Got to admit you put my back up immediately by calling it episode 1.
this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2025
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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 after executives were 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.
Synopsis
Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds, Zoe and Jayne Cobb are in a bar. When a drunk patron celebrates the sixth anniversary of the Alliance's victory on Unification Day with a toast, Mal, a former Browncoat soldier, picks a fight. Zoe immediately backs him up, and Jayne hesitates before reluctantly joining. Outnumbered, Mal radios his pilot, Wash, for help. Serenity rescues them, despite the ship not having any weapons. In the ship's infirmary, Dr. Simon Tam tends to his mentally disturbed teenage sister River. Another passenger, "Shepherd" (preacher) Book, tells Mal that Simon is brave to sacrifice his life of luxury to go on the run and protect his sister.
On a "skyplex" (an orbiting space city), Mal, Zoe, and Jayne meet crime lord Adelei Niska and his hulking lieutenant, Crow, to arrange a job. Niska sadistically shows them the body of the last person who failed him. The job is to steal two crates from a moving train, which Mal shows no interest in knowing the contents of.
During the heist, Mal and Zoe sneak past an entire squad of Alliance troops who are coincidentally on the train. They break into the locked train car and find the crates, while Serenity flies over the speeding train and lowers Jayne on a winch to collect the cargo. Meanwhile, a curious trooper sets off a booby trap that Zoe had set. Jayne is wounded, and Mal knocks out the soldier before he can see what is happening. Jayne and the crates are hoisted onto the ship, whilst Mal and Zoe covertly reenter the passenger car and pretend to be regular passengers.
Wash parks Serenity in a nearby canyon. Jayne wants to get to the rendezvous point and finish the job, but Wash refuses to leave without Mal and Zoe. When Jayne tries to take the ship by force, Simon sedates him. Meanwhile, Mal learns that the stolen cargo is desperately needed medicine. The nearby mining town is afflicted with "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.
Mal decides they will deliver the medicine to the townspeople and return Niska's money. Niska's henchmen find them first, and a fight ensues. The Serenity crew wins, and secures the villains. Mal and Zoe drive the cargo to the town, intending to drop off the crates discreetly. They are surprised by the sheriff and his deputies, who realize what they have done. They are grateful for the return of the medicine and allow them to go free. Mal tries to negotiate with Crow but he says Niska will refuse, and promises to hunt down and kill him. Mal casually kills Crow, and the next henchman agrees to cooperate. Elsewhere, 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.
So let's kick this off with a bit of honesty ... I haven't watch Firefly in about 5 years and I remember from then not liking this episode. Having just watched it I can say I was an idiot. This was a charming, funny romp with more great dialog, exciting action, and some great character moments. The only reason for this I think is, I didn't like it before was because it took the place of the pilot in airing order and I guess I resented it. Go figure, like I say an idiot.
Some stand out moments for me:
- The cold open on U day with Mal and Zoe going looking for a bar brawl. Don't tell me Zoe didn't know exactly what Mal was doing from the start and you know she encouraged him. Jayne with his 'I didn't fight in no war' kills me because you know he doesn't care about any of this crap but he's still down for a good ol' bar brawl.
- The prototype for our big damn hero's moment when the Serenity pops up from the cliff and bluffs the townsfolk.
- Such great dialog from Mal and Book discussing God, and then Inara and Book talking about praying for the crew. I especially like how she slips in that she prays and the look he gives her acknowledging her a woman of faith in her line of work.
- "We're doing crime" - you have to love Jewel Staite she can deliver the cheer and cute while still being spunky.
- Niska should be a bit over the top from the writing but the actor sells his menace moving him from Bond villain to Hanable Lecter.
- The Heist is exciting especially Mal's glee at being able to get one over on the Alliance soldiers, and then the twist when he finds out he's stealing much needed medicine. I love how he's a crook but he's not a bad guy. Fillion really sells the charming rouge, I'd love to see him play a bard in another D&D movie. Right up there "So, is his job open?"
- Alec Baldwin in his best blow hard Jayne trying to take over, bulling Wash and Kaylee and then having Book point out that he's being an idiot and is likely to get them killed with his plan. Topped off by badass bookworm Simon slipping him a micky to put him out.
- It's interesting to see Inara pulling a con to get Mal and Zoe out of trouble, and an interesting tidbit about indentured servitude being allowed in Alliance space.
- I really like the good guy Sheriff being able to figure it all out and letting the Serenity crew go because time are tough and people make mistakes but as long as you try to put right, that's what counts. Good Moral especially for show about a crew of lovable rouges.
- Finally the attempt to be honest crooks with Miska's men and the first guy trying to be hard and just getting kicked into the engine was gold, although I suspect Kaylee gave it to Mal later about treating her girl like a garbage disposal. And now I'm looking forward to War Stories and Miska's return.
But with opener about U-day and Mal and Zoe's fierce patriotism to the Independent Faction, I guess we should talk about the elephant in the 'verse. Firefly is a space-western, heavy on the western. The styles, the personalities and everything in between, but here in our world the western period is right after the US civil war. In Firefly we're watching right after their civil war too, and it feels like The Independents are really strongly modeled after the confederacy in the US. A lot of talk about agrarian ~~states~~ outer moons vs industrial ~~states~~ inner planets in place of the North and the South. A lot of talk from Mal and Zoe about freedoms and the outer colonies rights to self determination. And how their lost cause was a righteous one. I know that it's not supposed to perfectly map but it really does sound like Whedon really has a rose colored glasses view of the confederacy and the civil war. I mean we don't see a stars and bars painted on the top of Serenity like it was the General Lee but I ~~really~~ wished they had fleshed out the politics of the war a bit more rather then gloss over it, because I start to cringe when Mal's getting heated up about outer colonies rights. I know that in our would somebody going off about states rights like that are complaining about the states right to own slaves, and it really makes me uncomfortable. Maybe they were really seduced by the Western theme and I shouldn't put too much thought in to it, but really I'd like to hear some more positive messages from them.
One difference between our civil war, and the unification war, the outer planets did not secede. They were never part of the alliance. I feel this is more like the US saying to the countries of Central America, you are now part of the USA and them fighting back.
The Independents were fighting to retain their independence, not gain it from the Alliance.
Yes, there are similarities between the North and South in the US civil war.
I'd hope so but I always thought the Alliance colonized the whole system. Isn't said that they're the ones terraforming moons and making them habitable? If that's the case the outer moons are breakaway colonies more like the US and Brittan, India and Brittan, and well most of the world and Brittan. 😆
Opening Narration for first 4 episodes.
Book: After the Earth was used up, we found a new solar system and hundreds of new Earths were terraformed and colonized. The central planets formed the Alliance and decided all the planets had to join under their rule. There was some disagreement on that point. After the War, many of the Independents who had fought and lost drifted to the edges of the system, far from Alliance control. Out here, people struggled to get by with the most basic technologies; a ship would bring you work, a gun would help you keep it. A captain's goal was simple: find a crew, find a job, keep flying.
I went back and watched the full credits on my version and I realized the voice-over introductions are only on the iTunes and any original TVRips you can find. The DVDs are lacking the voice-overs and the previously on. So I'm guessing the voice-over was added later by Fox.
They were added by Fox when the show aired, but Joss never liked them so they were omitted from some releases. (From a Reddit thread and other various fan info around the net).
Well that's what I kept skipping over I guess. What threw me was the flag. 
We see it in the Train Job and it sure looks like a US/China Alliance. So who did the terraforming then?
