The Train Job

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

Original Airdate: 9.20.02 Serenity continues to travel through space, conducting illegal runs across the Star System, under the control of The Alliance. A powerful and fearsome mobster named Adelei Niska demands that the crew of the Serenity to pull a train robbery. The train is carrying medical supplies for a community, and Reynolds and Zoe get held on suspicion. They get free with Inara’s help but realize they were tricked and try to return Niska’s money. His henchman isn’t too happy but Nelson “persuades” the next guy to take the money back. Meanwhile, two blue-handed black-suited operatives close in on River.

Review

Warning: If seeing SPOILERS for the first episode of Firefly will make you want to shove me through a starship engine, I strongly ask that you please turn back now . There are major SPOILERS just ahead for the premiere episode of “Firefly.”

In short: A nice start.

: A lot of attention has been paid to the behind-the-scenes drama of Joss Whedon’s new drama series, Firefly. Joss originally wrote and directed a 2-hour pilot for FOX that cost a good amount of money and would introduce us to the characters and universe of Firefly. : However, FOX felt it lacked something–namely it didn’t have enough action. So, Joss and company went back to the drawing board and came up with an entirely new premiere episode for the show and FOX signed on-board. : Now, if you’ve a long time fan of television SF, you can take this two ways. You can be hopeful since once upon a time, NBC had a pilot for a space opera that they initially rejected because it didn’t have enough action in it. The crew went back and reworked the show, giving us one of the all-time classic of SF television with the original (and still the best) Star Trek. : On the other hand, if you look at more recent history, once upon a time an established producer took a concept for a new SF drama. However, the network involved said they wanted the show “actioned” up a bit. A major schism developed between network and producer and the show with huge potential got quickly cancelled. In this case, it was J. Michael Stracynski’s B-5 spin-off “Crusade”, which like a lot of other genre shows, was cut down in its prime. : So, all summer long as the rumors of Firefly’s behind the scenes dealings got a lot of attention, I got a feeling that the show could go either way. The one thing that kept me from losing too much hope was the show had the direction and vision of Joss Whedon. Based on his track record with Buffy and Angel, I was hoping for really great things from Firefly. I will admit that it’s the one new series from the fall season that I’ve really been looking forward to and even as I heard all the on-line rumors and debate about the series, I was eager to actually sit down and see an episode for myself. : So, after a summer of speculation, it was time to see if Joss Whedon could once again deliver the goods. : The good news–Firefly did. The better news–it did it well enough to keep me wanting to come back for more next week. : A Joss Whedon premiere story will do several things. It will establish the universe, give us a glimpse of the characters who inhabit it, set up some intriguing on-going storylines and give us a good story that whets the appetite for what’s to come. Both the series opener for Buffy and Angel did this and I’m glad to report that the series opener for Firefly did the same thing. I honestly have to say that I feel the opener for Firefly was pretty much on an even level with “Welcome to the Hellmouth/The Harvest” and “City Of” The only thing that Angel had going for it over Firefly was that because it was a spin-off we already had some familiarity with at least two of the characters on show. : Overall, I’d say “The Train Job” did a nice job of establishing the premise and hooking potential new viewers into the series. Since this was, technically, meant to be the second episode of the series, we are plopped down into the middle of the universe and not given much introduction. Yes, the little intro at the beginning helped a great deal, but Joss and Tim Minear still required the viewers to fill in a lot of blanks ourselves. And I like that. A lot of SF shows feel that you have to put all your cards on the table right away in order to be accessible to new viewers. I am glad to see that Joss and Tim are willing to take the chance and not put everything out there in episode one, but instead to build up some elements that will play out over the course of the show. Another thing that I liked was how the universe felt natural. I keep thinking of the first time I watched Star Trek–years and years ago. I didn’t understand all the terminology at first–in fact, it takes an episode or two to come to grips with the transporter and other such things. But one of the things I like most about Star Trek is that the characters are totally comfortable with their universe. OK, we use this thing that scrambles our molecules and beams us across space–no big deal. We travel the universe at fantastic speeds–sure thing. The characters accept this as the way life is–sort of like how you and I accept that when we go outside, there are cars around to get us from point a to point b. And I got that feeling from Firefly. We’re here in a new section of the universe and the characters are non-plussed by it. Yes, we see them do some spectacular things–such as Jayne jumping onto the top of a fast-moving train from a moving starship–but overall, I got the feeling of a universe that is comfortable to the characters. : I will give Joss a lot of credit–with nine characters all attempting to share screen-time, he did a good job of at least giving each character a moment for us to learn something about them. It’s hard enough to establish one main character, but to juggle nine is a good thing. Of course, there were some who got a lot more screen time and were more intriguing–at first–than others. But I think that if the series gets a long-enough run (and I’m hoping we see all of the first 13 episodes at the very least…but this being FOX, I am always wary) we’ll get to know each of these characters. : At the center of this story was Malcolm, the captain and our intrepid leader. Honestly, while he was the captain of the ship, I never got the feeling he was any kind of leader in an official capacity. Which is a good thing for what Firefly is trying to establish. We’ve got a rag-tag group, all brought together by various circumstances. It felt a bit like the early days of Farscape (pause for a long sigh and a tear) when you had this new crew brought together–each with his or her own agenda and back story. Farscape didn’t put out all the details in episode one and neither has Firefly. If Firefly can have as rich and long a run as Farscape, I think we’ll be in for a real treat. : But back to Malcolm. Overall, I liked the character. His quippiness was well-done and, for the most part, his comments are the most amusing part of the show. It’s good to see Joss give us a sarcastic male character again. It almost made me miss the first and second season Xander from Buffy (and that’s a high compliment for me, since for the first three years Xander was my favorite character on Buffy). But there’s more to him than meets the eye. Yes, I will admit that the eccentric millionaire who hires them to steal an unknown cargo isn’t a new thing. Nor was Mal’s reaction when he finds out the consequences of what he’s done. Nor was his decision to return the stolen medicine to the colonists. Honestly, I found all that a bit predictable. But then again, Joss Whedon isn’t going to reinvent the wheel every time out. It’s how he takes concepts that are well-used and spins them to affect the characters. : And with Mal, I think we got a good glimpse. He’s a leader who looks out for number one, obviously. But he has a conscience and wants to do the right thing. And that could affect him negatively. Yes, he gave back the half of the money he took for the job, but I have a feeling we’ve not heard the last of this. For one thing, I wondered just what the millionaire wanted with the medicine. Indeed, there’s got to be some reason the guy wanted the medicine. I hope we’ll find out more about this down the line as the on-going storyline continues to unfold. : And as we got to see Mal, we also got a glimpse into Zoe as well, though not as much as Mal. She is obviously fiercely loyal to Mal and tough as nails. But she’s also got a vulnerable side. I think it will be interesting to see the exploration of not only her character but also her marriage to Wash. Indeed, I got some hints of a bit of a triangle of sorts there. If you’ve watched “The Dead Zone” this summer, you know that a triangle like this, done well can add so much to a show. : As for Wash, I’ve got to admit he was the character who annoyed me most. Back when “Andromeda” first started, I tuned in for about half of the first season. (It was loyalty to the producer who did some fantastic work on DS9) After about 11 or so episodes, I gave up and haven’t gone back. One of the reasons was the hyper-active engineer on the show annoyed me to no end. And Wash reminded me way too much of him. I realize this is a personal bias, but early on, I took a disliking to Wash. I did see some glimpses that he was more than a Harper clone, but since we didn’t’ get much exploration of him, I still have my reservations. I can only hope Joss and company give him a back story and do it soon. : That said, the two characters I found the most intriguing were both female ones–River and Kaylee. Of course, River set in motion a character and story arc that intrigued me. I am interested to see what her visions mean and what she and her brother escaped from and why. And who are the men with blue hands chasing them? Those are a lot of great questions to look into and why I get the feeling Firefly may be more long arc driven like Angel, than season arc driven like Buffy (which I like both, but each for different reasons.) : As for Kaylee, I can’t quite pin down what it was about her that I liked, but I liked her a lot. I think part of it was how naturally she lit up the screen when she was on camera. There was an infectious enthusiasm to her role and even the rather predictable idea that she’d have a crush on the doctor wasn’t too much. Outside of Mal, I found her the character I would like to see more of soonest on the show. Which given how interesting River and her brother’s back story could be, is saying a lot. : As for the rest, I liked them but wasn’t ready to write home about them. Jayne reminded me a lot of D’argo on Farscape with a cross of Rygel–the muscle on the ship with a thick vein of self-interest. The Preacher was interesting, though I don’t really recall any stand-out scenes or moments for him, except for Mal to give us back story. Then, we had Inara, who has some huge potential. Indeed, she was used well here to go and rescue Mal and Zoe, but I hope the character develops more as the “hooker with heart” that was hinted at here. I have hope that Joss can do more with her and I think he will when we get an episode that focuses on her. : So, overall, I’ve got to admit that character-wise I liked “The Train Job.” : Storyline wise, it did OK. I am glad to see Joss and Tim chose a story that was simple enough so that we could meet the characters and not get bogged down by an elaborate, overly complicated story. Sure, there were times “The Train Job” was a bit on the predictable side, but I think it did that for all the right reasons. I am wiling to cut slack on the premiere for the main plot not taking any huge risks. Now if we get a few more episodes in and the stories aren’t taking more risks, as we’ve come to expect from Joss, then I will be a bit more vocal in my criticism. For now, I’m happy and ready to see more, which I think is exactly what Joss and company are looking for. : So, I guess that about wraps it for now, except a few small things… : –Interesting that the Alliance demands so much respect from the people they rule, but can barely lift a finger to help anyone that is not in their own self interest. Seeing their reaction to the stolen medicine was intriguing and I think said a lot about who and what this government stands for. : –The men with blue hands…I’ve got to wonder why they had blue hands. And did anyone else think they looked eerily similar to the Gentlemen from Buffy? : –Best moment: Mal’s kicking the mercenary leader into the engine. Honestly, a great, funny moment and one that I think set a good tone. (Not that someone getting shoved into an engine is a good thing…) At that moment, Mal seemed like a descendant of Indiana Jones… : –Widescreen. Yes! Thank you so much! It just made the show feel more cinematic. Now if only UPN would start showing Buffy widescreen I’d be so happy. : Well, that’s about it for now. Overall, “The Train Job” is a good start to the run of Firefly. It did what it had to do and it did it well. Sign me up for the ride. I’ll admit I’m hooked.

My rating: 8.0 (out of 10.0)

“He’s not the first psycho to hire us. Nor the last. Do you think that’s a commentary on us?” –Mal Next up: A salvage mission goes horribly wrong…

Quotes

Mal: Walsh, we got some local color happening. A grand entrance would not go amiss.

Mal: Never hit a man with a closed fist, but sometimes it is hilarious.

Mal: Are there aliens or monkeys in the engines? Flying space monkeys?

Jayne: Do you know what the chain of command is here? It’s the chain I go get and beat you with to show you who’s in command.

Mal: We’re not thieves…but we are thieves. Point is, we’re not taking what’s his.

Inara: What did I say about barging into my shuttle? Mal: That it was manly and impulsive? Inara: Exactly…except that I said it was dumb. Please credit Hellmouth Central with these quotes when using them for any publication.