Ariel

The Serenity visits Ariel, a core planet, which has all the amenities and is under complete Alliance control. Inara (Morena Baccarin) has to undergo physical exams to renew her companion license. River (Summer Glau) becomes violent, slashing Jayne (Adam Baldwin) with a knife without provocation. The crew needs work, but Mal (Nathan Fillion) is leery of looking for it on Ariel. Simon (Sean Maher) offers them a job. If they get him and River into the diagnostic lab of the local hospital so he can figure out what was done to River at the Academy, Simon will tell the crew which drugs are the most valuable, so they can steal them. After patching up a junked space ambulance, stealing uniforms and forging ID badges, they're ready to go. River and Simon are brought to the hospital disguised as corpses. While Mal (Nathan Fillion) and Zoe (Gina Torres) go to get the drugs, Jayne takes the siblings to the diagnostic lab. At one point, Jayne sneaks off and makes contact with a federal agent (Blake Robbins). He has his own devious plan -- to turn Simon and River in for a huge reward. In the lab, Simon learns that the Academy repeatedly operated on River's brain, stripping away the part that allowed her to keep her emotions in check. He downloads the brain scan for further study, and then Jayne leads them right into the hands of the feds. The feds double-cross Jayne, so as those creepy blue-handed government operatives whom River dreads arrive at the hospital, Jayne tries to help Simon and River escape.