Our Mrs. Reynolds

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“Our Mrs. Reynolds”
Firefly episode
Image:Fireflymrsreynolds.jpg "Mrs. Reynolds"
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 6
Guest stars	Christina Hendricks
Written by	Joss Whedon
Directed by	Vondie Curtis-Hall
Production no.	1AGE05
Original airdate	4 October 2002 (Fox)
Episode chronology
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"Safe"	"Jaynestown"

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

As an unexpected reward for an unpaid job, Mal finds himself married to a naïve, subservient young woman named Saffron. The crew are amused at his discomfort and Book lectures him on propriety, but things aren't as smoothly straightforward as they thought them to be.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Foreshadowing 3 Trivia 4 References and external links

[edit] Synopsis

As a Conestoga wagon with a hunched-over couple makes its way through a shallow river, a band of men on horseback stops it to demand its cargo. The lead bandit even insists on "a little one-on-one time with the missus". The driver, Jayne, suggests they reconsider, insulting the frumpily dressed woman sitting next to him. As "she" raises her head, it turns out to be Mal, who continues the banter with Jayne until they suddenly pull their weapons on the bandits. The subsequent exchange of gunfire, aided by Zoe in the wagon, quickly defeats the bandits. At a celebration party that night, an inebriated Jayne and Mal accept gifts from the poor townspeople. Mal's is a wreath, a bowl of wine, and a dance from a lovely young woman.

After Serenity is underway again, while Mal is putting away some cargo, he is surprised by the young woman, who announces that she is his wife. Mal asks Zoe to call Wash down, presumably to have him return to the planet, but Zoe calls the entire crew down to the cargo bay to enjoy the show. While Mal sputters his insensitive attempts to disavow "Mrs. Reynolds", Shepherd Book quickly reads up on the local customs and finds that the wreath, wine, and dance were a marriage ritual. The captain is indeed married to this mystery girl.

Mal has a heart-to-heart talk with the woman, whose name he eventually learns is Saffron. He tries to convince the frightened, submissive woman that she should stand up for herself. At a loss for what to do, he suggests that she start a life for herself on their destination world, Beaumonde. She promises to be a good wife, but Mal claims "I'd be a terrible husband. You have five whole days to figure that out." She runs off excitedly to cook him a meal. Mal encounters Book, who tells him about possible divorce procedures, but makes clear how he feels about Mal's position: "If you take sexual advantage of her, you're going to burn in a very special level of Hell. A level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theater."

Saffron turns out to be every bit as good a cook as she claimed. As Wash's mouth waters over Mal's boon, Zoe expresses her contempt for the situation — both Mal's "nubile little slave girl" and Wash's implied desire for a wife who cooks. Escaping an offer to have his feet washed, Mal runs off to Inara's shuttle to engage in a more comfortable conflict. In the process of complaining about Mal's irregular schedule and its impact on her work, Inara gets around to expressing her contempt for his making a commitment to this woman and then breaking it. She finally chases him out of the shuttle, where he immediately encounters an armed and menacing Jayne.

Cocking his favorite rifle (named "Vera"), Jayne advances on Mal, demanding respect and explaining how he acquired the gun in a battle against six men. Suddenly, Jayne hands the rifle to Mal. "You offering me a trade?", wonders Mal. After dismissing Jayne's rude attempt at barter, Mal again encounters Saffron, who concedes that she would find work on Beaumonde an acceptable alternative to being wedded to Jayne. Mal surprises himself by sharing some personal history with her, which he apparently hasn't done with anyone else in the crew.

Meanwhile, Serenity passes another craft in space. On the other craft, two men discuss the potential for salvaging the Firefly-class ship, "if she comes our way".

Zoe continues to argue with Wash about the problem Saffron represents, which to Wash seems more like a problem with Zoe. Meanwhile, Mal enters his quarters to find Saffron, wrapped only in a sheet, warming his bed. She insists that, since they are married, she wants to consummate their marriage, even if she is to stay behind on Beaumonde. Mal works hard not only to resist her alluring arguments, but also to insist that she not feel beholden to him just because she was treated as an offering of payment. Saffron convincingly demands that he give her "my wedding night" using a quote from her bible, and contemplating the "special Hell", Mal finally succumbs to a kiss. He quickly succumbs to unconsciousness as well, ("Son of a...") from a potent narcotic contained in her lipstick and the formerly charming ingenue now scornfully observes his senseless form.

Saffron then goes to the bridge to seduce Wash, but Wash more successfully resists her charms, especially given that he's married to "a beautiful woman who can kill me with her pinkie". As he yammers on about Zoe, Saffron rolls her eyes and suddenly kicks him unconscious and off the bridge, locking the door and going to work on the controls. She then welds the bridge doors shut and heads for a shuttle, but is intercepted by Inara. The con artist turns her charms on Inara, who appears to warm to her vulnerability. When the ship alarm sounds, however, both women abruptly drop their pretenses, exchanging ironic compliments before Inara asks "Who are you?" to which Saffron replies "Malcolm Reynolds' widow". A brief fight ensues that allows Saffron to escape in the unoccupied shuttle. Thinking that Mal has been killed, Inara rushes to his room, where he groggily responds to her panicked exclamations. She kisses him and goes to call for help, but soon gets dizzy. Touching her hand to her lips, she realizes how Saffron disabled Mal ("Oh, you stupid son of a…") before collapsing herself.

Mal finally awakens to find most of the crew in his quarters. Simon describes the "good night kiss" that took him out, Wash bemoans having been kicked instead, and Inara comically (and repeatedly) explains that she hit her head falling. Jayne and Kaylee break into the bridge, and Kaylee and Wash get to work on the "masterful job of muck-up" that Saffron made of their ship. Inara suggests that Saffron is exceptionally talented, possibly even Companion Academy-trained.

On their own spacecraft, the scavengers observe Serenity approaching, saying, "That girl's a wonder."

Serenity's crew finally gets a reading on their heading — right into an electronic disassembly net, which is used to salvage space crafts while "cooking everybody inside". While Kaylee struggles to get navigational ability, Jayne uses "Vera" to shoot up one of the net's nodes, shorting the structure just as Serenity passes through, unharmed. Jayne is also able to shoot out a window on the net's control cabin, exposing the scavengers to space.

Later, on a snowy world, Saffron is packing when Mal bursts into her cabin. After a brief struggle, accompanied by Mal's mockery of their supposed wedding nuptials, he asks her why she would go through so much trouble for her con game. "You're assuming the payoff is the point," she replies. After exchanging dubious compliments, and having failed to satisfy his curiosity about her real name, Mal simply knocks her unconscious and leaves with his shuttle.

Back on Serenity, Mal presses Inara for an explanation of how she, a "graceful woman", managed to hit her head while calling for help. When Inara acknowledges that she didn't trip, Mal jumps to wrong conclusion: "I knew you let her kiss you!" Though her professional reputation has taken a minor hit, Inara's emotional indiscretion with the groggy captain remains her secret.

[edit] Foreshadowing

• Book reveals more of his uncanny knowledge of illegal activities when he describes how the latest disassembly nets allow scavengers to hold the ship intact while they blow the atmosphere to kill the ship's inhabitants.

• Inara reveals the extent of her feelings for Mal, who remains completely unaware.

[edit] Trivia

• Jayne introduces the name of his favorite weapon, "Vera", in this episode. He describes it as a "Callahan full-bore auto-lock, customized trigger, double-cartridge thorough-gauge".
• According to Jayne, "Vera" needs oxygen around her to fire, actually an incorrect statement; 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.
• Mal reveals to Saffron the only aspect of his childhood mentioned in the series: that he grew up on his mother's cattle ranch on the world Shadow, with "about 40 hands" as an extended family.
• Mal's description of his mother is fairly similar to the way Joss described his own mother.^{[citation needed]}
• The quote Saffron uses to seduce Mal does not actually appear anywhere in any current edition of the Bible.
• In a deleted scene (featured on the DVD), River is confounding 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. After a discussion with some others who enter the area, River takes a pillow from nearby and puts it in her dress at the stomach, stating that they 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, and they were all sad when they had to edit it out due to time constraints.
• In the middle of the aforementioned deleted scene, River turns to Saffron, who had just entered, and says, "You're a thief." Since Saffron has at this point not yet revealed her true nature, River again seems to be able to uncover hidden truths with no obvious means. Saffron does meekly admit to stealing some food. But like so many of River's statements, the accusation turns out to have a greater implication than its surface meaning.
• Book's whimsically-mentioned "special hell" has become something of a catchphrase among Firefly fans.
• In this episode, the crew are on their way to the planet Beaumonde. This planet is prominently featured later in the film Serenity.

[edit] References and external links

• Firefly — The Complete Series DVD set (UPC 024543089292)
• "Firefly" Our Mrs. Reynolds at the Internet Movie Database
• TV.com: "Our Mrs. Reynolds"
• Firefly Wiki - "Our Mrs. Reynolds" script

The Firefly series
Episodes	Serenity | The Train Job | Bushwhacked | Shindig | Safe | Our Mrs. Reynolds | Jaynestown Out of Gas | Ariel | War Stories | Trash | The Message | Heart of Gold | Objects in Space
Spin-offs	R. Tam sessions | Serenity: Those Left Behind | Serenity
Characters	Derrial Book | Jayne Cobb | Kaylee Frye | Malcolm Reynolds | Inara Serra River Tam | Simon Tam | Hoban Washburne | Zoe Washburne | Minor characters
Terminology	Moons and planets • The Alliance • Blue Sun • Unification War • Serenity Reaver • Browncoat • Firefly slang • Companion