Chinese translations:
- 1- MAL: "Ching zie lie ee bay Ng-Ka-Pei?" ~ "Can I have one more glass of Ng-Ka-Pei [a medicinal-herb wine], please?"
- 2- MAL: "Oh, juh jen sh guh kwai luh duh jean jan..." ~ "Oh, this is a happy development..."
- 3- KAYLEE (to Mal): "Kuh-ooh duh lao bao jurn..." ~ "Horrible old tyrant..."
- 4- KAYLEE (about Mal when it comes to plans): "jen duh sh tyen tsai" ~ "an absolute genius"
- 5- JAYNE: "dong ma" ~ "understand"
The two-hour Serenity (2002) was originally intended as the pilot for the show. The network (FOX) however, decided not to air it, citing that they wanted a pilot with a more action-packed feel to it. With exactly one weekend to write a new pilot, executive producers Joss Whedon and Tim Minear wrote The Train Job (2002), which appeared first on the show. A slightly retooled version of "Serenity" was later showed as an 'origins' story after Firefly (2002) had been canceled.
On DVD, Netflix and more, this is the second episode, as originally intended.
Since this second episode was actually the first to be aired, Joss Whedon and Tim Minear had to introduce the characters to the new audience, even though many elements of these introductions were covered in the actual pilot, Serenity (2002). Quite a bit of the dialogue alludes to information provided in the pilot.
As noted by Tim Minear in the DVD commentary, Book's knowledge of underworld dealings (particularly his theory of Niska's reaction to an incarcerated Mal and Zoe) alludes to his cryptic past.