"Firefly" Out of Gas (2002)

Director:

David Solomon

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator)
Tim Minear (written by)

TV Series:

"Firefly" (2002)

Original Air Date:

25 October 2002 (Season 1, Episode 5)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

When Serenity's life support system fails, Mal orders the crew off the ship - but he stays behind.

Plot Keywords:

Life Support | Oxygen | Birthday | Hold Up | Multiple Time Frames

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
Steven Flynn	...	Captain
Ilia Volok	...	Marco
Lyle Kanouse	...	Salesman
Dax Griffin	...	Bester
Roderick McCarthy	...	Lacey #1 (as Roderick L. McCarthy)

Runtime:

44 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Mandarin

Colour:

Colour

Certification:

USA:TV-14

Company:

Mutant Enemy

Trivia:

The red button Wash rigs to call the shuttles back and return the crew to Serenity was removed from the set on one of the last days of filming by Alan Tudyk, as by that time the cast and crew knew they were being canceled. Scenes on the bridge for "Firefly: Out of Gas (#1.5)" (2002) were filmed the next day, and the button is noticeably absent. Alan then mailed the button to series creator Joss Whedon, with a note saying "When you get your miracle, just hit this" (quoting Wash's line). Whedon was hoping to revive the series, which he did, in the form of the film Serenity (2005).

Goofs:

Continuity: The leather rope necklace that Zoe wears is a symbol of her commitment to Wash (like a wedding ring) but in the flashback scene in this episode where Zoe and Wash first meet, she is wearing the necklace.

Quotes:

Mal: Look, we finally got ourselves a genius mechanic. It's about time we hired someone to fly this damn thing!
Bester: Genius! No one's ever called me that before. Shiny!

Excellent, well written episode, one of the best.

I love Firefly, all of it. But this episode was so powerful that it should have been the final episode. We get to know the characters a little better and it sort of had a surrealistic feel to it that made it different from the other episodes. All the typical Whedon cleverness you've come to expect was present in all its glory, but it felt more dramatic and serious. It was like watching a family you really like fall apart after many, many years of bonding. It's very sad and disturbing to see a trusty spaceship, that's normally bursting with life and activity, completely abandoned. And for a while, I thought that we had seen the last of its crew,during the flashback sequences.

Fortunately, the ending could not have been any better. It may seem schmaltzy, but the director played it out exceptionally well. I'm a pretty jaded, cynical guy, but this really moved me to teary eyes. I don't want to tell what happens exactly, but I think that if you know your Whedon, you'll be able to sense it. It doesn't matter, though, because it was inevitable. And like I said, this whole episode would be even more powerful if it was listed as the final episode.