Firefly (TV Series) Trash (2003) User Reviews

The return of Saffron

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 24 January 2012]

The episode opens with Mal sitting naked on a rock in the middle of a desert so it is clear that something hasn't gone perfectly to plan! The action then flashes back a few days to the time Mal meets up with his old friend Monty, things go well until Monty introduces his fiancée Bridget... AKA Saffron who we first encountered in 'Our Mrs Reynolds. Monty leaves them both when he learns the truth; Mal isn't pleased to be with Saffron again but she makes him a proposal that could be profitable... so long as they are careful not to turn their backs on her. The proposal is that they steal a priceless laser weapon from a wealthy collector on the planet Bellerophon; she already has all the codes to access the building; they just need to figure out how to remove the weapon without setting off the alarms. While the robbery is taking place the owner turns up and it becomes apparent why Saffron has all the codes; she is married to him as well! I won't spoil how it works out but don't forget Mal's first scene!

This was another fun episode; Christina Hendricks was great as Saffron; it is a shame that her character only appeared in two episode; no doubt we would have seen more of the character if the series hadn't been cancelled ridiculously prematurely. The story was enjoyable even if it isn't the best of the series. Away from the robbery there are several good scenes including a discussion between Inara and Mal and the classic moment where River informs Jayne that she could kill him with her brain... River might not say much but what she does say is usually hilarious; Summer Glau is great in the role!

Christina is incandescent

[Grubgrower · 9/10 · 23 March 2007]

I saw the Firefly series only after it came out on DVD, thanks to the suicide Friday night time slot in which it was run. My only beef about the show was that Christina/Saffron was only in two of the episodes. If the show had continued for more seasons, I would like to think Whedon and company might have found a way for her and Mal's crew to let bygones be bygones and get her on the ship as a regular. They are all thieves, after all.

I think this episode would have been impossible to shoot without an actress like Ms Hendricks, who can change her face and turn her character on a dime. You can just look at the shots of her in the Bio section on her page, and see that she can look quite different from one shot to the next. Looking at her filmography, I realize that I've seen her many times on TV when she made little impression on me, but her skills are a perfect fit for her character on Firefly.

Is Saffron Trustworthy?

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 2 November 2016]

Mal has an encounter with his old friend Monty Reynolds to transfer cargo to be smuggled and Monty tells that he got married. When he introduces his wife Bridget to Mal, he leans that she is Saffron. Monty leaves the woman on the planet and Mal locks her in a trunk and brings her on board of the Serenity. Soon Saffron proposes Mal and his crew to steal the priceless antique, the laser pistol Lassiter, from Durran Haymer in his fortress in the planet Balerephon. Is Saffron trustworthy?

"Trash" brings Saffron back to the show, seducing different men. Now she proposes a heist to Ml and his crew and the question is whether Saffron can be trusted or not, and whether Mal is naive or not. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Trash"

The return of the ex

[Joxerlives · 8/10 · 10 January 2012]

The good; Real white knuckle stuff with Zoe and Kaylee on the garbage barge, Indy snatching his hat close. Also love a paralysed, terrified Jayne at Simon's mercy calling out 'Anybody there?" only for River to stick her head around the corner of the door, for such a little thing she can be extremely sinister ("When did your little sister become unbelievably scary?"). 2nd appearance for Saffron and when you see her turn up you just know it's going to be a good one, the interplay between her and Mal and the bitchy rivalry between her and Inara is delicious.

The bad; Doesn't anyone notice a bloody great spaceship like Serenity screwing with the garbage?

Best line; Saffron; (of Mal) "He's my husband" Mal; "Well who the hell in the galaxy ain't!?" plus Doren; (after Mal has explained they're here to steal his property but that Saffron lied to him) "I appreciate your honesty...not you know, a lot...but...."

Packing heat; The whole plot revolves around 'The Lassiter', an antique laser pistol of untold value (check out Jayne's double take when he hears the name). We've seldom seen projectile energy weapons in the Fireflyverse, most people seem to still rely on lead. Noticeably the police on the core worlds seem to use some form of advanced stun guns whilst those on the outer planets stick with bullets. Inara with a gun, the first time we see her with one an elegant, delicate looking affair, maybe a Ruger.22?

Kinky dinky; Naked Mal. Give Joss his due, whilst he has plenty of female nudity on his shows he makes sure there's plenty of male eye candy too (Spike, Angel, all the Actives in the Dollhouse showers). He frisks Saf-Brid-Yol commenting he's "never been there before'.

Capt subtext; Inara's customer was able to provide sophisticated medical equipment at the drop of a hat which Simon uses to sew Mal's ear back on, if we do believe that Inara is sick, maybe this was all intended for her as part of her treatment? Inara accuses Mal of avoiding the core planets not through his hatred for the Alliance or wish to avoid law enforcement but because he's jealous of her clients and wants to stop her working. Inara resents Saffron so much because she recognises her as a fallen version of herself?

Total Serenity crew; 9-Inara refers to 'our cut' and actually participates in the plan which is unusual for her (or at least she's the backup for when it inevitably all goes wrong). Simon and River inform Jayne they won't kill him for his betrayal because they consider him part of their crew.

Knocked out; Jayne by an electric shock

Women good/men bad; Even by his standards Jayne is amazingly crude to Simon and River, threatening to show then his 'man parts' and proclaiming that 'womenfolk ain't to be trusted'. Saffron leaving Mal naked in the desert is undoubtedly funny although would it have been acceptable to us if Mal had done the same to her?

Fanfic; read an interesting one where Mal does leave Saffron naked in the desert. He returns a year later to find her running her own 'Heart of Gold' style brothel

Happy high-class hookers in Space; Inara refers to her 'house mistress', presumably some form of high-ranking companion supervisor/tutor. She also refers to the Geisha dolls Mal has been smuggling, a similar profession to her own. Is she Mal's Geisha Doll? Mal calls Saffron a 'Dirty, dirty whore' as an insult, once again showing how his mind works. Saffron asks Doren if he regards her as his 'Princess in the tower', maybe suggesting she was a companion who made the mistake of becoming a kept woman as a couple of Inara's past clients have wanted of her.

Alliance good or bad?; Mal actually shows real sympathy for Duren even though Saffron claims he's an Alliance war criminal, pronouncing him the one guy 'who don't have it coming'. Maybe Mal is starting to put the war behind him? (Or did his own share of looting which is how he afforded the Serenity?)

Crew injured; Mal gets a bloody nose from Saf-Brid-Yol.

Reminds me off; Inara's pistol is reminiscent of Princess Leia's in Star Wars. The police vehicles remind me of US Navy Viking ASW planes. The phonebox amongst Doren's collection may refer to Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Floating balloons on tethers as we saw in The Initiative and may refer to The Prisoner. One of the fences Mal suggests is called Ellison, again a famous sci-fi author.

Questions and observations; All the mechanics on the Serenity seem to (literally) revolve around the one moving part, it's like the engine on the Beatles' Yellow Submarine or something. So what did happen to Heinrich the security guy? Saffron refers to a fence she has standing by on Prersephone to buy the Lassiter, does she mean Badger? Simon is noticeably dressing down now, no longer so dandy as he used to be (like Wes on Angel). Does River just sense Jayne's betrayal on Ariel or can she actually read his mind? Check out Kaylee's flowery cup, you just instinctively know it's hers. It seems to be you can now fix spinal damage with a simple injection. So, River tells Jayne that she can kill him with her mind? Does she mean by telling what she knows? Because she's so much smarter than him? Or does she mean literally, implying once again the supersoldier/Dark Phoenix from the X-men idea?

Marks out of 10; 8 out of 10, an awful lot of fun to be had, as Mal says at the end, it's a good day. For me Firefly is very much hitting it's stride at this point.

The return of Saffron

[Fluke_Skywalker · 8/10 · 16 March 2018]

Plot; Mal and the Serenity crew team up w/the duplicitous Saffron to steal a priceless artifact from one of her former marks.

The return of Saffron (Christina Hendricks) is a welcome one, and not just because Hendricks is drop dead gorgeous. Her turn as the scheming Saffron might just be the best performance in a show filled w/them. Had the series continued, I've no doubt Saffron would continue to pop up to cause trouble for the crew of the Serenity. If there's been a nit to pick w/the series it's that it sometimes struggles to include everyone in a meaningful way, but Trash is an example of how you can give characters impactful moments, even if the size of their role is relatively small. The only character who suffers here is Sheppard, who is relegated to a single throwaway line/moment.

Not again. Guest star Christina Hendrixs reappears as the vixen she is.

[piratecat-2 · 10/10 · 1 January 2007]

The no name doxie is back to dupe are BDHs. Once again are crew is no match for her cunningness. Its not for long before are crew once again is in chaos. She is found with a new man's man Monty an old friend of Mal and Zoe. With a new alias this time Bridgette. Mal spoils her scam on Monty. Saffron bamboozles her way on Serenity. Mal being the ever fool with SaffBridge puts her on board in a box. Should have left her on that black rock. After a bad day with Saffbridge Mal is in verbal battle with Inara. The ever tactical ambassador wounds Captain Malcolm Reynolds with an arrow straight to his pride. Mal trying to elevate his prestige with Inara other than being a common petty thief to her he buys into Saffbridge's plan of the heist of the universe. Big mistake. Luckily he knows that his crew will cover him. Hmmmm. While doing the job we find out that old Saffron is married to her mark going by the name Yolanda. Yosaffbridge and Mal now with feds in tow narrowly escape with the priceless prize. YoSaffBridge now as expected double crosses Mal, luckily his crew is not caught with their pants down. No but just as stranded. Luckily Inara the player of players covers their back to save some or one of their naked butts. A fun entertaining episode with what is she up to now. A great guest star of the series.

Wrong episode assingment

[call_dip · 8/10 · 25 July 2021]

This is episode 12 I think there has been a mistake.

Saffron is a boring an annoying character...

[nicofreezer · 6/10 · 23 July 2022]

By far the weakest Firefly episode, nothing matter in this episode, its just boring from 10 minutes in the episode i couldnt Care less. Saffron is not interesting at all, boring and annoying, one of the most annoying ive Seen on TV... One episode on her was good enough, but 2 ? Was the plan to make her a recurent character in the show, if its the case im glad they cancel the show, she is trash and this episode was trash Barely a 6/10 , far from " Out of gas" the best firefly episode.