I guessed something right for once. I had Zoe pegged. It was nice to see more of Wash and Inara. I like their voices, especially Wash. I had hoped for more Kaylee and Book, but it's only three issues and there's 9 characters. No answer, or I missed it, on the mysterious guy out for Mal. Oh well.

I'll just sit here and wait for A Shepherd's Tale.

thatweirdgirl | May 14, 23:38 CET

I think the Mysterious Guy was the guy who owned the thing the crew stole in issue 1 to get all of that money. That's why he hated Mal.

Also, I love the Wash punch. It was awesome.

crazygolfa | May 14, 23:54 CET

Wasn't he the federal agent who ratted out Simon & River and then shot Kaylee in Firefly? He lost the eye, but survived Mal shooting him and tossing him off the ship...or, have I just completely lost my mind? (Which I admit is certainly possible.)

grumpalumpalus | May 15, 00:07 CET

Nah, the guy you are talking about was Agent Larry Dobson, his story appeared in "Those Left Behind" which happen after the events in "Better Days".

crazygolfa | May 15, 00:14 CET

I know it's the mech guy, but why Mal? he knew who Mal was the second he saw him. I'm just greedy for as much info on the verse as I can get.

thatweirdgirl | May 15, 00:18 CET

I re-read "Those Left Behind" when I was reading the first issues of "Better Days", so I thought it was likely that I had them conflated! Thanks for the correction.

grumpalumpalus | May 15, 00:36 CET

It was interesting that Joss added this little extra wrinkle with Mal being jealous of Simon and Inara. I'm guessing it has to do with Inara's possible health issues (hinted at in 'Ariel') but it does add to reasons behind the anger between Mal and Simon in the movie (maybe). I always like more conflict confusing every issue! I was disappointed that we didn't get to see or hear more from River, and disappointed that her well placed kick didn't stop the bad guys from stealing all that money (I know, we couldn't let our BDHs get that rich, but it did give me a happy).

embers | May 15, 00:56 CET

Wasn't as happy wih this issue as the two previous. I did like that there was movement on the Inara-mystery front. Simon was seeing her in his medical capacity, I'm sure. I bet the reason she's out in the black is tied to this.

I was trying to figure out when Zoe would have had time to be a Dust Devil. I assume between the surrender and the purchase of Serenity. I don't know why, but this revelation sits wrong with me. Somehow it doesn't fit.

Also, wouldn't the crew have noticed the guy that River took out and wonder who did it to him? Besides which, I'd gotten the impression River didn't have conscious access to her fighting ability. She did shoot the gun accurately in War Stories, so I guess it's believable, but it makes her seem more aware than she ever seemed to be in the series.

Didn't like how easily combat robots and flying gunships could be handled by a single man, either.

shambleau | May 15, 01:08 CET

I like to consider myself semi-literate when it comes to comics. But I could not tell what the heck was going on in this thing. Anyone else have that problem?

QuanticoMVP | May 15, 09:52 CET

Hmm. It was interesting, but I need to read it again. I too am not entirely happy with the Zoe/Dust Devil thing. (Almost called her a Dustbuster.)

UnpluggedCrazy | May 15, 10:26 CET

I agree, it seemed kind of forced to make Zoe a dust devil. Apparently, Mal had a fit of the blues after the surrender long enough to let her go run around do her dusty thing.

I also wasn't really pleased to see the combat droids, as there really hasn't been much established in the Serenity universe for advanced robotics (that I'm aware of). It was a little too Star Warsesque for my tastes. I almost feel like they were thrown in merely so Book could show up and look dangerous with a machete.

An interesting perspective is how its implied that Mal purposely acted in a way to have the money stolen, and while Inara called it very self-ish, also appreciated it. He does it entirely to keep the crew together back on the Serenity. This is sort of strange, cause then by the time the movie comes out, the man who could give away a fortune to keep his crew together, has allowed Inara to leave, and is fine with telling Simon that he can leave and take River with him.

RebelAt | May 15, 18:25 CET

I also found it a little confusing on the first read through, especially the bit around the gang being picked up by Inara.

Shambleau, when the thieves are driving away you can see the guy River kicked rubbing his head, so he wasn't left lying around for the crew to find. I'd guess that River just didn't view the loss of money as being that important and so didn't try to stop them, her kick after all was purely defensive (she only attacked the guy when he followed her). Also it is possible she knew (psychicly)that Mal wanted the money gone and so allowed it to be stolen.

I found the conversation between Mal and Inara really captured the voice and tone of the show. I could almost hear the actors speaking those lines

mgmn | May 15, 18:31 CET

Same here. It did kinda fizzle out.

Simon | May 15, 18:31 CET

Actually I found the fact that Zoe rather than Mal was the Dust Devil quite logical. Mal is very much the idealogical solider, he believes in causes and dreams, when the brass surrendered I can easily see him going into a funk, especially after they left them for a week in Serenity Valley while they hammered out the accord.

Zoe was always the more down in the dirt solider, I could see her continue to fight after the orders to stop came down.

A good indication is the deleted scene from Serenity (tv episode). It's been a week since the surrender and the troops are still in the valley, many slowly dying. A rescue ship is coming down (I'm paraphraising)

Zoe: Our's or their's
Mal: It doesn't matter

Mal had given up on the war, Zoe hadn't

mgmn | May 15, 18:53 CET

Could somebody please, please tell me that Mal didn't gave the money, and dreams of his crew, away simply to not get bored if they are gone?! Maybe he gave the money to the special ops to keep them off Zoe's back, to bribe them, eh? Could he? Grasping as straws here...
Because for the life of me I can't see how such a deed could be called "sweet" - it was extremely mean and sick thing to do, IMHO (unless it was done to save Zoe...). It made me thourougly disgusted with Mal - but maybe it was the intention? But I feel like giving up on the 'Verse altogether if that's its creators' idea of "sweet".
But actually, this kind of ending sets Serenity movie up much better than Those Left Behind. If the crew got the wind of Mal's deed, that might explain deterioration, bitterness and despair of the crew in the beginning of the movie.

There were things in this comic which I liked a lot, but the end - urgh, I felt like throwing this comic in the window.

What I liked: Zoe as a Dust Devil. Made sense for me, and she could have gotten over it soon and adjusted for the normal life better than Mal, still, as her relationship was Wash showed.
I liked the theme of forgiveness and ambivalence of both sides not being quite in the wrong or in the right. I loved that Ephraim wasn't a cartoon villain, and that he had depth, and that he worked with Mal in the end.
I liked the tease of Simon/Inara, Mal's jealousy, and the fact that Inara's mystery was touched upon. She left the Core for something health-related, it was hinted before. So this thread could yet be picked up, yay!
I liked all Mal/Inara interactions and Zoe/Wash interactions. Loved Jayne saying "it's not my fault", and the meta-comment about adult relationships.

What I didn't like, apart from the ending: Wash portrayed as bad-ass, which seems to be the case with Brett Mathews, as Wash was also too much a bad-ass in HoG. I can totally see him punching that guy, what I don't see is Wash knocking him out like that, that easily. Wash is a geeky civilian, adverse to violence almost as much as Kaylee, he is just not trained for it. Wash is not Jayne, for heaven's sake!
Didn't like overload of sci-fi droids and the ease Book took care of them. And a lot of action in that fight was confusing.

Mal, Mal, Mal... Serenity is a symbol of running, of failure, for him. Once someone's been in Serenity he can't leave... But to drag others in there, depriving them of choice to leave their Serenity? If that is the part of the arc of Mal seeing Serenity as being held up by love, redefining its existential meaning etc. in the end of the movie? Maybe I can buy that. But at this moment I just had enough of Mal and want nothing to do with him anymore. :(

Mal's actions reminded me of an old Russian joke, you know, of the kind where an American, a British, a Russian etc. walk into a bar? Ok, so there was a plane crush and an American, a British etc. and a Russian found themselves on an uninhabited island. They are desperate, but then they find a bottle with a Genie in it who could grant everyone just one wish. Everyone wishes for some way off the island and back home. The Russian is the last and his wish is: a box of vodka and everyone's back, to drink it with. :)

Nata | May 15, 20:01 CET

I think it is right to consider Mal's act selfish, as Inara stated, but I think the writers wanted us to view it also from Inara's perspective, that it was a good thing. The basic gist is that the crew of the Serenity are a family, and the money was breaking up that family. Mal didn't want to see that happen, so he removed the money from the scenario, forcing everyone back to relying on their place on Serenity. It was a selfish love, but it presumes that the other crew members did not share the same strength of family as Inara and Mal, who apparently felt it was more valuable than any amount of cash.

So it could kind of be viewed as an underhanded slap at the other characters. Notice in the previous issue, almost all of the fantasies of the characters involve them being off Serenity and away from some or all of the rest of the crew. The end of Better Days makes you question how much of the love and companionship of the Serenity crew is by choice, rather than circumstance. I'm not sure if I'm happy with that question.

RebelAt | May 15, 22:05 CET

but I think the writers wanted us to view it also from Inara's perspective
I can see Inara seeing it as a "sweet thing" as she has nothing to lose herself. Oh, and she has money anyway. And note how she didn't share her "richness" dream - an ominous sign, that she can't really dream about future for herself, maybe because she's to die soon?
What disturbed me is the impression that the authors were somehow sharing Inara's view. Maybe I'm wrong, and we were meant to be appalled by what Mal did, and question it.

Nata | May 15, 22:15 CET

Darn, already off the first page. Couldn't get the issue last night.

Joss and Brett are so good!!!

This IS a Firefly/Serenity episode!!!

And Inara is so good at reading Mal.

Like in Firefly episode: Bushwacked When Mal gives a little speech about "any peace to be had" and Inara says "And just when I think I've got you figured out." Firefly The Official Companion Volume One.

And in Firefly episode: Our Mrs. Reynolds When Inara figured that Mal had realized she had kissed him.

I have to watch the series and movie again, I swear there is at least one more example of where Inara read Mal totally wrong.

Not to say in his thoughts he was worried about the crew breaking up because of the money. Not to say in his thoughts he wanted some of the money gone. Not to say that in his thoughts he wants everyone to stay. Like Serenity: Those Left Behind, he can't admit that until after they leave.

Inara thought Mal was a dust devil. Spoiler in case you want to figure this out on your own or wait for it to be revealed in a future Firefly/Serenity episodeInara thought that Mal would invite a man on his boat who needed to come upstairs with a big knife to convince people to tell where the money was.

River...

[ edited by Anonymous1 on 2008-05-16 04:20 ]

Anonymous1 | May 16, 05:59 CET

The comic series felt good to me exactly because it felt like an episode of the show in so many respects.

At first I was surprised by the amount of action and the short elapsed time in the third book compared to the first two, but this works well in hindsight.

Dialogue wise, Jaynes "That weren't me" (not spoilery without context, I hope) is one of many examples of it being so easy to imagine the characters saying what's written.

Zoe as a dust devil I understand, esp when the phrase and 'terrorist' tag has been coined by the winners and you know what they say about history being programmed by the winners.... Interesting commentary on current world events, I'd suggest.

Bottom line for me: More mysteries to solved = likelihood of more firefly in any shape or form = shiny!

SydneyBrowncoat | May 16, 09:49 CET

And Inara is so good at reading Mal.
Anonymous1, vow, that's another straw for me to grasp, thanks! :) That's an angle I didn't consider. But you may be right: maybe Inara made a wrong assumption and Mal just didn't bother to correct her. And maybe they'll pick it up in the future series... They sure dropped a lot of hints which can grow into new episodes.
Yes, letting armed special ops roam his ship, unknown to his crew, is not something he would endorse. He has two fugitives aboard! What if those ops had info on River and Simon?! It just doesn't make any sense. On the other hand, if we go with Mal-the-sick-possessive-psycho angle, and if we assume he could dupe his crew in such a way, we might as well assume he could sacrifice some of them to keep the rest with him. I mean, if he's already gone bonkers like that, why stop there?

But if Mal didn't tell the ops about the money, how did they find it then? What would be the alternative theory?

I swear I'm suprised with my own reaction, but after finishing this comic I've been so angry and disgusted with the 'verse I've wished I never read this comic, it was very upsetting. Especially as they might never address it or build on it in the future. It's something on the scale of Angel's mindwipe of his team in "Home" and bringing them to W&H, if you've followed Angel. Imagine if *that* was the end of series and if the mindwipe/sell-out was never addressed in the future... I wouldn't wish to have anything to do with Angelverse again, in that case.
Things like that must have consequences, and I hate when people are made into dupes and left like that, and the story pretends that everything is fine.

Nata | May 16, 18:59 CET

Nata, I don't think the guys on the ship were the special ops people. Might have been related to the people who held up the restaurant or maybe another group that noticed Jayne and his big mouth.

On how they found the money, didn't you see my post above. You have to move the mouse over the shaded area.

[ edited by Anonymous1 on 2008-05-17 01:27 ]

Anonymous1 | May 16, 20:25 CET

On advanced robots that replace people, that would just make the Alliance have to come up with more "Alliance Make Work" for the people replaced.

But if a man had a powerful need for a special kind of robot, he might just build one. Necessity is the mother of invention. And then he might decide to try to make other kinds of robots like the drone in Issue 1 or the smaller drones in issue #3.

Anonymous1 | May 16, 20:35 CET

Sadly, I'd completely forgotten about the drone in the first issue. I would like to think that the drone type hardware was on the rarer side of things in the Serenity universe.

I also meant to agree, this three issue run felt exactly like an episode of Firefly. As is, I think most shows are broken up into three partitions, the setup, the middle, and the conclusion.

RebelAt | May 16, 20:55 CET

On how they found the money, didn't you see my post above.
Oh, you mean... River? Hmm. Now *that* is the believable suspect. :) Can totally see her doing something like this, and no one (except Jayne) would have a heart to blame her if they discover it...
And it never occured to me the guys plundering the money weren't the special ops. Too many various folks after Mal, I mean more than usual, and it's very confusing. :) But yeah, it makes sense. They could be related to those restaurant robbers, sure.
Whew. Now everything finally fits, and now I can say that it's indeed a great episode! And with twists worthy of Jossverse.

Nata | May 16, 22:16 CET

I have a lot of trouble believing Wash would punch a guy who's seemingly cold-blooded and has a weapon and backup at hand. And more importantly, who's just stood down. I can see him adopting a more jaw-breaking willingness in other situations, but after the fact? In the face of a tentative truce? Not buying it.

The ending puts Mal in a much creepier light than anything else he's done, especially considering how often his crew is close to out of fuel, supplies, work.

The first parts of this issue continued the goodness of the first two. Then it just got weird.

ETA: I will admit I'm torn about the mysterious preacher man slicin' some battle droids. Awesome! And what the hell?

[ edited by Sunfire on 2008-05-16 20:03 ]

Sunfire | May 16, 23:02 CET

Sunfire,

Inara just isn't very good at reading Mal. See above post.

Anonymous1 | May 17, 03:59 CET

On Wash punching Spike. Wash never got to punch Niska. Also the guy wanted to take Zoe away from him.

Anonymous1 | May 17, 04:06 CET

I read it, but I didn't follow it. I do find the idea of Mal leading anyone to his ship to be highly suspicious, but I don't understand your interpretation of the events.

Like I said, I think Wash could do that. But not the way this scene was set up. It just didn't seem like him, even when pushed emotionally.

Sunfire | May 17, 04:09 CET

Inara thinks it was Mal. Inara thinks the bad guys never looked anywhere else. Inara doesn't know a guy came heading for the cockpit with a real big knife and tried to sneak up on River...on the upper deck far from the cargo bay.

[ edited by Anonymous1 on 2008-05-17 04:55 ]

Anonymous1 | May 17, 04:35 CET

That doesn't quite make full sense either, though. I expect you're right, but it does seem weird to me that there didn't seem to be any sign that they searched anywhere other than Mal's favorite hiding place. It was a very sneaky and quick theft overall, and it's been pretty well established that it's difficult to find something hidden on that ship. To actually search the ship would have taken longer and required more noticeable rummaging around, I would think. Yes, the crew on board were on the bridge and distracted, and there was the one guy with the knife who approached the bridge. And Inara was in her shuttle and then took off. So they definitely had a window to search mostly undisturbed. That was still a really fast and clean getaway for finding something hidden in a Firefly, if they really did know only that there was money on board, but not where.

The plot got choppy toward the end of this issue. The end didn't quite make sense. I feel like I missed something, overall. Either those guys started looking for hidey-holes in the cargo bay and got lucky, or knew where best to look in a Firefly, or were really so good and so fast to search the ship really efficiently... or Mal told them where to look. And even then, why would he? His interrogator wasn't asking for money, and he wouldn't have settled for a bribe instead of what he really wanted.

Again, I expect you're right, even though yours wasn't the interpretation I walked away with after reading this once. But I do have a hard time believing someone could find something Mal had hidden with such efficiency. Unless he left the panel open and the money visible? He did go back there to get his gun, didn't he?

[ edited by Sunfire on 2008-05-19 16:16 ]

Sunfire | May 19, 19:15 CET