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Book and Mal have a heart-to-heart about why he didn't just leave River and Simon in that bar and be on his merry way without them; Mal professes not to know but Book says Mal isn't that kind of man.

Somehow it comes out in conversation that River said the word "Miranda" in the bar before she went crazy. To try to figure out why, the crew go to see a guy called Mr. Universe, who is a hacker who keeps an eye on the above-the-board and down-low electronic transmissions of the universe--he's sort of a futuristic version of the guy who sits around in his kitchen with a six pack and a police scanner listening to who's getting arrested and why.

Mr. Universe says Miranda is a planet separated from the rest of the region by Reaver territory. Supposedly it's a failed terraforming experiment and is thought to be a big hunk of rock surrounded on all sides by Reavers. No one dares to go there.

With this knowledge, they head back to Book's planet to find the entire place annihilated. They've been gone only a few hours, but everyone is dead. Book is nearly dead by the time Mal gets to him but manages to explain that it wasn't Reavers who got to them--it was the Early-like character and his goons. Book dies. The crew tries to warn every other group of people who've given them shelter from the Alliance in the past, only to discover they've all suffered the same fate. The Early-like character has seen to it that they've got nowhere left to hide.

Wash discovers that Miranda is broadcasting a weak beacon, so they concoct a plan to get there through the Reavers by using the bodies from Book's planet to turn their ship into something looking like a Reaver vessel. They get through and land on Miranda to discover that every single person on the planet has died where they were standing.

They find the beacon and it's a "help us Obi Wan"-style holograph message explaining why everyone's dead; the Alliance released a chemical into the atmosphere to try to make everyone "better" people--happier, more peaceful, etc.--but it worked almost too well and 90% of the planet's residents just stopped doing everything, including breathing. The other 10% had the opposite reaction and went crazed and aggressive--they became Reavers. So the Alliance created the Reavers and killed 30 million or so people on the planet. This is the truth River was remembering in flashbacks, and the thing that the Early-ish character doesn't want her to remember or tell. Mal decides it's time to let the world know, and they try to head back to Mr. Universe so he can spread the word through his network.

They don't make it out past the Reavers successfully this time. The ship is badly damanged and crash-lands on Mr. Universe's planet with Reavers in hot pursuit. Wash does a sweet job of minimizing damage from the crash but seconds later, in a insanely HSQ moment, is killed (waaaaah!) by Reavers with a huge spike through the chest.

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The crew barricade themselves into a small part of a building and try to hold off the Reavers while Mal leaves them and heads to Mr. Universe. The Early-like character has been there before him and has killed Mr. Universe, but Mr. Universe's wifebot (echos of the Buffybot!) explains what happened and tells Mal there's a backup computer system deep in the building that's hard to get to but will broadcast the message about Miranda. Mal tries to get there but is intercepted by Early-like guy and they have a brutal fight. Mal wins, most improbably, and starts the broadcast.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew are doing their best to hold off the Reavers but are failing fast. Zoe is mauled and Jayne is shot superfically--he's hurt but OK. Kaylee is shot, too, and isn't dead but isn't doing well. They retreat to a smaller room behind blast doors, but before they can shut them all the way, Simon is shot. Badly. He's going to die, but he left his medicine bag in the other room and as such can't do anything about it. River decides to take matters into her own hands and dives back into the Reavers, throwing the bag into the room with rest of the crew and sealing herself in with the Reavers. She then proceeds to kick Reaver ass until they're all dead.

She and Mal both re-enter the room where the rest of the crew are hiding; Early-like guy's men bust in a few seconds later and are about to kill River before Early-like guy calls it off, saying that it's too late and that the secret's already out.

In the tie-up montage, they rebuild Serenity, Zoe is strong in the face of her loss of Wash, Kaylee and (shirtless!) Simon finally hook up, and Inara and Mal nearly admit their feelings for each other. Inara thinks she might stay on the ship. Mal and River pilot Serenity off Mr. Universe's planet.

I thought it was incredible. Fans will appreciate it because everyone is clearly recognizable as the character they were in the show, and like the show, everyone gets good screentime. And I think new folk will like it because it's accessible to people who've never seen the show.

A lot of the language is the Jossiest of Joss; it brings the funny and the pain in equal amounts, and leaves you feeling bruised and traumatized but also amazed at the crew's fortitude and confident of their future. They'll keep flying. It won't always be easy, but they'll do it.

OK, now I have to go to bed.

Holy jumping Hannah.

applauds Jen wildly

cries

Joins JZ in the applause

(JZ-- you have email; I am also going to send you my work email and my phone number in just a second.)

Thanks, JZ!

Also, anyone else who's seen it should please feel free to correct me if I got anything wrong or if I forgot anything entirely.

Really going to bed now.

FYI: The Early-like guy is called the Operative.

It was good. And sad. I think Jen's recap got all the plot points.

Our film was a little unclear at points - almost as if they were using smaller film than standard movie film. Maybe they'll have that fixed for release.

FYI: The Early-like guy is called the Operative.

Oh yeah. He claims to have no name. Also that he doesn't exist (not in any official records). But like 007, he seems to have a license to kill. Or else he just kills unlicensed.

Read the whitefont?

Don't read the whitefont?

Read the whitefont?

Don't read the whitefont?

Read the whitefont?

Don't read the whitefont?

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head explodes.

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disembodied spirit magically reads half the whitefont.

I'm SO glad it wasn't a disappointment! Yay! Oh, damn, I so want to see the BDM!