Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Firefly catchup with episode 5, Safe. This so is so unique and just so easy to get into so I can’t understand why there is only one season. Unless the quality drops massively from the next episode onwards, then I don’t get why there are not more episodes.

Simon and River got a lot of focus this episode and I was all for it. They have both been quite mysterious up to this point and it was great to have at least one layer of the back story peeled away. Also, was that a young Zak Efron playing Simon in the flashback? It really did look like him. One of the flashback also mentioned a secret code hidden within spelling errors and it really reminded me of a similar instance in the third A Series of Unfortunate Events book. I wonder which came first?

River was a very imaginative child and it is actually quite sad seeing her so happy before whatever happened to her happened. Back in present day Mal’s main concern regarding River was whether she was going to scare the cows on board the ship. That may seem silly but he had a point: they never have much luck with any of their cargo.

The underlying attraction that Kay Lee has for Simon continued to bubble, but he did a good (albeit unintentional) job of potentially messing things up. I don’t know how the actress does it, but I just felt so bad for Kay Lee when Simon criticised that plate and then went on a mini rant. Every time she is on screen she always makes you feel something, whether that be a good emotion or bloody sad! Things didn’t get much better for Simon as not only did River wander off, but when he found her he ended up getting kidnapped himself alongside River by a group of locals. This happened at the same time that Book got shot so that was a very rough couple of seconds for the team.

I actually found myself pretty mad when the crew just decided to leave Simon and River despite knowing that they had been kidnapped. It really stung because Simon was sure that they would come to rescue him and he just had to watch as the ship flew away. No one really objected either but I guess there was Book’s life to think about. At least they went and saved them in the end and Mal finally called them part of his crew. That’s what Mal does: he makes you annoyed at him then always manages to win you round again.

The kidnapping was due to Simon being a doctor and the village needing one. It was much more interesting then just a generic ransom or eating them story thread. It did make me laugh though how everyone blindly ignored any wrong-doing on the kidnappers part. They needed a doctor and all they cared about was getting one and not how he got there. Simon actually seemed quite willing to get stuck in until River was declared a witch and to be burned to the stake! How exactly does she know the stuff that got her in trouble though? Is she psychic? She really didn’t help herself though, basically outing the current leader of the village for murdering the previous one. This episode worked hard to emphasise the powerful and unbreakable bond between Simon and River, and this climaxed beautifully when Simon clung to his sister and was prepare to be burnt alongside her if he could not save her. Luckily they didn’t have to as the aforementioned rescue took place. We actually got a happy ending to as they all ate dinner together. Sadly you just know it isn’t going to last.

DD Rating: 9/10