"Firefly"
Heart of Gold (2003)

Director:

Thomas J. Wright

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator)
Brett Matthews (writer)

TV Series:

"Firefly" (2002)

Original Air Date:

4 August 2003 (Season 1, Episode 12)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Western

Plot:

The Serenity responds to a distress call from Nandi, an old friend of Inara's, who is running a brothel on the moon of Deadwood...

Plot Keywords:

Sex Scene | Brothel | Standoff | Heroine | Pregnancy

Cast

Nathan Fillion	...	Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds
Gina Torres	...	Zoë Washburne
Alan Tudyk	...	Hoban 'Wash' Washburne
Morena Baccarin	...	Inara Serra
Adam Baldwin	...	Jayne Cobb
Jewel Staite	...	Kaylee Frye
Sean Maher	...	Dr. Simon Tam
Summer Glau	...	River Tam
Ron Glass	...	Shepherd Book
Melinda Clarke	...	Nandi
Kimberly McCullough	...	Chari
Fredric Lehne	...	Ranse Burgess (as Fredric Lane)
Tracy Ryan	...	Petaline (as Tracy Leah Ryan)
Heather Black	...	Helen
Angie Hart	...	Lucy

Runtime:

42 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Mandarin

Colour:

Colour

Certification:

Australia:M

Trivia:

In keeping with the idea of fusion between the American and Chinese cultures, during the funeral in the episode "Heart of Gold", the predominant color is not black, but white; the Chinese color of mourning.

Goofs:

Continuity: The first shot we see of Nandi waking up shows her hair loose on the pillow, and her hand curled up on the sheet beside her; in the next shot, a close-up, her hair is mostly tucked behind her ear and her hand is closer to her face than previously.

Quotes:

Mal: This is my first mate, Zoë. I'll introduce you to the rest later. They're good folk.
Jayne: Can I start gettin' sexed already?
Mal: Well, that one's kinda horrific.

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Lever Action Style

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Classic wild west shoot out. Maginificent 7 or 9 style episode of the future. Clichés of the ole west but who doesn't like that. Traditional trademark of the show. Humor, fun, and action climax. Our Big Damn Heroes looking for work fined a job through Inara. An old friend needs help. Inara knows just the man her man to get it done. Nandi an owner of brothel on an arid world out in the border has local trouble. She is in need of some gunslingers. Mal and crew is their answer. A rancher who favored one of the girls feels the baby she is carrying is his. He and his wife childless want to steal it from her. The girls are kin to Nandi. Hiring the crew will save the day. Double cross by a harlot the crew's job has turned into gunfight at the OK Corral. A good plot with humor that turns into action firefight. American western episode in the classic sense. The ending does work out with a twist. Not to mention it has an effect on Inara and Mal's relationship. Just another day in the life of our BDHs.