You know how this would have all worked better? If they had cut out about half of the mess area conversation and put this whole fight before the first commercial break. The whole confrontation took about ten seconds, and we would have at least ended the first act with a real sense of danger. Half that conversation was just the characters telling each other things viewers had already figured out anyway. Yeah, I know it's arrogant of me to presume that I could pace this show better than somebody who writes television for a living, but, well, I just did.

Cut to the engine room. It turns out Kaylee wasn't in her quarters for the lockdown. She's underneath the engine, fiddling with stuff. She hears a noise and stands up, calling out River's name. There's no response. She leans down and grabs a pair of pliers. She stands up again, and there's Moonwalker, standing right in front of her. She gasps in surprise. The man starts complimenting her for the ship. He says it's very good looking. Kaylee asks him how he got on the ship. He non-sequiturs (and get used to me using that as a verb) that it "strains the mind a little bit. You think you're all alone. Maybe I come down the chimney, Kaylee. Bring presents for all the good girls and boys." Well, he's wearing the right colors. Oh, and he's getting on my nerves already. Maybe he's a technician from radio KRZY, and he heard that River's suddenly not picking up their signal as well anymore. He adds, "Maybe not, though. Maybe I've always been here." Eye roll.

Kaylee asks him what he wants. He looks at the engine and blathers on about how it'll just die if just one of its many, many parts breaks. Yes, we already had that episode. If you're going to blather, can you at least move the plot forward? Then he casually asks, "You ever been raped?" Oops. I should have kept my mouth shut. Kaylee looks at him in horror, then tells him that the captain's nearby, but her voice is starting to break already. Moonwalker tells her that everybody's locked in his or her quarters. Nobody can help her. She starts to cry. He makes her repeat that nobody can help her. Moonwalker says he's going to tie her up, then he's going to "give [her] a present." Okay, that creeped me out sufficiently to want this guy dead. Even if his annoying patter hadn't done it already. But it's not a rape euphemism, even though he clearly enjoys the fact that Kaylee thinks so. That's why he phrased it in that manner. He says he's going to "get rid of a problem [she's] got." He promises that he won't touch her in any way or hurt her, as long as she doesn't cause a problem or upset his plans. If she does, "[her] body is forfeit." He warns her that he can find all sorts of "unseemly" uses for her. He ties her hands behind her back and demands to know where River sleeps. Kaylee cries some more. Jewel did a really good job with that scene.