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The
episode opens in the present time with a mournful tune, showing Serenity apparently dead in space. The camera moves from darkened
room to darkened room, showing no sign of any inhabitants. Mal falls into frame, collapsing onto the cargo bay grate floor,
as we hear a (voiceover) sales pitch for a spaceship. A flashback to the past shows Mal and Zoë entering the as-yet-unnamed
Firefly-class ship for the first time. Mal is excited about his new ship, but Zoë is taken aback by the "death trap". Mal
waxes eloquent about freedom from the Alliance
and the ship's possibilities once they find a small crew.
The
flashback pans back to Mal in the present time, bleeding. Clutching his stomach, he laboriously drags a machine part along
the catwalk. The camera pans up into the dining room a deck above, to a near-present flashback of the crew enjoying a meal
and telling amusing anecdotes from their pasts. Ship's mechanic Kaylee arrives with a birthday cake for Simon. Before the
doctor can blow out the candles, a power failure, accompanied by an odd sound, causes Kaylee to start toward the engine room.
Just as River quietly announces "fire", a fireball shoots through the passageway. Zoë leaps up to push Kaylee out of the way
and gets hit by the leading pressure wave, which also throws everyone to the ground. Mal quickly shuts the rear entrance of
the common area. The engine room is engulfed in flames. Simon can't get to his medical supplies because the ship is sealed
up. Mal remotely opens the cargo bay doors to blow the atmosphere, sucking the fire out with it.
Back
in the present time, Mal continues his journey with the machine part. A door opening leads to another near-present flashback
to Simon treating a gravely injured Zoë, while Wash desperately tries to rouse
her. A stunned Kaylee tells Mal that Serenity "ain't moving", but Mal prods her to check out the damage. When Wash
refuses to leave Zoë's side and man the bridge, Mal drags him away from her and forces him grudgingly to his post. Flashback
to the past, where a younger, moustachioed Wash evaluates the condition of Mal's
new ship and considers taking the job the new captain is offering him. As Mal and Zoë head off into the depths of the ship,
the first mate expresses her general misgivings of the potential pilot — "he bothers me" — but Mal is enthusiastic
about Wash's reputation. Mal mentions their new "genius mechanic", and an unfamiliar,
unkempt man overhears their discussion and is entertained by Mal's praise.
Back
in the near-present, Simon jabs a flatlined Zoë with a shot of "pure adrenaline", and another jump cut takes us to the present,
where a lone Mal does the same thing to himself in order to continue his struggle. Jumping back to the near-present, Kaylee
despondently tells Mal that their life support is completely disabled, giving them only a few hours of oxygen left.
While
Simon muses about suffocation, Inara reflects on her love of the ship. In his quarters, Shepherd Book is anxiously reading
his Bible. River stops by to reassure him that they won't suffocate — they'll die from the cold first. On the bridge,
an angry Wash snarks about Mal's refusal to accept their doom, pointing out
that he deliberately chose a travel path that kept them away from any possible contacts. As they argue, Mal slips in a suggestion
to get the attention of passers-by that turns out to have a remote possibility of working. When Jayne enters to complain about
their wasting air, another cut takes us back to the present, where Mal hauls the machine part toward the engine room as the
P.A. system needlessly sounds an alarm about the failed life support and low oxygen levels.
Another
jump into the past shows Mal hollering at Bester, the unkempt mechanic, for failing to get the ship underway. He catches the
man in flagrante delicto with an engineering groupie who, as she is getting dressed, interrupts Bester's excuses to correct
his inaccurate diagnosis. As she emerges from behind the engine, we see that it is Kaylee. When the "genius mechanic" sputters
incomprehension, she quickly fixes the problem. Impressed, Mal asks her if she'd like to work on Serenity. She happily runs
off to wind up her affairs at home. Bester questions why Serenity would need two mechanics, and Mal ominously agrees. Another
jump back to the near-present shows Mal encountering Kaylee, who apologizes for being unable to fix the ship. She tells Mal
about the broken catalyser, which "don't fit no more". Back in the present time, Mal finally reaches the engine room and tries
to install the part — a replacement catalyser — but only drops it into the bowels of the engine.
In
the near-present, Mal assembles the crew to order them to split into two groups and take each shuttle in opposite directions
to try to find some help, however unlikely the possibility of success. With four per shuttle, he decides to stay behind in
case someone is caught by Wash's beacon. Wash
rigs a big red recall switch on the bridge so Mal can call them back. Inara objects to Mal's apparent desire to "go down with
your ship", but Mal is simply refusing to accept defeat. A flashback to the past shows Inara's introduction to her future
quarters and "office", one of Serenity's shuttles. In response to Mal's bargaining tactics, Inara confidently announces that
he'll rent her the shuttle, at a discount, in order to gain some respectability, helping him in his own, less licit business.
Back in the near-present, when Inara pleads that "you don't have to die alone", Mal responds, "Everybody dies alone." Wash
also appears to want to say something about their departing without the captain, but Mal deftly turns his attention back to
his injured wife. As Mal seals off the ship compartments, the crew silently departs in opposite directions on their desperate
missions.
Sometime
later, Mal is awakened by a salvage ship attracted by Wash's beacon. When Mal
opens the door to get the catalyser, the sceptical captain holds a gun on him while his crew makes sure there is no ambush
awaiting them. Cut to a flashback in the past, where Mal and Zoë are held at gunpoint by three bandits, one of whom is Jayne.
Mal and Zoë engage in clever banter with the bandits, with Jayne providing the first example (within the storyline chronology)
of his own limited wit. When Mal realizes how effective Jayne was at tracking them, he and Zoë encourage the gunman to switch
sides and join their crew. Jayne casually shoots one of his former partners and holds the other at gunpoint while he negotiates
for his new job. Back in the near-present, after the salvage crew gives the signal that they're alone, the captain likewise
casually shoots Mal in the gut so he can steal Serenity itself. While the captain barks out orders, however, Mal finds a hidden
gun and pulls it on the captain, ordering him to leave the catalyser (as originally agreed) and to get off his ship. As soon
as his ship is secure again, he collapses onto the cargo bay grate floor, as shown in the opening scene.
Back
in the present time, weakened and injured, Mal manages to drag the new catalyser out of the engine bowels and install it,
starting the engine again. He slowly makes his way to the bridge, but collapses again, short of the recall switch. As he hears
the voices from the various flashbacks, he gradually comes to in the infirmary, where the crew is bustling about. A prostrate
but conscious Zoë welcomes him back to awareness. She takes responsibility for ignoring his orders and returning to Serenity
— fortunately, since he never sent the recall — but she promises not to do it again. As Mal drifts off again,
he asks if "you all gonna be here when I wake up?", and Book assures him so. The episode closes on a flashback to the past,
during the spaceship salesman's pitch, which turns out to be for a large yellow rocket-like vehicle. Mal ignores him as his
attention is drawn to a beaten-up Firefly-class spaceship across the shipyard.
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