Firefly | Episode 12: The Message | Full Reaction
Added 2025-01-30 15:00:11 +0000 UTCFirefly has always balanced humor and heartbreak so well, but this episode felt especially visceral. I always love the flashbacks where we get to see Mal and Zoe fighting the good fight. Mal, the ever leader, shouldering the burden of the hard choices, and Zoe, always loyal, follows without question. Not because she is blind to the weight of it, but because she trusts him. And that final scene where they are both standing at attention as they send Tracey home... War changes people, and sometimes survival isn't the victory it seems.
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Link: https://youtu.be/GJGnGz3eiY8
I watched this on Disney Plus
Comments
Such a beautifully worded take, and I completely agree. This episode didn't just say "war is hard" and move on... It lingered and showed how war shapes people long after the fight is over. Tracey's story really got to me for that reason. He isn't some evil villain- he's just a guy who made desperate choices and felt like he didn't have any other options left. You're so right- It's easy to believe we'd always make the right decisions when we're not the ones being backed into a corner. When your life is on the line, fear and desperation can push people to go down paths they never would have even thought about going down. Your perspective is really powerful. Especially since you've lived through those kinds of choices. I don't think that makes you a bad guy at all- Just very human. And I think that's why this episode probably resonates so much. It reminds us that people are just "good" or "bad". Sometimes, they're just trying their best to make it through. Thank you for sharing!
Kali Wali
2025-01-31 14:19:20 +0000 UTCI love that Firefly is so great at using small details to add more depth to every character! Jayne's hat is a perfect example. It's this goofy, endearing thing that reminds us he's not just the tough guy. He has a family and mom who he loves and loves him, who knits for him, and he cares enough to wear it proudly! You're so right about that last scene. The moment he takes it off, you know the moment is serious and something much heavier is happening. Adam Baldwin plays it so well, too. Like you feel the moment shift with him simply taking off a hat.
Kali Wali
2025-01-31 14:14:52 +0000 UTCI'm thinking I'll most likely watch The Expanse sometime this year! With everyone recommending it to me with Firefly.. I'm realizing it's a must-watch sooner than later
Kali Wali
2025-01-31 14:12:21 +0000 UTCi agree
Treevcore
2025-01-31 08:13:52 +0000 UTCthis episode is really an under rated gem in my book for a few reasons. I am vehemently anti-war and while it doesn't touch on it too much, it really does explore the damage war does to someone after they leave. People aren't designed to do be in situations like that, so to make someone do that then just throw them back into "normal" society with zero support and expect them to carry on like nothing happened should be criminal. Society shouldn't treat people like that, and I am glad they touched on it in a pretty nuanced way(in my opinion). It hurt Tracey and while he admittedly makes really bad choices i really am sympathetic to his character. It's easy to say we will always make the noble "correct" decision especially when we aren't in the situation and have the luxury of hindsight. It's easy to pretend we'd always be the hero. But, the truth of the matter is, life is scary. While we try to brave and smart, often times we aren't, and we are just trying to survive. It's easy to condemn someone when are in a good place in life, especially when we've always been in a good place. But, sometimes people start off in a bad spot. They don't have a lot of opportunities or resources, or support systems, or even choices, and are just trying to survive. I really empathize with Tracey because I have definitely made decisions in my life like that, where I didn't think I had any other option, and I have definitely, unintentionally hurt people I love. And like Tracey, I don't think I am a bad guy... just dumb sometimes :)
MattN
2025-01-31 05:08:51 +0000 UTCYou really really need to watch The Expanse. Its going to be your favorite thing.
Farbod
2025-01-31 04:21:08 +0000 UTCThe show uaes nuance so well. Jane's hat is used to give insight to Jane(has mom, sends her$) & it's an object of a number ofc lighthearted moments in a serious episode. Until the last scene, maybe because it's seen as a fun object when Jane's takes it off it feels esp solemn, Adam Balwin treats that so well.
Mike
2025-01-31 03:20:45 +0000 UTCYou put that so well! Joss Whedon and his ream really had a way of leading you down one path just to turn and reveal something so much bigger. "Trash" was really an awesome example of that! I remember thinking, "Well, Mal's naked in the desert so something absolutely has to go sideways", but then at the end we find out it all went as planned. Just not completely as expected haha. I love that so much! Knowing that this episode was when everyone found out it was the final one makes it feel so much more heartbreaking. In my mind, I was wondering if the cast knew that it was being cancelled. But to find out that THIS was their reaction to it.. Wow. Shows how much heart and soul really went into this beautiful show. I've heard a lot of people refer to this show as lightning in a bottle.. And I feel like I can hear Mal say, "Well, they ain't wrong." Also had NO idea that Joss Whedon was in the funeral scene.... When I rewatch this, I will be shedding so many more tears knowing all of this now. What a quietly powerful way to say goodbye to it all.
Kali Wali
2025-01-31 01:09:21 +0000 UTCDefinitely agree about the range of themes and how it's just awesomely done! One minute we're pulling a crazy heist, and the next we're staring right into the heart of what makes all of these characters who they really are. And then throughout it all, that loyalty and resilience! I love Book so much and I just want to know what he's done in his past before 'preachin' lol. But then he does something crazy like bust some knee caps while hip firing and I'm thinking maybe it's better left unsaid 😭🤣 Every now and then he just drops a line that makes you raise your eyebrow haha And Simon and Kaylee.. You summed it up perfectly. Looking back at the end scene where Kaylee takes Simon's hand, I feel like she's saying "Okay I get it. You're the only one nearby, too". I knew Simon really meant it in a sweet way, but he just has the worst luck with words sounding way too unintentionally real haha. Wash vs. Joker would be an amazing race! And the comms during the race omg. Wash would be the cool and sarcastic one while Joker would just bring the absolute unhinged chaos hahaha. So, who do I get in touch with for fanfic comics? 🤣🤣🤣
Kali Wali
2025-01-31 01:04:42 +0000 UTCLOL you know.. I can already tell you're right 🤣 Firefly really feels like it has some sort of rare magic that just lingers on. I have to say I've really enjoyed my rewatches every week because I look through all of them with different eyes every time! I've also been editing my Firefly reactions on YouTube lately and rewatching even the earlier episodes again through editing has been very enjoyable! It makes editing feel so much less tedious haha Now I'm extra curious about all the easter eggs hidden about! Guess I do have a whole 'verse to explore after all 👀✨
Kali Wali
2025-01-31 00:53:08 +0000 UTCJonthan Woodward really brought a ton of depth to Tracey! He made him frustrating, alluring, tragic, and extremely human all at once. And knowing that the cancellation hit them before this scene??? Omg.. That makes this episode hit so much harder and now I'll probably shed a tear the next time I watch it. No wonder the music felt so moving. Very intersting about the continuity error! Now I am going to be wondering... lol
Kali Wali
2025-01-31 00:51:03 +0000 UTCWhile it is natural (and kinda fun) to try to anticipate where a show is going, the writing style of Joss Whedon and his team plays against that. They walk your anticipatory mind down a path sometimes only to surprise you later, then put the plot together in a way that only makes sense in retrospect. One case of this writing style was exhibited in the last episode called "Trash". Starting with Mal naked in the desert saying, "That went well" seemed like him being facetious. Something bad was going to happen. Seeing dangerous, double-crossing YoSaffBrig only confirms this hypothesis. This sets up the great surprise when Inara shows up the "save the day". That went well. In this episode, the writers were more playing with impact of the message. First as an explaination for the plot, later as a sad epitaph. The parallels of the show and the real life production of the show occur again. As it has been pointed out, the funeral IN the show was in a way a funeral FOR the show. Even series creator Joss Whedon joined the funeral (he was the father that Kaylee handed the message player). After the difficult day of the cancellation and filming occured, the cast (crew) went to Nathan Fillion's house. Playing host was the captainly thing to do. Then the cast got drunk to dull the pain of their beloved show. In a broken 'verse, then wanted to be together with their found family.
Eric H
2025-01-31 00:27:00 +0000 UTCI love the sheer range of themes that we get in these episodes! Last episode was a fun, and lighthearted heist, and then things just got REAL in this episode. But throughout it all, we still got those themes of loyalty and resilience, and seeing what Mal (and the whole crew really) are made of. Also, gotta say, Book is cold... stone cold. And I just love those moments we get with him sometimes because you never expect it from him LOL Simon and Kaylee are really the perfect-worst couple haha. They're so perfect together when everything is working, but then you have the bad combination of Simon always fumbling over his words and speaking without thinking, paired with Kaylee being so pure and sensitive, and taking everything he (and people like Mal in the past) say directly to heart In reference to what you said last episode, I would love to see a Wash vs. Joker spacecraft race haha. They both have that same reckless, but earned, confidence in their abilities. Can't say for sure who'd win tho!
M1 Maz
2025-01-31 00:09:32 +0000 UTCSo, it was definitely the subtitles that lead me astray there! 😭🤣 Absolutely hilarious hahaha
Kali Wali
2025-01-30 22:02:48 +0000 UTCThat’s awesome! 🙂
Ian Forbes
2025-01-30 19:30:39 +0000 UTCI don't know the source, but there is a version of the show somewhere that famously has that line in the subtitles. An instance where whoever was tasked with writing the subtitles was clearly not familiar with the show and struggled to interpret it what they were hearing when Tracey said "Gorramn it, Mal."
Dude Longcouch
2025-01-30 19:19:43 +0000 UTC“You’re a rabbit, Mal” … had me chuckling, Kali. 😃. I get why you heard it that way but he said “Gorram it, Mal”, swearing as he retreated from the bridge. Another great reaction! Looking forward to more as always.
Ian Forbes
2025-01-30 18:45:17 +0000 UTCWell, um, actually... nah! I'm not going to do it. Don't want to be an insufferable know-it-all. i am an insufferable know-it-all, but I don't want to be. Next week isn't the end. And I don't just mean because of the movies or books. Or the River Tam Sessions and DVD bonus content. I have a sneaking suspicion this show will stick with you during the many years left to live. I suspect you'll feel the call to do a complete rewatch more than once in the years to come. And, if you end up watching some of the things that the cast has done since Firefly ended, you'll start picking up on the easter eggs to the show that they include in those other projects. There's a whole 'verse full of experiences still out there when it comes to this.
Aaron Chandler
2025-01-30 16:36:17 +0000 UTCMan, Jonathan Woodward deserved a bigger career. Dude kills it in every role he's in. One of the more interesting tidbits about this episode is that, this was actually the final episode they filmed, and they learned of the show's cancellation right before filming the funeral scene at the end. So all the grief and sadness on display in that scene... it's genuine. Tracey's funeral was treated by the cast as a funeral for the show, and composer Greg Edmonson wrote the funeral music as a goodbye to the series. An already incredible episode really hits different when you know that. Because of all that, they decided to move this episode down two slots in the viewing order, so that the show wouldn't "end" on such a bummer of a note. However, that decision actually introduced a small continuity error. It's not a huge spoiler, and most people never even notice it, but I won't say what it was until you've seen episode 14.
Dude Longcouch
2025-01-30 15:30:55 +0000 UTC
