Firefly Reflection: Episode Five

Stick a varied cast of characters with a varied set of professions on one spaceship. Watch what happens. Firefly is heavily character-driven, and at this point it comes as no surprise that I love that. As I have gotten further into the series, my focus has begun to change from Mal and Inara to the other characters. Each has his job, his personality, and his own set of problems. This episode, "Safe", honed in on Shepherd Book and Simon, the young doctor, characters who have as yet remained relatively unexplored. I enjoyed the episode, and found it quite entertaining.

Shepherd Book was critically injured during a shootout between outlaws who had bought Mal's cattle and the local planetary law enforcement. Simultaneously, Simon and River were kidnapped by locals because of their desperation for a doctor. As the siblings struggle, we see flashbacks to his childhood with River, and to his distress when he realized she was being tortured at her school. In these flashbacks we see the change in River, and how she began to get better once she was in the village. It is amazing how much more sane she seemed to be. Even then, though, River was still able to see into others' minds. Because of this, the townspeople deem her a witch, and she is sentenced to be burnt at the stake.

During this time, the ship is in crisis mode. Due to Simon's absence on Serenity, Mal was forced to bring Shepherd Book to an Alliance ship's infirmary, risking their interference upon Serenity and among his crew. It seems apparent that Book has some sort of Alliance connection, something that causes Mal concern and wonder.

This episode may be my favorite so far because of the theme of sacrifice, and the true agape love that Simon displays for his sister. Through his flashbacks, we see that Simon became estranged from his family in order to save his sister. Not only did he sacrifice his family, but he also willingly became an outlaw for her sake. And once the townpeople sentence her to be burnt alive as a witch, Simon gives his life to die alongside hers.

Thankfully, the "big damn heroes" of Serenity swoop in at the last moment, saving the Tams from the very flames. I believe that this furthers my hypothesis about Mal: his name, "bad" in the Latin, is a contradiction. He is faithful to his crew. This faithfulness and sacrifice, on the parts of both Simon and Mal, made me emotional and brought home a very touching theme.