Firefly (TV Series) Shindig (2002) User Reviews

The Ball and the Duel

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 28 October 2016]

Mal arrives in a planet with his crew and Badger offers a smuggling job for him. Mal goes with Kaylee to a ball to meet the client Sir Warwick Harrow while Inara attends the same ball with her noble and wealthy client Atherton Wing. When Atherton makes a rude comment about Inara, Mal punches Atherton in the face and is challenged by him to a sword duel. How will Mal defeat his opponent that is a skilled fencer?

"Shinding" is a funny episode of "Firefly". Kaylee buying her gown and then discussing mechanics in the ball with men is hilarious. Another funny moment is when the viewer sees what the Serenity needs to transport. The duel of Mal and Atherton is the weak part since Mal would never be able to win the showdown. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Shindig"

A party to remember

[Fluke_Skywalker · 9/10 · 10 March 2018]

Plot; Mal is challenged to a duel after trying to defend Inara's honor at a high society party.

Generally leaving the more serious subplots on the shelf, this was easily the most entertaining episode yet. The "Will they or won't they?" relationship between Mal and Inara could wear thin very quickly, but it works because of the way the characters are drawn and how the respective actors portray them. Besides Mal and Inara, the other character front and center here is the absolutely adorable Kaylee. Her ever cheerful, can do spunk makes her the show's most likeable character and she gets some great moments here. The rest of the crew kinda take a back seat, but the mysterious River gets the moment of the episode trading barbs w/the treacherous Badger.

She shall go to to the ball!

[Joxerlives · 7/10 · 4 January 2012]

The good; Kaylee is the belle of the ball and isn't she WONDERFUL! Mal swordfighting and lots of good stuff with Badger, especially his conversation with River. Adore Mal's looks of amazement as Jayne knows what 'pretentious' means.

The bad; The cows in the final scene are amazingly quiet whilst Mal and Inara are talking.

Best line; Kaylee;"Great party, huh?" Debutante; "Not as good as last year" Kaylee; "Why, what did they have last year?" Debutante; (looking Kaylee up and down) "Standards" To quote Cameron on The Sarah Connor Chronicles 'Bitchwhore much?" Also like; Kaylee; "Maybe that's him over there?" Mal; "That's the buffet table" Kaylee; (hungrily) "How will we know if we don't ask?"

Kinky dinky; Naked Wash and Zoe get it on again, Zoe complimenting Wash that he 'knows all the steps'. Inarra's outfit at the party is also quite something. Kaylee comments that Mal's outfit shows off his backside and Inara subsequently spanks it with her sword.

Notches on the Serenity bedpost; Inara is hired for the evening but we've no idea if they have sex or not so I'll put him down as a possible.

Capt subtext; Wash jokingly refers to 'jealous men like me' regarding Zoe but is he really joking or sending Mal a not so subtle message? When Kaylee says 'Look at the pretties' Mal asks if she means the girls or the clothes? Mal and Jayne snigger as Badger implies he has his hands on some diamond testicles. Mal observes Atherton is such a catch 'I'm liable to sleep with him myself'.

How'd they get away with that? Mal gratuitously stabbing Atherton after he's defeated him in the duel. Mal's remark comparing Kaylee to a sheep dancing on it's hind legs is INCREDIBLY insensitive, Jayne's gynaecologist joke in the ep Serenity is less offensive.

Happy high-class hookers in Space (the title the porn industry wished they'd thought of!); Inara greets several other companions at the party. They are used by rich men as status symbols, who has the best one get's the most kudos. At the end she freezes him out, no other companion will now work for him after how he's treated her. Mal refers to the companion training school as a whore academy (jeez the man has NO CLUE!)

Alliance good or bad?; Would the Alliance allow slavery (or dueling?) on their worlds? Or are they like the Union forces in the American Civil War/British Empire in the 18/19th century, abolishing it wherever they go?

Fanfic; Mal and Inara getting together after this ep is common but a sizeable minority like to pair her up with Atherton, presumably the same folks who think Kate Winslet should have stuck with Billy Zane in Titanic (Mae West's quote of wanting a man who's "handsome, rich and cruel" springs to mind") If you like things a LOT more adult there's also one where Kaylee's admirers invite her to an after hours party and then indulge in group sex with her, more or less consensually (ie she starts off as less but ends up as more).

Missing scenes;. Reputedly there was a scene where we see Mal unload the walking arsenal he carries in his pockets before entering the ballroom plus a derringer he has Kaylee smuggling for him tucked in her stocking tops earning her a hearty spank on her bare hips from the guard. Also a scene where we see Larry Drake's character and Badger fall out and Inara gossiping with her fellow companions at the dance.

Reminds me off; Deranged River talking in her faux cockney accent is VERY Drusilla indeed. Inara the high class lady of the night is very Darla and her love/hate relationship with brooding hero Mal somewhat akin to Darla and Angel. Mal's hatred of slavery is reminiscent of Han Solo. The bitchy girls at the party are awfully like the Cordettes on Buffy. Kaylee's hilarious expression as Mal tells her that he has a job for her is very like Willow's when Riley's wife Sam makes suggestions for Xander's wedding in the s6 Buffy ep 'As you were'. Wash is a bad poet, much like Spike and not really an action man as with Xander. Jane comments that the Serenity crew are the misfits who don't fit in much like the Scoobs at Sunnydale High. Kaylee's rescuer at the party does indeed remind me of an older Clark Gable as the commentary observes but also of Dr Huer from the old Buck Rogers TV series.

Questions and observations; They still have the peerage system in the future. Unfortunately they've also got slavery too, even on a fairly civilized world like Persephone . 'Magic' Jane Espenson, hooray! Inara seems to have a thing about slumming, she really is out of place in the Firefly crew and certainly in the bar Mal and Jayne take her to. More social climbing by Badger but he's useless at it, crustless sandwiches (cucumber?) mixed with wood alcohol hooch, no wonder he needed Mal to be the middleman for him in the deal, at least he can fake class convincingly. Kaylee's surname is Lee Fry. She once again shows her love of fruit, both mangoes and strawberries as does Badger who's at the apples again. Zoe's remark about Jayne slitting her throat and taking over the ship again suggests he's the unofficial 3rd in command. However he wants to rescue Mal when Badger comes to the ship. Mal is in many ways too honest and honourable for the criminal world, he's probably more like the Alliance than he cares to admit but can't stand submitting to their authority.

Marks out of 10; 7/10 pretty good .

Favorite Episode

[CharlesVonFunhammer · 22 February 2006]

It's hard, when pretty much every episode is my favorite one, because each one brings something completely new, funny, and awesome. Shindig is a great episode because it's upbeat and amusing, without getting dark or "series-plot" heavy. It really isn't about River's past, or Book's identity. It's a day in their lives. It shows us what they do on a day to day basis, more or less. Again, the effects are used wonderfully and not over done, the acting is as tight as it gets, and the humor...my god the humor. Nathan again proves his range as an actor having some of the funniest lines in the series while still being completely serious. It's a beautifully shot episode, and paced near perfectly. It's a great window into Whedon's universe and we really get a great deal of information about the "upper" culture (whereas we mostly got the "lower" before). As any Firefly fan I'm sure I could rant on for hours about my love of the series, but I figure 2 minutes is long enough.

Excellent!!!!

[mjarvis0 · 10/10 · 19 December 2006]

I am a firefly fan. I have the series on DVD(TWICE), I have the movie on DVD. I have the books the t-shirt and the mug and the soundtrack. On a weekly basis I watch Firefly but for some unknown reason I did not watch the Shindig episode. Not sure why. Then I started to watch it and you know what? It is now my favourite episode. Why? It gives a further insight into the characters. The love between Zoe and Wash. Kaylee with her grease smudged face but all feminine underneath. The scene when Mal insults her over her fondness of a dress is particularly moving.The feelings Mal has for Inara and vice versa. But most of all the dialogue, there are some terrific lines in this episode just like all the other episodes but because there are no crash bang wallop scenes you tend to miss them. for instance Simon says "I sure the captain knows how to use a sword Zoe replies " I think he knows which end to hold". I could go on and on suffice to say give Shindig at least equal time with all the other episodes and you will see what I mean. Once again I am filled with sadness that this series was cancelled PLEASE CAN THERE BE A RETHINK!!!!

Mal fights a duel

[Tweekums · 10/10 · 13 March 2010]

With a series as uniformly excellent as Firefly it was hard to pick out favourite episodes but this is certainly in my top three. After an introductory scene where the crew have to beat a hasty retreat after starting a bar brawl. Looking for work they head to Persephone; a more upmarket planet than the ones they usually visit. Here Inara is hired to accompany Atherton Wing for a few days and Mal meets up with Badger who says he has a job lined up but that he will have to go to an exclusive party to meet up with the potential employer... things go wrong when he meets Inara and Atherton there and ends up flooring Atherton for insulting Inara's honour. Unfortunately for Mal this is taken as a challenge to a duel and Atherton is known to be good with a sword. Normally one would expect the rest of the crew to help Mal get out of the predicament but they can't as Badger doesn't want it known that he brought trouble to his home planet.

The episode had plenty of good laughs; I loved River's speech to Badger, Mal's words to Atherton at the end of the duel was great, it was also a delight to see one of the men at the party put down a young woman who was being cruel to Kaylee. It is a shame that Badger is in so few episodes as he is a great character, Mark Sheppard was ideal in the role.

Two worlds collide

[piratecat-2 · 10/10 · 31 December 2006]

Shindig is where the tension between Captain Malcolm Reynolds and the companion Inara Serra come to ahead. The show I think was geared for women with a romantic swashbuckling feel to it. It starts out with Inara and Mal in Mal's world a pool hall with shadowy characters. Then we go to Inara's world where Mal is trying to do business with a high society man acting as a middle man for the low life Badger. When Inara trys to get Mal's eye while dancing it sparks jealousy from her suitor. When Atherton does not show respect to Inara Mal the hero steps in to defend her honor. Mal is now in over his head with a duel involving swords but he needs to make a deal for badger and not lose Inara's interest in him as more than a petty thief. Humor, tension, and action. We also see River for the first time as a coherent young adolescent.