Out of Gas is without a doubt one of the most favorite episodes of Firefly for fans, and with good reason. The episode is intense, and also gives fans a chance to see how some of the crew members ended up on board the Serenity.
Because it is such a loved episode, it’s no surprise that fans have watched the episode enough times to pick up on a bunch of new and interesting details and facts. Here are ten of our favorite facts that you might not have picked up on.
Air Time
Out of Gas originally aired out of order, just like the rest of the episodes for Firefly (a mess which we won’t get into right now). That being said, Out of Gas was actually supposed to be the eighth episode. In ended up airing as the fifth episode, which significantly changes the tone of the episode and feeling. Though it was likely enough time for fans to become attached to the characters that were so famously on the line here.
Narration
This is a fact that’s actually fairly easy to pick up on, but was possibly overlooked by some fans. Did you notice that the narration for Out of Gas was different from the rest of the episodes? That’s because normally Shepard Book did the beginning narration, but this time around it was Malcolm Reynolds that did so.
While we’re on this track, the close captioning for the beginning narration was not changed to reflect what Mal said – instead it stuck with what Book normally says. It’s unclear on if this was intentional or not.
Flashbacks
Obviously, everybody knows that the episode is chock full of flashbacks. They’re kind of hard to miss. But did you notice that each sequence of flashbacks had their own color palette? That helped us to immediately distinguish each set.
The oldest flashbacks, the distant past ones, are portrayed with warmer yet darker tones. Reds and golds mostly, but with thicker shadows. Meanwhile, the flashbacks that are closer, or even some of the present moments (varying from character to character) have a more normal hue, full of the vibrancy expected of the series. And finally, the scenes that are happening in the present or in the future (again, depending on which perspective is being shown) have a blue hue overlayed. Lights are also shown a bit brighter, and lines in better focus.
Transitions
Remember how we just went over the different color palette and other changes from each flashback style? In regards to the last two (the recent past, present, and future bits) these differences actually become less distinct as the episode goes on.
And that is clearly done with intention. This is a subtle way of showing viewers that these points in time are nearing a converging point (the past and present catching up with the future events shown). It’s actually quite clever when you think about it.
Zoe’s Absence
Fans are well aware of the fact that Zoe was unconscious during most of the episode, but did you know that this was done for a very specific reason? The actress that plays Zoe, Gina Torres, had just gotten married and was on her honeymoon during a lot of the filming for this episode. Her getting hit and promptly losing consciousness was their explanation for her major absence for large chunks of the episode.
A Reference
Remember how Kaylee seems to always be on Mal for getting new parts for Serenity? Well, it turns out that she was right, and they actually did need some of the parts she needed. Most notably, during the Train Job, Kaylee was warning Mal that they needed a new compression coil, “somebody won’t replace that crappy compression coil” were her exact words, we believe.
Well, it seems like that was a warning Mal didn’t heed. We know he didn’t end up getting it in time, since the compression coil is what went during Out of Gas. Yes, that is correct. They brought this warning full circle. And they did it well.
Fire
At the beginning of the episode, everyone is celebrating Simon’s birthday (except for Jayne, perhaps, who was just there for the food). Here River says “fire” and everyone seems to assume that she was reminding Simon about blowing out the candles. When in actuality she was warning everyone of the fire that was about to occur.
If the characters had had time to look back on things, perhaps they would have made a dramatic realization here. As it stands, fans who have seen the whole series (and movie), know full well about River and her unique ability set.
A Small Comfort
While we’re talking about things that were subtle at the time, but painfully obvious now, let’s talk about River’s attempt to soothe Book. Here Book was worried about a slow and painful death; he clearly didn’t want to suffocate to death, and we don’t blame him there.
River tried to comfort him by telling him that this wouldn’t happen, and instead, they would freeze to death. But…Book didn’t actually state this fear out loud. River pulled it from his mind – whether or not he realized it at the time. There’s a chance he knew and stayed quiet about it. Or perhaps he only thought back to it later.
Incense Or Flashbangs?
Another moment that ties very neatly with future events; Inara’s incense. As you might recall, the reason Inara’s shuttle came back to Serenity at the end was because Jayne couldn’t take the incense anymore. He even went so far as to claim concern that it wasn’t actually incense. At the time, fans simply thought this was a cute excuse for Jayne to come back and help Mal. He’s too proud to admit something like that, so it makes sense that he would make up an excuse like that, right?
Well, as it turns out…Inara actually did have incense that was flashbangs. We saw it in action during Serenity. Which raises some interesting questions, doesn’t it?
I Don’t Want To Die At All
While the crew was desperately trying not to think about their fates thanks to Serenity floating in space, Inara and Simon are having a conversation about death. Here, Simon is going on and on about the graphic nature of dying in such a way – too many details for somebody facing that fate, to be sure. But in the end, Inara has an interesting statement that caught fans attention, “I don’t want to die at all.”
This statement combined with the mystery syringe had fans reeling, and searching for an answer. Now fans know that Joss Whedon had planned on having Inara slowly dying from a terminal illness. It’s a fact that never made it to the forefront, thanks to the series getting canceled so early on.
