Our Mrs. Reynolds

"Our Mrs. Reynolds" is the sixth episode of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon.

"Our Mrs. Reynolds"
Firefly episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 6
Directed byVondie Curtis Hall
Written byJoss Whedon
Production code1AGE05
Original air dateOctober 4, 2002 (2002-10-04)
Guest appearance(s)

As an unexpected reward for an unpaid job, Mal finds himself married to a naïve, subservient young woman named Saffron (Christina Hendricks). Saffron is all too willing to play the role of housewife, which leads to an argument between Wash and Zoe and lectures from Shepherd Book.

Plot

A covered wagon makes its way through a shallow river. When bandits on horseback stop it and demand its cargo, the driver Jayne and his "wife" Mal pull their weapons on them. Mal offers them the choice of jail or death. In the ensuing shootout, Mal, Jayne and Zoe kill them all. There is a party that night at the settlement that had been plagued by the outlaws. Mal dances with a beautiful young woman, who gives him a wreath and wine, while an old man gives Jayne a wooden rainstick.

After Serenity is underway again, Mal encounters a stowaway in the cargo bay. The young woman, Saffron, informs him that she is his wife. Shepherd Book reads up on the local customs and informs Mal that he had inadvertently taken part in the local marriage ritual by accepting a wreath of flowers, drinking her wine, and dancing together.

Mal has a heart-to-heart talk with the woman. Despite Mal's encouragement to be her own woman, Saffron cooks him a meal and offers to wash his feet. Jayne attempts to trade his favorite gun, "Vera", for Saffron, but Mal turns him down.

When Mal enters his quarters later, Saffron manages to kiss him. However, her lips are covered with a narcotic which renders him unconscious. Saffron heads to the cockpit and tries her wiles on Wash. When she is unsuccessful, Saffron knocks him out with a kick to the back of the head. She quickly takes control of the ship, setting it on a mysterious course and sabotaging the controls, then welding the door shut behind her as she leaves. Running to a shuttle to escape, she meets Inara and tries to seduce her too. Inara plays along to buy time, but the alarm goes off. Inara compliments Saffron on her skillful lying. After dodging a kick from Saffron, Inara rushes to Mal after Saffron claims that she is Malcolm Reynolds' widow. After Inara finds him only unconscious, she kisses him, then collapses after calling for help, another victim of Saffron's drug.

After breaking into the bridge, Kaylee and Wash are able to restore only the navigational system. They are headed straight for a "net". Book explains that the net will probably electrocute everyone inside, leaving the ship to the net's operators. Mal has Jayne shoot a crucial part of the net with Vera, shorting it out. Jayne also ruptures the window of the net's control compartment, ejecting the two men inside into space.

Later, on a snowy world, Mal bursts into Saffron's cabin and, after an unsuccessful attempt to get some answers, knocks her unconscious. Back on Serenity, Mal presses Inara for an explanation of her supposed dizziness. Inara thinks Mal knows about the kiss and agrees to "not play" with him, but Mal reveals he thinks she kissed Saffron.

Deleted scene

River confounds the crew with one of her seeming whimsies, this time demanding that Book marry her and Simon. When Simon tries to explain that they can't get married because they are siblings, River gets very upset and questions his love for her. Mal and Saffron then come in and River accuses Saffron of being a thief, though River says she never saw Saffron stealing food. This indicates River's knowledge of Saffron's true nature, though at this point Saffron is still playing the subservient wife. After they leave, River takes a pillow from nearby and puts it in her dress at the stomach, stating that she and Simon have to get married now: "I'm in the family way."

Joss Whedon said on the DVD commentary that this was one of his, the cast's and the crew's favorite scenes, but they had to edit it out due to time constraints. Because this scene was cut, River has no lines in this episode.

Production details

According to Jayne, "Vera" needs oxygen around her to fire; however, real-world gunpowder incorporates both fuel and oxidizer and will combust regardless of the presence or absence of atmosphere. According to the DVD commentary, the episode's producers checked this with a gun expert, but were incorrectly informed. It is possible that the limitation deals more with the action of the rifle, because some metals normally made to work in an atmosphere will vacuum weld together with no air present. It's also possible that the fictional, 26th century Vera used a propellant or particular ammunition type unlike any real-world 21st century gun, that does indeed require oxygen.

Vera herself is a rather extensively modified Saiga-12 semi-automatic shotgun.

The episode's title, "Our Mrs. Reynolds," is a play on the 1952 radio show, Our Miss Brooks.

Guest Cast

References
    • Espenson, Jane; Glenn Yeffeth (eds.). Finding Serenity: Anti-heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's "Firefly". Dallas, Texas: Benbella Books. ISBN 1-932100-43-1.
    • Rhonda V. Wilcox; Tanya Cochran (20 May 2008). Investigating Firefly and Serenity: Joss Whedon's Worlds Beyond: Science Fiction on the Frontier (Investigating Cult TV Series). I B Tauris & Co Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84511-654-5.
    • Joss Whedon (1 Sep 2005). Serenity: The Official Visual Companion. Titan Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84576-082-3.
    • Joss Whedon; et al. (25 August 2006). Firefly: The Official Companion: Volume One. Titan Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84576-314-5.
    • Joss Whedon; et al. (25 August 2006). Firefly: The Official Companion: Volume Two. Titan Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84576-372-5.
    • Joss Whedon (December 9, 2003). The Complete Series: Commentary for "Serenity" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
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