Saturday, October 6, 2012

Bushwhacked

Sci-Fi Saturday
****

In order to avoid capture during an Alliance investigation, Simon and River are forced to hide while the rest of the crew is interrogated in regards to the cargo they had retrieved from an abandoned vessel.

The review for "the Train Job" can be read here.

While the first episode provided us with a pursuit by the Reavers, here we have our first actual run-in with someone affected by them. The destruction of life and sanity that they cause is seen first-hand by the cast of characters, bringing about a hesitant truce between our resident Brown Coats and the Alliance with which they do battle.

At the top of the episode is a friendly game being played by Serenity's crew that truly shows the bond that these people share with one another. What's interesting is that Simon (Sean Maher) and River (Summer Glau) separate themselves from the action, instead watching from above, where Book (Ron Glass) has joined the fray despite having come aboard at the same time as them. While Book is more than willing to get to know these people, Simon has a certain uneasiness about them which, when combined with his need to protect his younger sister, places him frequently on the sidelines. When finally joining the game, at Kaylee's (Jewel Staite) request, his apprehensiveness is abated only due to River's temporarily calm demeanor and interest in the game.

Mal (Nathan Fillion) appears to have a deep understanding of the human condition in regards to having seen a great deal of horrors, which makes absolute sense when his wartime activities are taken into consideration. He's immediately aware of the threat that the Reaver's survivor poses and shows an inherent knowledge of the way in which the boy will hunt, move and act in his attempt to imitate the enemy that destroyed his psyche. It is perhaps this understanding that makes Mal such an impressive threat to the Alliance and makes for an absolutely fascinating character trait.

It appears that Simon's immediate mistrust of Mal was done only to create tension and drama when, very easily, Mal could have said something along the lines of "I don't have time to explain, I will protect you both, just trust me." It seems like lazy writing in an effort to throw the audience off of the trail and allow for a later reveal of where Simon and his sister have been hidden, and it didn't play very authentically at all.

The hints toward River having some kind of psychic power were done somewhat poorly, mostly done through scenes of her screaming and crying. A general uneasiness on her part might have sufficed, but here it seems that they had wanted to do a reveal but simply couldn't quite manage to.

The entire cast continues to shine in these episodes without a single weak link in the bunch. Everyone plays off of one another very well, and even in scenes where they are separate from one another, they still seem to feed off of the energy that they know their cast mates can provide. Gina Torres and Alan Tudyk (Zoë and husband Wash, respectively) do particularly well during their inter-cut interrogation scenes wherein Zoë's stoicism contrasts brilliantly against Wash's enthusiasm.

Director Tim Minear chose well in not revealing the Reavers on-screen here, as they are probably more effective because the audience is privy only to their warpath without ever actually interacting with them. Because we can see the things that they've done, we can imagine barbarians far worse than anything the show could have been able to provide here, and what's left to the imagination creates an incredibly bleak fate for our heroes. Much like the Reavers, Minear chooses to show only snippets of the victim, never sitting still long enough to get a good grasp of who he is, or was, as he himself has been destroyed by what he's seen and is slowly working to become that which killed his spirit, becoming the enemy that only he has ever survived.

Written also by Minear, this episode's strength is in it's character moments, such as the interrogations of the crew. Inara (Morena Baccarin) provides absolute truth in her answers without revealing more than what's being asked of her, while Zoë staunchly refuses to answer anything that she feels has no relevance to the situation. Kaylee spends her time talking about the ship, while Jayne (Adam Baldwin) sits in silence refusing to answer anything. How these characters speak to the Alliance officials is very telling of both who they are as individuals as well as where their loyalties lie in relation to each other, and it's a very interesting character study. Another good point of the episode is Simon and River's time spent attached to the outside of the ship, wherein River has finally found a calm place in the silent blank canvas of space, forgetting about everything that's troubled her with the universe and allowed finally a moment of peace.

The flirtation between Simon and Kaylee continues, but what's hinted at more here is whatever power River has that seems to drive those that are looking for her. Book's past is also put into question once more as characters continue to question his motivation for joining the crew of Serenity on their voyage.

The review for "Shindig" can be read here.

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