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Firefly: Jaynestown

by Keith McDuffee, posted Jul 14th 2006 11:20PM
jaynetown
(S01E04) This is an episode that's a bit difficult to place. It's got a very funny premise at its core, but when the episode's finished, you can't help but feel like there should have been more. At least that's the feeling I got while watching it.

The best part of 'Jaynestown' is the reaction of the crew to Jayne's sudden fame. Simon and Inara find it highly disturbing, Mal and Kaylee find it mildly amusing, and Wash and Zoe find it hysterical. Book and River seem to be indifferent.

One small scene I loved was the shot of Serenity entering the moon's atmosphere. The detail of the land below just struck me as incredibly well done CGI-wise. I guess it's always possible they just used stock footage from NASA, but it looked cool nevertheless.

One again we see another glimpse of what Inara's "business" is all about. Companions choose their suitors, and they follow strict traditional guidelines before performing their, um, duties. This is clearly where the line is drawn between registered companions and outright prostitutes.

Again a little more in the way of Kaylee and Simon getting together, though obviously Simon doesn't seem to find the right things to say when it comes to charming Kaylee. It seems that Simon really wants to like Kaylee beyond friendship, but his stuffy upbringing leads him to think it's not exactly the right thing to do.

Jayne, the man of the hour. He revels in his newfound fame for a short 24-hours or so, then it all comes crashing down. We see a lighter side of the man, one that doesn't fit what we've learned of him up to this point. The Jayne we've come to know wouldn't have cared at all about the townspeople and would have cashed in on his fame as soon as possible. We see he's actually human after all. I think being placed as episode #4 was a poor choice, as we didn't yet get a good read on who Jayne is.

One last thing. I know this is sci-fi and all, but how would one explain that land lock issue at the end of the episode? What the heck would stop a ship from leaving the ground from afar? They made it sound like they put the boot on their landing gear.

Jayne-ism of the episode:
"You guys had a riot, on account of me? My very own riot?"

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Michael

I remember when this one first aired, I was excited because it was by Ben "The Tick" Edlund. I had high expections for it....and, for the most part, it didn't meet those expectatations. (Not in the way Edlund went on to do on Angel). The episode is good with some memorable and funny moments, but overall the pieces don't all add up to the most coherent whole.

July 17 2006 at 8:58 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Les F.

"We gotta go to the crappy town where I'm a hero!"
-Wash

Great great episode!

I disagree about the notion that this episode was too early to show the lighter side of Jayne. The two hour pilot already has shown us that Jayne is more than a musclebound brute. The emotion (concern) Jayne shoes as he looks on while Simon removes the bullet from Kaylee in that episode establishes this.

I understand its a small moment and with the way the idiots at Fox split up the shows and random/out of order airings it would be easy to miss and discount.

July 15 2006 at 1:04 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
c5mjohn

Thank you for the review! My favorite moment of the episode was the drinking song scene. The Hero of Canton.

He robbed from the rich
and he gave to the poor.
Stood up to the man
and gave him what for.
Our love for him now
ain't hard to explain.
The hero of Canton
the man they call Jayne

Brilliant!

As for the land lock issue. I think every ship has a device that disables its engines. The moon's port authority could engage it at their descretion. If the ship doesn't have the device (because the crew removed or disabled it) then the port can detect that and they would not get clearance to land in the first place.

July 15 2006 at 12:38 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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