TVSquad

(Unaired) I'm sure some diehard Firefly fan will know the answer to this (if there is a known answer), but I wonder if Joss was at all influenced by Blade Runner when he came up with the idea for this show. The future-Asian feel was present in the opening scenes of this episode, much as we see in Blade Runner, complete with a multitude of TV screens of all shapes and sizes, most of which are displaying some kind of commercial.

As soon as I saw Tracey in the flashback scenes (which, by the way, I wish they did more of in the series -- and maybe they would have, if the show lived on), I knew I saw that actor before in something. Two seconds later, I knew he was the vampire on the 'Conversations with Dead People' episode of Buffy, and also as Knox on a few episodes of 'Angel'. Looks like Joss has a sweet spot for ol' Jonathan M. Woodward -- he hit the Joss trifecta!

I wonder if there's a movie in the pre-Serenity days. Something about the war with the Alliance and all that. It seems it's a big open canvas that could possibly draw in fans of the Serenity movie and TV series. Then again, it might feel like it's being sucked dry.

Another interesting appearance was Richard Burgi of Desperate Housewives. He definitely plays that bad guy role well, and though as much as Desperate Housewives pains me to watch sometimes, he's been the best thing about the show. What was it with Firefly and Desperate Housewives actors anyway?

We saw a bit more of Kaylee's struggling relationship with Simon, as well as yet another interesting view of Shepherd Book as he squared off against the boarding crew. Damn, it sucks we never get to know more about his character.

The final scene was very well done, and was an interesting take on what other colonized planets can be like -- not all of them are barren, hot deserts.

One quote I loved, besides my usual Jayne-ism, was from Mal: "You just killed yourself. I just carried the bullet for a while."

Jayne-ism of the episode:
"What'd y'all order a dead guy for?"