Kaylee Frye

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Kaylee Frye
Biographical information
Gender

Female

Occupation(s)

Mechanic

Statistics
Ship(s) captained or crewed

Serenity

Behind the scenes
First appearance

"Serenity"

Latest appearance

Serenity

Portrayer

Jewel Staite

Kaywinnet Lee "Kaylee" Frye is Serenity's mechanic. She has exceptional mechanical aptitude, despite her lack of formal training. Kaylee is considered by the crew to be exceptionally sweet and chipper, the type who maintains a bright attitude even when others are feeling low.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Kaylee has apparently always had an affinity with machines. On her home planet, she would often assist her father in repairing things.

[edit] Crew member

Kaylee joined the crew of Serenity when its captain, Malcolm Reynolds, interrupted her and Bester having sex in Serenity's engine room.[1] At the time, Bester was Serenity's mechanic. However, when Bester incorrectly informed Mal that the ship could not be fixed, Kaylee quickly proved him wrong by diagnosing the problem and repairing the grounded Serenity. Impressed with her mechanical ability, Mal immediately offered her Bester's job. Kaylee happily accepted, and left her family (and Bester) behind to join the crew.[1] While Simon tends to Kaylee after she is shot by Dobson, Jayne Cobb is huddled on the catwalk outside of the infirmary watching the surgery. Earlier in this episode Jayne had been banished from the dinner table for making lewd comments about her obvious attraction to Simon, thus humiliating her in front of Simon while leaving Simon himself very embarrassed.[2] And yet, his obvious concern emphasizes her importance to him and implies how deeply the other members of the crew care about her—although Jayne would still embarrass her in later episodes by making fun of her attraction to Simon, usually right in front of Simon.[source?]

Kaylee has shown an affinity for strawberries. As part of payment for being allowed passage on Serenity, Shepherd Book offers her a small box of strawberries, which she eagerly accepts. In a later episode, when she accompanies Malcolm Reynolds to a ball, she immediately homes in on the bowl of strawberries on the buffet table.[2]

Despite her mechanical aptitude which allows Kaylee to fix just about anything, she has a desire for girlish things and is annoyed when Mal does not see that she is a woman as well as a mechanic.[3] Although most notable in the episode "Shindig"—when he criticized her desire to purchase an elaborate dress on the grounds that she would have no opportunity to wear it in her job—this recurs throughout the series.

On the rare occasion that her ability as a mechanic fails her, she tends to lose her sunny disposition, as happened in "Out of Gas" when Serenity's oxygen generator unit exploded, leaving Kaylee saddened that her ship had become so damaged and she hadn't noticed the 'warnings'. Kaylee tends to personify Serenity, talking about her as if the ship were a sentient creature, and Kaylee takes insults to the ship personally when someone refers to it as "junk".[1]

In the novelization of "Serenity", River reveals that the attraction between Simon and Kaylee is not a simple crush of infatuation, but that the two are in fact, in love.

In the movie Serenity, Simon Tam confesses his feelings for her, which she reciprocates. The ending depicts the two finally consummating their relationship; a scantily-clad Kaylee and a shirtless Simon kiss each other passionately, then sink to the engine room floor (falling out of frame in the process), with River peeking in wide-eyed from an overhead hatch.

[edit] Personality

Actress Jewel Staite explains Kaylee's character as being wholesome, sweet, and "completely genuine in that sweetness", adding "She loves being on that ship. She loves all of those people. And she's the only one who loves all of them incredibly genuinely."[4] Staite told Interview magazine, "She's kind of a floozy who wears her heart on her sleeve."[5]

[edit] Relationships

Simon: Kaylee develops a romantic attraction to Simon Tam which remains unconsummated during the run of the series, even though it is clear that Simon's feelings are mutual.[6] It is often his 'proper' attitude that prevents the two of them from ever engaging in a more meaningful relationship, or his dedication to protecting his sister.[source?] The problem is compounded by the fact that he sometimes makes comments that hurt Kaylee's feelings, insulting the lifestyle of the crew, Serenity, and even herself, though he never intentionally means to insult her; a prominent example of his ineptitude at making conversation is in "The Message" when he described her as 'the only girl in the world', on the grounds that all the other women he knew were either married (Zoe), too professional (Inara) or related to him (River). Simon himself almost never gets mad at Kaylee, the only time being Objects in Space where Kaylee revealed River's disturbing expert use of a handgun, which placed a dark cloud over River in the eyes of the others, which in turn angered Simon, although he was able to control it.[source?]

Malcolm: The overall relationship between Malcolm Reynolds and Kaylee closely resembles that of a brother and sister, as stated by Mal in the pilot episode, when that character refers to Kaylee as "Xiao Mei Mei", meaning "Little Younger Sister" in Mandarin, and in Serenity, he vocally protests when she comments that she hadn't had sex for a year.

Inara: Kaylee enjoys spending time with Inara, a character who indulges Kaylee in doing "girly" things, from shopping to combing her hair, like a best friend or a surrogate older sister to a younger sister. Inara also offers Kaylee advice on her love life, specifically how to deal with Simon or how to get Simon to notice her.

River: In the show, River Tam and Kaylee enjoy playing together and relate somewhat similar to teenage friends talking about boyfriends and past experiences. A scene in War Stories where River jokingly steals Kaylee's apple results in a chase through Serenity and Kaylee claiming back the apple then stating "no power in the 'verse can stop me". Later on in the episode River repeats the statement after killing three men with a handgun (not missing a single shot with her eyes closed), and saving Kaylee. Kaylee is understandably somewhat distressed by the incident, and avoids River for some time, though she later decides to put it aside.[source?]

[edit] Behind the scenes

Kaylee is portrayed by actor Jewel Staite in the television series Firefly and in the motion picture Serenity.

[edit] Appearances

[edit] References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Out of Gas
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Serenity
  3. ↑ Austin American-Statesman - DVD reviews: 'Serenity'
  4. ↑ Interview with Jewel Staite
  5. ↑ From "Jewel Staite: Meet the Sci-Fi Set's New Barbarellla": "In the film Staite reprises her role as the titular ship's sexy mechanic Kaylee Frye. "She's kind of a floozy who wears her heart on her sleeve," says the actress."
  6. ↑ Sunday Mail (Malay): Another Joss Whedon masterpiece
Retrieved from "http://firefly.wikia.com/wiki/Kaylee_Frye"
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