“Jaynestown”

1AGE06
Writer: Ben Edlund
Director: Marita Grabiak
Airdate: 10/18/02

Opening in the bowels of Serenity, we see Simon trying to convince Kaylee that he is capable of swearing. She seems to be a little skeptical. The conversation is broken up by news of Jayne tearing through Simon's infirmary. Sure enough, the big man has turned the place upside down in search of tape. Simon is more than a little distressed by the mess.

Jayne needed the tape to fasten a gun to his belly. He thinks he might encounter a little trouble on this particular package pickup, since he had some trouble in this area a few years back. Mal says no guns.

The Serenity breaks through the atmosphere of Higgins' moon and touches down on the dusty planet. A dusty planet with a bit of a funky smell. That smell comes from the ubiquitous mud pits, which are the backbone of the local clay and ceramics economy.

Jayne drapes himself in a hood and goggles to disguise himself, and Kaylee convinces Mal that Simon should come along on the journey. Mal agrees, figuring Simon's rich guy looks will help their ruse of being buyers, not intergalactic smugglers. Simon doesn't like the idea of going off of the ship, but he goes after some prodding.

Walking through the mud pits, the group wonders if Jayne's disguise is really necessary. He hasn't been here in a few years, after all. We find out that the disguise is necessary, as a giant mud statue of Jayne has been erected in the center of town. Jayne starts to get nervous that he'll be recognized because, as he admits, he stole some money from the Magistrate up on the hill, and he's not the forgiving type.

Speaking of the Magistrate, Higgins is his name, he's meeting with Inara as the group is in the mud pits. Seems that Higgins has a problem he wants Inara to fix.

Retiring to the bar to wait for their package to be set up, the crew tries to figure out why a statue of Jayne would be anywhere, much less a mud planet. A man comes in and informs Mal that his cargo is all ready to go, they just need to sneak it past security and the mud pit foreman.

A song breaks out in the bar about "a man they call Jayne." It seems that our guy has become a Robin Hood-type folk hero because he robs from the rich and gives to the poor. As Jayne confesses, he was trying to fly away with the stolen money, got hit by some anti-aircraft fire and had to dump the strongboxes to stay aloft. Those boxes full of money dropped down on the mud pits, where they were collected by the Mudders, who saw it as a great and noble gift.

A crowd forms around the bar to celebrate their mythic hero, Jayne. He doesn't turn away the adulation. Word spreads of a Jayne Day being held in the town square tomorrow. Mal thinks that will be the perfect diversion to sneak out the cargo.

Meanwhile, back at the Higgins homestead, the Magistrate asks Inara to make a man out of his 26-year old virgin son. He's a little shy, understandably.

While Inara and Higgins’ son get to know each other, the Foreman tells Higgins that Jayne Cobb has come back to town. Wanting revenge for the theft, Higgins frees a man named Stitch. Stitch used to be Jayne's partner in crime. Higgins hands Stitch a shotgun and advises him to get Jayne for taking four years of his life and one of his eyes. Stitch is glad to oblige.

Inside, Higgins’ son and Inara discuss a hero named Jayne. The son says his father heard that Jayne was returning, tracked him here and put a landlock on his ship. Doesn't look like he'll be going anywhere.

Jayne Day rolls around and the crowd wants a speech from their man. The nice thoughts are broken up by Stitch who tells the crowd the truth. Jayne and Stitch stole the money. After the plane was hit by fire, Jayne dumped fuel, equipment and even Stitch before dumping that money. Jayne admits he's no hero. Stitch shoots at Jayne, but a Mudder jumps from the crowd and takes a bullet. Jayne chucks a knife into Stitch's chest and beats him until there's no more Stitch. Jayne yells at the crowd for thinking he's a hero, then knocks his statue over in anger.

Back on Serenity, Wash is trying to get the ship to take off, with no luck. Inara asks him if he's having problems. Suddenly, the landlock is released and Serenity takes off. Wash says, nope, no problems. We find out that Higgins’ son overrode that system and released the ship. Magistrate Higgins is irate, but as the son points out, his father wanted him to become a man, and now he has.

Jayne is still upset about the Mudder taking a bullet for him. Mal opines that every man with a statue made of him was one kind of sonuvabitch or another. He says it's not about what Jayne did, it's about what the Mudders need.

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