Malcolm Reynolds Part 16: Serenity: Better Days #1 (March, 2008)

Mal finally gets paid…a lot.

I have this issue in the Serenity Better Days Trade Paperback.

Mal’s in a museum with Zoe, Jayne and Simon as they use the doctor’s knowledge of all things fancy to pick the most expensive items to take. The job goes smoothly…until they leave the building, when some very big and very mean piece of machinery chases after them. Mal leaves the mule and heads in a different direction to lead it away from the others, and just as it prepares to open fire on him, Kaylee comes out of nowhere and slaps something onto it that shuts it down.

The museum robbery was just a side job necessary to lure out the big mean machine, which was the real target all along. They load it onto Serenity and make the delivery, and Mal makes sure to hold onto the memory core (which runs the thing) until they get paid. Their contact confesses that he doesn’t have the money, but tells Mal where they could get it – inside a Buddhist temple not too far away. The agreement being that once they have the money, Mal would send him the core. Mal debates the plan with Simon, who’s against the idea, and Book suggests Mal make a donation to the temple after the fact in order to calm the doctor down, which Mal agrees to do.

Mal, Zoe and Jayne head inside the temple and take the money, but are interrupted by a monk who enters the room. Mal puts his gun away and apologizes for the disturbance as he leaves. Back aboard Serenity, he starts counting the money and finds a lot more than he thought they had. In fact, it’s millions. They're finally rich.

Notes of Interest:

1) If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time we see Mal driving something…with wheels.

2) His lack of knowledge regarding valuable museum pieces is reminiscent of his trouble learning medical speak in “Ariel”.

3) Just look at Mal’s face when he’s holding the money. Isn’t he ever happy when he’s not bugging the Alliance?

WTF? Moment: I understand why Mal would leave the mule during the getaway, but how did he know the machine would go after him and not the vehicle carrying the valuable museum trinkets? Weren’t they the reason the machine was chasing them in the first place?