Ep 1-05 Shindig
 

Mal and Badger are back in business, but in order to acquire the job of transporting his cargo off-world, Mal needs to meet up with Badger's contact at a fancy social event, where he gets into a little trouble defending the honor of Inara.

Fancy parties and old-fashioned dueling, this one has all the makings of a good and fun episode. It shows the amount of work Mal is willing to go to in order to secure a job for him and his crew and also gives another look into Inara's life and career, which was only slightly shown in the pilot episode and hinted at in the two after. And we begin to see the true feelings Mal and Inara have for each other, though they keep them hidden well.