If "The Train Job" covered the Western half of Firefly's Space Western label, then "Bushwhacked" is roundly the first Space episode. It gets its dramatic tension from the simultaneous vastness and isolation of the deep cosmos, getting both shivers and laughs out of the claustrophobic conditions of life inside a series of giant tin cans. The episode also has a subtle emotional core that comes from the depiction of just what makes one such tin can a home.

A big part of the appeal of Firefly is just how lived-in the Serenity set feels. It's full of nick-knacks, personal effects, decorations and oddly domestic paraphernalia that are usually absent from science fiction sets, especially those that are supposed to be space ships. The sets used for any given Star Trek show have an almost ascetic sparseness to them, depicting a future that is bereft of creature comforts or really any true personality. By contrast, Serenity is fairly cozy, almost to the point that dust is visible on the shelves. This gives a weight to the story of any given episode. These characters aren't just fighting for their lives or going after the next payday, they're doing what's necessary to maintain their home. It's the little leisure moments that open many of the episodes, like the modified basketball game at the beginning of "Bushwhacked", that make that home seem like a place worth maintaining.

When Serenity comes across a small transport ship adrift in the middle of nowhere, the crew go on board to scavenge and maybe figure out what happened to the missing families of settlers who once lived there. With the lights out, the ship abandoned and no sign of struggle, the settlers' boat is already creepy enough. It's the little signs of a life once lived there that make the ship a truly unsettling place. Not long before Mal and his crew stumbled upon it, the ship was probably a lot like Serenity. It was a modest home to a group of families, a place where regular people worked, ate, slept and played. Without those people, the ship feels like a tomb.

Before long, Mal discovers what happened to the settlers. The ship was attacked by Reavers, killing everyone on board and turning the ship into a combination slaughterhouse and booby trap. One man survived the assault, though he's in a state of mental shock. Before Serenity can escape from the ship, a massive Alliance vessel shows up and starts interrogating the crew. Meanwhile, Simon and River hide on Serenity's outer hull. By the time it's all over, we've been given our first look at a genuine Reaver and a little glimpse into what makes River special.

"Bushwhacked" is the first episode of the series that really gives River something to do. Throughout the crew's contact with the Reaver-ravaged ship, River has a series of nightmares and psychic attacks that suggest her time at the mysterious Alliance facility awakened certain heightened senses in her. Knowing how the series-capping movie plays out lends a little extra punch to River's ESP in this episode, but taken on its own it's a cool bit of character development.

Best Moment: The interrogation montage was a cool way to further introduce us to most of the characters on Firefly, not just in their responses to the questioning but also in the images of the Alliance soldiers searching their rooms.

Notes: Knowing that a lot of the Alliance costumes are leftovers from Starship Troopers is actually really distracting. It's one bit of pop culture trivia I wish I never learned.

Episode Rating: 4.2/5- "Bushwhacked" oddly feels like a show trying to get its footing despite the fact that Firefly was pretty solid from the get-go. It's a bit too small and it repeats character revelations we already know. It's still a good hour of television, it just doesn't pop quite as well as the first few hours of the series.