Firefly — 1x03 — The Train Job
Synopsis
The crew of the Serenity, in economic distress, takes a job from a cruel gent named Adlai Niska to rob a train. Mal doesn't ask the particulars, which Niska appreciates.
However, when Mal and Zoe board the train posing as regular passengers, they discover their first wrinkle: Alliance guards. Mal is thrilled at the notion of stealing something from under the Alliance's nose; Zoe's a bit more worried. Regardless, they successfully pull off the heist.
Before they leave the planet, however, they learn that what they stole are medical supplies that are desperately needed by struggling colonists on this world. After Inara helps liberate Mal and Zoe from custody, all the robbed train's passengers are being held, Mal decides (over Jayne's objections) to give back the supplies to those who need them.
The good deed done, Mal sends Niska's thugs back to him empty-handed.
Remarkable scenes
- Mal provoking a fight with the pro Alliance people.
- Jayne: "Hey, I didn't fight in no war. Best of luck though."
- River: "Mal. Bad. In Latin."
- Mal: "Kaylee, what the hell was going on in the engine room? Were there monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys maybe got loose?"
- The sight of the space station.
- The execution of the train job itself.
- Jayne collapsing from having been doped by Simon.
- Mal impaled with Nishka's goon's blade.
- Mal offering one of Nishka's goons his money back, he refuses, so Mal kills him and offers another one of his goons the same deal who very quickly accepts.
Review
What we have here is a story of conflicted morals. Clearly Mal makes arbitrary decisions about what is and what isn't right which is an interesting character flaw for a leader that already know is deeply flawed in many ways but this episode and its moral dilemma leaves you wondering what you're supposed to take away from the supposed moral lesson presented in this story.
I think Mal contradicts himself pretty hard in this episode. He's trying to play both sides of the honorable thief coin. Some honorable thieves believe that their honor to their clients comes before everything else. Mal is clearly sitting in this zone at the beginning of the episode. And some honorable thieves believe that stealing is only right when those who are stolen from do not significantly suffer as a result. This axiom is evident the story of Robin Hood with the catchy phrase "steal from the rich and give to the poor." Mal clearly swings over to this side by the end of the episode.
In the end there's something unappealing about how Mal accepts the job then breaks his word after discovering the cruel details of the work. Either you respect your client's privacy about what is being stolen and do the job no matter what, or you don't and you ask prior to taking the job. This in between crap is not in my opinion acceptable. Mal says to Nishka's goon "we're not thieves. But we are thieves. The point is we're not taking what's his." This most certainly an ineloquent way of stating his principles which lead me to believe he really doesn't understand himself just what his principles are. And if there's anything to be certainly retained from this episode it's this.
The episode does however have a lot going for it especially spectacle value department. The special effects shots of the space station and the train job itself were extremely well done and the humor in this episode is even more effective than in the pilot. Beyond raw spectacle and amusing humor, however, the episode fails to make a point and comes off as average at best.