121
votes
Accepted
Why was Mal so quick to drop Bester in favour of Kaylee?
Bester appears to be extremely incompetent, lazy and often running over his deadlines. It would appear that he just "ran out of loyalty" and when Kaylee came along, who was easily better ...
- 143k
102
votes
Why was Mal so quick to drop Bester in favour of Kaylee?
Bester ain't crew.
Now if you ask me, a man who comes aboard, claiming to be some kind of "genius mechanic". That man has to prove his salt, afore he can be counted among the crew. And Bester, he ...
- 3,742
86
votes
Accepted
Why did companions have such high social standing?
They're much more than just prostitutes.
From the Firefly Wikia:
Registered Companions are culturally well-educated with training in a number of areas, including psychology, music, fencing, and ...
- 134k
80
votes
How did Jayne know when to shoot?
Jayne was able to shoot on cue, because he could hear the cue. He was listening in to Mal's conversation over the radio.
Jayne: [over radio] Testing. Testing, Cap'n, can you hear me?
Mal: [Standing ...
- 1,319
68
votes
Accepted
How was this shot of River Tam on the ceiling managed in Serenity?
It would appear that Summer Glau was lifted into position and is able to sustain that pose because she's extremely flexible. She was, however, given additional support from a hook that was attached to ...
- 677k
52
votes
What does the line "Take me where I cannot stand" mean?
Joss Whedon wrote the theme song, which is called The Ballad of Serenity. But I have found nothing official that explicitly states a meaning behind the song.
The Battle of Serenity Valley was an ...
- 81.8k
51
votes
Accepted
Do they really watch Firefly on the International Space Station
They can. Firefly and Serenity DVDs are on the ISS
I don't know if they have actually been watched by people living on the ISS, but those photos are legit. The pictured astronaut, Steve Swanson, ...
- 476
41
votes
Accepted
What did River say when she woke from her proto-comatose state?
The official shooting script has the line;
[Behind Jayne (and unseen by him) River SITS UP INTO FRAME. She's just woken up and is a bit dazed, disoriented. She's inches behind him as she says --]
...
- 677k
39
votes
Accepted
What happened to the Lassiter?
This is addressed in the film's official novelisation. In short, they sold it and used the funds to upgrade the Serenity.
This [The Serenity] was Mal's pride and joy. A while back, they got their ...
- 677k
38
votes
Accepted
Was Jayne from Canton?
Probably not.
Jayne's birthplace hasn't been revealed.
However, several pieces of dialogue from Jaynestown imply that he isn't from Canton.
JAYNE
Oh, listen, Mal -- I was in Canton a few
...
- 66.7k
38
votes
Accepted
Why does Mal change his mind?
It was pretty heavily implied (by Kaylee, IIRC - I don't have the book or the film to reference right now) that Mal has been more angry and moody since Inara left the ship. With both Inara and Book ...
- 15.9k
37
votes
Accepted
Are all of the Reavers and Alliance destroyed in the final battle in Serenity?
No, not all the Alliance forces were destroyed.
From the script:
Behind it, grappling hooks chained to a huge tractor pull the wall away as through the smoke come some fifteen Alliance soldiers, ...
- 66.7k
34
votes
What does the line "Take me where I cannot stand" mean?
An artist is unlikely to give a “one true interpretation” of their work, and I am aware of no official statements as to the specific meaning of any aspect of the song, this line or any other, and I ...
- 2,386
33
votes
Accepted
How did the mudders get Jayne's name and likeness?
Jayne seems to have spent some time in the community, casing the magistrate's house with a view to burgling him. On the day, something clearly went wrong and he was forced to flee in the Magistrate's ...
- 677k
31
votes
Why did companions have such high social standing?
While there is no doubt that companions are sex-workers they are much more than that.
From Wikipedia (re Inara)
... Companion, a high-society courtesan licensed by the Union of Allied Planets (the &...
- 21.8k
31
votes
Accepted
How did Jayne know when to shoot?
Mal knew all the way that Patience was going to betray him no matter what:
MAL
See you in the world.
He hits a button, ending the talk. He stares down at the console for a long beat.
...
- 14.5k
29
votes
Accepted
Chinese in Serenity?
There were at least 11 instances of Chinese pidgin that made it into the theatrical cut of Serenity. I've listed them below for ease of searching, along with what each statement actually means.
Given ...
- 677k
29
votes
Accepted
How can Firefly Reavers be "smart" enough to drive spaceships? Why their radio conversations sound like some EVF directlly drawn from hell?
Reavers are psychotic, not stupid.
From the Firefly wiki: (potential spoilers if you haven't seen the movie yet)
So they're crazy and filled with murderous rage pretty much all the time. That ...
- 6,578
28
votes
Accepted
How does Serenity's main engine work?
According to the (officially sanctioned) Serenity Blueprints Reference Pack, Serenity's main propulsion is provided by an radion accelerator core:
The pack itself does not seem to be available for ...
- 20.4k
25
votes
Accepted
Why did the details of River's rescue change for the movie Serenity?
Here's the relevant excerpt from the script of the TV show pilot, for reference:
ZOE: How did you do it?
SIMON: Money. And, and luck. For two years, I couldn't get near her. Then I was contacted by ...
- 6,578
21
votes
Accepted
Why was Firefly cancelled?
Fox has never come out and "officially explained" why it got cancelled. But, in general, networks don't do that because they don't need to.
With extremely rare exceptions, shows get cancelled for ...
- 103k
18
votes
Accepted
How did the hill folk in Safe know Simon's profession?
I've been going through a transcript of the show at the website firefly.shriftweb.org, and while there is no explicit explanation, there is this section near the beginning of the show:
MAL
I ...
- 19.5k
17
votes
Accepted
Which property features the most Firefly actors?
Assuming you want to discount anything that's Firefly-related, the winner is Con Man, Wash [ahem, sorry] Alan Tudyk's pet project. It has six of the main actors, although not all in the same episodes.
...
- 16.2k
16
votes
How did the hill folk in Safe know Simon's profession?
The clear implication is that someone (who we later learn to be the kidnappers, or at least their accomplices) were hiding in the bushes near to the cattle as the Doctor and Mal speak. Notably, Mal ...
- 677k
16
votes
Accepted
What is Niska's accent?
Niska speaks Czech to one of his flunkies
Dej jim za to plátek masa
This translates to "Give them a slice of meat"
This is backed up by the shooting script
...
- 677k
16
votes
How did the horses get to space?
The Serenity RPG offers a fairly high level overview of the Exodus. In short, when it became clear that Earth-that-was could no longer support human life, gigantic generation ships (known as Arks) ...
- 677k
15
votes
Accepted
How do revolvers in the 'verse work?
While this was probably just an editing gaffe (or a deliberate nod to classic westerns where firing more than 6 shots was common), there are several possibilities in world.
Mal has a revolver with a ...
- 1,274
15
votes
Why does Mal change his mind?
I don't see how he changes his mind.
He comes back for Simon because:
Simon is very useful
Simon is reliable, since he also needs the cap'n in order to keep River and himself safe from the Alliance....
- 20.4k
14
votes
Accepted
Is Monty's last name actually Reynolds?
The source for this rumour appears to be a fan-transcript that appeared on the browncoats.com website and was subsequently removed. It then seems to have transferred to IMDB where it's propagated ...
- 677k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible