During some downtime, the crew stumbles across a derelict transport ship and decide to check in search of survivors (and valuables). They rescue a survivor and soon discover that the ship had been attacked by Reavers, feral humans said to have been driven mad by isolation. Unfortunately, they're halted by an Alliance cruiser who board Serenity in search of Simon and River.
This episode really plays up the horror atmosphere as the crew board the deserted ship. People seem to have left quickly, but there are no signs of any struggle and the lifeboat is said to have launched. It gives you a hope spot, but that gets dashed as it's discussed that the lifeboat wouldn't be able to hold everybody. A confined location like a spaceship is a pretty good setting for these kind of stories (which is partly why Alien worked so well). And the fact that there is no clear threat on board the ship plays up the the paranoia.
One thing I like about Firefly is that it doesn't use aliens. As savage and brutal as the Reavers are, it's established that they were once human. It avoids the typical science-fiction cliches while also exploring some of the worst things humans can be capable of. But the Reavers never actually appear. They're mentioned in the pilot episode, and the crew encounters a Reaver ship later on, but they escape. That time they were playing up fears of what the Reavers could do. This time around, we're looking at the aftermath of a Reaver attack, and the psychological effect it has on a survivor.
There is even more tension as the Alliance arrive, as Simon fears that Mal will hand him and River over (but it does surprise you and show how truly loyal Mal is to his crew). However, this does bring about one of the episode's funniest moments as the Alliance officer is interrogating Mal's crew but isn't getting anything useful from them: Inara answers her questions politely, Zoe is curt and belligerent, Wash enthusiastically raves about his marriage to Zoe, Kaylee rants about how Serenity's engines are superior to those of the Alliance ships, Jayne stares menacingly, and Book is vague.
If horror isn't your thing, this probably won't be your favourite episode. But it's still a good one.
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