Firefly : episodes

(spoilers)

01/02. Serenity , parts 1/2: The crew of Serenity salvage some goods from a derelict spacecraft, but discover they are marked with Alliance logos, and so hot that their original buyer won't touch them. They take on passengers, and attempt to fence the goods to an old rival. But one of the passengers turns out to be a doctor on the run with his genius sister, while another is a Fed agent chasing them. Kaylee is accidentally shot, and the doctor saves her in exchange for running from the Feds. The fence job is a double cross. The Fed is killed. Then the dreaded Reavers nearly get them. But, at the end of the day, they're still flying.
03. The Train Job: The crew take a job hijacking some goods from a train for a gangster. Then they discover the cargo is desperately needed medicine, so give it back. Thereby making a new enemy.
04. Bushwhacked: The crew find a colony ship gutted be Reavers, who left behind one maddened survivor. An Alliance cruiser finds them, and thinks they killed the colonists. Until the survivor starts on a killing frenzy. The doctor and his sister have to hide from the Feds on the outside of Serenity while all this goes on.
05. Shindig: Mal takes Kaylee to a ball, to make contact with someone who wants some goods shipped. But Mal ends up in a sword duel. He wins the cargo -- a herd of cattle.
06. Safe: Delivering the cattle, the Shepherd is accidentally shot. But Simon and River have been kidnapped by hillmen who need a doctor. The crew take the Shepherd to an Alliance hospital. They then go back for the pair, just in time to rescue River from being burnt as a witch for mindreading.
07. Our Mrs Reynolds: After a visit to a backwoods planet, Mal finds himself unexpectedly married, to Saffron. But his new wife isn't all she seems -- it's a con job -- she knocks out some of the crew, sets the ship towards some scrappers, hijacks a shuttle, and disappears. The crew just manage to avoid being coming scrap, and Mal gets his shuttle back.
08. Jaynestown: The crew go back to a town where Jayne pulled a heist four years earlier. He's stunned to find that he's a hero with the townsfolk, because he was forced to dump the money as he fled, and the poor people are treating him as a modern Robin Hood. But the magistrate from whom he stole it has other plans.
09. Out of Gas: Serenity breaks down in deep space, stranding the crew with no life support. As they struggle to survive, we get flashbacks of how they all joined in the first place.
10. Ariel: River is getting worse, so Simon comes up with a plan to smuggle her into an Alliance hospital for a diagnostic brain scan. He gets the others to help by telling them how to steal medicines. But Jayne sells them out to the Alliance, for the reward. However, the Alliance double-cross him, and take him prisoner, too. So he's forced to help them escape, and Simon is very grateful. Mal realises what really happened, accuses Jayne of being a traitor, threatens to kill him, but relents at the last minute.
11. War Stories: Mal and Wash are abducted by Adelai Niska, the gangster they double-crossed [ 03. The Train Job ] , and he has them tortured, just for fun. So Zoe and the crew go to get them back. River displays sharpshooting prowess.
12. Trash: Mal runs into Saffron [ 07. Our Mrs Reynolds ] , "married" to an old army buddy. She convinces him to join her on the perfect con, the theft of a priceless antique: one of the original laser guns. She out-cons him and the crew, but they had arranged Inara as a back-up, to out-con Saffron.
13. The Message: Mal and Zoe receive a postal delivery, of the body of an old army buddy, Tracey, plus a recorded message asking then to deliver his body home. When the Feds start demanding him back, they investigate, and discover he isn't dead, just shamming, and smuggling illegal organs. The Feds' bombs start getting very persuasive. Tracey overhears a plan to turn him in, starts threatening people with a gun, and takes Kaylee hostage. Mal and Zoe have to shoot him, at which point he discovers the whole plan was to call the Feds bluff. He dies, and they take his body home.
14. Heart of Gold: A friend of Irina's who runs a bordello on a back-woods moon asks for her help. One of her girls is pregnant with the son of the local gang's chief, and he's threatening to take the baby by force. The crew of Serenity go to help. Mal and the madame have a night of passion before the fight. She is killed, but the bandits are defeated. Inara tells Mal she has to leave, because the bonds of family are threatening to tie her to the crew.
15. Objects in Space: River is acting strangely, and gets hold of a loaded gun. No-one is hurt, but when Kaylee recounts what River did during the rescue of the Captain [ 11. War Stories ] , everyone gets nervous, and wonders if it's safe to have her aboard. Then a bounty hunter sneaks on board to abduct River. But River messes with his head, and the crew band together to defeat him, and rescue River.