We’re doing the impossible, and that makes us mighty. IGN wasn’t covering TV back when Joss Whedon’s beloved space western Firefly was airing on FOX (infamously out of order, incomplete, and with little fanfare/support), so we’re spending this summer taking a loving look back at the 14 shiny episodes. We’ll be reviewing Firefly episodes on Thursdays; follow along with us by watching the episodes on Netflix, Amazon, Blu-ray, DVD or on iTunes.
For more on IGN TV’s summer flashback reviews, click here.
“The next time you decide to stab me in the back, have the guts to do it to my face.”
“Ariel” plays extremely well on an assortment of fronts. It’s sort of a heist episode, but one that leans more into the drama than comedy. Not that there are some great, funny beats, but the heart of this one really comes from Simon’s quest to protect River and Jayne’s tendencies to be – well – a double-crossing dirtbag.
In fact, thinking back over the whole episode, the biggest laugh came from when Mal, Zoe, and Jayne practiced their complicated medical spiel over and over (“pulmonary stimulators and cardiac infusers”) only to find out that they didn’t need any of it. And Jayne then insisting to say his “neural reaction” line was amazing. But other than that, this one was meant to act as a piece of the big Alliance conspiracy-arc puzzle that never had the chance to play out on TV. It even introduced the show’s first two official Alliance villains, the “Two By Two, Hands of Blue” guys. Who made a big, scary splash here, but then had to be dealt with in the comics.
Yes, the real nuts and bolts of “Ariel” centered around drama, which really helps it standout from the usual (and great) Firefly fare. And drama done well. The previous attempt at a more serious, gritty story was “Bushwhacked,” but that got a bit cluttered in the third act. Here, the touching Simon/River relationship was front and center, as well as the Alliance’s desire to reclaim their pet project (who they’d performed gruesome brain surgeries on repeatedly). And the third act revolved around Jayne’s conniving betrayal. A despicable act that really worked here, despite the fact that Jayne seemed to have a minor cathartic moment at the tail end of “Jaynestown.”
The set up was that Jayne took a knife slash from River, who, during her most dangerously loopy moment to date, decided he “looked better in red.” And while River did get locked away in her quarters, not much care or concern was thrown Jayne’s way. So his in-the-moment resentment was understandable. And his plan, essentially, was to turn the Tams in and have Mal be none the wiser. But then he got screwed himself and – just like in “Jaynestown” – unintentionally came off as a hero even though his original intentions were truly rotten.
Which expertly set us up for the superb final few minutes involving Mal dead set on blowing Jayne out the back of ship as they took off. And had it not been for Jayne’s “Don’t tell ’em what I did” line, Mal would have totally gone through with it too. Just a great scene. Mal’s hardline nature shining through at the same time as Jayne’s regret. Jayne basically accepted that he had it coming, having already felt bad about his scheme. All he wanted was for the others to not know about his betrayal. This was one of Firefly’s standout moments as a series.
Another interesting thing to note about “Ariel” is that it gave us an adventure with, really, the core crew. Book didn’t even appear (he’d left to visit some Abbey) and Inara was scarcely seen. She left at the top of the episode and returned pretty much after the story was done. So this was a lot like the movie, in a sense.
