Firefly: Objects in Space

[altariel]

That was just... wow. I think that's one of my favourite episodes of anything ever. Up there with Sarcophagus and In the Pale Moonlight.

Edited to add: Why don't I say why I liked it?



1. I really like stories which are about lines or points connecting up people or objects, when then draw apart. The imagery was so strong.
2. I love ghost stories, or stories about the uncanny, where you can truly believe for a moment that the fantastic is happening. You can truly believe that River has melted into Serenity.
3. The dialogue and characterization were beautifully crafted. It all seemed right to me.

What was there not to like?

Comments

[communicator.livejournal.com]

I think executrix said Objects in Space was the Sarcophagus of Firefly

[communicator.livejournal.com]

I love it even though Jayne hardly features in it (as a bonus, one of the few thngs he says is 'do you mean masturbation?')

[altariel.livejournal.com]

:-D Also, he manages to make his presence felt, even though he's asleep. And he has the great line about River being in Congress.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Interesting... I'll have to mull that one over.

[executrix.livejournal.com]

Yes, but I didn't mean it as a compliment.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

:-)

Does this mean you've seen all the episodes now?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I have indeed - and it's brilliant. I watched OiS twice yesterday.

[trixieleitz]

Out of Gas and Ariel are my favourites. But I love them all :)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I liked those two a great deal, but I think OiS is this perfect thing.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

Those two and War Stories

[executrix.livejournal.com]

Jaynestown and Ariel are my favorites. But I love them all.

The other day I figured, I'll watch Bushwhacked again, I'll save watching the better episodes for later. But actually Bushwhacked is ace. It really has the "my teleport bracelet isn't working! and they moved off station because of the three pursuit ships!" pattern down to a science.

[trixieleitz]

Yay!

To me, Objects in Space feels like a beginning. A step into a new phase of the arc.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Definitely - and it's about midway through the (lost) full season, isn't it?

[trixieleitz]

I think so, yes, about number 15 or thereabouts.

If I win the lottery, I'll pay everyone to come back and finish it :)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Me too.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

Oh, one more thought. Is it possible that in some way Jubal Early is a projection of River's subconscious, like the monster in 'return to the forbidden planet'? He represents her anger at the crew, and her killer-training, which she feels has separated her from them ('I'm leaving with you') but which they eventually persuade her to push away, by choosing her for herself.

Haven't read the commentary yet. In a sense of course it doesn't matter what the director thinks its about.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Oh, I really love that interpretation. That opens up the narrative once again to multiple possibilities, and that's something I love best. What a great episode.

I forgot to mention the very lovely, gentle scene between Mal and River at the end, where she floats into his arms. "Permission to come aboard?" Terrific.

[genarti]

Some friends and I were

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Some friends and I were <a href="http://www.brunchma.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=8294&view=findpost&p=461530"discussing</a> the similarities between Early and River -- that Early is what they were trying to shape River into, except more unstable, less biddable. Certainly the two of them understand each other in a way none of the others do. (And if you haven't watched the commentary on the episode, you really must.)

And, yeah, that scene at the end is beautiful. I love the quiet acceptance, on both sides, of the fact that she ain't quite right and that she's theirs anyway.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

That's interesting. I don't think there has to be one 'right' interpretation, but there's something a bit deeper going on in that episode than in a standard action adventure. I agree with the people who commented what a good actor he was.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Interesting thread, thank you. I watched the commentary this morning, it adds a great deal to the story. I could watch this episode over and over.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Oh, Joss was thinking along similar lines. Jubal is River's alter ego, among other things. His commentary for Objects in Space is fascinating and probably the most serious he ever did.

(Only a very occasional joke, but I always get a kick out him saying that his epiphany about religion, i.e. the moment where he decided he was an atheist, came "most embarrasingly because it's such a cliché while watching a Steven Spielberg movie. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, in London.")

Cui Bono?

[executrix.livejournal.com]

About Early as River's projection (or animus): she's certainly better off because he was there, because of her greater acceptance by the crew (AND she gets to walk around outside in a space suit, which we know she likes). Book gets kicked right in his scary hair, and between threatened rape and Fisher-king-like thigh wound, forward motion toward Crazy Space Exogamy has certainly been slowed down.

[cdybedahl.livejournal.com]

It truly is a wonderful episode. My favourite alongside Our Mrs Reynolds, I think.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I've sat through it twice already, plus another time with the commentary, and I think I'll make Mr A. watch it tonight. I think my other favourites have been (predictably) Out of Gas and War Stories, but I've been wowed by the lot. Also I liked Tracey's story in The Message.

[executrix.livejournal.com]

I sort of felt like writing past Mal/Tracey so it could be EVEN MORE like Rumours of Death.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

:-D

[executrix.livejournal.com]

BTW I dreamed last night that there are actually four Blue Hands Guys because the hands, like the Peter Max cartoon version of Yellow Submarine, ARE the guys--the rest is just a mask to lull suspicion.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Definitely borrow the Firefly DVDs, it's wonderful.

The guy at your discussion group was right: "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" is a line from one of the Batman films. I feel like it should come from somewhere else before that, but I haven't found another source for it yet.