#1.10 War Stories

[Gin]

From imdb.com and fireflywiki.org

#1.10 War Stories

Original airdate: 12/06/02
Written by: Cheryl Cain
Directed by: James A. Contner
Episode 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
Michael Fairman ... Adelai Niska
Katherine Kendall ... The Councillor
Rolando Molina ... Bolles
John Dunn ... Torturer
Michael Bentt ... Viktor (as Michael A. Bentt)
Adam Pilver ... Vanilla Husband
Johnny Shakespeare ... Torture Victim
Jason Van ... Man

Summary
Wash and Zoe are having a bit of a tiff about Zoe's relationship with Mal, so instead of Zoe going down planet-side for a drop-off, Wash goes with Mal instead, but when they try to sell their stolen Alliance medical supplies, Mal and Wash are ambushed and kidnapped. Turns out their captor is Niska, the crime lord Mal pissed off something fierce back in The Train Job.
There's torture. Lots of it. As well as an extremely exciting rescue by the crew.
Zoe goes in to make a ransom deal. She's only got enough for one of her guys, and she immediately chooses Wash. Wash and Zoe head back to Serenity and arm themselves to the teeth, preparing to go back in with guns blazing to rescue Mal. The rest of the crew surprises her by volunteering to go along.

[Gin]

from wikipedia.org

Synopsis
On Serenity, as Simon reviews the data he collected on River from the 3-D neuro-scanner in "Ariel", Shepherd Book looks over his shoulder, musing about a "warrior-poet" Xiang Yu. Book cites a Xiang Yu quote that suggests that the way to truly learn about someone is to torture them, and wonders if this was the purpose behind the brain surgery done on River. Simon disagrees, believing there was a specific goal the unknown surgeons were hoping to achieve. Elsewhere, crime lord Adelei Niska (last seen in "The Train Job") is having another betrayer tortured, also alluding to Xiang Yu. His new lieutenant, Victor, interrupts him to announce a nearby Firefly-class ship that might belong to Malcolm Reynolds, the man who abrogated a business arrangement with Niska. A delighted Niska orders his man to fetch the culprit.

Back on Serenity, Kaylee playfully chases River around the cargo bay, after the girl "took my apple", despite Jayne having contributed a crate's worth to the ship's stores. Amid the noise, Inara urges Mal to respect the privacy of her imminently arriving client, a local councilor of some political importance. Mal reassures her that he won't cause a scene like the earlier one ("Shindig") that nearly got him killed. Inara is also concerned about the other crew "ogling" her client.

Later, Zoe and Wash puzzle over Jayne's generosity as they munch on the apples. Kaylee asks why Zoe and Mal always cut up their apples, and Zoe (and Mal, who joins them) tell a war story about "griswalds", tiny pressure-sensitive grenades that were embedded explosives in apples by Alliance troops. Wash sardonically embellishes on the story, annoyed at the frequent references to his wife's long history with the captain. Mal vetoes Wash's idea to improve their profit from the medicine sales by bypassing the local middlemen. Wash is surprised by this, because Zoe had told him that she hadn't run it by the captain. Later, Zoe admits to Wash that she had mentioned it, Mal disagreed, she accepted his judgment and then lied to Wash to spare his feelings. This makes Wash all the more upset because of her casual deference to Mal and dishonesty with him.

In the Tams' quarters, River fondly reminisces about her fun with Kaylee, but her chaotic thoughts intrude on her, despite Simon's treatments. Elsewhere, Book chides Kaylee and Jayne for trying to steal a peek at Inara's arriving client... Who turns out to be a woman, against the crew's expectations. (Jayne's response, "I'll be in my bunk," becomes a running gag throughout the episode.)

Preparing the unused shuttle for their business rendezvous, Zoe and Mal discover that it's been sabotaged by Wash, who demands that he go with Mal to the meeting. He explains that he wants to take Zoe's place at Mal's side, so they don't bring back yet another tale of adventure-laden bonding. An annoyed Zoe leaves them to their mission, and Mal reluctantly agrees, more concerned about getting underway than participating in a domestic dispute.

In her quarters, Inara massages the councilor, while remarking that when she chooses her rare female clients, she does so because they are extraordinary in some way, and hints that the councilor's gift is allowing Inara herself to relax and serve her own needs as well as the councilor's.

Meanwhile, Wash defends his assumption of Zoe's role to Mal, and winds up hauling the merchandise to the meeting. As the "milk run" deal goes down, however, the middlemen are killed by men who suddenly arise from the sand and capture Mal and Wash.

Later, as Inara bids goodbye to her client, Zoe becomes concerned about what happened to their missing crew mates. Book volunteers to accompany them, and at the deserted meeting site determines the weaponry used to take their people. Zoe notices the abandoned supplies and a burn trail left on the ground by a short-range craft "not commonly part of a spaceship," but of a space station. The evidence implicates Niska in the kidnapping.

On Niska's skyplex, the kidnappees bicker, with Wash becoming increasingly incensed about both the danger that Mal regularly exposes Zoe to, and that she obeys Mal. Wash questions Mal's assertion that his first mate doesn't blindly obey him, but Mal backs it up by claiming he told her not to marry Wash. Niska appears and begins his Xiang Yu-inspired torture, but Wash and Mal spend the entire time continuing their bickering, all the while refusing to acknowledge the torture. Mal notices that Wash's anger keeps him from collapsing, so he hints about a sexual history with Zoe. Wash, however, is sure this never happened, and claims that Mal should sleep with her, just so his wife could get past what Wash feels is a fixation on her captain. Mal accepts to keep Wash from breaking.

Meanwhile, Zoe collects all the funds remaining from the Ariel job in order to pay off Niska to release her shipmates, counting on his perverse code to treat this as a business transaction. She turns out to be correct—but the sadistic criminal declares that she has only enough money to secure one man's release. Expecting to be entertained at Zoe's dilemma, Niska is disappointed when she chooses her husband before he even finishes his taunt. Niska, claiming she paid a little bit extra, severs Mal's ear and gives it to Zoe as a "refund".

By the time Zoe gets Wash back to the shuttle, he immediately prepares a rescue mission. The rest of the crew, including an initially reluctant Jayne and a very calm Book, choose to assist Wash and Zoe, while Inara tries to gain assistance from the councilor. Wash takes Serenity in unpowered for a precision stealth breach, allowing the crew to board the station before the defenders can respond.

After Mal has endured further torture without breaking down, Niska has a device affixed to Mal's chest which forces thin tendrils underneath his skin, causing extreme pain. The next scene in the torture chamber reveals that Mal has died. His tormentors revive him, leaving the weakened captain lying unrestrained on a table as they slice at him with wire cutters.

As Zoe leads Jayne and Wash toward the torture room, Book, Simon, and Kaylee stay behind to prevent the station personnel from taking the shuttle. While Book and Simon hold their own (with varying degrees of efficacy), Kaylee is unable to attack at all, and retreats when pressed by enemy gunfire. River, who has stayed out of the gunfight up until this point, appears and takes Kaylee's pistol. After a quick glimpse at their attackers, River then emerges and kills all of the enemy troops with single gunshots while her eyes are closed, leaving a visibly shaken Kaylee. River repeats Kaylee's line during the apple-retrieval game, "No power in the ´verse can stop me."

Deep inside the skyplex, the intrusion alarm distracts Niska. Mal uses the distraction to take out the torturer with the same tendril-producing device used on him earlier. As Mal starts to beat on the retreating Niska, the torturer recovers, giving his boss a chance to escape. The rescuers arrive to find Mal being throttled by the torturer. Though Zoe initially suggests Mal must face his torturer alone, he exclaims in the opposite, and the crew guns the torturer down.

Later, Mal joins the crew in Serenity's cargo hold, where he fiddles with his reattached ear, courtesy of equipment supplied by the councilor. Simon expresses discomfort at killing people, but Book reassures him that it's unlikely he actually did kill anyone in the gunfight. In the dining room, in a Saffron-like display of marital devotion, Zoe serves her recuperating husband some soup. Mal enters to remind Wash of the agreement they made during the torture. To Wash's objections, he explains to Zoe about their mutual "burning sexual tension". Zoe plays along, and just as the war veterans awkwardly move as if to embrace each other, Jayne walks in and comments that something about that was "downright unsettling." An irate Wash finally gets up, dragging his wife off. Jayne immediately descends upon the abandoned soup.

[Gin]

from imdb.com

Trivia
* On the DVD Commentary on "War Stories", Alan Tudyk pointed out that despite the way Zoe and Wash were constantly portrayed, with Zoe being taller than her husband, Wash, Alan is in fact taller than Gina Torres. He is 6', she is 5'10''.
* Several spacecraft from Star Trek Voyager are seen in the background of space shots in the series. Most notably the spaceship "extras" visiting Niska's space station, which include a Talaxian cargo ship, Steth's vessel and Kes' ship from the Star Trek series. An American space shuttle is also docked 'Train Job'.
* In the opening scene, where Simon and Book are discussing the operations performed on River, Simon is looking at a computer display of River's brain. The text that scans past underneath the brain model is lines of Javascript code from a web page.
* This is one of two episodes (of different shows) named 'War Stories' that actor Nathan Fillion has appeared in, the other being _"Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place" War Stories (2000)_.

Goofs
* Continuity: When Zoe is walking through the hall of Niska's ship to give him the money, her hands alternate from being at her sides to held up in the air to at her sides again through various cuts.
* Continuity: The money bag is being carried by a guard behind Zoe, but when we see Niska, he already has the bag.
* Continuity: During the assault on Niska's station, Zoe does a roll in the passageway and shoots one of the guards. The shot ends with Zoe standing in passageway, and with Jayne to the side of the shot pointing a handgun down the passageway. The next shot is a close-up of Jayne holding his gun "Vera" instead of the handgun.
* Continuity: Mal has his left ear cut off by Niska, with blood running down his right brow. In one shot you can clearly see his right ear missing with blood running down his left brow.
* Revealing mistakes: A dead guard moves his feet when a gun is fired close by.
* Continuity: Niska's henchman is shown cutting off Mal's left ear. Later, Mal is shown with a bloody wound instead of a right ear. It switches back a few frames later.
* Miscellaneous: In the scene where the traders purchasing the stolen medicine are shot (filmed at Vasquez Rocks, CA) if you look carefully in the background you can see automobiles on a road.

[Gin]

from fireflywiki.org

Quotes
BOOK: Yes, I'd forgotten you're moonlighting as a criminal mastermind now. Got your next heist planned?
SIMON: No. But I'm thinking about growing a big black mustache. I'm a traditionalist.

MAL: Ah, the pitter patter of tiny feet and huge combat boots. SHUT UP!!!

WASH: And they grew into a big tree, and they all climbed up the tree into a magical land with unicorns and a harp.

JAYNE: Grenades cost extra.

ZOE: Is there any way I'm gonna get out of this with honor and dignity?
WASH: You're pretty much down to ritual suicide, lambie-toes.

WASH: I am a large, semi-muscular man. I can take it.

SIMON: You are my beautiful sister.
RIVER: I threw up on your bed.
SIMON: Yep. Definitely my sister.

JAYNE: I'll be in my bunk.

WASH: I can't stand the thought of something happening that might cause you two to come back with another thrilling tale of bonding and adventure.

WASH: Hey, I've been in a firefight before! Well, I was in a fire. Actually, I was fired from a fry-cook opportunity.

WASH: Now I'm learning about scary.

WASH: I don't want you to spare me, Mal. If you think you know what's happening, then you tell me. You wouldn't spare Zoe if she were in this situation with you, would you? You would be planning, and plotting and... possibly scheming. So whatever Zoe would do in this instance is what I wanna do. Do you know why? No matter how ugly it gets, you two always come back with the stories. So... I'm Zoe. Now, what do I do?
MAL: Probably not talk quite so much.

WASH: Once in flight school, I was laconic.

WASH: I mean, I'm the one she swore to love, honor and obey.
MAL: Listen... She swore to obey?

WASH: You she obeys! She obeys you! There's obeying going on right under my nose!

WASH: He's insane.
ZOE: (about Niska) I know it.
WASH: I mean... you've told the d**n stories. Saved you in the war. But I... I didn't know...
ZOE: You mean Mal?
WASH: (nods) He's crazy.

JAYNE: Could be he's harboring some resentment at us for putting his man through our engine.

WASH: Bastard's not gonna get days.

SIMON: Well, it's a clean cut. With the right equipment, I should be able to reattach it. That's assuming there's a head.

MAL: We're starting a book club?

WASH: Grenades?
ZOE: Oh, yes. Thank you, dear.

ZOE: Preacher, don't the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?
BOOK: Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps.

NISKA: You died, Mr. Reynolds.
MAL: Seemed like the thing to do.

JAYNE: Smellin' a lot of "if" comin' off this plan.

ZOE: Okay, people... If it moves, shoot it.
KAYLEE: Unless it's the Captain!
ZOE: Unless it's the Captain.

MAL: You want to meet the real me now?

RIVER: No power in the 'verse can stop me.

MAL: Haven't you killed me enough for one day?

ZOE: This is something the Captain has to do for himself.
MAL: No! No, it's not!

WASH: Mmm. Wife soup.

MAL: I know it's a difficult mission... but you and I... have to get it on.
ZOE: Alright... Take me, sir. Take me hard.
JAYNE: Well that's all kinds of unsettling.


Chinese Phrases

* Tai-kong suo-yo duh shing-chiou sai-jin wuh duh pee-goo. {Wash sounds like Tai-koong soo-yoo-yo duh shing-chow sai-jin woo duh pee-goo}
"All the planets in space flushed into my butt" (Wash, to Zoe about not caring what Mal thinks.)

* Mei-mei
"little sister" {in script without English} (Simon, addressing River.)

* fahng-tzong fung-kwong duh jeh {Mal sounds like fang-tzang...}
"a knot of self indulgent lunacy" (Mal, about Wash & Zoe arguing and Wash going on the job.)

* niou-se {Mal sounds like niou-suh}
"cow dung" (Mal, referring to Wash's sabotage trick to go on the job.)

* Tzao-gao!
"d**n it!" (Mal, as sees laser-sight dot.)

* Meh, tah mah duh hwoon dahn.
"Mother humping son of a b----." (Mal, addressing Niska.)

* Huh choo-shung huh tza-jiao duh tzang-huo! {Book sounds like Huh choo-sahng huh tza-jiao da tang-hwa.''}
"Filthy fornicators of livestock!" (Book, referring to Niska & henchmen, on seeing Mal's ear.)