3. “You know the old saying…” “When you can’t run anymore, you crawl… and when you can’t do that…” “You find someone to carry you.” – Mal, Tracey, Zoe, “The Message”
This line always brings a tear to my eye. Tracey’s death was unfortunate, but he brought it on himself. A former soldier who fought alongside Mal and Zoe, Tracey mails his seemingly dead body to Zoe and Mal to be taken back to his home, only to awaken from his death-like sleep. Trouble follows Tracey wherever he goes, this time in the form of a crooked Alliance cop.
Desperate not to let Mal hand him over to the cop, Tracey pulls a gun on the crew and takes Kaylee hostage, leaving Mal with no choice but to shoot the boy himself. The sad irony of it is that if he had just remembered “the old saying” the whole time, Tracey would have known that despite his stupidity, Mal and Zoe would always be there to carry him.
2. ” Also, I can kill you with my brain.” – River, “Trash”
Following up one of Simon’s most badass moments, River finally gets one up on Jayne. It’s entirely possible that Jayne actually believed River’s threat, and after some of the things she does in Serenity, I’m sure some of the fanbase does too.
This is also one of the few moments where we actually get to see inside Simon’s mind a bit as well. He doesn’t hold a grudge against Jayne for nearly turning him and River over to the Alliance. Instead, he finally seems to get what it means to be part of a crew, and to have accepted his place on Serenity.
1. “It strains the mind a bit, don’t it? You think you’re all alone… Maybe I come down the chimney, Kaylee, bring presents to all the good girls and boys. Maybe not though. Maybe I’ve always been here.” – Early , “Objects in Space”
Outside of the crew of the Serenity, bounty hunter Jubel Early is probably the most memorable character of the show. He dominates the final episode “Objects in Space” and picking out just one of his fabulous quotes to include on this list was extremely difficult.
The line: “Am I a lion? I don’t think of myself as a lion. You may as well though: I have a mighty roar,” was a close second, but I think this one captures a bit more of his essence and the mystery that surrounds him. Maybe he has always been with Serenity all along and no one knew it. I guess we’ll never know.
What’s your favorite Firefly quote? Let us know in the comments below.