Objects in Space

Episode aired Dec 13, 2002
TV-14TV-14
44min

9.2/10

4.8K

S1.E10

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Adventure Drama Sci-Fi

Serenity encounters a ruthlessly professional bounty hunter, Jubal Early, who will stop at nothing to retrieve River. But River, feeling unwelcome on the ship, takes a novel approach to esca... Read allSerenity encounters a ruthlessly professional bounty hunter, Jubal Early, who will stop at nothing to retrieve River. But River, feeling unwelcome on the ship, takes a novel approach to escaping from the Alliance.Serenity encounters a ruthlessly professional bounty hunter, Jubal Early, who will stop at nothing to retrieve River. But River, feeling unwelcome on the ship, takes a novel approach to escaping from the Alliance.

9.2/10

4.8K

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Sean Maher and Jewel Staite in Firefly (2002)

River has a daydream and holds one of Jayne's weapon believing it was a tree branch; suddenly she awakes and sees Mal and the crew scary. River overhears Mal and the crew discussing about her and she feels rejected. Meanwhile, the ruthless bounty hunter Jubal Early, who has tracked down River, boards the Serenity while everybody is sleeping. He subdues Mal and locks the crew in the cabins; ties Kaylee up in the engine room; hits Shepherd Book on the head; and he finally captures Simon to force him to deliver his sister. However River is missing and out of the blue, she tells through the communication system that she felt rejected and had melted away becoming part of Serenity. The skeptical Early does not believe first, but soon she is convinced she is telling the truth. What will happen to River? —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

episode title spoken by character intruder rape threat bounty hunter three word episode title 19 more

Trivia
Joss Whedon named the bounty hunter "Jubal Early" after hearing that Nathan Fillion is related to the general, who died in 1894. Jubal Early is also the name of a ferry between the Maryland and Virginia sides of the Potomac River.

Goofs
When Jubal Early has landed on Serenity after leaving his craft, he looks into the Galley through the external windows. He crawls forward on the exterior of the hull and places his hand on the window frame just before his head appears from the top of the window. He is in Free Space but his hand is bare, not in the Space suit glove he was wearing when he closed the Airlock on his own craft.

Quotes
Simon: Are you Alliance?
Jubal Early: Am I a lion?
Simon: What?
Jubal Early: I don't think of myself as a lion. You might as well though, I have a mighty roar.
Simon: I said "Alliance."
Jubal Early: Oh, I thought...
Simon: No, I was...
Jubal Early: That's weird.

Alternate versions
The originally-aired version of Objects in Space included a longer version of the scene beginning where Mal and Inara argue (and River comes in to hear their thoughts), clarifying that their discussion is about Inara's imminent departure. The home video version was shortened to match Joss Whedon's intentions, but includes the long version as a deleted scene. (On DVD, this is all explained in the menu, but on Blu-ray it is not.)

Connections
Featured in Cinematic Excrement: Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown (2013)

Soundtracks
The Ballad of Serenity
Written by Joss Whedon
Performed by Sonny Rhodes

Top review

9/10

The Bounty Hunter

River has a daydream and holds one of Jayne's weapon believing it was a tree branch; suddenly she awakes and sees Mal and the crew scary. River overhears Mal and the crew discussing about her and she feels rejected. Meanwhile, the ruthless bounty hunter Jubal Early, who has tracked down River, boards the Serenity while everybody is sleeping. He subdues Mal and locks the crew in the cabins; ties Kaylee up in the engine room; hits Shepherd Brook on the head; and he finally captures Simon to force him to deliver his sister. However River is missing and out of the blue, she tells through the communication system that she felt rejected and had melted away becoming part of Serenity. The skeptical Early does not believe first, but soon she is convinced she is telling the truth. What will happen to River?

"Objects in Space" is the last episode of "Firefly" and also one of the best, with intense participation of River. The bounty hunter Jubal Early is an interesting character and the performance of Richard Brooks is top- notch. Unfortunately this episode ends this great show. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Objects in Space"

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