Pilot episode impact, first vs last.

POSTED BY: jewelstaitefan
UPDATED: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 10:31
VIEWED: 7221
PAGE 1 of 1

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Saturday, March 27, 2010 3:47 PM (P)

Watching the Pilot Serenity again the other day, again noticed a line which often bugged me.
At Dinner, Simon asks Mal what is Jayne's job aboard ship. Mal says Public Relations.

As a Pilot, this would be confusing to new viewers, mostly because the character of Jayne is not known, understood.
In Fall 2002, the Pilot was shown last of all the eps, so most viewers would have considered it much more humorous than if seen before the other eps. I personally caught part of a marathon, including the end of Ariel, before buying the Series and seeing the Pilot for the first time, so I also had a "hindsight" viewing fo the line and delivery.

How many of you had seen the Pilot FIRST, before understanding who Jayne was, and how did you percieve this line about Jayne in Public Relations, or did it just fly by? Not that much of Jayne action preceeded the dinner.

PIZMOBEACH

Saturday, March 27, 2010 4:09 PM (P)

Saw the Pilot first. From the his delivery I took it that Mal was being facetious - so I took it to mean Jayne was a Bad Mutha, the enforcer of the group.

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ECGORDON

Saturday, March 27, 2010 4:22 PM (P)

I saw the pilot on December 20, 2002 when FOX finally relented and broadcast it. It's been so long ago I can't really remember what my reaction to that particular line was. Mainly I spent the whole two hours asking myself (and yelling at the screen) what in the gorram ruttin' hell was FOX thinking when they didn't give the go-ahead for this to be the start of the series.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

GWEK

Sunday, March 28, 2010 12:48 AM (P)

By the time Mal says the line, it's pretty clear to the audience the kind of guy Jayne is. He's already been established as a blunt-speaking, gun-toting brute. Specifically (if I recall correctly), earlier in the same scene, we see what an obnoxious jerk he can be, so Mal's joke of calling him "public relations" is set up by Jayne's own actions only moments before.

I think the line makes perfect sense within the context of the scene and the episode, regardless of whether the episode appears first or last.

Perhaps the line has MORE meaning if viewed after other episodes, but the same can be said of tons of lines in every episode.

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FEARTHEBUNNYMAN

Sunday, March 28, 2010 1:19 AM (P)

I second what Gwek said - i lol'd first time I saw it, because it sums up in a sarcastic way kind of what type of man-ape-gone-wrong Jayne is.

BLUESUNCOMPANYMAN

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 5:26 AM (P)

The first time I saw Firefly in 2004 I was lucky enough to view it in the order.

DMI

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 3:26 PM (P)

I saw it when it originally aired so last and therefore definitely got the joke but I think it works from a first episode point of view. Even if you don't know that Jayne's job is specifically to be a gun-slinging BA, you know from the exchange he just had with Kaylee that Jayne ain't so good with the words and that Serenity doesn't have public relations people. Still funny.

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FILLYGIRL

Thursday, April 15, 2010 11:18 AM (P)

That was the same kind of statement as in X-Men, when the Father asked what Wolverine taught at the school,...art my a$$. You can look at Jayne and tell hes NOT public relations, well he is kinda in a strange way.

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TOASTERPIMP

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 3:03 AM (P)

totes.

Mal is being ironic as a way of showing Simon that his questions are getting annoying and he should back off.

Also it is ha-larious.

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STORYMARK

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 4:16 PM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Watching the Pilot Serenity again the other day, again noticed a line which often bugged me.
At Dinner, Simon asks Mal what is Jayne's job aboard ship. Mal says Public Relations.

As a Pilot, this would be confusing to new viewers, mostly because the character of Jayne is not known, understood.
In Fall 2002, the Pilot was shown last of all the eps, so most viewers would have considered it much more humorous than if seen before the other eps. I personally caught part of a marathon, including the end of Ariel, before buying the Series and seeing the Pilot for the first time, so I also had a "hindsight" viewing fo the line and delivery.

The line directly follows Jayne being a complete and total ass. I think the meaning of the joke was pretty clear from the outset.

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LWAVES

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 4:53 PM (P)

I saw it first, followed by the rest.

I'll go with the masses and say that the meaning to me is pretty clear from the lines and actions that come before. Mal definitely isn't being serious, plus Jayne's actions (and comments about Kaylee who Mal is protective of) lead you to know that he definitely wouldn't be in a genuine PR position.
At that point Mal doesn't know Simon and certainly doesn't trust him so he doesn't need to give him a straight and honest answer.

That's my take on it.

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MENDUR

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 5:42 PM (P)

Well, this whole issue raises a different interesting question:

If I remember the history right, "Serenity" was the LAST episode shown by FOX.

Do any of you think that having such a great story be the last thing shown, especially with its so-very-resonant Browncoat opening with the lines "too pretty to die" and "done the impossible", might have added high octane jet fuel to the already on-fire fans? Do you think the fans would have stayed as fired up if everything had aired in order and "Objects in Space" had been the last episode aired?

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TOADSMOOTHY

Wednesday, December 15, 2010 10:31 AM (P)

Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Watching the Pilot Serenity again the other day, again noticed a line which often bugged me.
At Dinner, Simon asks Mal what is Jayne's job aboard ship. Mal says Public Relations.

As a Pilot, this would be confusing to new viewers, mostly because the character of Jayne is not known, understood.

The way I took it was:

Jayne had just said something rude and tasteless about Kaylee, and then continued to be rude and tasteless after Mal confronted him about it. Being rude and tasteless is antithetical to public relations, thus Mal was being facetious in reference to Jaynes behavior.