In
“Trash,” Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and the crew of Serenity
cross paths once more with treacherous Saffron (Christina Hendricks), the
duplicitous criminal who nearly conned them into a pirate’s space trap some
time earlier (“Our Mrs. Reynolds.”)
In
exchange for rescue from a dead moon, Saffron offers to share with the
Firefly’s crew the treasure from the heist of a life-time, or “the perfect crime.” In particular, Saffron claims to know the
exact location and security codes of the Lassiter,
the first laser gun, and thus a valuable antique. The ancient gun now is on display in a
private collector’s home on the planet Bellerophon, one of the central planets. If Mal and the others can steal the Lassiter,
it will fetch a high price on the black market.
Malcolm
and his team plan the caper -- which
involves disguises, a futuristic gated community of sorts, and an automated
drone garbage system -- but everyone is nervous about working with Saffron,
a criminal know that they will double-cross them without thought…
Like
“Ariel,” “Trash” is a great Firefly (2002) caper story, but one
made even better by the presence of Christina Hendricks’ Saffron -- “a brilliant, evil double-crossing snake”
in Mal’s words -- as an uncertain ally.
As
the end of the episode reveals, everyone is playing everyone else in “Trash,”
and so the episode is a con within a con within a con. The
twists and turns are brilliantly orchestrated, especially when Saffron lives up
to form.
Structurally,
“Trash” is intriguing because it opens after the caper’s end, with Mal sitting
naked on a rock in the arid desert. He
says “Yep, that went well,” and the
suggestion is pretty clearly that he’s been had or tricked again; that he’s
failed.
As
the remainder of the episode leads up to this denouement, however, we start to
see that our assumptions about Mal’s presence there (and his tone…) are not correct.
On the contrary, he is undeterred and un-phased about being stripped of his
clothes. And for once, “the job” actually did go well.
The
most delightful revelation in the course of “Trash” is that Inara (Morena
Baccarin) -- who has been vocally upset
with Mal and the plan involving Saffron -- is actually in on the secret,
and is present at the end to procure the Lassiter. It’s nice to see Inara so expertly playing
her role in an under-handed crime plan.
I
wrote some about Saffron (and Hendricks) in “Our Mrs. Reynolds,” but she is the
most charismatic -- in my opinion -- of all Firefly’s villains for the mere fact
that she is such a talented chameleon.
She changes approaches or strategy depending on who she is in the room with,
and seems to make that shift as easily as she breathes. Here, Saffron is able to trick Mal again, by once more showing a vulnerable
side. He knew that moment would come and
planned for it, but the fact is that Saffron again gets the better of Mal. This
makes Mal either an easy mark, or Saffron a positively exceptional con-artist.
Whatever the truth, the moments Mal and Saffron share are wonderful, tense, and
charged with sexual tension.
I
would have loved to see a second season of Firefly for many reasons, but not
the least of which is the return of Saffron.
It would have been great to see her return one more time, or even join
the crew for a time. Could you imagine a
ship with both Jayne and Saffron among the crew?
In
“Trash,” we do learn some more about Saffron’s background, but these facts
don’t fully illuminate her, or make her transparent. We learn that she is the mark’s wife, and
that he has been searching for her for six years. He calls her “Yolanda,” but Saffron also goes
by the named Bridgette. Thus there’s the
sense in”Trash” that we may know one chapter of Saffron’s life, but not
necessarily the most important one, or the truth of things. We also learn that Saffron ran off with an
associate of her husband, and that the associate mysteriously died soon after. Saffron claims she didn’t kill him, but the
problem is that we simply can’t trust a single word that she says.
If
Saffron gets her comeuppance in “Trash,” then Jayne (Adam Baldwin) gets his as
well. Thanks to River (Summer Glau),
Simon (Sean Maher) learns the truth of what happened on Ariel, and gets Jayne
on his medical bay…where he can threaten him with bodily harm. Showcasing his essential decency, however,
Simon never harms Jayne. Instead, he
shows simply and effectively that he is -- and always will be -- better than
Jayne. He shames him, and Jayne, for all
his flaws, is still susceptible to being shamed.
Next
week: “The Message.”
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