MONDO EXTRAS

Inside, Captain Malcolm Reynolds freaks. I wonder if he was thinking all that majestic crap when it happened. "Ah, my beautiful ship, standing strong in her, getting all Captain-y, leading a crew of rag-tag freaks with good hearts and healthy sex drives, my spine straight as an arrow as I lead us once again into the fray, as once again I risk life in order to bring a better -- what the fuck was that?" Wash, the ship's pilot, admits that the thing that just flew off the ship resembled the "primary buffer panel." "Did the primary buffer panel just fall off my gorramn ship for no apparent reason?" He complains that Kaylee "checked the entry couplings," and Wash responds that if she doesn't get some "extra flow from the engine room to offset the burn-through," things will get interesting, here defined in classic Wash-speak as "Oh, God, we're all gonna die?" Mal pulls down the PA mic from a ceiling panel, and speaks out over the ship. "This is the Captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode." With that, he hangs up and asks Wash to "shave the vector." As Wash explains that he's doing the best he can, Mal demands that he just get them on the ground. "That part will happen pretty definitely."

That whole sequence, while adorable and definitely giving good intro for Wash and Mal, really just sets up an awesome tracking shot that will introduce the cast. If you know the architecture of the Serenity, you know that Mal's going to have to literally visit every part of the ship in order to go yell at Kaylee about the entry couplings or whatever, which you know he's going to do, because no matter what happens, he will always yell at Kaylee about the entry couplings or whatever. He loves his ship more than anything, but like with anything else he loves, he has no idea what's going on inside her.

Jayne, the muscle, comes running out into the corridor. "We're gonna explode? I don't wanna explode!" Mal wants him focused on the crisis immediately after the one where they explode, the robbery job they're planning planet-side. Mal will distract you so fast. "Jayne, how many weapons you plan on taking? You only got two arms." Jayne explains that he gets "excitable as to choice," and likes to have his options open. It's a nice pointer to both his capacity for violence and the fact that all he loves is guns. And his lovely hat, which we'll see a bit later. Mal explains that the plan for this job doesn't include shooting, and Jayne notes that what Mal plans and what usually takes place "ain't ever exactly been similar." Mal can't argue that, but tells Jayne he can't bring any grenades, causing him to whine like a baby.