After encountering a booby-trapped spacecraft, carrying the lone crew member of a horrific Reaver attack, Serenity is boarded by an Alliance Commander, looking for Simon and River

Love this episode.

When they first discover the ship attacked by the reavers, all the way through to when the Alliance ship turns up is a showcase for tense teleplay. The Reavers were one of the things about Firefly that I liked the most, a shame that we never got to see more of them. They certainly sound, and look, by their results, terrifying.

More of the Jayne humour as well, although most of them get a look in at some point in that department;

Zoe:- "Proximity alert. Must be coming up on something."
Wash:- (alarmed) "Oh my god. What can it be? We're all doomed! Who's flying this thing!?" (deadpan) "Oh right, that would be me. Back to work."

Jayne: - "Well, you say a prayer for them as we slide right by Preacher....."
Mal: - "We're going in, they might have valuable cargo that we can recover."
Jayne: - "Yeah....and there might be people....needing our help....."

:lol:

I also liked the way that Simon and River managed to hide on Serenity when the Alliance came onboard looking for them. Quite creative.

The direction in which the survivor's story went was also interesting. Traumatised to the point of self-mutilation and emulation of the horrors of which he's seen.

All in all, this one's possibly my favourite episode of the series to this point. Very tense, very powerful, yet more questions asked and a show sticking to it's strengths.

**** Possible spoilers for Firefly newbies ****



Not a lot to add to what James has already said. It's a terrific episode, very tense and quite spooky. The threat of the Reavers is still there, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one hoping that, when the proximity alert sounded after they separated from the derelict, it was the Reavers returning. But no. Shame. It was amusing to see Jayne turn into such a big girl when he though it was them, though :lol:

Also, I loved the practical joke he plays on Simon, and the way a tiny smile plays across Mal's face when he realises what Jayne's done.

The opening scene is great fun and gives a real sense of the crew as a family, which I think brings the viewer into the fold and builds our connection with the characters. It's just good to see them having fun in such a completely innocent and normal way.

Favourite line:
Jayne: It's impressive what nothin' can do to a man. Like that fellow we bumped into. He's likely stuck up under our belly about now. That's what space trash does, you know. Kind of latches onto the first big something stops long enough. Hey, now ... that'd be a bit like you and your sister, wouldn't it?

I guess that the survivor's self-mutilation is the closest we'll get to seeing what the Reavers might actually look like, too, at least until the movie hits the screens. It wasn't very pleasant, same as the discovery of the settlers' bodies. And, like James, I loved Simon and River's hiding place, especially seeing as it was set up for us to believe that they were in the hidey-hole where they usually store the illegal goods.

The interrogation sequence is brilliantly done. The reactions of each of the crewmembers is spot on. I particularly love Zoe's refusal to talk about Wash, whilst he can't wait to describe her in minute detail. And Jayne's reaction... :lmao:

Oh, I don't like the Alliance uniforms.

Top stuff. :thumbsup:

They just look odd don't they ?? :rolleyes:

Love the table scenes :thumbsup:

I can see I am going to have to keep repeating myself with thie series.

Well written, well acted and with great one liners. Wash's that Angel has already mentioned is a classic.

The Alliance are obviously a bunch of stuck up bully boys who seem to have stolen their uniforms off STARSHIP TROOPERS or something like that.

Another great episode.

Why did this show get low ratings and get cancelled again???

Loved this, great episode.

Brilliant shots, loved how River enjoyed the experience whilst Simon clearly didn't, poor girl though, when will anyone actually listen to her when she is trying to warn them :lol:

I like the way the characters are continuing to be defined by their actions, developing nicely, Jayne is just hilarious :)

Creepy stuff though, the bodies hanging from the ceiling - shudder -

I felt cheated by not seeing Simon taking part in their basketballesque game. Comedic moment missed there, imo :) He's already become the butt of most of their jokes (as well as Jayne's in this ep, I liked Mal's joke in Serenity).

Not much to add really - another great ep. Seeing the crew starting to bond is a very important way for the audience to get to know the characters, so when the running order is screwed around you lose this.

I have to agree with everything you said CK great episode, very tense blended with Joss's trademark humour Wash always has me :lol: I have one question does anyone know if that game they are playing has a name? It looks a bit like Basketball, if it doesn't I think we should name it oueselves any ideas :thumbsup:

Brilliant :thumbsup:
I'm enjoying this the more I see of it. Great one liners, Jayne is just so funny.
Glad in some ways that I haven't got the DVD and I have to watch it on Sci-fi because now I can savour it and not watch it in one weekend. :lol:

:lol: the cruel way he tricks Simon with the spacesuit :lmao:

Brillient! I loved this episode! Best one of the series so far. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: 10/10! :thumbsup:

My first-time watching Firefly continues....

Again this was great stuff. We know the characters a little more by now but we still learn more about them and the interaction is just so great.

The interregation scenes were great......the ending was a little weak.....the clinging onto the side of the ship was great....

8/10

Ranking so far

1.Serenity 9/10
2.The Train Job 8/10
3.Bushwacked 8/10

Again, I think everything has pretty much been said already :rolleyes:

At the risk of repeating various members posts above I'll vent my thoughts :D

The level of tension was pretty high throughout the whole episode, especially when Mal and Zoe first enter the ship, then again when Jayne is attacked from behind. Did anyone else feel like shouting at the tv for Simon to listen to River for once!!! Thank goodness he heard Mal and the feds and decided to hide :o

This time when I Commander Harken I was thinking 'Look, it's Tom from Desperate Housewives!' instead of 'Look, it's the gay guy from Melrose Place' :lol:

The interview scenes are hilarious, from Jaynes stoney silence and obvious boredom, to Kaylee's indignant tirade as to why Serenity is not a junker, to Zoe stoicism, and Wash's glowing description of his wife......

Wash: The legs. Oh yeah, definitely have to say it was her legs. You can put that down. Her legs, and where her legs meet her back. Actually, that whole area. That, and above it. :lmao:

I don't think I ever really had time to feel sorry for the 'survivor' as the episode moved along so fast that you always knew there was something not right about him, and that it was a bad move to take your eyes off him for a second (that and I actually DO listen to River's warnings ;) )

Another fab episode. Yet again I find myself wishing that I was watching all this for the first time again :tear:

:lol: yes I did shout :lol: why do they never pay her any attention when she is always right

Kinda wacky and obscure, but usually right :lol:

This has been my favourite episode so far, I thought it was very tense and creepy and the interrogation scenes provided a nice comic balance to the other scenes. The survivor was quite scary, made all the worse by Mal's explanation that he was driven mad by what he witnessed on the ship when the Reavers attacked.

At first I wasn't too interested in what had happened to River, but in this episode I became more curious. She seemed to understand what was going on before any of the others, which makes me want to know more about what the Alliance did to her.

Oh, and who knew that Tom from Desperate Housewives worked for the Alliance? :lol:

I watched this episode last night. And again it was really good. It's only the second time I watched it.

I liked the start, with the game. I want to know what it's called so we could play it at school. :lol:

Really funny when Jayne said to simon about getting the suit on... and then comes in all tense, while everyone are in there normal clothes. :lol:

Kaylee giving Simon that part from the ship, putting it in the bag, and Simon struggling with it. :lol:

I love the scene with the interviews! One of the best scenes of the series. :lmao: Jaynes interview was really funny, a whole load of silence.

I give this episode... now a 8/10 :thumbsup:

Blimey Ant, 6:55 AM??? :o

That's what I call keen :lol:

:lol: :lol: That was school does to you! :thumbsup:

I'll be doing it again tomorrow. ;)

a good episode, i just wish we would have see more of the "poor" guy and learn a little more about the reaver history.

just wonder about the rules of the ball games :rolleyes:

love the table scene: mal being ticked about the serenity name, zoe arguing about her privale life when walsh is telling everything, kayley being mad at how they call "her" ship, jayne saying nothing, irana and shepherd just saying little.

river loving being outside, and then backing shot of them, the ship, the alliance ship :blink: :)

:fear: sight of the remaining bodies

the trap left by the reaver ........ i thought it was going to be more complicated for them to be free

jayne about being attacked by someone tall and strong and covering about he felt like that when attacked in the back. mal telling the guy everything is ok and punching him out :rolleyes: :lmao: :thumbsup:

Rewatched this ep this evening. The first twenty five minutes or so, up to when the Alliance ship turns up, are perfect. After that not quite perfect but still so much to enjoy- as previous reviews have pointed out.

One thing I don't think had been picked up on- when Mal is getting interogated, and the guy talking to him thinks that he did the murdering etc he says "I havn't seen torture like that since the war", does this mean that the Independents did some stuff that wasn't so good in the war (as all armies in history have)?

:ponder: he didn't say if it was in the alliance or indenpence jails

Just watched the commentary for The Train Job and then Bushwacked. The commentary was not that enlightening except for one crucial moment when Joss explained the early episodes would be exposition heavy to orientate the viewer. That is a pretty significant disclosure it seems to me. Bushwacked felt a lot more easy to follow than the first episodes. It felt more straightforward as if they had decided to breath easy and relax. Still not that great but a bit better. sk