Firefly Review – “Objects in Space”

There are a couple of spoilerish spots in this review. Here’s the spoiler-free version: a perfect score of 42 out of 42.

Cast

Nathan Fillion
as Malcolm Reynolds
Gina Torres as Zoe
Alan Tudyk as Wash
Morena
Baccarin
as Inara
Jewel Staite as Kaylee
Adam Baldwin as Jayne
Sean Maher as
Dr. Simon Tam
Summer Glau as
River Tam
Ron Glass as Book

Crew

Written and directed by Joss Whedon.
The complete IMDB listings can be found here.
The official website can be found here.

Original Airdate


Objects in Space
originally aired on Friday,
December 13, 2002.

Premise

A bounty hunter comes to collect River.

High Point

Jayne uncovers his weapons.

Low Point

The final shot.

The Review

I haven’t seen a bounty hunter like this before. I call that
original. He’s no Boba Fett, but he’s definitely a bounty
hunter that I’d have liked to see again. (I’d find it hard to swallow
his return now, though.) There was also a great ploy involved that I
haven’t seen before. I give it 6 out of 6.

The effects were a little heavier this week than they
normally are. I doubt the set is three stories tall, and the exterior
shots were very well done. I give it 6 out of 6.

The story was very interesting. Think Alien, but
with more intelligent characters involved every step of the way. It
was dark, moody, and forboding. River had me fooled, too, with both
of her major lies. Joss Whedon’s history proves that no character is
safe, so an episode written and directed by him could mark the removal
of just about anyone. I give it 6 out of 6.

The acting this week was carried by the guest star. (I
didn’t catch his name, but I know he was on Law and Order for
a while.) He made the usually excellent cast seem like amateurs. I
give it 6 out of 6.

This produced a great emotional response. I laughed a few
times at the start with the conversations, and got pulled in by the
way River heard them. By the time the bounty hunter started working,
I was already hooked. I give it 6 out of 6.

The production was, well, what you get when Joss Whedon
directs a Mutant Enemy show. I give it 6 out of 6.

Overall, this was, as you can see, a great episode as far as
I’m concerned. I give it 6 out of 6.

In total, Objects in Space receives the first perfect score
I’ve given in slightly more than two years of reviewing. That’s a 42
out of 42.

The Coming Weeks

Next week, we have the previously unaired pilot episode. It’s two
hours, but I don’t yet know if that extra hour is in the John
Doe
time slot.

18 replies on “Firefly Review – “Objects in Space””

  1. Low point?
    Au contraire! I loved that parting shot, and it seemed completely in character for that oddness of a bounty hunter.

    • Re: Low point?

      Au contraire! I loved that parting shot, and it seemed completely in
      character for that oddness of a bounty hunter.

      Hey, the guy gave it 42 outta 42, he had to put something in
      the “low point” section…probably picked the last scene ’cause he
      remembered he had to pick one at the last minute ;- )

      • Re: Low point?

        Hey, the guy gave it 42 outta 42, he had to put something in
        the “low point” section…probably picked the last scene ’cause he
        remembered he had to pick one at the last minute ;- )

        The main reason I picked that is because he should have been out of air at that point. Had they shown that shot just after River reboarded, instead of after everyone regrouped and started back into routines, I’d have had no problems with it. As you mentioned, with a perfect score, the low point wasn’t very low.

        • Re: Low point?

          Hey, the guy gave it 42 outta 42, he had to put something in
          the “low point” section…probably picked the last scene ’cause he
          remembered he had to pick one at the last minute ;- )

          The main reason I picked that is because he should have been out
          of air at that point. Had they shown that shot just after River
          reboarded, instead of after everyone regrouped and started back
          into routines, I’d have had no problems with it. As you mentioned,
          with a perfect score, the low point wasn’t very low.

          Well, my personnal low point is the shot where the bounty hunter’s
          ship seems to leave all by itself…I mean come on! That thing
          must be worth a fortune! Bring it back with you and sell it for crying
          out loud! Strip it for parts if you don’t want to have to drag an entire
          other ship…don’t just send it on its own merry way.

          • Re: Low point?

            Well, my personnal low point is the shot where the bounty hunter’s
            ship seems to leave all by itself…I mean come on! That thing
            must be worth a fortune! Bring it back with you and sell it for crying
            out loud! Strip it for parts if you don’t want to have to drag an entire
            other ship…don’t just send it on its own merry way.

            Funny, I was under the impression that River had programmed it to do that, leading me to believe that it was going to come back and pick up the bounty hunter after Serenity left. That last seen only made me more sure of it. From the captain’s remark,
            I just assumed that River hadn’t told him that part.

            • Re: Low point?

              Funny, I was under the impression that River had programmed it to do that, leading me to believe that it was going to come back and pick up the bounty hunter after Serenity left. That last seen only made me more sure of it. From the captain’s remark,
              I just assumed that River hadn’t told him that part.

              That’s what I’d assumed too. It certainly makes sense that River wouldn’t be thinking like a “pirate” and decide to keep the ship for sale/parts. I figured she just took it off auto-pilot (or gave it a new course)…it must have been on auto-pilot or else it wouldn’t have been able to keep up with Serenity…they weren’t just stopped in space were they?

              I like the character of the Bounty Hunter too…it’s not a streach to believe that he’s got a lot of air in his suit (we don’t know the technology that well). Plus it would make perfect sense for him to be able to remotely control the ship…though he didn’t try anything once he guessed River was in it…but writers take liberties all the time anyway…I’d like to see him in action again.

              If FireFly goes, the only show left on Fox that I watch regualary will be 24. Fox has killed all the good shows it’s had lately. I’m sure they have their reasons, but all they’re doing is making me watch other channels…their loss.

              • Re: Low point?
                Stopped in space? This IS NOT star trek. All things are relative. No engine power would be required to keep up with the serenity if the engines were off, which they would be for any sort of fuel conservative trip. They even use jet engines while in atmosphere!

                As for the bounty hunter, 2 minutes after the captain booted him off he would not just be spinning in space talking to himself if he could program his ship remotely. Although he may be insane.

                River is obviously trained to be a cold blooded killer. Why would she send the ship back on autopilot for him? She had no problems or second thoughts about dispatching 3 soldiers previously.

                • Re: Low point?

                  As for the bounty hunter, 2 minutes after the captain booted him off he would not just be spinning in space talking to himself if he could program his ship remotely. Although he may be insane.

                  We actually don’t know how long he’d been in space when the show “cut” to him floating in space…it’s not like X-Files where they show the location/time stamp. Regardless, he was obviously unconcerned about his current status…due to insanity or not…why not let him take a break if he wants to :). It’s a simple plot point to let him have a backup ship somewhere in the near void…

                  River is obviously trained to be a cold blooded killer. Why would she send the ship back on autopilot for him? She had no problems or second thoughts about dispatching 3 soldiers previously.

                  Not sure if I’d jump to that same conclusion. Just because she can do things without remorse, doesn’t mean she’s “trained to be a cold blooded killer”. Besides, bro has been saying she feels everything…not the oposite. Or did I miss a scene somewhere?

                  Maybe we can get HBO or Showtime to pick up the show so we can have something more to talk about after Fox is done airing the episodes it has.

        • Re: Low point?

          Hey, the guy gave it 42 outta 42, he had to put something in
          the “low point” section…probably picked the last scene ’cause he
          remembered he had to pick one at the last minute ;- )

          The main reason I picked that is because he should have been out of air at that point. Had they shown that shot just after River reboarded, instead of after everyone regrouped and started back into routines, I’d have had no problems with it. As you mentioned, with a perfect score, the low point wasn’t very low.

          Richard Brooks was the bounty hunter. He played ADA Paul Robinette on Law and Order.

          • Re: Low point?

            Richard Brooks was the bounty hunter. He played ADA Paul Robinette on Law and Order.

            Thanks for the info. Nice name, by the way. I’ll be sure to let you know when Ringworld’s Children is published. (It’s on schedule for 2003, along with Scatterbrain, which I may be quoted in.)

  2. Paradise Lost
    Joss is no Milton, but he’s achieved something truly great with Firefly and now it’s gone. Just like the bounty hunter, lost in space. But I agree with the poster above, the last shot is GREAT – gives you hope that no mater how far out the odds, that bounty hunter – and Firefly itself – may just somehow come back. I sure hope so.

  3. Amazing episode
    Am I the only one that thought the direction/camera work was amazing? I mean the whole intro was just incredible. It was video zen :) You could tell it was Whedon, the dream episodes from Buffy are similar.

    This episode was an example of what television CAN be :)

    Damn you FOX! DAMN YOU!

  4. My Person High-Point
    And I’m surprised no one’s mentioned it by this point. It’s the scene in the beginning when they’re talking about River and her potential powers. From memory:

    Wash: Psychic? I dunno, that sounds a little too much like science fiction.
    Zoe: Honey, you’re on a spaceship.
    Wash: So? What’s that supposed to mean?

    That kind of meta-humor just shouldn’t work IMHO, but on this show, it does. Hearing that it’s being cancelled ruined my otherwise uneventful week.

    –wayf.

    • Re: My Person High-Point

      That kind of meta-humor just shouldn’t work IMHO, but on this show, it does. Hearing that it’s being cancelled ruined my otherwise uneventful week.

      –wayf.

      I also thought these lines worked. I get sick of sci-fi shows where none of the characters ever seems to have read sci-fi. It’s as if every thing in their world is the same as ours, except for one major genre of literature is missing.

      On a related note: Have you ever noticed how so many characters on TV never talk about what they watch on TV?

      • Re: My Person High-Point
        How many shows have you watched, where the characters do nothing but watch TV? (OK…other than MST3K…but that’s in a completely different class.) Fortunately, their lives are more interesting (than ours), and they don’t need to escape from them into the lives of people on TV…hmmm, could be a good story in there…

  5. “Am I a Lion?”
    Good episode! But what was up with that first scene between early and the doctor? The whole “Alliance? Am I a lion?” and “are you a bounty hunter? no you’ve got it all wrong, I’m a bounty hunter.” scene.

    The only thing I can think of is that is Early’s way of putting his prey off-guard, or that River was right there and she can somehow suppress the senses of others to not see her, but it bleeds over to other areas and she doesn’t have complete control.

    The second theory fits in with the whole begining scenes, where river is walking around and people can’t see her. But I had thought at first that those scenes where more metaphorical and that River was more exploring with her mind.

    Well I suppose we’ll never really know, unless they can wrap it up in the final episodes – anybody know how many more episodes there are? There’s at least one more, the two hour pilot.

    • Re: “Am I a Lion?”

      Well I suppose we’ll never really know, unless they can wrap it up in the final episodes – anybody know how many more episodes there are? There’s at least one more, the two hour pilot.

      Fox says they plan to air all 15 broadcast hours they’ve paid for.

  6. Does that make sense?

    I finally got around to watching FireFly for the first time this week and now FOX has killed it. Does that make sense to you? ;-) I can’t believe I’ve missed this show. With my luck it will get moved to the UPN … which I don’t get. :-(

    This was a neat episode. I only knew the characters from the reviews here but found myself worring and caring about them right from the start. The bounty hunter was an interesting twist. How often is your villan the comic relief and one of the last people you want to run in to in a dark alley?

    Great show. Lousy network.

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