Episode discussion – Bushwacked S01E03

[Washburne]

Original air date: 9/27/02 

Written by: Joss Whedon 
& Tim Minear
Directed by: Tim Minear


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0579528/

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.

Source

Smiling faces in a "natural" scene (alhtough still scripted of course) always make me happy.

"Oh my God. What can it be? We're all doomed. Who's flying this thing?
Oh right. That would be me. Back to work." I can't help it but it reminds me of Mickey (Mouse) goes camping. It's part of a one hour Disney event always showing at christmas in Sweden. Yeah that's off topic for you. Anyway, it makes me smile.

Kaylee doing what she can to spend time with/close to Simon. "Little Kaylee is always one man short." Indeed.

Wow. Dead body. Time fo the horror episode. Or as close to it as we'll come. Joss do love to mix genres.

Wash to Jayne: "You're a very up person." Sure is.

Still messing with Simon. Poor thing. I don't like the idea of being in a space suit either.

River seems to be drawn to this ghost of her.

No one escaped. Nice, nice. Followed by a man attaching Jayne. Cut to commercial. Don't you love it when there's no commercial.

"I followed the voices." I hear dead people...

"Big though, strong."

"Oh yes... he's a real beast. It's a wonder you're still alive.
Looked bigger when I couldn't see him." 😛

Reavers. Oh my. Interesting. And terrifying. Mal seem so cold and harsh but knowing what little we know about reavers can we blame him? Imagine being a "survivor".

"Jayne. You'll scare the women."

It's trap! Sneaky reavers.

"You think you can do this?
Sure. Yeah. I think so. Besides, if I mess up, it's not like you'll be able to yell at me."
Kaylee always being positive.

Oh oh. He's awake. River sure seem to have a specific connection to the victims.

Safe from reavers and not blown up but here comes the alliance. It's not easy living on the edge.

We got any Desperate housewives fans here? 😉 Either you understand or you don't.

Mal doesn't like to explain things. Just follow orders! No wonder Simon is upset. So were our newbies fooled this time? Simon has to face his fears of the space suit once again but i'm sure he's happy he had the option. River seems to enjoy it though.

Kaylee's showing love for Serenity. Not the first time. :: red ::

Dinosaurs! Erhm. Sorry.

Love the interrogations.

One of my favourite quotes. "May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

Could Wash and Zoe be anymore different.

You saved my life so you can now go. End.

 

[Jodast]

I like the makeshift game they have set up in the cargo hold. It seemed as though the actors were really going for it, too. It's nice to see them letting off steam as an entire crew.

River watching and analysing the game is fascinating. Summer's acting here is superb. It's all with the eyes.

Kaylee, oh Kaylee :heart: :heart: :heart:

Simon's remorse is touching. He knows that what he did is for the best but knows that River will never have a proper life regardles.

If you hit something in space, is it still roadkill? 😀

Religion makes an early appearance this week. This time Mal doesn't want to be reminded of the tale of the good samaritan. The Shepherd keeps plugging away.

Jayne is still an ass.

This whole set up looks very much like 'Aliens'. It's creepy as hell, too. Great job of production design.

There's a strong implication here that River has pre-cognitive powers.

Does Master Chief know that someone stole his outfit? 🙂

Another prank on Simon. Poor guy. Maybe if he took that pole out of his butt they'd ease up on him.

I bet walking barefoot on that grating was uncomfortable.

Somehow looting an abandoned ship seems cheap.

First time I saw this ep I jumped out of my skin at the kitchn scene. Really, really good work, especially for a TV show to be so atmospheric.

Wash being put in his place with a 'Not now, dear' was both amusing and disturbing.

Ewww. Nasty.

Now looting the ship is just disrespectful and immoral.

I like this scene back on Serenity. Simon and Book are the obvious people to go. It's good to see the non-action characters get to really do something.

"How we treat our dead is part of what makes us different from those who did the slaughtering." Mal seems to respect this on a personal 'he's a good guy' level, if not the religious intent behind it. Decides that the victims need their peace. Does Mal need a Shepherd to help him find his path?

Inara and Kaylee seem to fall for Mal just a little bit more in their own ways.

I really hope all of that wasn't just to distract everyne from the booby trap. I don't think it was.

Kaylee saves the day. Because she's awesome :heart:

I wonder what Inara's caligraphy said? Seriously, I'm curious, if any of the folks on here can read it, please let me know.

Anyone else having Star Wars flashbacks right now? If you're going to borrow, borrow from the best 🙂

Kaylee getting annoyed when the alliance insults Serenity cracks me up.

Zoe and Wash's interrogations couldn't be more different. She's private andunco-operative and he's talking about how sweet her legs and body are and what it's like being with a warrior woman. I love these two as a couple.

Jayne staring down the guy is hilarious and it's the first time I have actually liked the character.

The Shepherd doesn't exactly lie...

Awww the reveal was way too soon. We should have been wondering up until the last possible moment.

The look of fear on Simon's face compared to the look of wonder of River's is brilliant. Again Summer Glau's facial expressions are spot on.

Interesting to see that Mal is in the seat where the interrogator sat for the previous interviews.

We still haven#t actually seen a reaver, yet they are the most terifying bad guys ever. Great job of building them up. Wonder when we'll see them?....

Mal saves them all from a grizzly fate and they are let go. Minus their ill-gotten loot. Somehow it seems right that the evil alliance steal it from them.

A brilliant episode. The first part is so creepy and tense. There are some amazing character moments, especially duirng the interrogations and the crew decides to do something which is beyond slightly shady. like that they aren't always likeable in their actions.

And Kaylee rocks 🙂

 

[brinkster130]

Seeing them playing their game was awesome; they looked like they were having a blast and truly enjoying each others company.

River seems to have a sixth sense of sorts, knowing right away about the danger and reavers....it will be interesting to find out more about her and what makes her "special".

Pretty tricky having Simon and River in spacesuits hanging on the outside of the ship to avoid the Alliance search. Clearly this isn't the crew's first rodeo.

For some reason bringing the one survivor back aboard reminded me of the movie Alien. I kept expecting a reaver to some how pop out of him. What exactly is a reaver?

We got any Desperate housewives fans here? 😉 Either you understand or you don't.

Or Melrose Place!😛 Doug and my dad use to coach a kiddie soccer team together so it's hard for me to take him seriously on screen.


The Alliance interrogations were neat,it was funny how different each crew member was.

Jayne staring down the guy is hilarious and it's the first time I have actually liked the character.

^Same here!

 

[Robb Stark]

-The opening was cool. It was neat seeing the crew as friends, just playing a game. I'm interested to see how River seems to have a bit of precognition

-Wash is always hilarious (You're a very up person).

-Jane is such a dick but he's still so funny. Him convincing Simon to come over to the ghost ship, and Simon just panicking about it, was awesome.

-The ship they found had the serious creep factor going for it. The scene where Mal and Zoe are searching through the food supplies, and River just shows up pointing to all those people strung up onto the ceiling by chains, was heavy with the wiggins.

-I'd never really noticed it before, but the guns that Mal and Jane carry around are freaking huge. The revolver Mal has when he's pulling the ship survivor out of the hold is like two feet long!

-I really liked the set up to what the Reevers are. Jane being so freaked out was really funny but also makes me take the Reevers seriously as well. And Zoe had a great line: "Jane, you'll scare the women."

-Great scene with Mal and Inara after he sends Shepherd to prepare a funeral for the people on the other ship.

-Kinda weird that nobody saw the GIANT Alliance space station that was right beside the ship they found.

-The Alliance captain is such a dick ("no mandatory markings on the port side. Make sure you cite them for that!"). I liked when the Alliance troops board Serenity you've got Mal, Zoe and Jane looking all tough and Wash with his hands up. Wash is gold.

-All the crew interviews with the Alliance captain were awesome, especially Zoe and Wash.

-River is a really interesting character. She's not my favorite or anything, but there are aspects about her where you really want to learn more. Her and Simon stowing away on the outside of the ship on the edge of space, and her reaction to that was pretty cool.

-I always like the scenes where they go into Mal's past a bit and the war.

-On the whole I liked it. I didn't think it was an amazing episode or anything, but still enjoyable. It was cool learning more about the Reevers (or being introduced to them I guess, without really seeing them), and I liked the River stuff. Nothing really outstanding though.

 

[PassionBecoming]

-Love the make-shift basketball game. Nice to see some fun on board!!

-“We’re all doomed! Who’s flying this thing?!” Haha. This show needs more Wash!

-River creeps me out, though I know she can’t really help it.

-Ha. Jayne jumps on board if he can scavenge for stuff. Such a charming fellow.

-No sign of a struggle on the ship and meals untouched. Creepy.

-Why is Simon so freaked out about this ship? He sure is squirrely.

-Seems kind of morbid for them to be picking through the empty space ship for some reason, but I suppose that’s how they find things to survive.

-Ugh! Dolls are so freaky!!!!

-Well, I hope they were able to take some useful stuff off the ship anyway. And poor guy having to see what he did then live on the ship with what’s there. L

-Yes, guys, it IS important to bury the dead. *thumbs up*

-“Besides, if I mess up it’s not like you’ll be able to yell at me.” Yup, I love Kaylee!

-Shouldn’t they have tied down the crazy guy they brought on board or something??

-Smart, Alliance guy. You run into the brother/sister team you shoot first. Good plan. Moron. And dang, just when the Firefly crew finds some good stuff, they get it taken away again. Why are these Alliance guys such arses? They’re just destroying the freaking ship!

-HAHAHAHAHA. Zoe and Wash being interviewed. Hilarious. Actually, all of the interviews are kinda funny.

-Ooo, and there’s that quote I like. 😀

-Wow. The Alliance guys are really brave, too. Letting a handcuffed guy go first. Nice. How did they win that war, exactly??

-Well, the reavers and their aftermath are just…disturbing.


I’m hoping in one of these eps the firefly crew can catch a break for once!

 

[nightshade]

They're all having fun, and relaxing, River seems fascinated by it
Simon and Inara are discussing River, they seem to get along well
Eww, man hitting the windshield
Jayne, always so positive!
Spacesuits
Aww, kids toys everywhere, looks like they left in a hurry
Simon doesn't lok happy about being suited up
Everyone looking at Simon in the suit, while they are in normal clothes
Hahaha Kaylee informing Simon that he put the suit on wrong
River's left
Nothing wrong with the ship?
Everything is still aboard as well
And now River's aboard too
No one's left, they are all hung up ewww
Jayne's attacked!
Zoe "Not now dear!"
Follow the blood
Man still aboard, how come he survived?
Mal brought the guy aboard
Reavers, Jayne's scared
Shepherd believes the reavers are men
Jayne you'll scare the women, but not Zoe!
Putting the bodies to rest
There's a booby trap
Aww, Kaylee saying she can fix it
Jayne lowering the bodies down
The guy's awake and River can feel it?
Careful Kaylee, and she's done it
And they're back!
Alarm, it's the Alliance
they've come aboard, where are Simon and River?
He's up and kinda crazy
Uh oh, the crew is being taken off ship
Awww, Kaylee defending Serenity
Interviews
Inara seems calm
Kaylee still defending Serenity
Jayne's silent for once!
The Shepherd seems to be giving vague answers
The Alliance are all over the ship now
But Simon and River are safe outside of it, River seems to be in wonder while Simon looks uncomfortable
Mal's turn! Serenity is named after the war?
Blaming Mal for what happened on the other ship, and Mal trying to convince them that the guy hasn't truely survived the reavers, but is becoming one
River wants to go back outside the ship
The crazy guy is on Serenity
Making Mal go first!
The crazy gut looks even crazier now!
Did Mal kill him?
And they are all back onboard Serenity and on their way

 

[Jules]

Mal seems to know a lot about reavers. He tells the Alliance guys what would have been done to the surviver and how that would turn him into a reaver. So my question is, why bring him onto the ship in the first place. Surely he could have explained to the others that he was too dangerous. It was ironic that after they rescue the surviver and Mal says they should put a bullet in him they think he's being cruel. Then after the reaver kills all those people Mal kills him anyway but with his bare hands, not a gun.

I like Inara and how she looks after River. I keep drawing comparrisons to Buffy but Inara and River's relationship reminds me of Tara and Dawn. I liked the insight into River's abilities, its a shame that she's crazy half the time.

I dont like Zoe. In this episode the way she acted towards Wash and what she said in the interview made it sound like she has no feelings for him at all, that she married him purely out of convenience.

I cant wait for the next episode.