So I, one holiday, two battles with the video, and a lucky Sci-Fi repeat late, finally saw Objects in Space.
Wow. It literally took my breath away. After 'Heart of Gold', I had fears that Firefly would leave me broken, because this great concept had been wasted.
I'm still broken, but in a better way. This episode was fantastic-- let me count the ways.
1) River. She was wonderful. Creepy. Weird. Funny. Clever. Beautiful. Fucked up in a thousand different ways. I was stunned, repeatedly, by the quality of the performance-- on a second watch. The first time, I was so wrapped in the story I didn't notice the acting.
2) Early. What a wonderful villian. With a plan, and dealing with Kaylee, and... ooo. Just... good villian.
3) Wash and Zoe. Wash the skeptic, and the funny man; Zoe the calm, the open-minded, and the taker-of-bullets-out-of-poor-Simon. I love them.
4) Simon. Oh, Simon. Simon, Simon, Simon. Teaching a complete beginner surgery by talking her through taking a bullet out of your own leg, because you were all brave and attacked Early to save your sister. God, Simon. And even I, dyed-in-the-wool slasher, was cheering for you and Kaylee.
5) River-as-Serenity. When that began, I hadn't worked out that River was on Early's ship, and I had a sudden flash of a whole future for Firefly in which River and the ship really *were* melded into one being. That was great. And the way it was filmed? Eye candy. And not just any old candy. Best quality Belgian chocolate.
6) Mal, especially at the end. And at the start. And all the way through. "Glad we made that distinction." Welcoming River back aboard at the end. Oh, Mal. Wonderful captain.
7) Jayne. What more do I need to say?
8) The sequence of River walking through the ship and hearing everyone's thoughts, though they don't see her.
9) Book. Not a Shepard? WTF? I need to know more about Book. Now.
10) The FX. The whole look of the show. It's beautiful-- River in the leaves. Her dancer's pose as she listens to the conversation a floor above her.
11) Summer Glau.
Wrod to the 'I just want to hug the show'. That's just how I feel, too.
12) Simon without a shirt. Although with this danger overtone, because of what Jubal had just said to Kaylee.
13) The dinosaurs are still on Wash's piloting desk.
14) Everyone and everything. Mal, Inara, Wash and Zoe, River, Simon, Kaylee, Jayne, Book. The sets, the stories, the sounds. I love them all. I'm still in love with this show. I can't quite believe it's all over.
I believe in movies.