Firefly # 1: Out of Gas

Episode 8
First Aired October 25th, 2002

The first time I saw this episode, I thought it was fine, but nothing spectacular. I'm not sure why it didn't click with me, but one reason may be that it wasn't action-packed and it didn't drive the plot forward. What it does do is show how much Mal loves his ship, which is much more important than I initially realized. The episode also weaves three timelines together in a way that accents what is going on in the present through flashbacks and still allows us to follow what is going on in the present.

The present narrative begins with a wounded Mal holding a machine part. These segments have absolutely no dialogue (except for recorded warnings from Serenity herself) and feature no character beside Mal as he makes his way from the cargo bay to the engine room. These segments are full of hauntingly sad music as Mal struggles to save his ship. The second narrative starts about a day earlier and works up to the beginning of the present narrative. It shows how Serenity became damaged, where the rest of the crew went, and how Mal got injured. The third timeline consists of flashbacks detailing how everyone got on the ship (except Simon, River, and Book, because in the unaired pilot "Serenity", we see them get on Serenity for the first time). The episode sometimes misdirects us with these glimpses into the past; when Mal and Zoe hire Wash, Mal notes that now they have a pilot to go with their genius mechanic, who turns out to be someone besides Kaylee. The best misdirect comes at the end, but I won't say what it was.

"Out of Gas" is a beautiful episode that shows the crew at their most desperate. It also shows us just how devoted to each other this crew is; Wash is willing to defy Mal to keep Zoe safe (she was injured in the explosion that crippled Serenity), but he also figures out a way for Mal to call the crew back in case he is somehow able to fix the ship. There is also a rather meta explanation to the beauty of this episode; as I said, Wash rigs a button to send out a signal to the two shuttles carrying the crew in case Mal is able to repair the ship. He tells Mal that when his miracle arrives, push the button, and the crew will return. Alan Tudyk, who plays Wash stole that button from the set, and when the network cancelled the show, he gave it to Joss Whedon, telling him that if some miracle occurs, he could use the button to call back the cast members. Like Mal, Joss was eventually able to use the button.

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