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Originally posted by Delvo:

As for the other characters, the information on River is intriguing but obviously incomplete, and now we have an interesting mystery to ponder about Jayne: Why did he un-betray them, BEFORE getting arrested along with them and finding out he wouldn't get his money? The timing seems to suggest that he saw how badly the Alliance had messed up River and decided there's something he dislikes more than he likes money. But maybe the timing's coincidental and he just decided that a long-term gig on this ship was better than a one-time windfall. And either way, it would still leave the possibility that some other non-Alliance figure can still buy him off later...

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Originally posted by Delvo:
I remember when Robert Hewitt Wolf, creator of Andromeda, was fired from any more involvement with Andromeda, and he posted a message that they wanted to make the show more action-oriented and not involve any more of that tiresome mental or emotional stuff, that there was still some hope after a few episodes like "Into the Labyrinth" and "Immaculate Perception", which had it all instead of having to pick one or the other. This is an episode like that, only without the specter of the Tirbunites looming over it and fear of the show's coming ruination hanging in the back of the mind.

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The action was solid on several levels. Jayne's methods continue to be ugly but straightforward and effective, a welcome break after everyone's gotten obsessed with spinning around and floating and dozens of kicks and punches apparently not felt by either participant.

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We've seen at least a couple of the high-tech (and in one case non-lethal) weapons that some have bemoaned the absence of before,

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Mal's handling of Jayne at the end comes as a bit of a surprise but is woven into previous action when Mal points out that they unexpectedly met halfway, with Jayne and the Tams already running, before Mal and Zoe had needed to really get anywhere inside, a subtle point that the viewer could have forgotten until then.

Speaking of Mal's handling of Jayne, the attitude was the perfect way to handle him, but not many others... whom he didn't allow to see it. Good team management.

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As for the other characters, the information on River is intriguing but obviously incomplete,

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and now we have an interesting mystery to ponder about Jayne: Why did he un-betray them, BEFORE getting arrested along with them and finding out he wouldn't get his money? The timing seems to suggest that he saw how badly the Alliance had messed up River and decided there's something he dislikes more than he likes money. But maybe the timing's coincidental and he just decided that a long-term gig on this ship was better than a one-time windfall. And either way, it would still leave the possibility that some other non-Alliance figure can still buy him off later...

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Meanwhile, I liked seeing Simon break out of his stuffy-dork pidgeonhole and turn out to be able to use his mind for something more like Jayne, Mal, and Zoe would usually think up. In a way, it was funny at first, but still had to be taken seriously.

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This episode would have been fine with no humor, but the humor we did get was kept in its place (Jayne reciting his line when he didn't need to and complaining about the high-tech piece of crap not damaging the door, for example) and didn't take on cheesey forms as it often can in an action show, so that it didn't interfere with the feel and flow of the episode's other qualities.

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Also, the change of setting was refreshing, both inside and outside... but this leads me to my one big complaint about the whole thing... would it really have been too much trouble for the water under the landing ship to be just a bit disturbed? We've seen that it stirs up dust before. (HA! Let's see you guys get into a tangential debate of the moral, cultural, and psychological implications of THAT one!)

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