Episode discussion – Ariel S01E09

[Washburne]

Original air date: 11/15/02 

Written by: Joss Whedon 
& Jose Molina
Directed by: Allan Kroeker

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0579527/

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.

Source

Jayne is bored and think he'd be better off meditating with Book. "Beats just sitting." Wash: "It is just sitting."

"Lets not be excluding people. That'd be rude."

River cutting Jayne. So he might deserve to get his head slapped for being a jerk but cutting? Of course, do anyone believe that's the reason? Didn't think so. Good timing though. "He looks better in red."

Simon has a job for them. Interesting.

Government-run hospital. Restocked within hours. A bit different from how the people in The train job had it.

"You know, it's all very sweet stealing from the rich, selling to the poor..." I do indeed love you Wash.

Traing the crew to use medical terms. How will it go for the trained ape without the training. 😛

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were ready to save some lives."

"For this to work me and River needs to be dead.
I'm starting to like this plan."

River's freaking out about going to the hospital. Totally justified.

Aww, poor Jayne. After all that training he needs to show that he learned his lines.

Remember how in the pilot Jayne and Mal talked about what would happen if Jayne got offered enough money to betray the crew? "It'll be an interesting day." Now that day is here. He love his money.

Good thing Mal and Zoe got caught by the doctor. How else would they have gotten into the storage.

Finding out, at least partially, what's been done to River. Poor girl. 🙁

Caught! This can't end well.

See Jayne. You can't trust the government. Suits you right. Simon still has no clue, thanking Jayne for what he thinks was a rescue attempt.

"They're here." No Poltergeists but still scary.

The hands of blue people has arrived. They take things seriously. You talk to the prisoners you die. No matter what. Jeez.

Mals body language. What are you doing just standing there. Lets go.

"You're part of my crew." This time said by Jayne. Yeah right.

You got to love Mals dedication to his crew. He'll do anything for them.

Interesting to see how Jayne cares enough not wanting the rest of the crew to know he betrayed them.

"It's time to wake up.â Yes, please let it be so.

 

[Robb Stark]

-"It smells like crotch" "“We have our Jayne opening people.
-Okay, River going all Freddy vs. Jason on Jayne was more than a little strange.
-Jayne is absolute crap at horseshoes
-Okay, Simon has a job. This is gonna end well"¦
-Alright, Firefly: Ocean's 11 version.
-The planning stages are awesome. I love Simon trying to explain medical terminology to the crew.
-This doesn't look good. I think we knew it had to happen eventually. Jayne's switched sides. Or so it seems at least.
-I liked the scene with Simon saving the guy's life. As someone who knows a little bit about medicine (not much, but a little), they actually got most of that right. I have a feeling that might come back to bite him, but it was cool.
-It was interesting to see a little bit of what the Alliance did to River. Cutting into her brain? Not good.
-Here's a general theme for T.V. heroes. Whenever the plan changes in the middle of the original plan, good things never follow.
-Jayne and Simon fighting the hospital security guards (or whoever they were) was a great fight scene. Really intense actually.
-I'm guessing that the Academy did a little more than just take a poke into River's head. Psychic stuff seems to have happened.
-The blue gloves are back, and I think the Alliance may have found the creepiest looking guy ever to be one of them. And now they've taken the tool from Men in Black and dialed it up to 13. Never good when you're bleeding out the fingernails.
-Man, Mal got a good shot in on Jayne with that wrench. That might sting a bit (although he did deserve it)
-Mal and Jayne's scene was awesome. I liked how even though Jayne totally sold them out, he was willing to die, and his last wish was for Mal to tell the crew what happened. That was neat.
-Great foreshadowing at the end with Simon and River. "Time to wake up."

-As seems to be happening every time now, I thought this was the best episode so far. It was great for Simon and Jayne; we really gained some insight into both of them. And Simon sure stepped it up when he had too. I thought the plot was really good, it was exciting, it led from one scene to the next really well, and most of all, it made me want to keep watching and see the next one. Great episode.

 

[PassionBecoming]

-Ah, Jayne, he's always so eloquent with words. And Jayne in an abbey. Heehee.
-Whoa, crap, River, do you have a death wish?! Of all the people to do that to...
-I wonder why Mal is so protective of the doc and River. I would think he would be one to say "Get gone". Hmmm.
-Horseshoes!! Ooo, the doc has a job. Intriguing.
-"It's all very sweet, stealing from the rich, selling to the poor." Wash. 🙂
-I think I missed why it's so exciting to be on this planet/in this city...
-Simon is rather sneaky! And good thing they have a former serious criminal (Jayne) on board to make fake IDs and such.
-Eh, dilated, dilapidated, same thing, Mal. 😛
-Wash and Kaylee are awesome! They look all medical now. ha.
-The bond and trust between Simon and River is pretty amazing. After everything she has been through and the damage mentally/emotionally she has had, she still trusts Simon with everything.
-Jayne wanting to tattoo Simon while he's passed out. Heehee.
-Ugh, freaking Jayne. Figures. Can't say I'm shocked though.
-River saying which patients are going to die. Heh.
-Simon takes that Hippocratic oath seriously. Hopefully it doesn't bit him in the hiney.
-Thank you, Zoe. That guy deserved to get zapped.
-Well, that's an advanced scan. Crazy! That explains River's violent reactions to everything.
-Jayne, you are an idiot. Never trust an Alliance member.
-Go, Mal, go! But, ugh. Love that Simon talks down to the Alliance guy. Excellent. And the Alliance guys aren't so good at hand-to-hand combat...
-Ew, not watching that. But...creepy. How were they not supposed to speak with them?
-Ugh, SErenity better blow out of that joint FAST.
-Oo, Mal with the wrench. Sweet. "You turn on ANY of my crew, you turn on me." <3 him.
-Why do I have a feeling that River is going to have a bad reaction to the meds Simon gives her? Eep!

Not a favorite, but high points for the creepy factor!

 

[brinkster130]

-Jayne sucks. No loyalty to anything other than money and lacking in the brains.

-Sad to see Simon talking so highly of Jayne when he is such a coward. I was a little surprised that River didn't pick up on the ambush.

-Those government guys were creepy. I hope we find out more about them and those creepy blue pen/lights of death.

Overall the show is starting to grow on me. 🙂

 

[Jules]

I have to say I really disliked Jayne throughout this episode, until his line to Mal when he asks him not to tell the crew what he'd done. I think, so far that he's the character that's changed the most. Throughout the passed episode we've seen how Jayne is purely about the money and his loyalty is to himself, but I think he's starting to grow somewhat of a conscience. Yes, he still sold out River and Simon but now he cares about people finding out about his betrayal. The Jayne at the start of the show wouldnt have cared one way or another. I love that Mal knew exactly what happened. The scene between the two of them was amazing.

I really cant wait to see what the blue hand men are. Clearly they arent affected by the killing pen that makes everyone else bleed to death.

Did anyone else notice that the thing that Wash threw away in the junk yard looked an awful lot like the engine part from the last episode that was so important?

I really like how Mal, Zoe and Jayne (to some extent) spent so long trying to learn their lines and they werent even needed.

I cant wait for the next episode.

 

[Robb Stark]

I have to say I really disliked Jayne throughout this episode, until his line to Mal when he asks him not to tell the crew what he'd done. I think, so far that he's the character that's changed the most. Throughout the passed episode we've seen how Jayne is purely about the money and his loyalty is to himself, but I think he's starting to grow somewhat of a conscience. Yes, he still sold out River and Simon but now he cares about people finding out about his betrayal. The Jayne at the start of the show wouldnt have cared one way or another. I love that Mal knew exactly what happened. The scene between the two of them was amazing.

This is what I find so interesting about Jayne. There are a lot of shows out there where you have the rough-and-tumble anti-hero character with the heart of gold. Jayne isn't really that (or at least, not yet). Like you said, he's in it for the money, and as we saw in this episode, when the money's good enough, he'll sell Serenity out.

At the same time though, he's hilarious and good in a fight, so he's a likable character. Seeing him develop a little bit each episode has been really cool.

 

[VisionGirl]

The details of this heist are the most interesting ones in the series.

Poor River allowing Simon to give her the drug. 🙁

---------- Post added at 12:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:20 AM ----------

-The drugs Simon is talking about to the other doctor- are they real/current drugs?
-"She feels everything, she can't not"
-Eww, the deaths are so gross.
-I think that Mal is mostly a good judge of character. He has never trusted Jayne, from the very beginning. But he needs him. And he is a good drinking buddy.