The Train Job

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"The Train Job" is the original series premiere and second episode of the American science-fiction western television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. It was the second episode produced and aired on Friday, September 20, 2002 on Fox. The episode was written by Whedon and Tim Minear as the second pilot to the series following Fox executives being unsatisfied with original pilot "Serenity", which later aired as the series finale. According to the 2003 DVD commentary, Whedon and Minear had only two days to write the script.

The crew of Serenity take on a hovertrain robbery commissioned by a sinister crime lord. The cargo they are after, however, is worth more than they know.

Synopsis[]

Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds, Zoe and Jayne Cobb are in a bar. When a drunk patron named Lund celebrates the sixth anniversary of the Alliance's victory on Unification Day with a toast, Mal, a former Browncoat, picks a fight. Zoe immediately steps up to help him out, but Jayne holds back at first ("Hey, I didn't fight in no war. Best of luck, though"), but eventually joins the melee. Greatly outnumbered, Mal radios his pilot, Wash, for help. Serenity arrives just in time and rescues the hapless crew, with Wash managing to trick their attackers into thinking the ship is armed long enough for an escape.

In the ship's infirmary, Dr. Simon Tam is tending to his mentally disturbed teenage sister River. One of the other passengers, "Shepherd" (preacher) Book, tells Mal that Simon is very brave for giving up his life as a wealthy doctor to go on the run to protect his sister.

On a "skyplex" (an orbiting space city), Mal, Zoe, and Jayne meet with crime lord Adelei Niska and his hulking lieutenant, Crow. To show that he is not to be trifled with, Niska shows them a bloody corpse hanging by its feet and explains that it belongs to the last person who failed him. Niska has a job for Mal and his crew: steal two crates from a train as it travels from Hancock to Paradiso and deliver it to Crow. Mal shows no interest in knowing what is in the crates, stating that it's "one of his rules".

When Mal and Zoe board the train, they discover that an entire squad of Alliance troops is also onboard, though not specifically guarding the cargo. After the pair break into the locked train car and secure the crates, Jayne is lowered on a winch while Serenity maintains its position over the speeding train. While they attach the cargo to the winch, a curious trooper trips a smoke trap Zoe set up at the car door. In the resulting chaos, a wounded Jayne is hoisted back to the ship along with the crates, Mal knocks out the soldier before he can see what is happening, and Mal and Zoe use smoke bombs to reenter the passenger car without anyone the wiser.

Wash parks Serenity in a canyon, not at the rendezvous point. Jayne tells the rest of the crew that they should finish the job, but Wash refuses to abandon his wife and Mal. Shepherd Book wisely points out that "If Niska finds out [Mal] is being held, and may speak as to who hired him — I think we're better off being a little late." Jayne eventually tries to take control of the ship by force, but Simon disables him with pain-killing drugs.

Meanwhile, while waiting at Paradiso, Mal and Zoe are aghast to learn that the cargo they stole is actually medicine desperately needed in the poor mining town, whose residents all suffer from "Bowden's malady", a degenerative disease caused by mining activity. The local sheriff is suspicious of Mal's cover story that he and Zoe are a married couple looking for work. Inara appears and uses her considerable status as a Companion, falsely claiming that Mal is her runaway "indentured man" who persuaded Zoe to leave her husband. The impressed sheriff lets her take the "runaways" back into her own custody.

Back on the ship, Mal announces to the crew that they will deliver the medicine to the townspeople and return Niska's money to him. However, Crow and his henchmen find them, and a violent fight ensues, which the Serenity crew wins. After the villains are secured, Mal and Zoe drive the cargo back to the outskirts of the town, intending to drop off the crates and notify the sheriff once they are well away, only to be surprised by the sheriff and his deputies. Realizing what they have done, and impressed that Mal chose not to flee with the medicine while he could, he lets them go free.

Outside Serenity, Mal instructs a trussed-up Crow to tell Niska the deal went south, but Crow threatens to hunt Mal down. Mal casually kicks Crow into Serenity's running engine intake, killing him. The next henchman proves more cooperative, and agrees to lie. Back on an Alliance cruiser, two mysterious men in suits and wearing blue gloves inquire about a girl and show the captain a photo of River Tam.

Notes[]

Since this second episode was actually the first to be aired, writers Joss Whedon and Tim Minear had to introduce the characters to the new audience, even though many elements of these introductions were covered in the actual pilot, "Serenity". Quite a bit of the dialogue alludes to information provided in the pilot.

The ominous "Hands of Blue", two men who are pursuing River, first appear in this episode.

As noted by Tim Minear in the DVD commentary, Book's knowledge of underworld dealings (particularly his theory of Niska's reaction to an incarcerated Mal and Zoe) alludes to his cryptic past.

Guest cast[]

• Tom Towles as Lund, a thug at the bar Mal, Zoe, and Jayne drink at, who takes a disliking to Mal
• Andrew Bryniarski as Crow
• Michael Fairman as Adelai Niska
• Gregg Henry as Sheriff Bourne
• as Blue Glove Man #1
• as Blue Glove Man #2

References[]

This article includes a list of general references, but it remains largely unverified because it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (June 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

• Espenson, Jane, ed. (2005). Finding Serenity: Anti-heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's "Firefly". Glenn Yeffeth. Dallas, Texas: Benbella Books. ISBN 1-932100-43-1.
• Wilcox, Rhonda V.; Cochran, Tanya (20 May 2008). Investigating Firefly and Serenity: Joss Whedon's Worlds Beyond: Science Fiction on the Frontier (Investigating Cult TV Series). I B Tauris & Co Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84511-654-5.
• Whedon, Joss (1 Sep 2005). Serenity: The Official Visual Companion. Titan Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84576-082-3.
• Whedon, Joss; et al. (25 August 2006). Firefly: The Official Companion: Volume One. Titan Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84576-314-5.
• Whedon, Joss; et al. (25 August 2006). Firefly: The Official Companion: Volume Two. Titan Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84576-372-5.
• Whedon, Joss (December 9, 2003). The Complete Series: Commentary for "Serenity" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.

External links[]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Train Job

• "The Train Job" at IMDb
• "The Train Job" at Firefly Wiki