent Book and Jayne to tend to the bodies to keep them out of the way, I still believe he would have "buried" those bodies anyway. The booby trap was jsut the most convenient excuse at hand to cover up with. Mal believes in doing "right." We saw that in Serentity, in The Train Job, and we will see it quite a few more times as the series goes along. MOre than anyone he believes in using the Golden rule. And this explains a lot. He isn't above a little theft, taking advantage of an adversary and so forth. He expects or doesn't mind if these things are done to him. It's the way of the world(s) and it has it's own "honor."


Questions I have:
What was INara writing in chinese while the crew was dismantling the bomb and taking care of the bodies? Was it just some form of poetry...a way for her to relax when she didn't have a "role" to play in what was going on? Or was it something more. I have long held that Inara had a true mystery around her, that she was indeed more than she aknowledged, much in the way that Book seems to be.

Which brings me to Book. This episode he demonstrates a little of his Alliance knowledge. Later on we will find even more pieces of this huge puzzle and I will bring them up then (specifically Safe). But I have a theory and it's not bunnies or midgits. Unfortunately it relies a bit on some stuff that was on the original FOX Firefly website, and I am not sure i have a copy of it. But there were some clues there, I believe, to Book's past and identity.

OKay, this is really rambling and I should perhaps end it now and see what others are writing and come back to it. Let me close with a "ha ha" note I made.

While everyone else is standing defiant as they are boarded by the Alliance, there stands Wash with his hands up. *hee hee* What perfect in character-ization.

Vlad

[Nan-S'cubie Mascot]

They're very sensible to show the effects of the Reavers and not the Reavers themselves. What's unseen and imagined is always scarier than what's seen. That the Survivor mutilates himself is more effective than whatever appearance the Reavers display.

[Lola m]

No real logic or order to these thoughts, just spewing out stuff as I feel it.

* As several folks have said, the opening game has a lot to say about the relationships that these folks have with each other. Couple things that I don't think anyone else has mentioned yet. Book is playing with the crew already - seems to match up with later scenes that show he already trusts Mal. Also, seemed to me that Jayne was once again showing some interest in Kaylee, in that 14 year old boy teasing a girl he likes, way. He certainly didn't like her inviting the doctor to play.

* Anyone but me also think the shot of the tentacle things attaching to the ship was particularly creepy? Nice work on those.

* Nikki mentioned the dream that River seems to share with the survivor, but I also think her earlier nightmare is related to the reaver-wreaked ship, too. When Zoe and Mal are over on the ship and she wakes up in her bunk and says “I can’t sleep. There’s too much screaming.” Simon says “River, there is no screaming.” And she replies, “There was.” I’ve always taken this to have a double meaning. One referring to the experiences she had when the blue hands gang had her and the other referring to her “feeling” or somehow knowing what happened on the ghost ship. This way, both dreams draw a parallel between her experiences and those of the people attacked by the reavers.

* When they are first going through the ship, before they find the survivor and find out what happened, I kept noticing that particular look Zoe gets sometimes around Mal. A slightly disappointed look when he’s in full on “thief” mode, while simultaneously watching him for her next orders. The ultimate second-in-command, but you can tell she’s not happy about how he has changed, gotten more bitter and closed off over the years.

* Remembering that they didn’t air the real premier, “Serenity”, makes me realize that this episode needed to deal with the few necessary plot points from “Serenity” that they had not been able to squeeze into the Train Job. For example, juxtaposing the reavers and the alliance.

* I can’t quite make up my mind about Zoe’s line “Jayne. You’ll scare the women.” I mean, yeah, she’s kinda making a dig at him. But I got the odd vibe that she also sort of meant exactly what that says. And so I’m curious.

* Nother kind of “dad-like” action of Mal’s. To keep some of the folks busy doing things while they figured out and straightened out the problem with the reaver booby trap. Don’t need to scare them until you know what the problem really is. Made me think of him distracting Wash when they were first confronted with the reaver ship going by in the ep “Serenity”.

Lola

Will be back with more thoughts later, I’m sure.

[William the Bloody]

Lola said:

<snip>
* Nother kind of “dad-like” action of Mal’s. To keep some of the folks busy doing things while they figured out and straightened out the problem with the reaver booby trap. Don’t need to scare them until you know what the problem really is. Made me think of him distracting Wash when they were first confronted with the reaver ship going by in the ep “Serenity”.
<snip>

Sure Mal is sorta "Dad" like, but I think what all these things really point to is that he is a "leader" Mal kept as many people alive in Serenity valley as he could. Was he perfect? Probably not. But he has the skills and hte nature. And the ...certain something. A true leader is not something you can create. You can't "train" a leader. You can teach them things but it's a innate personality. Mal is that to the core. People who surround him listen to him, believe in him, trust him and are willing to follow his advice and judgement.

Mal, contrary to the image that he sorta likes to portray, does not fly by the seat of his pants. He thinks things out, plans. Often he doesn't share the full extent of those plans with everyone around him. This is for a lot of reasons: they don't need to know. they don't need to "worry" and , well, as most of us learn in life, it's often best to have an idea and then remain flexible and sorta play it by ear. Doesn't mean you arent alwys thinking and paying attention. And he relies on his own skills and those of the people he trusts. You can't always know the future, you jsut have to play the percentages as you know them. And you have to have faith. Mal may have lost it in God and in his general fellow man, but the crew around him and to a certain extent the passengers he has adopted, he trusts (or in the case of Jayne, knows.) That's what makes Mal a great Captain, a great leader, and a great person...for all his "flaws." As Kaylee says: I love my captain.

Vlad

[Patti - S'cubie Cutie]

This was my second viewing of Bushwhacked and I thought it was effectively eerie. The Reavers are very frightening hobgoblins. 'People' who have become inhuman are the scariest things of all really.
I enjoyed the fact that Mal protected River and Simon.
In fact I enjoy these people so much. They are very real - the trick that Jayne played on Simon, his fear of space, and Jayne's fear of the Reivers...Kaylee's shiny sweetness.

Don't know why but when I watch Firefly I feel 'there' with the crew - I slide into that loneliness of space which Joss conveys so well.

I'm glad there is more Firefly to come - that we hopefully will get further development of these interesting characters and situations.

[Queen E]

William said:

Soon after this, this dialogue follows:

Kaylee: Say Doc, why don't you come on down and play for our side. Inara won't mind.

Hmmm. Interesting. Is there anyone else present that doesn;t believe that there is NEVER a piece of thrown away dialogue in a Whedon show? There are so many insights to be found here.
First, Kaylee is inviting the doctor to play for "their side", to join the group, the gang. Second, she invites him "down" The doctor, especially at this point, is still holding himself so aloof and above the rest of the crew, even tho' they have in two short episodes seemingly all aknowledge him (except Jayne) as being one of hteir own. It is this episode itself that shows to what lengths this group of "outlaws" is willing to go to protect River and Simon. Tehy have nothing to gain really by doing this and very much to lose. But then again, they aren't playing by the doctor's oh so civilized rules.

very excellent insights! Except that I don't think Simon is being "aloof" because he doesn't find them "civilized" enough. I just think that what is perceived as "aloofness" is a degree of shyness, of not knowing how to intereact with them. It's difficult, coming upon a group of people whom so obviously have a connection with each other: Kaylee, Wash, Zoe, Jayne, and Mal, and joining in that group. Book is not shy, enjoys physical activity (like gardening, as we see in the pilot, with his vegetables), and has made a decision to not stand on ceremony with any of them. When you see Simon, he obviously wants to join in, else he wouldn't be watching, but does not know how. This seems even more true when Kaylee extends her invitation; he starts coming down the stairs.

[Lola m]

eg-S'cary said:

very excellent insights! Except that I don't think Simon is being "aloof" because he doesn't find them "civilized" enough. I just think that what is perceived as "aloofness" is a degree of shyness, of not knowing how to intereact with them. It's difficult, coming upon a group of people whom so obviously have a connection with each other: Kaylee, Wash, Zoe, Jayne, and Mal, and joining in that group. Book is not shy, enjoys physical activity (like gardening, as we see in the pilot, with his vegetables), and has made a decision to not stand on ceremony with any of them. When you see Simon, he obviously wants to join in, else he wouldn't be watching, but does not know how. This seems even more true when Kaylee extends her invitation; he starts coming down the stairs.

I would add that Simon still has a lot of naivete and a lot of ignorance of the reality of folk's lives on the planets far from the center. And why shouldn't he? This society is obviously set up to preserve the barriers between different sorts of people.

For example, he is very disconcerted and doesn't understand why the crew is all so unconcerned and uncurious about the whereabouts of the people from the ship. He doesn't see that this is a necessary job for them. They have to keep scavenging and scrounging in order to keep going - to keep alive. This is their work.

I compare him to Kaylee, who is an innocent, but I would not call her naive. They have a lot of similarities, but a lot of differences, too. Loved how casually they show that she's stronger than him. When she pulls the engine part out and drops it in the bag and he almost lets it fall. Nice little throw-away bit. Like all the little scenes we get to see that show us how amazingly skilled and competent she is at her job.

Lola

[William the Bloody]

PattiT said:

<snip>
Don't know why but when I watch Firefly I feel 'there' with the crew - I slide into that loneliness of space which Joss conveys so well.
<snip>

Interesting htat you should point htat out Patti! I remember reading and I think in one of hte narratives on the DVDs that Joss intended for that feeling to be there... its one of hte reasons he built the ship as a "ship" all in one set and used the hand held cameras. The shake and quiver and the movements of the hand helds were there to make you feel like you were standing in the action. (Also being "cheaper" in some ways, however finding really good hand held camera men more than make up for the cheaper costs of equipment)

But he always wanted the viewer to feel like they were on that ship..which while it is "largish" in comparison to many television spacecraft, is still pretty small when ccompared to the vastness of space..the great big nothingness. And then, in Bushwhacked, you see Serenity being tethered to the Alliance patrol ship and again you feel how tiny and insignificant they are indeed. Its truly these 9 folk against an entire universe. And you, the viewer are the "10th".

Vlad

[Patti - S'cubie Cutie]

William said:

Interesting htat you should point htat out Patti! I remember reading and I think in one of hte narratives on the DVDs that Joss intended for that feeling to be there... its one of hte reasons he built the ship as a "ship" all in one set and used the hand held cameras. The shake and quiver and the movements of the hand helds were there to make you feel like you were standing in the action. (Also being "cheaper" in some ways, however finding really good hand held camera men more than make up for the cheaper costs of equipment)

But he always wanted the viewer to feel like they were on that ship..which while it is "largish" in comparison to many television spacecraft, is still pretty small when ccompared to the vastness of space..the great big nothingness. And then, in Bushwhacked, you see Serenity being tethered to the Alliance patrol ship and again you feel how tiny and insignificant they are indeed. Its truly these 9 folk against an entire universe. And you, the viewer are the "10th".

Vlad

that's interesting, and kinda cool - he was obviously successful in what he wanted to convey. Thanks for the backstory on that!
I watched the dvd commentaries, but I think I watched the entire set in two days- so its kinda blurry. I'm enjoying the re-watching a lot. Most of these I didn't see when aired.

[William the Bloody]

Nan said:

They're very sensible to show the effects of the Reavers and not the Reavers themselves. What's unseen and imagined is always scarier than what's seen. That the Survivor mutilates himself is more effective than whatever appearance the Reavers display.

Good point Nan. And not only that, the whole idea of the Reavers is scary. The scariest things in movies or books arethe menaces that "could happen." Much like Jaws, or the first Halloween... shark attacks happen...insane people do enter homes and kill people. True horror comes form true circumstance. In Buffy, first season, Willow is completely shaken when the boys are all killed in the dayroom... why.. because it hit close to home. It was "real" The boogeyman had entered "normalacy" and made it a nightmare.

Hence the Reavers (which are of course a nod to the horrible redskin menace of the west ) are scary becasue of their humanity. We understand them, the situation, and it "could happen."

Vlad

[Rachael]

Okay, then:

- The opening scene has been discussed a lot, but for me what was interesting was who wasn't playing, and who was. Simon and River weren't playing, which wasn't really a surprise; they're not part of the gang yet. Don't quite fit in. Inara also doesn't play; does this show yet again that she's not really integrated with the rest of the crew?

On the other hand, Book IS playing. He's only been on Serenity as long as Simon, but he's managed to integrate. This is also shown later, when Simon doesn't trust Mal, but Book tells him not to be a fool - he knows he can trust his captain.

- The whole derelict-exploration scene is very "Aliens". There's the dark ship, the flashing emergency lights, colonists hung up dead, and the one survivor who's got to be pulled bodily from a tunnel after scaring the bejeezus out of everyone.

- "You'll scare the women." My take - Zoe doesn't see herself as a woman, primarily. She sees herself as a soldier, first, and not a whole lot else, much of the time. Moreover, she has the stereotypical male role much of the time in her marriage - she's more physically imposing than Wash, more forceful, and then there's the whole, "Not now, dear." Hmm.

- Interesting cutaway during the interrogation: from Inara talking about Mal to Zoe talking about Wash: "Do you love him?" Well, yeah, on both sides, I think.

- The big thing, though, was this: When you're out, nearly alone, on the fringes of the explored universe, you can become where you are. Space gets to you - you can become empty and dark. . .and this is what happened to the Reavers. But it's more than that. . .you don't become completely empty. There's something already in there, something awful and animal that will fill the vacuum that space leaves behind. That's what was meant by "open you up and see what's inside". The point was that the Reaver was already in the boy - he just needed everything else to be emptied out in order for us to see it. And so it is with the Reavers, too?

[Patti - S'cubie Cutie]

Rachael said:

Okay, then:



- "You'll scare the women." My take - Zoe doesn't see herself as a woman, primarily. She sees herself as a soldier, first, and not a whole lot else, much of the time. Moreover, she has the stereotypical male role much of the time in her marriage - she's more physically imposing than Wash, more forceful, and then there's the whole, "Not now, dear." Hmm.

All good points Rachael, so I'll address the one I have a slightly different opinion about. My take on Zoe is that she sees herself as a woman, but she doesn't see women as weak. I think she's being completely sarcastic with Jayne - he's terrified, and she's just basically saying 'wussy' to him.
Also, she's in charge when she's on the job, and feels no strain in being so, but I think in their private lives, its much more of an even thing. Or I get that impression.