The Message (28 Jul. 2003)

A dying request from an old army buddy turns treacherous for Mal, Zoë, and the rest of the crew.

Director:

Tim Minear

Writers:

Joss Whedon (creator), Joss Whedon,

Stars:

Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk

Cast

Episode cast overview:
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
Jonathan M. Woodward	...	Tracey
Richard Burgi	...	Lieutenant Womack
Al Pugliese	...	Amnon Duul
Tod Nakamura	...	Fendris
Craig Vincent	...	Skunk
Morgan Rusler	...	Barker

Storyline

A pleasant day out at a space station turns sour when Mal and Zoe receive the dead body of one of their old army buddy's in the post office. Their old friend is named Tracey who fought with them during the Battle of Du-Khang during the Alliance-Independence Civil War six years earlier. Along with Tracey's body is an audio message, asking them to take him to his home planet to be buried by his parents. However, Mal begins to suspect something might be wrong when Alliance agents, led by the relentless Lt. Womack, start chasing Serenity, demanding return of their property: the body. It soon turns out that Tracey is actually alive and reveals the real reason why he faked his death, and why he's going to die soon.

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Plot Keywords:

old friend | death | hat | tape recording | back from the dead | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Mandarin

Release Date:

28 July 2003 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mutant Enemy

Technical Specs

Runtime:

44 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although it is not the last episode aired, this was the last episode ever shot.

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Goofs

While listening to Tracey's recorded message, Jayne removes the hat he received from his mother, but in the next shot he is seen in the background wearing the hat once again.

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Quotes

Lieutenant Womack: And really, I was just bluffing with that talk about arresting you. I mean, who needs that kind of paperwork? Skunk, light him on fire.

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Connections

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

User Reviews

Not a good episode

As much as I like Firefly, this episode is not good. It's full of embarrassing continuity errors (Jayne's cursed clean/dirty/clean and off/on/off hat, the upside-down cow that isn't), mischaracterizations (a panicking Wash), and sloppy, repetitive writing. Just how many times do we need to hear that lame "if you can't run..." fortune cookie? It feels fake, and everyone's acting (except for the old pro Adam Baldwin) feels forced. Beside, just how many old buddies do Mal and Zoë have? Doesn't look like too many made it if you watch the first scene of the pilot. No, no one had seen it at that point, but Minear and Whedon should have remembered.

The show was canceled during the filming of this and it looks, unfortunately, like they gave up. But if they had just stuck a little harder and turned out a good episode instead of something that really couldn't be aired, might things have gone better? This is the only one I haven't bothered to watch again, despite the few good Jayneisms.