Mal. Bad. From the Latin.

Malcolm, Scots Gaelic, devotee of St. Columba (Latin, dove, peace), "the 6th-century Irish monk St. Columba (or Colum) who ... is credited with the conversion of Scotland to Christianity." Interesting. I'm sure Joss didn't know that.

Sorry, River. You're not wrong, but you're not entirely right that time either.

We haven't re-watched it yet due to power outage on the night we planned to do it, but there has never been any doubt in my mind that Mal meant to kill that guy.

Don't think I ever told you guys, I used that scene, 2 or 3 times, in presentations when I was in school.

My topic that I kept coming back to, in several different classes, was Employee Empowerment. So I'd do my presentation, then show this scene and use it to show how hide-bound sticking to the rules (like 1st henchman) doesn't always go well, and it's better if employees (like 2nd henchman) feel they have power to make decisions on the fly in real time.

Not saying that Joss is the reason I graduated with honors...

I've read your post twice now, Epic, and I still can't find the like button...

Oh! How did I forget to watch last night on Firefly Friday? Well, now I know what I'm doing this evening.

Brilliant, Epic!

I don't think I could possibly love this episode any more. One of the best hours of teevee ever made. It still blows my mind that Joss and Tim wrote this over a weekend, I hear people saying this is one of the weaker episodes, but I don't see it. I use this one as a hook for newbies. It starts with a bar fight! It ends with the guy getting shoved into the engine! There's a caper! What's not to love?

Plus, so many of my favourite lines are in this episode. "Hey, I didn't fight in no war. Best of luck, though." "tragic space dementia" "terrifying space monkeys" "What did I say about barging into my shuttle?" "That is was manly and impulsive?" "Sir, I think you have a problem with your brain being missing." "It's the chain I go get and beat you with until you understands who's in ruttin' command here!" "You can't change that by gettin' all...bendy." "His story had kind of an odor to it." "Yes. It's not the only thing about him that does."

Yessssssss. Yesss.

Daniel and I may have to watch two episodes tomorrow, because we have not yet found time to watch The Train Job.

I knew it was my kinda crazy when Mal got thrown through the bar window and the window was a hologram. Space Western! Then Serenity rose up behind the guys from the edge of the cliff to save the day, and I was in love.

And then, "Damn yokels, can't even tell a transport ship ain't got no guns on it" and somehow that was the line that hooked me.

"Every man here go back inside the bar, or I will blow a hole in this little moon."

Zoe got me. Toe to toe with the men, unflinching and effective. Also, the grill from a charcoal grill as a window grill, cut-down water bottles as glasses. I saw the makeshift, salvage, and make-do that would happen on a frontier planet, and those details, though never remarked on, made the setting real for me.

I loved a lot of the details on the show, though the re-painted Starship Troopers armor for the Purple Bellies always took me out of the moment.