"Serenity" is the two-part series finale and the original intended pilot for the American science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. It was the first episode produced for the series and premiered on Friday, December 20, 2002 on Fox. With studio executives unsatisfied with the episode for the series premiere, the show's second episode, "The Train Job", was re-written and produced as a second pilot to be aired first. The episode shares its name with the 2005 feature film Serenity, which serves as a continuation to Firefly. In the early 26th Century, Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and Zoe Washburne (Gina Torres) are survivors of their rebel unit in the Battle of Serenity Valley during the Unification War, in which their side lost. Six years later, they are eking out an existence on the edges of space in their Firefly-class spaceship Serenity, taking odd jobs even if they involve petty crime. They also take on passengers to supplement their income, including a man with a secret that will change the path of their lives forever. In 2003, the episode won the award for "Best Visual Effects in a Television Series" from Visual Effects Society, and was nominated for a Hugo Award in 2003 for "Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form". Plot Part 1 In 2511, a squad of "Independents", led by Sergeant Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds and Corporal Zoe Alleyne, fight in the Battle of Serenity Valley during the Unification War. Despite Mal's insistence that the battle can be won with air support, Zoe receives orders to surrender from the leaders of the rebellion. Mal is forced to watch in horror as Alliance ships sweep the battlefield unopposed, destroying the rest of the Independents. Six years later, Mal is the captain of his own transport ship, an older-model Firefly-class vessel he named Serenity, with Zoe as his second-in-command. The rest of the ship's crew consists of Wash (Alan Tudyk), who is the pilot and Zoe's husband; Kaylee (Jewel Staite), the engineer; and Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin), an untrustworthy gun-for-hire. Inara (Morena Baccarin), a "Companion" (a very high-class courtesan) who rents one of Serenitys two shuttles, normally travels with them, but she is currently away on business. While the crew are illegally salvaging some crates off a derelict Alliance spaceship, they are spotted by an Alliance cruiser. To escape capture, Mal has Wash deploy a fake distress beacon. The Alliance cruiser falls