Firefly (Re)watch & Discuss: 1.05 Safe

[Athena]

This week, we'll be watching the fifth episode of the first (and only!) season of Firefly - Safe - written by Drew Z Greenberg and directed by Michael Grossman. This (re)watch is open to new Firefly viewers and existing fans. Everyone is welcome to join in!

This episode 5 (re)watch takes place between 8th July 2017 - 14th July 2017. You can watch this episode at your leisure during that time and discuss the episode below.

Although Firefly has aired for some time, this and all future episode threads are a dedicated no spoiler zone! Please ensure any spoilers are spoiler tagged.

Safe - S1E5
Synopsis​

The crew delivers cattle to the Rim, but a shoot-out gravely injures Shepherd Derrial Book. At the same time, Simon and River Tam are kidnapped by locals while exploring town. Mal chooses to leave the Tam siblings behind to seek medical aid. The locals hope that Simon will administer medical aid, and despite the kidnapping, Simon tentatively hopes the town will be a haven for himself and River. However, the town comes to believe River is a witch and attempts to burn her at stake. Before this can be done, the crew rescues the siblings, and Mal tells Simon that he and River are part of the crew.​

 

[thrasherpix]

Nice seeing how the Tams were when they were still solid citizens. Poor Simon, he's lost so much. I should probably point out that while I find the Tams sympathetic and interesting, they're not my favorite characters, and were I on Serenity I'd avoid both (without being rude about it). I can still sympathize with Simon when he's in a terrible mood at the start. And nice having him so paranoid about the law as they walked by him as it really emphasizes how out of his element he is. Simon is brilliant, but he's still shockingly naive in many ways despite his experience getting his sister away from a camp, and doesn't seem to realize just how lawless the outer planets are (and jaded and uncaring many of the law boys are).

Still, I liked how Reynolds says the doctor can be called many things, but coward isn't one of them, even if he's so fussy and jittery about the law (scared more for his sister than himself). Not that Reynolds mentioned that last bit.

That said, I'll add poor Kaylee, to get talked to that way by Simon. I understand why Simon did (no fault of Kaylee), and I think Kaylee did as well, but it obviously hurt her feelings bad.

I liked how she remembered how Shepherd held her hand while she was the one recovering from a bullet wound.

Jayne is such a jerk as always, but since I only know him through a screen he makes me laugh.

I liked how the abductors were humanized, that is they weren't like cartoon villains, but had understandable motivations. Not that I disagree with Simon about their lunacy, but hey, science can teach you to make a fire and perhaps even how to use it for more harm than good, but you need RELIGION to tell you who and what to burn with it, otherwise, people would be burning each other. (Easy, that's 75% teasing and 25% mock to those who say we need religion to be good folk.) I am curious what the Shepherd would say to those hill folk...though obviously he was in no shape to.

Speaking of which...so much teasing about his past! Did the comics ever give an explanation why the Alliance was so keen on patching him up?

Finally, I LOVE the end. Oh, and the "big, damn heroes" scene was nice as well.

 

[Hunga Munga]

I love this episode . I ve seen Firefly many times and this slowburner has become one of my favourite episodes .

I m not entirely sure why I like this one so much but Thrashers comments are similar to my 'draft' thoughts . I m thinking it's the first ep where all the characters are likeable at the same time ? ...We see a little bit of everybody . Simon and River are difficult ,for me , to identify with but I feel for both of them during this . 'Postholer- for digging holes for posts' puts a lump in my throat every time .

Personally the big damn heroes scene is one I admire , heart rending tragedy , mystery, drama , comedy and victorious resolution , all in two minutes .

 

[Blaze]

I'm a little behind, will catch these past 2 eps tomorrow!

 

[Mylie]

Loved this!!

The episode made me appreciate Simon and his relationship with River. It's really endearing.

Every episode is making me appreciate Mal's character more.

Jane was again hilarious!

 

[Athena]

River's face while dancing with the townspeople - just so lovely. Her smile just brings me joy!

This was a great episode to summarise the relationship of Simon and River - did anyone else notice the sneaky Zac Efron cameo as Young Simon?

It kinda annoyed me that Mr & Mrs Tam refused to believe Simon's theory about River being in trouble. Clearly there was an issue, with the misspelling of words and making up dances. I guess TV parents are just dumb for a reason, but why wouldn't they believe their highly educated medical professional son?! It's not like he's a druggie lowlife prone to hallucinations, or with Lannister-like sister issues. He was clearly concerned about his sister's welfare (and for good reason)

'Big damn heroes' is one of my favourite Firefly scenes

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

I liked seeing some back story on River and Simon. I really liked the dancing and gun battle inter cut with the music. Well done. Like Mal defending Simon (not a coward). Zoe dissing the Captain's plans. Kaylee holding Book's hand. ♥ River and the berries. River dancing! Big damn heroes indeed! Mal telling Simon that both He and River are 'part of the crew'. ♥

Some great quotes:
Black market beagles - Wash
Cunningly concealed herd of cows - Simon
Your disreputable men are here - Zoe
How come it never goes smooth? - Mal
Folks like a man of God - Book
Yeah, but she's our witch - Mal
You were busy trying to get yourself lit on fire - Mal. It happens - Simon (deadpans)

Shiny!

 

[Blaze]

What the? Zac Effron? Lol!

I'm not a fan of Simon. I totally get where he's coming from with wanting to protect River, but he can be a bit excessive. I liked how Kaylee called him out! He deserved that after what the crew had done to help him. I do like how dedicated he is to River though.

Still loving Inara's and Kaylee's friendship!

Also loved River dancing, she always seem to have the best scenes! And it was nice to see Simon smile. My god those flashbacks, how thick can their parents be. I'm starting to feel like they are involved with the weird experiments that were being done on their daughter, that's the only logical explanation.

Shepp getting shot! I wasn't expecting that!

Overall this episode was awesome, one of my favourite so far!

 

[Fuffy Baith]

This is a mixed episode, it starts off rocky but then ends up quite good. It starts off with the cattle stuff, then the crew in town, then Book is shot, then Simon and River are kidnapped, then the Alliance comes in, then it's a witch burning. It's a little all over the place, and the western stuff always turns me off. And I don't like the creepy Deliverance kidnap people. But I like the intrigue about Book's past. I still need to read his comic. I felt bad for Kaylee in the shop. I like the flashbacks to Simon and his family. It's nice to see Simon and River's connection when they were young. And then seeing his careless parents. I like the ending where Mal simply just says "you're on my crew."

 

[Mr Trick]

There is a lot going on that's true, but I thought they got the right balance. The opening scene with the dance and Book getting shot is nicely done as is the scene near the end when the ship saves Simon and River. Those scenes are were really compelling. The twist with the town folk thinking River is a witch was clever too (even if it was hardly original). Its good a cap to their story. Because its a wake up call to Simon that their life may not be perfect on board Serenity but its certainly better than many alternatives.