The Alliance noticed. They were hiding it. Who else would notice? Wasn't the only way there through Reaver territory?

Miranda was a viable planet, and apparently not all that long ago. The Reavers weren't there until after the Paxocaust. Presumably someone in the 'verse had family on Miranda, or business partners, or something.

I could be looking for continuity where there's none, but if the Alliance was originally the core worlds of the system, and Miranda is on the edge of the system (either stated or implied when discussing the Reaver Belt), Alliance control of it would have happened post-Unification (in the absence of any statement to the contrary). Unification happened in the not-too-distant past.

I'm not sure I understand this comment.

It was a sideways slam at the Kittens. People got so freaking weird about Tara's death, with the whole "Joss hates lesbians" thing, and while many folks seem disappointed about the destruction of the Hot Married Couple, I haven't seen a big internet rage of "Joss hates married men." The comment wasn't supposed to be about FF/Serenity or Christian fans as much as it was me saying again how irrational the whole Tara thing was.

The thing with Nathan was towards the end of the Outtakes section. Here's the description: Mal's doing his planning walk through the remnants of Haven, tosses Simon the rope and instructs him and Zoe to gather some bodies. "Put Reverend Book front and center; he was our friend, we should honor him." Then to Kaylee, "Find that little kid who's taking a dirt nap, you know, the baby Jesus. We need a hood ornament." Jewel can't keep a straight face at that. Then Nathan shouts to Jayne, "Hey Jayne! Try not to steal all their shit!"

On the planet?

Yeah, looked pretty rocky. And if they have trouble getting fresh fruit...still, some cactus flower or sage or something would've been nice.

Yeah, looked pretty rocky. And if they have trouble getting fresh fruit...still, some cactus flower or sage or something would've been nice.

I work in an area that's pretty rocky that also has flowers. I'm sure that can still happen in the future. And I'm not talking cacti or sage either. Or, for a special occasion, I could get them from somewhere else.

Miranda was a viable planet, and apparently not all that long ago. The Reavers weren't there until after the Paxocaust. Presumably someone in the 'verse had family on Miranda, or business partners, or something.

I thought that they were told that the atmosphere failed and everyone died as a result.

My take is Miranda was straight-up settled by the Alliance with a specific purpose. We see buildings and infrastructure that are associated in the 'verse as "Central Planet", rather than "Border Moon". The Alliance setup Miranda to one be a testing ground for the pax, and two, be a staging ground for upcoming Unification. If the pax was successful, they could just supply special new filtration systems to the Independant planets and there would be no need for a war. If it failed, they'd still have a base of operations on the far side of the Independant sphere, making dealing with inevitable resistance easier.

I thought that they were told that the atmosphere failed and everyone died as a result.

Right, pretty sure there were a couple lines about the terraforming not holding.

They musta got the flowers from the flower store. The one that has its own greenhouse.

I don't remember what the flowers looked like; were they obviously not from the desert?

They musta got the flowers from the flower store. The one that has its own greenhouse.

They weren't in the Sahara. They were in SoCal. You're never that far from some non-desert flowers.

I must have written like I meant the opposite. I meant that the desert planet probably had a flower store, just like we would have everywhere else.

You're never that far from some non-desert flowers.

That might have been true for the SoCal that Was....

I meant that the desert planet probably had a flower store, just like we would have everywhere else.

And I meant that you don't even need a flower store for that. Just someone overwatering a patch of imported soil. I see Jamaican-type subtropicals outdoors here all the time.