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Kaylee
Kaywinnet Lee Frye
Biographical information
Born

2497

Gender

Female

Family
  • Jemima Frye (mother)
  • Aloysius Frye (father) (deceased)
  • Simon Tam (husband)
  • River Tam (sister-in-law)
  • Tedwinnium Frye-Tam (son)
  • Maywinnet Frye-Tam (daughter)
Occupation(s)
  • Mechanic
  • Farmer (Brand New Verse)
Alias

Kaylee

Statistics
Ship(s) captained or crewed

Serenity

"I don't believe there is a power in the 'verse that can stop Kaylee from being cheerful. Sometimes you just want to duct tape her mouth and dump her in the hold for a month."
―Mal expressing his fondness for Kaylee's optimistic nature[src]

Kaywinnet Lee "Kaylee" Frye is Serenity's mechanic. She is an exceptional engineer and has a natural intuition for machines, despite her lack of formal training. She is kind and trustworthy, sees the best in people, and is known as the "Heart of Serenity".

Biography[]

"Where you'd learn do to that, miss?"
"Just do it, that's all; my daddy says I got natural talent."
"I'll say you do, at that."
―Mal expressing his admiration of Kaylee after she displays her mechanic aptitude by repairing Serenity[src]

Early life[]

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

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]

Kaylee sit

Kaylee

Kaylee was shot in the stomach by the Alliance agent Lawrence Dobson. Simon Tam used her injury as a bargaining chip to be allowed to remain on Serenity with his sister, River.[2][3] While Simon tended to Kaylee, Jayne Cobb was huddled on the catwalk outside of the infirmary watching the surgery. Earlier, 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 emphasized her importance to him and implied how deeply the other members of the crew care about her—although Jayne would still embarrass her later by making fun of her attraction to Simon, usually right in front of Simon.[source?]

Kaylee had shown an affinity for strawberries. As part of payment for being allowed passage on Serenity, Shepherd Book offered her a small box of strawberries, which she eagerly accepted. Later, when she accompanied Malcolm Reynolds to a ball, she immediately homed in on the bowl of strawberries on the buffet table.[2]

Along with her mechanical aptitude, which allowed Kaylee to fix just about anything, she had a desire for girlish things and was annoyed when Mal did not see that she was a woman as well as a mechanic.[4][5]

On the rare occasion that her ability as a mechanic failed her, she tended to lose her sunny disposition, as happened when Serenity's engine failed after an explosion, leaving Kaylee saddened that her ship had become so damaged and she hadn't noticed the 'warnings'. Kaylee tended to personify Serenity, talking about her as if the ship were a sentient creature, and Kaylee took insults to the ship personally when someone referred to it as "junk".[1]

River revealed that the attraction between Simon and Kaylee was not a simple crush of infatuation, but that the two were in fact, in love.[6]

Simon Tam later confessed his feelings for her, which she reciprocated. The two finally consummated their relationship; Kaylee and shirtless Simon kissed each other passionately before withdrawing into her quarters, with a wide-eyed River peeking in from an overhead hatch.[7]

Relationships[]

"I spent so much time on Serenity ignoring anything.. that I wanted for myself. My one regret in all of this is never being with you."
"With me? You mean to say... sex?"
"I mean to say."
"The Hell with this. I'm gonna live!"
―Simon and Kaylee finally express their feelings to one another.[src]
Serenity 1

Kaylee and Simon finally consummate their relationship in the engine room

Simon: Kaylee developed a romantic attraction to Simon Tam which remained unconsummated for a long time, even though it was clear that their feelings were mutual. She developed a crush on him the moment she first saw him. She acted like a any teenage girl with a massive crush on a boy would act. It was often his 'proper' attitude that prevented the two of them from ever engaging in a more meaningful relationship[8], or his dedication to protecting his sister.[7] The problem was compounded by the fact that he sometimes made comments that hurt Kaylee's feelings, insulting the lifestyle of the crew, Serenity, and even herself, though he never intentionally meant to insult her; a prominent example of his ineptitude at making conversation was when he described her as 'the only girl in the world,' on the grounds that all the other women he knew were either married (Zoë), too professional (Inara) or related to him (River).[9] Simon himself almost never got mad at Kaylee, the only time being when 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.[10] Eventually, Simon and Kaylee confessed their feelings for each other and consummated their relationship.[7] They're shown 20 years later to be raising two children and living on a farm, although they return to the ship to help Zoe and Emma and the ship's new crew. They reveal they hadn't heard from Zoe for some time before this. Afterward, they go back to their farm.

Kaylee closeup

Kaylee

Malcolm: The overall relationship between Malcolm Reynolds and Kaylee closely resembled that of a brother and sister, as stated by Mal when he referred to Kaylee as "Xiao Mei Mei", meaning "Little Younger Sister" in Mandarin,[2] and when he vocally protested hearing about it when she commented that she hadn't had sex for a year.[7] Although Kaylee is occasionally annoyed when Mal disdains her interest in 'girly' activities, such as dismissing her interest in a frilly dress, in general they get along well, each regarding Serenity as one of their greatest loves (albeit from different perspectives) as they keep the ship together.

Inara: Kaylee enjoyed spending time with Inara, as one who indulged Kaylee in doing "girly" things, from shopping to combing her hair, like a best friend or a surrogate older sister to a younger sister. They are often seen talking on the balcony of the cargo hold and sharing hugs or cheek kisses. Inara also offered Kaylee advice on her love life, specifically how to deal with her crush on Simon or how to get Simon to notice her.

River: River Tam and Kaylee enjoyed playing together and related somewhat similar to teenage friends talking about boyfriends and past experiences. This is seen when River jokingly stole Kaylee's apple resulting in a chase through Serenity and Kaylee claiming back the apple then stating "no power in the 'Verse can stop me." Later, River repeated the statement after killing three men with a handgun (not missing a single shot with her eyes closed), and saving Kaylee. Kaylee was understandably somewhat distressed by the incident, and avoided River for some time, though she later decided to put it aside. They are also both very cute. [11]

Bester: Kaylee had a brief fling with the ex-Serenity Mechanic, shortly before taking his job when she proved herself more capable by fixing a problem that had stumped Bester for a week in a matter of minutes.

Behind the scenes[]

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

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."[12] Staite told Interview magazine, "She's kind of a floozy who wears her heart on her sleeve."[13]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 FireflyLogoMini Firefly – "Out of Gas"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 FireflyLogoMini Firefly – "Serenity"
  3. Johnson, Lisa (2004-03-05). "Firefly Lights Up Big Screen". Film Stew. http://www.filmstew.com/ShowArticle.aspx?ContentID=8088. 
  4. Austin American-Statesman - DVD reviews: 'Serenity'
  5. 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.
  6. Serenity novelization
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Serenity
  8. FireflyLogoMini Firefly – "Jaynestown"
  9. FireflyLogoMini Firefly – "The Message"
  10. FireflyLogoMini Firefly – "Objects in Space"
  11. FireflyLogoMini Firefly – "War Stories"
  12. Interview with Jewel Staite
  13. 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."
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