Firefly-"Our Mrs. Reynolds"

Christina Hendricks appears in "Firefly"
Credit: FOX

I continue my look back on Firefly with the sixth episode produced and the third to air "Our Mrs. Reynolds". My thoughts on the episode are after the jump.


That was a really fun episode. Christina Hendricks (who you probably know from Mad Men) came in and caused a lot of trouble for our renegade crew. This was an episode that was a lot of fun to watch for me because it was fun to see her screw with the crew and it was fun to see her bring out aspects of the characters that we haven't really seen before. It was a well put together episode that was filled with twists and turns that made it exciting to watch, even a second time.

Christina Hendricks was very well cast as Saffron and gives a great performance in the role. I haven't seen much Mad Men, but based on what I hear she plays a very versatile character very well.  That's exactly what she does here in this episode. She is able to play innocent farmgirl who got traded onto Serenity and within seconds she turns into evil villain. These are two sides that are very different, yet she plays both really well. It was completely believable to see her switch sides like that, which is something where the credit is split between Hendricks and Joss Whedon (the writer of the episode).

One of the things that the episode did very well was it showed sides of characters that haven't really been seen before. We got to see Mal in a situation where he would share something about his past with other people. The character of Mal is generally very secretive and it was interesting to see him open up to this character, only to be manipulated by her. We also get to see that he does have some standards in terms of that he doesn't take advantage of Saffron. He's a criminal, but he's a criminal with standards.

We got to see more of the Wash and Zoe dynamic as well. Saffron tries to challenge that dynamic, by trying  to seduce Wash, but she gets shut down by him. She is unsuccessful in challenging that dynamic because the characters do love each other. Plus, it's just fun to see any character interact with Wash. And how good is the line "You know that sex we were planning on having, ever again?" It's just an awesome line that shows Zoe's frustration with Saffron and Wash's reaction towards her.

It's fun to see Adam Baldwin be menacing and funny in the same episode (he does that so well on Chuck) and this was no exception. We got to see him be drunk (and having fun with Mal, which seems to be very rare) in the opening. We also get to see him act menacing (in probably one of the most misleading act breaks in the show's history) while actually trying to trade a gun (his best!) for Saffron. It was also a lot of fun to see him shoot down the net (in a fantastic sequence). Honestly, it was just fun to watch Jayne in this episode.

That final scene between Mal and Saffron was very good and leaves room for Hendricks to return (which apparently she does, but remember the no spoiler rule). It was great seeing Fillion and Hendricks play off each other and seeing him trying sincerely to get answers. He never gets them, but it was still a fun scene to watch. These two are so good!

Some other thoughts:

• Inara got some great material in this episode but the most notable was her kissing Mal (and then promptly fainting). I really liked the scene between them that concluded the episode, Mal just didn't get it, did he? The look on her face there was priceless.
• Book got to play some very funny beats in the episode. "A special place in hell for child molesters and people who talk at the theater" and the reiteration of that in the scene where they find Mal. Those really worked for me and were very funny.
• Simon and River were barely in the episode (with River only being in one shot of the episode). Apparently there's a deleted scene with her but I haven't watched the deleted scenes yet.

Overall, that was a fantastic episode of Firefly and one that was very fun to watch.

What did everyone else think?

Next up: We take a look at "Jaynestown", a feature for our favorite strongman.

For reviews of previous episodes, you can go to the home of the Old TV Watch Project here.