The Message was broadcast out of order on Fox (nice going dumbasses) after the series had already been cancelled and cut from the schedule (did I mention the dumbass part?). It aired, finally, on 28 July, 2003. It was written by Joss Whedon and Tim Minear. Minear also served as director.

This is the episode that introduces Jayne’s (Adam Baldwin) very cunning hat, as the crew are picking up messages and packages. While Jayne got a hat, Mal (Nathan Reynolds) and Zoe (Gina Torres) get a delivery. A meessage, a request, and a body of one of their former colleagues. But things aren’t all they appear to be. And trouble is following in the form of Alliance soldier, Lieutenant Womack (Richard Burgi), a very dangerous man.

He’s afterTracey Smith (Jonathan M. Woodward) who served with Mal and Zoe. Alongside Tracey’s body is a message asking them to take his body home. But surprise, he’s not yet dead. We get flashbacks once to the war, and see how things played out for Mal, Zoe and Tracey while they served.

They’re also trying to fence the Lassiter they picked up last episode. So that’s what Mal thinks the Alliance is after first, but Tracey reveals that he stole something He’s a carrier and incubator for human organs. And Womack wants him.

Bu before the end of the episode, things are going to go disatrously bad. And the script knows how to make it emotional, funny, action-filled, and oh so poignant by the time it ends.

And hey! Simon (Sean Maher) and Kaylee (Jewel Staite) seem to be getting closer. Until Simon mucks it up again. And that opens up the option, for the episode for Kaylee to crush on Tracey.

We also see that Shepard Book (Ron Glass) knows a helluva lot about Alliance operating procedures. Who is this guy?

Not only do we get the great hat, but that great line… “When you can’t run, you crawl. And if you can’t do that… you find someone to carry you.”

Oh, and did you spot the Han Solo frozen in carbonit near Kaylee’s hammock in the engine room?

Heart of Gold is the penultimate episode of the series, though you wouldn’t know that from the broadcast order. It was aired on 4 August, 2003. It was written by Brett Matthews.

Inara (Morena Baccarin) is contacted by a fellow Companion, and friend, Nandi (Melinda Clarke). It seems one of her girls, Petaline (Tracy Ryan) in a remote brothel on a border world is pregnant, and the father, Rance (Fredric Lehne) wants the child as his wife is infertile. And he’s not above violence to do it.

The episode plays beautifully with the Mal and Inara relationship, how they care for one another, and how they keep inadvertently hurting one another, as they dance around their feelings. It plays out especially well as things happen between Nandi and Mal.

There’s funny stuff with Jayne, Kaylee and Simon seem to be going through a really rough moment, and Zoe and Wash (Alan Tudyk) debate having a child.

This is the pentultimate episode, and while the emotional stuff works great, this is probably my least favorite episode of the series. And it’s still solid. There’s a nice little shoot out and chase, and Inara’s reactions throughout ar gold, but it’s not quit the best episode of the series. In fact, it could be argued as the weakest. But it’s still amazing, and lets our characters shine. And we see now, why Inara is planning on leaving.

I’m going to miss this series all over again, very soon.