The Train Job
Encyclopedia
"The Train Job" is the second episode of the American science-fiction
western
television series
Firefly
created by Joss Whedon
, although it was the first to be shown. (The pilot, "Serenity
," was not shown until nine other episodes had been aired.) According to the DVD commentary, Whedon and Tim Minear
had only two days to write the script.
The crew of Serenity take on a hovertrain
heist
commissioned by a sinister crime lord. The cargo
they are after, however, is worth more than they know.
, his first mate, Zoe, and fellow crewman Jayne Cobb are in a bar
. When Lund, one of the other bar patrons gives a loud drunken toast celebrating the anniversary of Unification Day
, former Browncoat
rebel Mal picks a fight. Zoe, who fought with Mal in the war, immediately steps up to help him. Tough-guy Jayne holds back at first ("Hey, I didn't fight in no war. Best of luck, though."), but eventually joins the fight just for the fun of it. As the entire bar attacks them, Mal radios his pilot, Wash, who also happens to be Zoe's husband, and shortly Serenity
dramatically backs up the hapless crew.
Mal runs into one of the passengers in the ship's infirmary, Dr. Simon Tam. Simon is tending to his mentally-disturbed teenage sister River, who occasionally shows flashes of her old genius hidden beneath her insanity. Outside the infirmary, Mal sees one of the other passengers, Book
, a "shepherd" (preacher). Book tells Mal that Simon is very brave for giving up his life as a wealthy doctor to go on the run from the Alliance in order to protect his sister. Book senses that while Mal pretends to be merely an unsympathetic Smuggler, he is protecting the fugitives out of a sense of honor, despite the risk of drawing attention from the Alliance. Mal finds Inara Serra brushing Kaylee Frye's hair in Inara's shuttle. Inara is a beautiful Companion, a licensed and well-respected courtesan
, and Kaylee is the ship's mechanic. The local crime lord, Adelei Niska hires the ship for their next smuggling job.
On a "skyplex" (an orbiting space city
), Mal, Zoe, and Jayne meet with Niska and his giant brutish lieutenant Crow. In order to cement his reputation, and show that he is serious, Niska shows them a bloody dead body hanging by his feet. He killed this man (his wife's nephew), for failing to do a job. Niska outlines the job for Mal and his crew - steal two crates of an unnamed Alliance cargo from a train as it travels from Hancock to Paradiso, and deliver it to Crow at the rendezvous point.
When Mal and Zoe board the train, they discover that an "entire squad" of Alliance troops are also aboard - though not specifically guarding the cargo. After they break into the locked train car and secure the crates, Jayne is lowered in on a winch while Serenity hovers over the train. While they attach the cargo to the winch, a curious Fed trips a smoke trap at the car door. In the resulting melee
, a wounded Jayne is hoisted back to the ship, Mal knocks out the Fed before he sees what's happening, and Mal and Zoe use the smoke as cover to re-enter the passenger car.
On Serenity, Simon patches up Jayne's leg and gives him a shot while Wash parks the ship in a canyon near Paradiso - NOT the rendezvous point. Jayne tells the crew that they should finish the job, leave Mal and Zoe behind, and deliver the cargo to the dangerous Niska. Wash won't leave without his wife and the captain. Shepherd Book, who knows a lot about crime lords for a Shepherd, states that, "If Niska finds out [Mal] is being held, and may speak as to who hired him - I think we're better off being a little late."
Meanwhile, in Paradiso, Mal and Zoe are aghast to find that the cargo was critical medicine
for this poor mining town, in which everyone is suffering from "Bowden's malady," a degenerative disease. The local sheriff, who is questioning everyone from the train, is suspicious of Mal's cover story. Inara appears, and the working-class townspeople, who have never seen a Companion before, make a big fuss over her. Inara plays up her respectable status as a Companion, claiming that Mal is her runaway "indentured man" who persuaded Zoe to leave her husband and escape with him. She tells the Sheriff that she is taking the "runaways" back into her own custody.
Back on the ship, Mal announces to the crew that they will be returning the cargo to the townspeople. However, Crow arrives with henchmen and a violent fight ensues, which the Serenity crew wins. After the villains are secured, Mal and Zoe drive the cargo back to town. They intend to drop off the crates and notify the sheriff once they're well away, but they run into the Sheriff who has overheard their conversation. Realizing the cargo is intact, the sheriff decides to let them go, respecting their courage to do the right thing.
Outside Serenity, Mal returns Niska's money to a trussed-up Crow, proposing that they will stay out of Niska's way from then on. When Crow rejects the offer and threatens to hunt him down wherever he goes, Mal casually kicks him into Serenity' s engine intake. Another trussed-up henchman is then brought before Mal — who begins repeating his proposal — but the second man quickly agrees to take the money back to Niska.
Back on the Alliance cruiser, two mysterious men in suits and wearing blue gloves inquire about a girl — and show the captain a photo of River Tam.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Firefly
Firefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
created by Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
, although it was the first to be shown. (The pilot, "Serenity
Serenity (Firefly episode)
"Serenity" is the two-hour series pilot for the American science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. However, Fox executives were not satisfied with this as a pilot, and so instead, "The Train Job" was created as a second pilot and was the first episode of the series aired....
," was not shown until nine other episodes had been aired.) According to the DVD commentary, Whedon and Tim Minear
Tim Minear
Tim Minear is an American screenwriter and director. He was born in New York, grew up in Whittier, California, and studied film at California State University, Long Beach....
had only two days to write the script.
The crew of Serenity take on a hovertrain
Hovertrain
A hovertrain is a type of high-speed train that replaces conventional steel wheels with hovercraft lift pads, and the conventional railway bed with a paved road-like surface, known as the "track" or "guideway"...
heist
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
commissioned by a sinister crime lord. The cargo
Cargo
Cargo is goods or produce transported, generally for commercial gain, by ship, aircraft, train, van or truck. In modern times, containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.-Marine:...
they are after, however, is worth more than they know.
Synopsis
Captain Malcolm "Mal" ReynoldsMalcolm Reynolds
Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds is a fictional character and main protagonist in the Firefly franchise. Reynolds is played by actor Nathan Fillion in the 2002 TV series Firefly and the 2005 film Serenity. In the series, Reynolds is the captain of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity...
, his first mate, Zoe, and fellow crewman Jayne Cobb are in a bar
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
. When Lund, one of the other bar patrons gives a loud drunken toast celebrating the anniversary of Unification Day
Unification Day (Firefly)
Unification Day is a holiday celebrated in the fictional universe of the science-fiction television series Firefly. It marks the day in which the Alliance forces defeated the resistance in the Unification War....
, former Browncoat
Browncoat
Browncoat is a term with two meanings. One is a nickname for the Independence fighters in the television series Firefly. The other refers to fans of the series.-Fictional meaning:...
rebel Mal picks a fight. Zoe, who fought with Mal in the war, immediately steps up to help him. Tough-guy Jayne holds back at first ("Hey, I didn't fight in no war. Best of luck, though."), but eventually joins the fight just for the fun of it. As the entire bar attacks them, Mal radios his pilot, Wash, who also happens to be Zoe's husband, and shortly Serenity
Serenity (Firefly vessel)
Serenity is a fictional Firefly class spaceship appearing in Joss Whedon's Firefly television series and related works. Set in the 26th century, the series revolves around nine characters, which form the crew of the small transport ship, as they try to make a living through various legal and...
dramatically backs up the hapless crew.
Mal runs into one of the passengers in the ship's infirmary, Dr. Simon Tam. Simon is tending to his mentally-disturbed teenage sister River, who occasionally shows flashes of her old genius hidden beneath her insanity. Outside the infirmary, Mal sees one of the other passengers, Book
Derrial Book
Derrial Book is a fictional character played by Ron Glass in the science-fiction/Western television series Firefly and its sequel movie, Serenity...
, a "shepherd" (preacher). Book tells Mal that Simon is very brave for giving up his life as a wealthy doctor to go on the run from the Alliance in order to protect his sister. Book senses that while Mal pretends to be merely an unsympathetic Smuggler, he is protecting the fugitives out of a sense of honor, despite the risk of drawing attention from the Alliance. Mal finds Inara Serra brushing Kaylee Frye's hair in Inara's shuttle. Inara is a beautiful Companion, a licensed and well-respected courtesan
Courtesan
A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
, and Kaylee is the ship's mechanic. The local crime lord, Adelei Niska hires the ship for their next smuggling job.
On a "skyplex" (an orbiting space city
Space habitat
A space habitat is a space station intended as a permanent settlement rather than as a simple waystation or other specialized facility...
), Mal, Zoe, and Jayne meet with Niska and his giant brutish lieutenant Crow. In order to cement his reputation, and show that he is serious, Niska shows them a bloody dead body hanging by his feet. He killed this man (his wife's nephew), for failing to do a job. Niska outlines the job for Mal and his crew - steal two crates of an unnamed Alliance cargo from a train as it travels from Hancock to Paradiso, and deliver it to Crow at the rendezvous point.
When Mal and Zoe board the train, they discover that an "entire squad" of Alliance troops are also aboard - though not specifically guarding the cargo. After they break into the locked train car and secure the crates, Jayne is lowered in on a winch while Serenity hovers over the train. While they attach the cargo to the winch, a curious Fed trips a smoke trap at the car door. In the resulting melee
Mêlée
Melee , generally refers to disorganized close combat involving a group of fighters. A melee ensues when groups become locked together in combat with no regard to group tactics or fighting as an organized unit; each participant fights as an individual....
, a wounded Jayne is hoisted back to the ship, Mal knocks out the Fed before he sees what's happening, and Mal and Zoe use the smoke as cover to re-enter the passenger car.
On Serenity, Simon patches up Jayne's leg and gives him a shot while Wash parks the ship in a canyon near Paradiso - NOT the rendezvous point. Jayne tells the crew that they should finish the job, leave Mal and Zoe behind, and deliver the cargo to the dangerous Niska. Wash won't leave without his wife and the captain. Shepherd Book, who knows a lot about crime lords for a Shepherd, states that, "If Niska finds out [Mal] is being held, and may speak as to who hired him - I think we're better off being a little late."
Meanwhile, in Paradiso, Mal and Zoe are aghast to find that the cargo was critical medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
for this poor mining town, in which everyone is suffering from "Bowden's malady," a degenerative disease. The local sheriff, who is questioning everyone from the train, is suspicious of Mal's cover story. Inara appears, and the working-class townspeople, who have never seen a Companion before, make a big fuss over her. Inara plays up her respectable status as a Companion, claiming that Mal is her runaway "indentured man" who persuaded Zoe to leave her husband and escape with him. She tells the Sheriff that she is taking the "runaways" back into her own custody.
Back on the ship, Mal announces to the crew that they will be returning the cargo to the townspeople. However, Crow arrives with henchmen and a violent fight ensues, which the Serenity crew wins. After the villains are secured, Mal and Zoe drive the cargo back to town. They intend to drop off the crates and notify the sheriff once they're well away, but they run into the Sheriff who has overheard their conversation. Realizing the cargo is intact, the sheriff decides to let them go, respecting their courage to do the right thing.
Outside Serenity, Mal returns Niska's money to a trussed-up Crow, proposing that they will stay out of Niska's way from then on. When Crow rejects the offer and threatens to hunt him down wherever he goes, Mal casually kicks him into Serenity
Back on the Alliance cruiser, two mysterious men in suits and wearing blue gloves inquire about a girl — and show the captain a photo of River Tam.
Continuity
- Since this second episode was actually the first to be aired, writers Joss WhedonJoss WhedonJoseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
and Tim MinearTim MinearTim Minear is an American screenwriter and director. He was born in New York, grew up in Whittier, California, and studied film at California State University, Long Beach....
had to introduce the characters to the new audience, even though many elements of these introductions were covered in the actual pilot, "SerenitySerenity (Firefly episode)"Serenity" is the two-hour series pilot for the American science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. However, Fox executives were not satisfied with this as a pilot, and so instead, "The Train Job" was created as a second pilot and was the first episode of the series aired....
." Quite a bit of the dialogue alludes to information provided in the pilot. - Kaylee claims that her messy rewiring in the engine room is required because "somebody won't replace that crappy compression coil," which she first brought up in "Serenity." In "Out of GasOut of Gas"Out of Gas" is the eighth episode of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. It differs stylistically from the rest of the series, in that it tells its story alternately in three timeframes: events in the present, events in the near-past that led to the present, and...
," the catalyzer on the compression coil will be the source of the explosion that stops Serenity dead, just as she predicted in "Serenity". - Inara questions Mal walking into her shuttle "unannounced," just as she did in the pilot.
- Niska warns Mal that "things between us [will be] not so solid" if Mal fails to bring him the cargo, and Zoe is perturbed by mental images of the dead man hanging from the ceiling (leading Mal to express a desire for it not to be him). Niska's lieutenant dies rather than accept Mal's returning of the money. Mal's thwarting of Niska's goal comes back to bite Serenity's crew in "War Stories."
- This is our introduction to the ominous "Hands of Blue," two men who are pursuing River.
- As noted by Tim Minear in the DVD commentary, Book's knowledge of underworld dealings (particularly his theory of Niska's reaction to an incarcerated Mal and Zoe) is meant to reference his shady past.
Guest cast
- Tom TowlesTom TowlesTom Towles is an American actor.Towles was born and raised in Chicago. He became an actor after a stint in the U.S. Marines, beginning with an uncredited performance in Dog Day Afternoon . He has appeared in film and television extensively since the 1980s...
as Lund, a thug at the bar Mal, Zoe and Jayne drink at, who takes a disliking to Mal. - Andrew BryniarskiAndrew BryniarskiAndrew Bryniarski is an American actor and a former bodybuilder of Russian descent, who is best known for portraying Steve Lattimer in The Program, as well as Leatherface in the remake of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its prequel and Zangief in the live action Street Fighter movie...
as Crow, Adelai Niska's lieutenant. - Michael FairmanMichael FairmanMichael Fairman is an American actor, and writer best known for his various roles during his long career, which started when he was 31 years old...
as Adelai Niska, the client who hires Mal's crew for the train job. - Gregg HenryGregg HenryGregg Lee Henry is an American theatre, film and television character actor and rock, blues and country musician.-Biography:...
as Sheriff Bourne, leader of the township of Paradiso, who investigates the train theft. - Jeff Ricketts as Blue Glove Man #1
- Dennis Cockrum as Blue Glove Man #2
External links
- "The Train Job" at Firefly Wiki