Bushwhacked

Serenity finds a drifting settler ship whose crew was killed by Reavers. Then an Alliance cruiser catches up with them, and Simon and River have to hide.

Serenity comes across a drifting settler ship. Mal, Zoe and Jayne go aboard, and Simon has to come along despite his fear of space. River, of all people, moves through the wreck with ease, as if she can sense what happened there.

The crew is dead and horribly mutilated – the work of Reavers. There is one survivor, but he has seen such horrors that he is starting to become a Reaver himself.

Back on board, Serenity is seized by an Alliance cruiser. Simon and River hide in spacesuits on the outside of the hull. Commander Harken interrogates the crew and suspects Mal of the massacre. Only when the survivor goes berserk in the cruiser’s infirmary does it become clear that Mal understands the Reavers better than the Alliance. Serenity may go – salvage included.

Written and directed by Tim Minear. The episode shows for the first time what the Reavers do to the people who survive them.