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Firefly

Safe

Season 1, Episode 8, Aired 11/8/02

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Episode Summary

On a planet, Simon is kidnapped by locals who need a doctor, while River is threatened with burning as a witch.

8.7

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Cast & Crew

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Nathan Fillion

Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds
Sean Maher

Dr. Simon Tam
Ron Glass

The Shepherd Book

Fan Episode Reviews (20)

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Nothing too startling

7.0

"Good"

By joxerlives, Jan 05, 2012 Report Abuse

Safe

The good;
River dancing is just wonderful as is Simon's happiness at it. The scene where the rest of the crew rescue them is terrific as is Jayne looting their stuff.
The bad;
Can someone please explain to me exactly when the hillbillies work out that Simon is a doctor? Also what sort of supplies do they have for him to work with?
Best line;
Jayne; (pretending to read Simon's diary) "Dear diary, today I was pompus and my sister acted crazy"
Packing heat;
Everyone's guns sound very different in this ep, more zingy and less like conventional firearms. The villains/cops 6-shooters also seem to hold an inordinate number of rounds. The lead cop packs a 44. Magnum. Mal and Jayne use Mossberg shotguns and Zoe utilises a full size Winchester rifle rather than her normal cutdown version.
Kinky dinky;
Kaylee wants to bite Simon all over? Jayne seems to derive pleasure from having watched the cows being fed by beautiful women (presumably Kaylee and Zoe rather than Inara and River?)
Notches on the Serenity bedpost;
Inarra;1-a paying customer who wishes to make her his kept woman, 1 possible, Atherton.
Wash; 1-the missus
Zoe; 1-the hubby

Capt subtext;
Is Kaylee the duck and Inara the swan?
How'd they get away with that?
Skinning the hare is nasty but makes it's point. Burning witches at the stake.

Total Serenity crew; 9 Simon and River's status onboard confirmed
Mal, Zoe, Jayne, Wash, Kaylee, Inarra, Book, Simon, River(?).

Subverting the Hollywood cliche;
Clever mislead, we think the hillbillies are savages but actually they're just desperate people who need a doctor.
Whedon cliches; (see I spelt it right!);
Devoted siblings, haunted charismatic leading man. Teenage girls with superpowers. Hookers. Babbling insane girls with truth in their madness. Fake cockneys. Misguided religious zealots. Numbered t-shirts.
Bondage; River tied to a stake
Mal; 1
River; 1
Knocked out; Book goes unconscious after being shot
Book; 2
Simon; 1
Kaylee; 1
Jayne;1
Women good/men bad;
Kills;
Mal; 9-
Zoe; 4-
Jayne; 2-
Happy high-class hookers in Space (the title the porn industry wished they'd thought of!);
Know the face?
High School Musical star Zac Efron as young Simon, he'll later star in '17 Again' with Whedon alumni Michelle Tractenberg.
Whedon alumni- Joss likes to reuse the same actors in his series, let's count up their appearances (let me know if I miss any)
Nathan Fillon-3; Firefly, Caleb in S7 of Buffy and Dr Horrible
Gina Torres-2; Firefly and Jasmine in S4 of Angel
Alan Tudyk-2; Firefly and the villainous/heroic(?) Alpha in Dollhouse (haven't seen season 2 so don't spoil it for me)
Adam Baldwin-2; Firefly and Marcus Hamilton in S5 of Angel
Summer Glau-3; Firefly, Dollhouse and the prima ballerina in the LEGENDARY S4 Angel ep 'Waiting in the wings'.
Carlos Jacott-3; The Fed in Firefly, Ken in the 'Anne' ep of Buffy and Richard Straley in 'The Bachelor Party' ep of Angel.
Andy Umberger;3-the captain of the Dortmunder in Firefly, D'Hoffryn in Buffy, the psychic surgeon in the Angel ep 'I fall to pieces'.
Mark Shepherd;2-Badger in Firefly and later turns up as one of Ballard's FBI colleagues in Dollhouse. Also a BSG alumni.
Jeff Rickets;3- one of the blue handed men in Firefly and Weatherby on Buffy/Angel plus the spiderdemon at the end of Angel season 4
Gregg Henry; 2- he's one of those faces that occur time and again in TV/movies, the Sherrif in The Train Job and he later recurrs in the Dollhouse ep 'Ghost', one of my favourite eps of season 1.
Alliance good or bad?;
Mal runs to the Alliance in order to save Book, how that must choke him! They seem reluctant to provide but don't say no outright. Then our Shepherd slips them an ID card? Hmmmmm.
Fanfic;
Missing scenes;
Reputedly scenes where the Alliance question the Tam's parents after Simon rescues River, River reading Ruby's mind and seeing her tragic story plus paying Badger his share, his hoodlums unable to believe that Mal doesn't try to rip them off, much to Badger's chagrin at Mal's moral superiority again.
Western cliches;
Hillbillies kidnapping folk. Zoe actually shoots the gun out of one of the bad guy's hand.
Firefly speak;
Gorram=goddam.
Weak tea=not good
Back birth=idiot
Companion=high class courtesan
Gengish=competent
Doh-ma=understand/understood?
Rutting=bloody (or perhaps 'fraking'?)
Chin-cha-da=hell
Purple belly=officious bureaucrat
Ta-gow=Oh god!
Won-gwa-pee= to urinate or defecate
Gosa=excrement
Tien-sha-duh=rubbish
Los-soh-ret=crap
Dien-dyododo-chowen=bastard
Wah=what the hell?
Mah song=quickly
Jin-seen-yung=idiot
Shot; .Book shot during a the gunfight with the cattle
Mal; 1-
Kayleigh;1-
Jayne;1-
Book;1-
Crew injured;
Simon knocked around yet again, he seems to be everyone's punching bag.
Reminds me off;
River on the pyre reminds of Buffy, Willow and Amy tied to the stake and almost burnt as witches by M.O.O
Questions and observations;
So, what is Book's past and why do the Alliance treat him like a VIP once he identifies himself? Is he a former Alliance General guilt-ridden by his role during the war? A former spy who sold out the Independents? A scientist who carried out experiments like those conducted on River?
Mal finally makes a deal and actually earns some more or less honest money from it. Presumably this pays for the slap up meal the crew enjoy at the end of the ep. Mal asks why things never go smooth for them, once again we see that he's not really suited to a life of crime. As we suspected River and Simon were pro-Alliance before River's ordeal, casting the Browncoats as the enemy in their games. The locals describe the Serenity as a fancy vessel, would do Kaylee's heart good to hear that but it really underlines how remote and backward they are if they think that. This ep is set 3 weeks after the last so a planet 3 weeks travel from Persephone must be remote indeed. Jayne enjoys smacking the cows around? Once again father's get a hard time in the Whedonverse although the Tam's parents seem nice enough folks.
Marks out of 10; 7/10, nothing very startling here, nice to have River and Simon confirmed as part of the crew and I like the dance scene
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"You gave up everything you had and you found me broken" We meet Simon's & River's parents & we see the stark contrast between the world they grew up in & the life they must lead now. Wonderfully written we see exactly how much Simon loves his sistmoreless

9.5

"Superb"

By mistresswitch, Jun 05, 2009 Report Abuse

The plot... the plot is like any other episode really. Mal gets a deal, deal feels hinky, deal goes bad, guns & wits come out, they win over in the end, but just because it's the same-ole thing, does NOT mean in watching it is. A terrific episode, one I'm looking forward to seeing again.

It is a Simon & River episode, we see some back story, we see how Simon is still frustrated with his "lot in life" but how he tries to cope with it all again. He again puts his foot in it with Kaylee, but that's nothing new, so, we see that he's a truly gifted doctor & brother, but a little slow when it comes to women.

We are not all born into privilege, but many that are can not deal well when they are forced to leave it. Here we see how much Simon truly loves his sister, how he will go to the ends of the "verse" to protect her. He gave up a life filled with privilege and wants (rather than needs) and for her, he left it all behind to live on board a ship that has nothing but day-to-day needs and criminal activities.

When trying to convince his parents there was something wrong their replies were that it was him missing her, it was a game, they always loved their games and Simon could not convince them that they were wrong. It was interesting to see even their parents were aware of how strong a bond that they had.

We also got to see in a flashback the extent of River's natural talent, her story time/game holds great clues as to what else is happening in the "verse", fans will know what it means, it just goes to show what a truly talented young woman she really is.

One of the scenes that really stuck out for me was when the inevitable shoot-out takes place and simultaneously River finds herself dancing amongst the people. The scene was beautifully written and the contrast of the 2 lifestyles was clearly shown. River we found out earlier was a dance student in her youth, before her problems began, so when we cut to the scene of her dancing, not only are we shown the contrasting lifestyles, but also her frailty, her child-likeness as well. I saw her firstly here as a truly innocent woman who has lost, not only her memory, but her innocence in life as well.

The most beautiful scene to see his absolute devotion to his sister, regardless of her state of mind is when he joins her on the pyre. Truly touching, we are brought straight into his heart.

We've always known there was more to Shepherd Book than meets the eye. He's always seemed to be a man of Logical Morals. Meaning that he believes in morals, but also logic must prevail. He is a man of faith & spirit, but is not closed to "what must be done". Again, the episode has a brilliant contrast to it, we see Shepherd's quiet faith and then we are confronted with the towns folks faith. Knowing most of the specific references they were making I was moved initially to pity, to hate, then pity again, yet with Shepherd, I've always had a quiet respect for him and the way his character has been written. I hope that if they do a sequel to Serenity we have some more back story on him.

An interesting episode that will give you further insight into 3 of our quieter characters.

Two Thumbs up from me on a terrific episode!

"You gave up everything you had and you found me broken"
Rivermoreless

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Nice episode. Not the best, but still well worth watching.

9.5

"Superb"

By WolfgalX, Jan 16, 2009 Report Abuse

One of the things I like about this show is that it's not completely sci-fi and not totally a western. Their problems parallel some of the problems we're having now, or have had in the past.

Obviously, River's "situation" in the village reminds one about the Salem Witch Trials, in which people used fear to justify acts that look idiotic in our eyes. And yet, Firefly is set in the future, where we would expect people to have more sense. That's what makes it so different from the science fiction shows that attempt to outdo each other in special effects and explosions.

Safe is not the best episode of the series, but it's enjoyable. I recommend it.moreless

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A great episode concentrating on River and Simon

8.5

"Great"

By Parricida, Jan 12, 2009 Report Abuse

It was really great to see episode on those two and get more to know their past and how the bound between those two was built as Simon was ready, and did, gave up everything for his sister.

The story itself is nothing too special - dropping of those cows from previous episode, getting into trouble.. the last part sounds very familiar.

Anyway - the whole thing with River and Simon on that village.. and the way they tried to burn her.. and Simon standing up - he does not look very much the guy to fight but for his sister - the look even - what he is ready to everything to her.. even to die with her.. that was marvelous.. And I most say the scene where there was the firefight and clips of River dancing between.. that was great too.. little ironic.. the music, mainly, but it worked dynamicly so well.moreless

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One of the best episodes to quote from.

9.8

"Superb"

By woundedwindow, Apr 12, 2008 Report Abuse

I loved this episode, every characters personalities we're truly highlighted in this episode. This episode had many excellent quotes but I think my personal favorite had to be close to then end of the episode.

Patron: [River is about to be burned at the stake] This is a holy cleansing. You cannot think to thwart God's will. Mal: Y'all see the man hangin' out of the spaceship with the really big gun? I'm not saying you weren't easy to find, but it was kind of out of our way and he didn't wanna come in the first place. Man's lookin' to kill some folk. So really it's his will y'all should worry about thwarting. Mal: [to Simon] Gotta say, Doctor, your talent for alienatin' folks is near miraculous. Simon: Yes, I'm very proud. Mal: [about River] Cut her down. Patron: The girl is a witch. Mal: Yeah, but she's our witch. [Cocks shotgun and aims at Town Patron] Mal: So cut her the hell down.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Anybody working with cows will find the shot of the empty cargo bay, with neat little piles of cow manure despite a herd of the animals milling around in there for days, highly suspect. Also, one of the cows kicks a cow patty as they exit, showing it is a solid form and not at all mushy and a real one would be. Edit
- Simon's comment about Book's injury being the "first decent wound" doesn't make much sense since Mal was badly injured previously in "Out of Gas" and Simon ended up treating him. However, this episode was actually filmed and produced prior to that one but aired out of sequence by Fox, explaining the apparent continuity error. Edit
Notes
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- The "Previously on Firefly" clips at the beginning show several scenes, mostly of Book and Simon, that we haven't previously seen on Firefly. They're from episodes that were produced prior to this episode, but the audience hasn't seen yet since Fox is showing them out of order. Edit
Quotes
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- Zoë: Knew a man who had a hole clean through his whole shoulder, once. Used to keep a spare hankie in there. Edit
- River: Liou koe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze duh bun ur-tze. (Ignorant son of a drooling harlot and a monkey) Edit
- Mal: I've gotta say, doctor, your talent for alienating folk is near miraculous. Simon: Yes, I'm very proud. Edit
Allusions
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- Doralee: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Doralee quotes from the Bible, Exodus 22:18 in the King James version. Edit