Ariel

*An Opinionated Look at Firefly* review.

Review of an episode of *Firefly*.

## Episode information

* **Season:** 1
* **Episode:** 9
* **Original airdate:** November 15, 2002
* *Ariel* at the The Firefly and Serenity Database
* *Ariel* at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
* *Ariel* at the Internet Movie Database

## Review information

* Review link
* Published: August 10, 2016

## SF Debris synopsis

*The crew decide to raid a hospital to help Simon and River and to make money. Mostly to make money. Pretty much all to make money.*

## Post-Episode Follow-Up

"José Molina wrote this episode and Trash, which is also a heist episode, and it works quite well. Striking a solid balance between that part of it and the character work. We get to see more of what makes River act as she does, thanks to the brain scan: That she can't use the part of her mind that she used to shove aside feelings when they're inconvenient, like terror when you're in a life or death situation, or anger when you're in a delicate negotiation.

We also get another peek inside Jayne's mind, much like in Jaynestown. He's very shallow, but he has other, better parts of himself, that, with enough prodding, will come forward and make him ashamed of his behaviour. That's why River's attack on him at the beginning was very important. It didn't just precipitate the heist, but it also made it obvious to the audience that this *isn't* just Jayne being greedy, no matter what he says. You take crap like that personally. And even if we don't agree with him, we can understand why, in his resentment, he might try to sell them out.

The episode's theme is one of obligation. While Inara and shepherd Book are both absent because they're not connected to the heist, they help draw that point to the front. Both are doing what they're doing, because, even though they are independent people doing what they want, they still are part of something bigger, that sometimes means doing something that they don't necessarily want to do. Simon runs into the same thing in the hospital. It's not in his best interest to help that dying man, as it will call attention to them when there cover is trying to blend into the background. But when he became a doctor, he became obligated to help people who need him. That's what Jayne needs to learn in the end. That they may be enjoying freedom out here on *Serenity*, but that doesn't mean there isn't an obligation, as members of the crew, to look out for each other, no matter what happens.

This episode also brings home exactly the kind of menace that *Serenity* needs to stay ahead of. The Hands of Blue men are beyond the typical jackbooting Alliance authority. They will not only kill their own people to prevent even the smallest scrap of information from getting out, but they halt their own pursuit to do so. Had they not, and had they not chosen to remain together, instead of one pursuing and one dealing with the guard Simon had knocked out, they could have reacquired River. This, combined with their immunity to the hideous death-on-a-stick thing they whipped out, has led to some suggesting that they are cyborgs. And thus, perhaps, so uncompromising on security, that it overrides the larger goal at times. Finding River, to such a creature, would be an inevitability, so a setback is worth it, if it preserves the goal of secrecy that is so essential to the mission. Both of these are reasons that you would not want to have them after you. And yet, we clearly see how committed Mal is to allow River and Simon to come along. So long as River is no longer a direct threat to them, then the indirect threat that she brings will be tolerated. That's his obligation to them, now that they're part of his crew."

## See also

* An Opinionated Look at Firefly
* Firefly reviews