“Objects in Space”

1AGE11
Writer: Joss Whedon
Director: Joss Whedon
Airdate: 12/13/02

Serenity glides through space near a moon. Inside the ship, River awakes in her bunk. She leaves her room to find Simon and Kaylee talking and flirting on the couch. Simon is telling a story about getting drunk on sake after graduating medical school, and how good those days were. River thinks she sees Simon turn to her and say, "I would be there right now." Shocked, she leaves. She next comes across Jayne and Book. Jayne is marveling at Book's abstinence. During the conversation, River sees Jayne turn to her and say, "I got stupid. The money was too good," followed by Book saying, "I don't give half a hump if you're innocent or not." She leaves them and continues wandering.

In the cargo area, River steps on what she thinks is a tree branch. She picks it up and suddenly sees hundreds of leaves on the ground. The crew begins to swarm around her, telling her to "put it down." In reality, she had picked up a gun off the floor. Mal eventually grabs the gun off of her. River runs off and Mal tells Simon he needs to take extra care with her.

Continuing through space, a bounty hunter's ship comes up behind Serenity. Inside the ship, we see that the hunter, Early, has "Wanted" posters of River. In the cockpit of Serenity, Mal and Jayne enter, arguing about Jayne leaving his gun out for River to find. Mal wonders if it's time to bolt River in her room. Wash thinks that's a little drastic, and Zoe agrees, saying River has probably never picked up a gun before. Kaylee appears and disagrees.

Outside, Early leaves his ship and floats over to Serenity. In the dining area, Kaylee tells the crew the story of their mission to rescue Mal from Niska. Kaylee was pinned down, and River took Kaylee's gun, closed her eyes and blasted three Feds. Below deck, River is listening to their conversation through the floor. Atop the ship's hull, Early listens in electronically as Mal asks the crew if River belongs on the ship. They debate whether she has psychic abilities.

The crew hunkers down for the night. Early opens a hatch and sneaks into the ship. Mal spots Early. They fight and Mal is knocked down a hatch. Early locks the doors to everybody's private quarters. He finds Kaylee tinkering with the engines. He ties her up and tells her not to make any trouble before asking her where River sleeps.

Book walks back from the bathroom when he hears some noise upstairs. Early jumps down the stairs with a dropkick, knocking Book out cold. Early moves through the ship, finding Simon next. He asks where River is. She isn't in her bunk. Simon refuses to help Early, who says that's fine. He can just shoot Simon now, then go upstairs and have his way with the little mechanic he tied up in the engine room. Simon relents and they go off in search of River.

Throughout the ship, there aren't any signs of River. Early begins to lose patience and shouts out for her to come up before he spreads her brother's brains around a bit. River's disembodied voice speaks out to Early. It says he's wrong about her being on the ship. They didn't want her there, so she melted away. The voice fills the entire ship, waking up Mal from his unconscious state, and awaking Wash and Zoe in their bed.

Early asks what she means. The voice says she's not on the ship. She's in the ship. She is the ship. Simon calls out his sister's name, but the voice says, "River's gone." Early asks whom they're talking to. The voice says, "You're talking to Serenity. And Early, Serenity is very unhappy."

Kaylee is still tied up in the engine room. The voice speaks to her and reassures her. Early isn't going to hurt her. He's only visiting. Kaylee apologizes for telling Early where she was, but the voice says it's okay.
Still in the cockpit with Simon, Early wonders where the voice went. The voice laughs and asks if she can call Early "Jubel." He says nobody calls him that, but the voice says his mother does. Or did. She's dead now. The voice tells Early his intentions are dishonorable. He hurts people. Early says he only hurts people when he has to, and he's about to shoot Simon if she doesn't come out.

By this time, Mal is coming to. The voice says she needs him to do her a favor. Over in the engine room, Kaylee is now untied. She sneaks out the door and through the ship. Just outside the cockpit, she unlocks the door. Inside Wash and Zoe's room, the voice describes Early to them, and says they can't use any guns on him. Just sit and be good and he'll go away. Below deck, the voice tells Mal to go now.

In the cockpit, the lights go down. The voice tells Early he's not welcome here. He says he ain't leaving empty-handed. The voice tells Early all about his past. He became a bounty hunter because he likes the power. The pain. Early finally realizes. She's not in his mind, she's on his ship! We see River sitting in Early's pilot seat. She says she can see everything from there and tells him to put his gun away. He does. He tells River not to fiddle with any dials. River says he's not righteous. He has issues. He nervously agrees with everything she says.

She says not to worry. She's going away with Early since she's too dangerous and nobody trusts her on the ship. She'll become his bounty and just fade away. Early begins walking back to his ship, but Simon attacks him. They struggle briefly, but then Early shoots Simon.

Early walks down the stairs from the cockpit when Simon jumps him from behind. Early knocks him off. He exits through a hatch on top of the ship and watches his ship glide toward Serenity. Mal appears behind him and shoves him off into space. He slowly floats away. River floats down to Mal and the Serenity's crew is back together. Simon talks Zoe through surgery to remove the bullet from his leg.

As the ship returns to normal, Kaylee and River happily play a game together, and we cut to Early floating in space. Alone.

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