The greatest challenge and the greatest joy of character-driven ensemble shows is taking the time to flesh out each member of that ensemble. Firefly didn't get the chance to dedicate an entire episode to all of its central cast but it made a fair effort to squeeze as much backstory as possible into its short run. Of the crew on Serenity only Shepherd Book, Zoe and Wash got short shrift when it comes to character growth. If it weren't for "Jaynestown", the same could be said for Adam Baldwin's alternately dangerous and lovable lug, Jayne Cobb.

The episode takes place almost entirely on a planet called Canton, an especially unpleasant fringe world that exists for no reason except to produce ceramic mud. Mal and the crew have a rendezvous scheduled with a criminal who requires their smuggling services but things get complicated when they find out that Jayne has evolved into some sort of folk hero for the nearby town of indentured workers. They've built a statue of him in the town square, written ballads in his honor and even rioted in his name. Of course, the Canton mudders don't know the true story of what happened the last time Jayne blew through town.

The long and short of it is that Jayne and his partner in crime stole a pile of credits from the magistrate of Canton but had to dump their pilfered cargo when their ship was struck by anti-aircraft guns. It just so happened that Jayne loosed the money (and his partner) over the worker's village, creating the illusion that he was some kind of Robin Hood and not just a common crook.

Jayne's precarious balance between nobility and outright villainy is one of the more compelling threads in Firefly. Ostensibly Jayne is only along for the ride with Mal until a better opportunity comes along but there are glimmers here and there of something a little less mercenary about him. That isn't to say he doesn't struggle along the way. Though by the time the film Serenity comes along it's clear where Jayne stands, his moral position is far more ambiguous during the regular series. He isn't principled like Mal and Zoe or naively caught up in a mess like Book or the Tams. Jayne is a necessary bit of darkness in Mal's crew and the closest thing the series gets to a redemption arch.

As funny as most of "Jaynestown" is, especially the way the rest of the crew razzes Jayne about his clearly undeserved fame, writer Ben Edlund (creator of The Tick) uses this comedy to disarm viewers against the episode's heartbreaking conclusion. Jayne's rotten side manifests as his ejected partner from the original heist on Canton, a one-eyed beast of a man named Stitch. Their confrontation during the "Jayne's Day" festival results in the death of an innocent young man and ends with Jayne beating Stitch's head in on the pedestal of his own statue. It's a brutal, dark moment that perfectly demonstrates the consequences of Jayne's unscrupulous past.

Best Moment: "The Ballad of Jayne Cobb", written by Joss Whedon himself, is a classic moment from the show.

Notes: Once again, River is relegated to an inconsequential but amusing C-plot. This time around she's "fixing" Book's Bible.

Episode Rating: 4.5/5- The ending is a little rushed and the episode is padded with a lot of stuff that could have fit anywhere else in the series (the Simon/Kaylee romance, the aforementioned River silliness) but it's all entertaining padding.