Firefly: Ranking Episodes From Worst To Best

10. Episode 4: Shindig

Badger: " 'Course, you couldn't buy an invite with a diamond the size of a testicle. But I got my hands on a couple."

Badger: "...Of invites! You want the meeting or not?!"

This episode is as close to "fluff" or filler as the series gets, but, because it concerns Mal and Inara, it's one of my personal favorites. Mal finds himself fighting for Inara's honor - literally, in a duel - when one of her clients insults her and calls her a whore, which is, interestingly enough, an insult Mal mocks her with all the time. Mal is quick to make the distinction that he jumped to Inara's defense because Atherton was not insulting her occupation, but Inara herself.

Watching Mal risk his life to defend Inara - even if he doesn't know what he's getting himself into - speaks volumes about how much he cares for her, even while both of them are in denial about their feelings towards each other and continue to claims theirs is a strictly professional relationship. The collision of their two worlds at the ball and at the duel, and Inara's choice to stay on Serenity, is significant in showing how they both don't really fit into their respective worlds, and thus why they're practically made for each other.