“Our Mrs. Reynolds” is a bit of a departure from the formula of the show that I’ve seen so far where each episode centers around the crew of Serenity carrying out a job with some trouble along the way. In this episode, they manage to get the job done seemingly without a hitch before the opening credits even roll, but the trouble comes later.
Jayne and a cross-dressed Mal are driving a carriage when they’re jumped by bandits. It’s a trap, but not for our heroes. They’re ready for the ambush, and quickly turn the tables. Why is Mal in a dress? Don’t overthink it, and just let Nathan Fillion be pretty for a little while.
“I swear by my pretty floral bonnet I will end you.”
To celebrate the first job they’ve completed without trouble in the entire season, the crew has a drunken hoedown with the locals they helped protect. In the morning they take off in a bit of a hurry due to an Alliance ship on its way in.
When they get airborne Mal realizes there’s one more person on Serenity than he thought — his wife. It’s worth mentioning that Mal has no idea at this point that he has a wife. The whole crew comes down to the cargo area to see what’s going on.
Mal, who is a jerk, is characteristically insensitive towards his new bride. At one point he literally says, “She’s no one.”
Not cool, Mal.
Kaylee’s not impressed.
The whole crew seems to be taking this less seriously than Mal. Everyone that is except for Inara, because she and Mal are totally in love with each other and stuff, but the show still needs to milk this will they/won’t they thing for a while.
It’s not long before the crew turns on Mal in favor of Mrs. Reynolds, and Book explains that the flower wreath Mal was wearing at the hoedown means he really is married.
Mrs. Reynolds runs off crying, and Mal finally remembers he’s a human with feelings, so he goes to check on her. She’s upset that her new husband doesn’t seem to want her, but she’s also worried she might get killed for not pleasing him. That’s a thing that happens on her crappy planet according to stories she’s heard from other women, though probably not from the ones who got killed. Mal offers a bit of advice.
“Someone ever tries to kill you, you try to kill ’em right back.”
Sage words, Mr. Reynolds.
Malcolm has no intention of staying married, so he explains to Mrs. Reynolds that when they get to where they’re going he’ll help her find a job somewhere. That gives them a few days together, and it seems like Mrs. Reynolds, who finally mentions that her name is Saffron, is going to make the most of it.
When Saffron goes off to the kitchen to make Mal something to eat, Book steps in to explain that divorce really isn’t an option culturally speaking, and also that there’s a special place in hell for Mal if he takes “sexual advantage” of his new bride.
During the meal, Wash and Zoe come into the kitchen with the newlyweds, and for the first time we get the idea that Saffron might be a little nuts.
In case anyone forgot what a weird creep Jayne can be, he tries to trade his favorite gun “Vera” with Mal in exchange for Saffron to be his wife instead. There’s seriously something wrong with Jayne, you guys.
Elsewhere in space, a crew on another ship are eyeing up the Serenity on a scanner and talking about scrapping it for parts. I’ll tell you right now it has a bum compression coil that could blow at any second! They decide if Serenity heads their way they need to “prep the nets.”
That can’t be good, right?
Zoe’s angry at Wash because… Mal married Saffron? Wash is confused about it, and so I am, but either way Zoe storms off to go to bed. Does the Serenity have a couch? Because that’s where Wash is sleeping tonight.
Speaking of sleeping, back in Mal’s room Saffron is waiting for him. Is she dressed? No. No she is not dressed. Mal does his best to do the right thing here, but there is a naked Christina Hendricks in his bunk. Surprisingly, it’s not that she’s naked that convinces him. She talks him into it by telling him how much she’s been looking forward to her wedding night. Mal’s only human, so he resigns to going to his special hell and kisses her. And then…
She’s Poison Ivy!
…Mal is knocked unconscious by the kiss.
With Mal out cold, Saffron leaves to find Wash in the cockpit. She tries to seduce Wash, but he’s having none of it because Wash is the best. Saffron’s seduction tactics don’t work on Good Guy Wash, so she kicks him right in his head. Wash is out cold, and Saffron gets to work sabotaging the controls of Serenity. To what end? I’m not really sure yet, but maybe it has something to do with those guys talking about catching the ship in a net earlier.
Saffron tries to escape on one of the shuttles, but Inara finds her. It’s nice to see that Saffron’s seduction tactics aren’t gender specific, and she tries the old game on Inara but fails. Inara puts up more of a fight than Wash when the alarm sounds. Saffron gets to the shuttle and takes off, leaving the Serenity crew hurt, unconscious, and confused.
Inara finds Mal, and I can’t tell if she tries to give him mouth-to-mouth, or just kiss him, but there’s mouth contact for sure. Whatever was on Saffron’s lips is still on Mal’s and it knocks Inara out too.
Wash figures out that they’re heading somewhere other than their intended destination, and he and Kaylee get to work to fix the Serenity once Jayne cuts a hole in the door.
Once the crew figures out they’re headed into a trap they start to form a plan, but things look dire. This would be a great time for the compression coil to blow. I mean that from a storytelling standpoint. It wouldn’t be good for anyone on Serenity, but I’d sure like to see it.
Mal comes up with a plan B to have Jayne hang out in space with his most very favorite gun Vera, and try to shoot out the net. Jayne not only hits the target to kill the net, but he also shoots out a window to kill the guys inside because Jayne.
Jayne’s not the kind of guy you piss off.
Not willing to leave well enough alone, Mal tracks Saffron down and kicks in her door, gun drawn. There’s a long discussion about how people play each other, but since Mal hasn’t punched anyone yet this episode he knocks Saffron out.
Inara and Mal have a nice conversation in her shuttle, where Mal seemingly tries to get her to admit that she kissed him, but because he’s a big dummy he thinks Inara kissed Saffron.
So “Our Mrs. Reynolds” strayed a little from the typical formula of the show, but that’s not always a bad thing. It’s easier to do now that the series has established a rhythm for itself. Still, another episode goes by without the compression coil giving out on the Serenity, and I’m left wondering if it ever will. Maybe it’s been abandoned as a plot point, and I was reading too much into its repeated mentions in the first few episodes.
I have dreams about that goram compression coil, and if it doesn’t break sometime before the end of this show I might reverse my statement that Firefly shouldn’t get another season on Netflix — though that’s incredibly unlikely.
(Image via Firefly)
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