Original artwork, not a still
Does it seem every supply store on every water planet has the same five rag dolls and the same wood carvings of – what is this? A duck?
— Firefly · 2002
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
A shopkeeper's complaint about tourist tat is also a Companion's quiet admission of how many worlds she has seen. Inara has the cultured eye that cannot read the carving, and Kaylee, who builds love into engines, can; the wooden swan is one of the show's small portraits of both women. The wood-carving gag reached fans further because a Chinese proverb about a badly carved swan looking like a duck is said to sit behind it.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for FireflyShow the scene
In "Safe" (Firefly, first aired 8 November 2002), Serenity has just delivered its smuggled cattle to the backwater colony of Jiangyin. Mal sends Simon and River into town to stay out of the way of the deal, and they run into Inara and Kaylee, who are browsing a trading post. Inara grumbles about the souvenir stalls, with the same five rag dolls on every border planet, and then asks what a wooden carving is supposed to be, a duck. Kaylee, who loves it, corrects her: it is a swan, and she thinks it was made with longing.
Sources (2)
- Wikiquote: Firefly (TV series), Safesection "Safe"Reference checked
- Firefly Wiki: SafeSynopsis and Behind the scenesReference checked
Context reviewed
