The Message

Episode aired Jul 28, 2003
TV-PGTV-PG
44m

IMDb RATING

8.4/10

4.2K

YOUR RATING

S1.E14

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

IMDb RATING

8.4/10

4.2K

YOUR RATING

Top credits

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Photos6

Nathan Fillion and Jonathan M. Woodward in Firefly (2002)

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Director
- Tim Minear
Writers
- Joss Whedon
- Tim Minear
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Storyline

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Mal and his crew are having entertainment in a space station and Mal goes to the post office to check and he receives a big trunk addressed to Zoe and him. When he opens the box, he finds the corpse of their army pal Private Tracey. They also find a message from Tracey asking Mal and Zoe to deliver his boy to his parents in a planet. The Serenity heads to the planet and out of the blue, she is attacked by another spaceship. Ml asks Simon to make an autopsy in Tracey and they discover that the man is alive. What has happened to Tracey? —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

weightlifting

dying request

old army buddy

faked death

death scene

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Trivia
The hat Jayne's mother made for her son became a fan favorite, with people creating their own knit and crochet versions and one fan even writing a song about it ("Jayne's Hat" by Stan Peal).

Goofs
When Tracey is threatening Mal on the bridge a hand can be seen behind Mal through the ship's window reaching for a chunk of snow. Visible at 35:17.

Quotes
Tracey: When you can't run, you crawl, and when you can't crawl - when you can't do that...
Zoë: You find someone to carry you.

Connections
References Doctor Who (1963)

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

User reviews15

Review

Top review

10/10

Absolutely Underrated- Chekhov's Gun x4

This episode has the perfect ending.

During a certain scene there are 4 Chekov's guns, aka 4 lines that pay off at the end literally and thematically via foreshadowing.

It takes at least two viewings and some skill at analyzing art to spot all four of these "guns." Once you recognize how every single line and even movement was selected as foreshadowing for the end, then you will appreciate this as one of if not the very best Firefly episode. There is a real reason this episode almost won a Hugo.

Unfortunately, most people today will not catch the well-hidden subtleties that Whedon and Minear injected into the script, and so this episode shall forever endure the tragedy of under-appreciation.

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