Firefly: 1x10 Full Reaction
Added 2025-11-01 02:25:11 +0000 UTC"War Stories"
Comments
Before you watch Serenity (if you haven't already) I'd recommend watching THE RIVER TAM SESSIONS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFuwllLKdbE which shows River when she was at The Academy.
Lazerx1
2025-11-02 05:34:32 +0000 UTCi don’t think the counsellor was here to contribute to the plot so much as to connect to the episode’s theme “who are we really?” when inara talks about having to be a different person when she’s around men as opposed to being alone with another woman. also it’s just kinda nice to see some bisexual representation, even if it’s crumbs. also also, did anyone else notice how kaylee reacted when the counsellor came aboard? she seemed quite interested herself
keira
2025-11-01 23:00:04 +0000 UTCThe "real you" is an interesting concept as in... "...are any of us entirely ourselves?..." I certainly have to drive somewhere by myself at least about 30 minutes before I start believing that I am having my own thoughts, unclouded by the needs and influences of others. The "real" Mal? might be good however he was about to be seriously "not nice". Oh, and about Kaylee, she just witnessed something that River was able to do that is, in fact, terrifying. Locating three targets with a split-second glance and erasing them without looking anymore at them.
Michael Labs
2025-11-01 19:20:05 +0000 UTCOutstanding, I had never considered the mirror image of "extreme circumstances".
Michael Labs
2025-11-01 19:12:59 +0000 UTCI took it as an ominous look more than one of fear - the build up around River's story grows when she chooses not to share what happened.
MaggieStormborn
2025-11-01 17:28:02 +0000 UTCKaylee's look at the end was one of fear. How uncomfortable she is when looking at River is a sharp contrast to the opening where they're so playful together, and it's quite sad to see.
Jordan McLaren
2025-11-01 11:34:37 +0000 UTCNot sure if people noticed the desert location used in this episode is where they shot for Buffy when she talked to the first slayer.
Gary Poussard
2025-11-01 08:13:08 +0000 UTCYou're right that Shepherd Book wasn't in the previous episode at all. Dialogue said that he left the ship to meditate at an abbey while Inara had her exam, and therefore he missed everything. Wash definitely went to 100 very quickly here, but he's had issues with Zoe and Mal's relationship for the whole show. He's complained before about how Zoe seems to run personal issues past Mal for approval even beyond their duties. With the way Zoe actually lied to him this time (Which even she admitted was the wrong thing to do), it's not too much of a stretch to see Wash explode all of a sudden. Wash's line about "one less husband" wasn't a threat for divorce, it was him saying that Mal was also a husband in their marriage and that needs to be dealt with. "Shan Yu", the psychotic dictator they talk about in this episode, was the villain in the 1998 "Mulan" Disney movie. If you notice, in the first episode Badger ALSO cuts up his apples (He has an apple peeler on his desk when he confronts Mal, Zoe and Jayne). There's a LOT of fan theories about whether that means he was also in the war or not. It's never stated officially, but every fan I know takes Jayne generously buying apples for the whole crew as an apology for betraying them last episode.
JBK405
2025-11-01 05:17:53 +0000 UTCInterestingly, Wash's insecurities were telegraphed in episode 1: Wash: "What if we just told Mal we need a couple of days 'stead of asking him?" Zoe: "He's the captain, Wash." Wash: "Right. I'm just the husband." Zoe: "Look, I'll ask him. Wash: "Don't forget to call him 'sir'. He likes that." Mal: "Who likes what?" Zoe: "It's nothing, sir." Wash: ::little thumbs up:: 😀
Test User
2025-11-01 04:56:37 +0000 UTCThe "writings of Xiang Yu" are made up for this episode although a historic leader with that name is written about, no writings from that person are extant. The philosophy is also clearly bullshit as Simon espouses to Book: "sadistic crap legitimized by florid prose". He might be taking a jab at the bible which also contains poetry that glorifies violence (eg "Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!" Psalm 137:9 ). What makes a person is not what they do in extreme circumstances because people are mostly not in extreme circumstances. You could take the opposite approach and say what will someone do when they have no limitations, all needs met with unlimited resources: is that the real them? I don't think either circumstance is the "real" person, its just one aspect of the person in one circumstance. The most charitable reading of this philosophical nugget could be: people have layers of filters and if you remove those filters we act differently. If we recall in the last episode we learn that River had one of those filter mechanisms surgically removed and it made her less like a person so we can conclude that the show is saying the filters are part of what makes us human.
The Testimony of Mushroom
2025-11-01 04:46:14 +0000 UTCNot only is this my favourite episode of the series it might just be one of my favourite episodes of tv. Top 5, certainly.
Preaching to the Horse's Mouth
2025-11-01 04:36:23 +0000 UTCGreat action comedy episode, lots of quotable moments
James Smith
2025-11-01 04:18:13 +0000 UTC
