Firefly 1.13: "Heart of Gold"
Written by Brett Matthews
Directed by Tom Wright
In which an old friend of Inara’s calls for help when a rich man starts tossing out threats, and when Mal and the crew answer the call, things get complicated between Mal and Inara…
Status Report
Like the two previous episodes, it’s interesting to look at how the final edit compares to the shooting script. Unlike the aired episodes, the three unaired episodes never received a post-viewing transcription by fans; instead, the fans were later treated to the somewhat final versions of the scripts used to produce the episodes. It was only after the DVDs were released that the fans got to see the final cut of each episode.
The cuts are somewhat more noticeable in this episode, largely because the final version lacks a certain cohesion. Some of the small moments, the ones that are supposed to touch on the depth of the previous episodes, are missing completely. The result is an episode that doesn’t come together nearly as well as episodes like “Out of Gas” or “War Stories”.
As many others have noted since the shooting script was released, the episode is almost entirely designed to use the tension between Mal and Inara against them. This is typical Joss: bring characters closer together and then rip their hearts out (sometimes literally). In this instance, the effect would have been rather interesting to see, considering that much of the early part of the season was devoted to constructing Mal as a man dependent on a handful of civilizing influences. Paramount among them was Inara and her ability to undermine his dislike of “complications”.
The tension between Mal and Inara has never been hidden from the audience. Their interplay has always been one of unspoken (and sometimes unacknowledged) approach to something deeper. Mal sees Inara as someone who can make him believe in love again, and because of that idealistic inner picture of her, he despises the thought of others using her as an object, no matter how much it might help him in the end. Inara, on the other hand, has never revealed her true agenda.
Inara is a character of contradictions. She puts forward a front of absolute respectability. She sided with the Alliance, and she looks down on the kind of life that Mal has decided to lead. But this episode reveals something very important about Inara. Her reasons for leaving the temple on Sihnon are unknown, but she gave up the chance to take on a highly prized and respected position among Companions to pursue her current lifestyle. She didn’t break from the Guild, but that could have been a matter of practicality. So what was she looking for when she left House Madrassa? A life less complicated?
There’s plenty of opportunity for story within those boundaries, and by setting them in a convenient love triangle with Nandi, the writers seem to suggest that the situation is going to get more than a little strained. Indeed, it does, but the plot itself gets in the way of the best moments. Add to that an oddly inconsistent performance by Melinda Clarke, and the episode stumbles more often than it succeeds.
Part of the problem is the premise itself. Burgess never comes across as a credible or memorable villain. He’s simple a means to an end, for all that violence. A credible threat needs to be applied to the Heart of Gold, or the standoff there won’t make sense. And apparently, in the minds of the writing staff, the standoff was necessary to throw Mal and Inara in close quarters with Nandi and her girls.
It’s hard not to think that there could have been a better way to accomplish that goal. The centerpiece of Burgess’ fighting force is a hovercraft that looks like it was put together from one of those cheesy ads in the back of “Popular Science”. The whole episode looks like it’s been filmed in someone backyard after a couple days of preparation and a whole lot of tinfoil. This is easily the worst looking episode of the series, and while the whole tone is deliberately rustic (complete with dialogue to make sense of it), it just doesn’t work as well as it does on paper.
It didn’t have to be that way. One read of the shooting script reveals a story that could have had a lot more resonance for the characters. The problem is that the script leaves more than enough to the fans’ imagination. The result is an episode that looks less impressive than one would expect. The women aren’t quite so beautiful, the threat of Burgess isn’t so overwhelming, and some of the guest performances are lacking the gravitas of previous episodes. One gets the unfortunate feeling that this was an episode forced to live on a budget because of demands from the network.
As usual, it’s the regulars that shine. The first good scene of the episode is between Mal and Inara, as one would expect. The two dance around each other like they were born to it. Just as Inara lets Mal get away with calling her a whore far too often, Inara takes equal delight in constantly calling Mal a petty crook. It’s a nice tie-in to their argument in “Trash” as well, but there’s a certain comfortable nature to the verbal sparring. Each of them sees something better in the other, and they constantly remind each other of that fact.
What’s interesting is that Inara displays the same level of weary affection for the entire crew when talking with Nandi. She doesn’t talk about them as if they were associates; she talks as if they were family. She doesn’t even give Mal an attitude for listening in, as if it were completely normal. This is clearly different than the situation earlier in the season, where Inara insisted on her privacy.
At the same time, she’s aware of the fact, perhaps belatedly, that she has crossed over a line. Mal is willing to take on a rather dangerous job with no payment on her behalf, and she didn’t even have to ask. The detachment that she had been trying to maintain has eroded on both sides. Inara’s reaction is not necessarily hard to predict. As hinted at in earlier episodes, long-term relationships for Companions are somewhat frowned upon, and so she tries very hard to maintain the detachment necessary to justify her continued presence on Serenity.
The problem is that Mal has chosen to trust a very select few, and as such, they have become as important to his mental health as Serenity. They are, in many respects, his extended family. That’s why Jayne’s betrayal hit him so hard, and why he tolerates those who might otherwise annoy him to no end. When Inara pulls away, she slips out of the role that Mal has granted her. He wants her to be the mother figure for the crew, just as he is the father figure, and that has implications that he’s still trying to work out.
When the crew is given the option to stay on Serenity, the staging of the scene is a little awkward. This is a crew that has gone through a lot together, so why does Zoe talk to them as if there’s still some doubt as to loyalties? A lot of scenes appear to be out of synch with the overall continuity, which is hard to understand. In many respects, it’s a question of direction and tone, but sometimes the scenes themselves are written as if the characters have only known each other for weeks.
When the crew enters the Heart of Gold, there’s precious little time taken to introducing the audience to anyone or giving them a good look at their surroundings. The story rushes right past that part, and it steals something away from the suspension of disbelief. Even the scene between Mal, Inara, and Nandi is somewhat rushed and lacking in true depth. Part of the problem, as already mentioned, is Melinda Clarke. She’s good with the more seductive or active scenes, but the smaller moments don’t reveal much chemistry, especially between Nandi and Inara. Since those scenes are critical to the story, it leaves the audience wanting.
That scene does, however, leave Nandi with the impression that Mal wants Inara and bristles at the fact that Inara puts him at arm’s length. But it’s a little hard to imagine that Nandi would miss the rather obvious fact that Mal’s comment about the “businesslike relationship” cuts Inara just as deeply. It puts to question Nandi’s later claim that she was unaware of Inara’s feelings.
One thing that is far better in the script than the final product is the interaction between the crew and the whores. Nandi gets to be a lot more bemused with Jayne than the audience gets to see, for instance. Jayne’s antics are more or less translated from page to screen with minimal cuts, which is odd, since Jayne’s material is far more crude than the character development that was removed.
Kaylee’s comments about the “boy-whores” seems to say that she and Simon aren’t even close to being together. Granted, they would never really get together during the course of the series, but in the previous episode, Simon and Tracey were both vying for Kaylee’s affections (in a certain sense). In the next episode, Simon and Kaylee are very friendly with each other. It’s another example of how the writing didn’t quite mesh. Then again, it gives Kaylee and Wash a chance to interact, which is a real treat.
Another aspect that was cut down to the bare minimum is the concept of the religious prostitutes, Emma and Lucy. There are a number of scenes in the shooting script that make it a legitimate subplot, but they were never realized in the final version. That’s unfortunate, because this is a chance to show how Book has changed since joining the crew. In “Serenity”, Book wasn’t sure how to deal with Inara and her profession; it made him very uncomfortable. While he’s still wary with Emma and Lucy, he’s not nearly so conflicted. That’s character development, and it’s too bad it never really came together.
In the script, there’s an entire scene between Mal and Inara where they engage in some mutually rewarding banter, reminding the audience that they so have a relationship of sorts…and it was, of course, cut from the final version. Additionally, the “puppet show” was the story of Earth-That-Was, which is all but absent from the final cut. The verbal jousting between Mal and Burgess is supposed to give the audience the impression that Burgess sees his little playground as doing the right thing by God. But the script also drives home the fact that Belinda, his wife, is guiding his hand.
One scene that works very well is Mal’s attempt to convince Nandi that leaving is the right move. Up to that point, Nandi is just a friend of Inara’s. But when Nandi refuses to leave, Mal identifies with that kind of spirit. It’s very similar to the kind of spirit that the Independents had to have shown, and that Mal continues to hang onto.
But then it becomes another scene where Mal calls on the crew to join in or opt out, and people start acting inconsistent. Wash acts as he should, with this episode coming after “War Stories”, but Book’s comments just seem strange for someone who’s been with the crew and Mal for so long. In fact, “War Stories” established Book as a man with experience with firearms and the use thereof; why the sudden focus on his abilities as a “carpenter”? Is it simply to reinforce his role as a Shepherd?
One of the important scenes is between Zoe and Wash. It’s revealed that Zoe has been nagging Wash about having children for quite some time, and Wash has been a bit of a pragmatist on the subject. Considering what he went through in “War Stories”, Wash has a very good set of reasons against becoming a parent. Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that Wash and Zoe are happy and probably more stable than they have ever been. Joss never lets that last very long, and it usually ends in someone dying. Had the series continued, would Zoe or Wash been the first loss for the crew?
When Mal and Nandi discuss their preparations, it feels like nothing less than foreplay. Nandi seems to cover all the bases with Mal first (there’s a nice show of how Mal isn’t bothered by questions of homosexuality, in a particularly obvious moment), and it’s very clear that Nandi is wondering if he’s been holding out for her. But before that can happen, she needs to understand where Mal stands with Inara. She sees how similar Mal and Inara are to one another, and her training as a Companion tells her what that ought to lead to: love or the equal but opposite hatred. With all that training and observational skill, how could she miss the fact that Inara loves Mal as much as he loves her?
But just as important is the fact that Nandi and Inara are not very different. Nandi eventually found the Companion way too restricting, and she left to find a place where she could apply similar principles in a more balanced and self-empowering. Nandi doesn’t see prostitution as degrading, obviously; she seems to see it as a legitimate means of exerting feminine power over a man. How far along the same path has Inara gone, and is her resistance towards a relationship with Mal a part of a more general resistance to break away from her comfort zone?
Nandi’s not a total fool. She knows, on some level, that she’s a temporary replacement in Mal’s eyes. Her comment about not being Inara seems more designed for the audience than for Mal. That said, there’s a good reason for it. She doesn’t want Mal to hold back, because he needs to not hold back. It needs to be a matter of her giving comfort and solace to him, and him giving her a chance to release some tension and forget about what’s coming, if only for a little while.
This is in direct contrast with Burgess and his view of prostitutes and women in general. His scene with Chari is not a mutual moment of giving. It’s outright humiliation and exploitation. It says a lot about Burgess, but it also says a lot about the writers. A lot of people would see any level of prostitution as being a matter of exploitation on any level. The writers seem to be drawing a distinction, perhaps to reinforce the fact that Inara’s role as a post-modern courtesan is not the same as the everyday streetwalker.
Inevitably, Mal’s decision to sleep with Nandi cuts Inara to the core. It’s not like this is someone from Mal’s world; Nandi is, in essence, only a stone’s throw away from where Inara is standing, psychologically. Inara knows that it could and should have been her, given who Mal ultimately chose. For some odd reason, it takes Inara’s reaction for Nandi to make a simple observation that the entire audience made during the pilot!
The assault on the Heart of Gold is fairly standard, and some of the elements are remarkably poor. The hovercraft is pathetic on all levels, as is the use of a laser; the series would have been better without either. It’s not clear how Burgess’ men managed to board Serenity, either. And what’s with the present-day shipping trailer in the background when Burgess comes walking in the back door? And as mentioned before, why did Book, when of the better shots among the crew, avoid staging a defense with a good sniper rifle?
As one might have predicted, Nandi dies in the process, having served her purpose, driving a wedge between Mal and Inara. Mal gets to have his revenge on Burgess by chasing down that hovercraft with a horse (!), and there’s even a passing of the torch as Petaline, the intended victim, takes Nandi’s place as the empowered madam. It’s mildly satisfying that Burgess gets shot in the head, but by that point, there’s no compelling reason to care. Burgess simply isn’t an interesting villain.
Coming right on the heels of “The Message” (at least on DVD), the funeral scene is less than impressive. It’s also a lot shorter than in the shooting script, where the description suggests a far more extensive and emotional scene. As written, it was meant to suggest that Inara was beginning to distance herself from the crew.
This is nearing the end of what would be considered the “complication” phase of the first season. Inara’s decision to leave is more about her own character and slowly unraveling the mystery of her decision to leave the Core and join Mal’s crew, but with none of that realized, it seems like the end of the journey instead of the beginning. As Inara says, it would be easy for her to fall into the family role that Mal is offering her, whether he’s aware of it or not. But that would require an equal commitment from her, which she has been trying to avoid. Her decision to leave is fairly logical, even if this episode wasn’t necessarily the best way to get it done.
It should be noted that when “Trash” was reviewed, it was considered at that time to be the worst of the unaired episodes. In the months since, having seen the episodes more than a few times, “Heart of Gold” has suffered the most from the increased scrutiny. In fact, looking back at the series as a whole, this episode is the least effective of the bunch. Very few of the elements that make “Firefly” such a powerful and unique series were present, and for that reason, this gets the lowest grade out of the 14 episodes.
Memorable Quotes
MAL: “BWAA!”
MAL: “The distress call wouldn’t be taking place in someone’s pants, would it?”
NANDI: “If they got guns and brains at all…”
INARA: “They have guns.”
JAYNE: “I don’t know these folks. Don’t much care to.”
MAL: “They’re whores.”
JAYNE: “I’m in.”
MAL: “Any friend of Inara’s is a strictly businesslike relationship of mine.”
MAL: “They’re good folk.”
JAYNE: “Can I start getting sexed up already?”
MAL: “Well, that one’s kind of horrific…”
WASH: “Would be you get your most poetical about your pecker!”
MAL: “Inara, think you could stoop to being on my arm?”
INARA: “Will you wash it first?”
RIVER: “Who do you think is in there?”
MAL: “Miss Nandi, I have a confession to make.”
NANDI: “Maybe I should get the Shepherd.”
MAL: “Well, I ain’t sinned yet, and I’d feel more than a little awkward having him here when I do.”
INARA: “I wouldn’t say I’m entirely OK. I’m a little appalled by her taste.”
PETALINE: “Jonah, say hello to your daddy. Say goodbye to your daddy, Jonah.”
Final Analysis
Overall, this episode is an interesting concept, and the resulting consequences were clearly the point of the entire situation. While the shooting script still contained a number of unfortunate flaws, the final cut left out some of the nuances, thus compounding the errors. The villain is never very compelling, and frankly, Nandi’s inconsistent characterization, a requirement of the plot, is a major drawback.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 1/2
Style: 1/4
Original Rating: N/A
Final DVD Rating: 5/10
Directed by Tom Wright
In which an old friend of Inara’s calls for help when a rich man starts tossing out threats, and when Mal and the crew answer the call, things get complicated between Mal and Inara…
Status Report
Like the two previous episodes, it’s interesting to look at how the final edit compares to the shooting script. Unlike the aired episodes, the three unaired episodes never received a post-viewing transcription by fans; instead, the fans were later treated to the somewhat final versions of the scripts used to produce the episodes. It was only after the DVDs were released that the fans got to see the final cut of each episode.
The cuts are somewhat more noticeable in this episode, largely because the final version lacks a certain cohesion. Some of the small moments, the ones that are supposed to touch on the depth of the previous episodes, are missing completely. The result is an episode that doesn’t come together nearly as well as episodes like “Out of Gas” or “War Stories”.
As many others have noted since the shooting script was released, the episode is almost entirely designed to use the tension between Mal and Inara against them. This is typical Joss: bring characters closer together and then rip their hearts out (sometimes literally). In this instance, the effect would have been rather interesting to see, considering that much of the early part of the season was devoted to constructing Mal as a man dependent on a handful of civilizing influences. Paramount among them was Inara and her ability to undermine his dislike of “complications”.
The tension between Mal and Inara has never been hidden from the audience. Their interplay has always been one of unspoken (and sometimes unacknowledged) approach to something deeper. Mal sees Inara as someone who can make him believe in love again, and because of that idealistic inner picture of her, he despises the thought of others using her as an object, no matter how much it might help him in the end. Inara, on the other hand, has never revealed her true agenda.
Inara is a character of contradictions. She puts forward a front of absolute respectability. She sided with the Alliance, and she looks down on the kind of life that Mal has decided to lead. But this episode reveals something very important about Inara. Her reasons for leaving the temple on Sihnon are unknown, but she gave up the chance to take on a highly prized and respected position among Companions to pursue her current lifestyle. She didn’t break from the Guild, but that could have been a matter of practicality. So what was she looking for when she left House Madrassa? A life less complicated?
There’s plenty of opportunity for story within those boundaries, and by setting them in a convenient love triangle with Nandi, the writers seem to suggest that the situation is going to get more than a little strained. Indeed, it does, but the plot itself gets in the way of the best moments. Add to that an oddly inconsistent performance by Melinda Clarke, and the episode stumbles more often than it succeeds.
Part of the problem is the premise itself. Burgess never comes across as a credible or memorable villain. He’s simple a means to an end, for all that violence. A credible threat needs to be applied to the Heart of Gold, or the standoff there won’t make sense. And apparently, in the minds of the writing staff, the standoff was necessary to throw Mal and Inara in close quarters with Nandi and her girls.
It’s hard not to think that there could have been a better way to accomplish that goal. The centerpiece of Burgess’ fighting force is a hovercraft that looks like it was put together from one of those cheesy ads in the back of “Popular Science”. The whole episode looks like it’s been filmed in someone backyard after a couple days of preparation and a whole lot of tinfoil. This is easily the worst looking episode of the series, and while the whole tone is deliberately rustic (complete with dialogue to make sense of it), it just doesn’t work as well as it does on paper.
It didn’t have to be that way. One read of the shooting script reveals a story that could have had a lot more resonance for the characters. The problem is that the script leaves more than enough to the fans’ imagination. The result is an episode that looks less impressive than one would expect. The women aren’t quite so beautiful, the threat of Burgess isn’t so overwhelming, and some of the guest performances are lacking the gravitas of previous episodes. One gets the unfortunate feeling that this was an episode forced to live on a budget because of demands from the network.
As usual, it’s the regulars that shine. The first good scene of the episode is between Mal and Inara, as one would expect. The two dance around each other like they were born to it. Just as Inara lets Mal get away with calling her a whore far too often, Inara takes equal delight in constantly calling Mal a petty crook. It’s a nice tie-in to their argument in “Trash” as well, but there’s a certain comfortable nature to the verbal sparring. Each of them sees something better in the other, and they constantly remind each other of that fact.
What’s interesting is that Inara displays the same level of weary affection for the entire crew when talking with Nandi. She doesn’t talk about them as if they were associates; she talks as if they were family. She doesn’t even give Mal an attitude for listening in, as if it were completely normal. This is clearly different than the situation earlier in the season, where Inara insisted on her privacy.
At the same time, she’s aware of the fact, perhaps belatedly, that she has crossed over a line. Mal is willing to take on a rather dangerous job with no payment on her behalf, and she didn’t even have to ask. The detachment that she had been trying to maintain has eroded on both sides. Inara’s reaction is not necessarily hard to predict. As hinted at in earlier episodes, long-term relationships for Companions are somewhat frowned upon, and so she tries very hard to maintain the detachment necessary to justify her continued presence on Serenity.
The problem is that Mal has chosen to trust a very select few, and as such, they have become as important to his mental health as Serenity. They are, in many respects, his extended family. That’s why Jayne’s betrayal hit him so hard, and why he tolerates those who might otherwise annoy him to no end. When Inara pulls away, she slips out of the role that Mal has granted her. He wants her to be the mother figure for the crew, just as he is the father figure, and that has implications that he’s still trying to work out.
When the crew is given the option to stay on Serenity, the staging of the scene is a little awkward. This is a crew that has gone through a lot together, so why does Zoe talk to them as if there’s still some doubt as to loyalties? A lot of scenes appear to be out of synch with the overall continuity, which is hard to understand. In many respects, it’s a question of direction and tone, but sometimes the scenes themselves are written as if the characters have only known each other for weeks.
When the crew enters the Heart of Gold, there’s precious little time taken to introducing the audience to anyone or giving them a good look at their surroundings. The story rushes right past that part, and it steals something away from the suspension of disbelief. Even the scene between Mal, Inara, and Nandi is somewhat rushed and lacking in true depth. Part of the problem, as already mentioned, is Melinda Clarke. She’s good with the more seductive or active scenes, but the smaller moments don’t reveal much chemistry, especially between Nandi and Inara. Since those scenes are critical to the story, it leaves the audience wanting.
That scene does, however, leave Nandi with the impression that Mal wants Inara and bristles at the fact that Inara puts him at arm’s length. But it’s a little hard to imagine that Nandi would miss the rather obvious fact that Mal’s comment about the “businesslike relationship” cuts Inara just as deeply. It puts to question Nandi’s later claim that she was unaware of Inara’s feelings.
One thing that is far better in the script than the final product is the interaction between the crew and the whores. Nandi gets to be a lot more bemused with Jayne than the audience gets to see, for instance. Jayne’s antics are more or less translated from page to screen with minimal cuts, which is odd, since Jayne’s material is far more crude than the character development that was removed.
Kaylee’s comments about the “boy-whores” seems to say that she and Simon aren’t even close to being together. Granted, they would never really get together during the course of the series, but in the previous episode, Simon and Tracey were both vying for Kaylee’s affections (in a certain sense). In the next episode, Simon and Kaylee are very friendly with each other. It’s another example of how the writing didn’t quite mesh. Then again, it gives Kaylee and Wash a chance to interact, which is a real treat.
Another aspect that was cut down to the bare minimum is the concept of the religious prostitutes, Emma and Lucy. There are a number of scenes in the shooting script that make it a legitimate subplot, but they were never realized in the final version. That’s unfortunate, because this is a chance to show how Book has changed since joining the crew. In “Serenity”, Book wasn’t sure how to deal with Inara and her profession; it made him very uncomfortable. While he’s still wary with Emma and Lucy, he’s not nearly so conflicted. That’s character development, and it’s too bad it never really came together.
In the script, there’s an entire scene between Mal and Inara where they engage in some mutually rewarding banter, reminding the audience that they so have a relationship of sorts…and it was, of course, cut from the final version. Additionally, the “puppet show” was the story of Earth-That-Was, which is all but absent from the final cut. The verbal jousting between Mal and Burgess is supposed to give the audience the impression that Burgess sees his little playground as doing the right thing by God. But the script also drives home the fact that Belinda, his wife, is guiding his hand.
One scene that works very well is Mal’s attempt to convince Nandi that leaving is the right move. Up to that point, Nandi is just a friend of Inara’s. But when Nandi refuses to leave, Mal identifies with that kind of spirit. It’s very similar to the kind of spirit that the Independents had to have shown, and that Mal continues to hang onto.
But then it becomes another scene where Mal calls on the crew to join in or opt out, and people start acting inconsistent. Wash acts as he should, with this episode coming after “War Stories”, but Book’s comments just seem strange for someone who’s been with the crew and Mal for so long. In fact, “War Stories” established Book as a man with experience with firearms and the use thereof; why the sudden focus on his abilities as a “carpenter”? Is it simply to reinforce his role as a Shepherd?
One of the important scenes is between Zoe and Wash. It’s revealed that Zoe has been nagging Wash about having children for quite some time, and Wash has been a bit of a pragmatist on the subject. Considering what he went through in “War Stories”, Wash has a very good set of reasons against becoming a parent. Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that Wash and Zoe are happy and probably more stable than they have ever been. Joss never lets that last very long, and it usually ends in someone dying. Had the series continued, would Zoe or Wash been the first loss for the crew?
When Mal and Nandi discuss their preparations, it feels like nothing less than foreplay. Nandi seems to cover all the bases with Mal first (there’s a nice show of how Mal isn’t bothered by questions of homosexuality, in a particularly obvious moment), and it’s very clear that Nandi is wondering if he’s been holding out for her. But before that can happen, she needs to understand where Mal stands with Inara. She sees how similar Mal and Inara are to one another, and her training as a Companion tells her what that ought to lead to: love or the equal but opposite hatred. With all that training and observational skill, how could she miss the fact that Inara loves Mal as much as he loves her?
But just as important is the fact that Nandi and Inara are not very different. Nandi eventually found the Companion way too restricting, and she left to find a place where she could apply similar principles in a more balanced and self-empowering. Nandi doesn’t see prostitution as degrading, obviously; she seems to see it as a legitimate means of exerting feminine power over a man. How far along the same path has Inara gone, and is her resistance towards a relationship with Mal a part of a more general resistance to break away from her comfort zone?
Nandi’s not a total fool. She knows, on some level, that she’s a temporary replacement in Mal’s eyes. Her comment about not being Inara seems more designed for the audience than for Mal. That said, there’s a good reason for it. She doesn’t want Mal to hold back, because he needs to not hold back. It needs to be a matter of her giving comfort and solace to him, and him giving her a chance to release some tension and forget about what’s coming, if only for a little while.
This is in direct contrast with Burgess and his view of prostitutes and women in general. His scene with Chari is not a mutual moment of giving. It’s outright humiliation and exploitation. It says a lot about Burgess, but it also says a lot about the writers. A lot of people would see any level of prostitution as being a matter of exploitation on any level. The writers seem to be drawing a distinction, perhaps to reinforce the fact that Inara’s role as a post-modern courtesan is not the same as the everyday streetwalker.
Inevitably, Mal’s decision to sleep with Nandi cuts Inara to the core. It’s not like this is someone from Mal’s world; Nandi is, in essence, only a stone’s throw away from where Inara is standing, psychologically. Inara knows that it could and should have been her, given who Mal ultimately chose. For some odd reason, it takes Inara’s reaction for Nandi to make a simple observation that the entire audience made during the pilot!
The assault on the Heart of Gold is fairly standard, and some of the elements are remarkably poor. The hovercraft is pathetic on all levels, as is the use of a laser; the series would have been better without either. It’s not clear how Burgess’ men managed to board Serenity, either. And what’s with the present-day shipping trailer in the background when Burgess comes walking in the back door? And as mentioned before, why did Book, when of the better shots among the crew, avoid staging a defense with a good sniper rifle?
As one might have predicted, Nandi dies in the process, having served her purpose, driving a wedge between Mal and Inara. Mal gets to have his revenge on Burgess by chasing down that hovercraft with a horse (!), and there’s even a passing of the torch as Petaline, the intended victim, takes Nandi’s place as the empowered madam. It’s mildly satisfying that Burgess gets shot in the head, but by that point, there’s no compelling reason to care. Burgess simply isn’t an interesting villain.
Coming right on the heels of “The Message” (at least on DVD), the funeral scene is less than impressive. It’s also a lot shorter than in the shooting script, where the description suggests a far more extensive and emotional scene. As written, it was meant to suggest that Inara was beginning to distance herself from the crew.
This is nearing the end of what would be considered the “complication” phase of the first season. Inara’s decision to leave is more about her own character and slowly unraveling the mystery of her decision to leave the Core and join Mal’s crew, but with none of that realized, it seems like the end of the journey instead of the beginning. As Inara says, it would be easy for her to fall into the family role that Mal is offering her, whether he’s aware of it or not. But that would require an equal commitment from her, which she has been trying to avoid. Her decision to leave is fairly logical, even if this episode wasn’t necessarily the best way to get it done.
It should be noted that when “Trash” was reviewed, it was considered at that time to be the worst of the unaired episodes. In the months since, having seen the episodes more than a few times, “Heart of Gold” has suffered the most from the increased scrutiny. In fact, looking back at the series as a whole, this episode is the least effective of the bunch. Very few of the elements that make “Firefly” such a powerful and unique series were present, and for that reason, this gets the lowest grade out of the 14 episodes.
Memorable Quotes
MAL: “BWAA!”
MAL: “The distress call wouldn’t be taking place in someone’s pants, would it?”
NANDI: “If they got guns and brains at all…”
INARA: “They have guns.”
JAYNE: “I don’t know these folks. Don’t much care to.”
MAL: “They’re whores.”
JAYNE: “I’m in.”
MAL: “Any friend of Inara’s is a strictly businesslike relationship of mine.”
MAL: “They’re good folk.”
JAYNE: “Can I start getting sexed up already?”
MAL: “Well, that one’s kind of horrific…”
WASH: “Would be you get your most poetical about your pecker!”
MAL: “Inara, think you could stoop to being on my arm?”
INARA: “Will you wash it first?”
RIVER: “Who do you think is in there?”
MAL: “Miss Nandi, I have a confession to make.”
NANDI: “Maybe I should get the Shepherd.”
MAL: “Well, I ain’t sinned yet, and I’d feel more than a little awkward having him here when I do.”
INARA: “I wouldn’t say I’m entirely OK. I’m a little appalled by her taste.”
PETALINE: “Jonah, say hello to your daddy. Say goodbye to your daddy, Jonah.”
Final Analysis
Overall, this episode is an interesting concept, and the resulting consequences were clearly the point of the entire situation. While the shooting script still contained a number of unfortunate flaws, the final cut left out some of the nuances, thus compounding the errors. The villain is never very compelling, and frankly, Nandi’s inconsistent characterization, a requirement of the plot, is a major drawback.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 1/2
Style: 1/4
Original Rating: N/A
Final DVD Rating: 5/10
posted by John Keegan | 16:09
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