How to tell the difference between Cally and Kaylee

Yah, yah.

I am aware of the fact that I’ve been writing an awful lot about Firefly and Battlestar Galactica lately.  There are two reasons for this:
 
1. I recently purchased every season of BSG and am treating myself to a personal marathon.
 
2. My Mom just had surgery and, as her weekend nurse I decided that, in my expert medical opinion, a Firefly marathon was necessary to her recovery.

(I may aso be mourning the death of the Help Nathan Buy Firefly movement…so sad)
 
This post stems from a conversation I had with my Mom over the weekend after we had watched a few episodes of FF.  I was trying to explain to her why BSG should be her next marathon and was giving her short descriptions of the characters.  Next thing I know she’s asking about Cally in the Firefly world.  I asked if she meant Kaylee.  She asked which one was the mechanic.  I said both of them.  She asked which one had been shot.  I said both of them.  She got very confused (the Vicodin may have contributed to that) and demanded to know who the heck was who and why they were so dang similar. 
 
So I present to my Mom (and to you) Cally vs. Kaylee.

***

CALLY

Originally little more than a named extra, the producers liked Nicki Clyne so much that they decided to make Callandra Henderson (or Jane Cally, depending on where you’re at in the series) a full fledged character.  The poor girl just wanted to be honorably discharged from the decommissioned Battlestar Galactica and go off to be a dentist.  Instead she watched the vast majority of her civilization destroyed along with her dreams of oral hygiene.  The moment I knew I liked her was when she fought off a criminal would-be rapist by biting off his ear.  He shot her in the gut and that was supposed to be the end of Deckhand Cally. 

Instead she went on to murder a Cylon (who used to have sex with her boss), get beat up (by her boss), knocked up (not by her boss), hitched (to her boss), almost executed (by the big boss) and then murdered (by a Cylon). 

Even though Cally turns out to be not so great a person, I have a soft spot for her.  I mean, seriously, the girl just wanted to be a dentist.

KAYLEE

A genius mechanic with no formal training, Kaywinnit Frye is the heart and soul of the Serenity crew.  She’s pretty much open and honest about everything and jumps on the opportunity to take the mechanic job away from a guy right after jumping his bones.  She accidentally gets shot in the gut by the most incompetent undercover cop ever and is saved by the soon-to-be ship’s doctor who bargains for safe passage with her life. 

The poor girl somehow ends up being the brunt of the guy’s teasing, usually when she displays some behavior that proves she’s a woman under all that engine grease.  Fortunately, the ladies come to her defense, most often in the form of mad dogging the guys.  She develops a fat crush on the doc and even though he seems to like her too, he pretty much screws it up at every opportunity. 

I liked Kaylee from the moment I saw her (how could you not??)  I mean, seriously, the girl just wants to fix things and wear a frilly pink dress.

***

Ok, so let’s review here.  Both are mechanics, both have unrequited crushes on fellow crew members that are eventually requited, both get shot in the stomach and that’s about where the similarities end. 

But it’s understandable how someone doped up on pain meds would get the two confused.

Say yes. 

Don’t make me mad dog you.


Comments

15 responses to “How to tell the difference between Cally and Kaylee”

  1. roger kea Avatar
    roger kea

    That was pure Awesome! You have skills as a writer and a humourist and of course you’re kinda hot for a nerd 🙂 Even if you drink too much. I am trying to get some geek celebrities to take a poll I made on the Science channel. Over 500 respondents with 11,000 page views in three days. I have started posts that explain all over here.
    http://community.discovery.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/92719799701

    I sure could use the help. And the laughs.

    Thanks again,

    Roger Kea
    “AnotherCoatOfBrown”

    1. Thanks Roger! And I wouldn’t say that I drink too much; however, I can certainly hold my own. I’ll check out your poll 🙂

  2. And they’re both darn cute!

    1. darn straight they are 😉

  3. roger kea Avatar
    roger kea

    Oh yeah,

    I forgot to mention a possible difference with the nether twixting. As in did, then didn’t vs didn’t then did. but you kind of touched on Cally’s situation.

    Oh, posted something on your Leia costume post.

  4. Strangeways Avatar
    Strangeways

    I miss both of these series very much. While I miss Battlestar more than Firefly, I miss Kaylee much, much more than Cally. I totally understand your “soft spot” for Cally, but the spunkiness of Kaylee combined with expressive sentimentality, a deep love and appreciation for her captain and crew, a fearlessness in battle, and indefatigable commitment to her personal value system, makes Kaylee a character/heroine of unexamined depth. That and….did you see that first pic of actress Jewel Staite?????….she’s knock dead gorgeous!!! Did they ugly her up to play Kaylee?

    1. I agree, I’m more Team Kaylee than Team Cally. Joss actually did have Jewel Staite gain 20 pounds when she got the role. Combine that with the engine grease and they at least dirtied her up. My favorite actresses don’t mind not being perfect on screen. So yeah, Jewel pretty much rocks my socks 🙂

  5. Thanks for clearing the air Tracy! Now that we have finished our Firefly marathon and the Serenity movie, I feel as though I really know Kaylee. It’s not fair for me to choose between Kaylee and Cally as at this point I would throw my vote 100% behind Kaylee.

    I also feel like I am ready for a BSG marathon. BSG has a large hill to climb to catch up with Firefly! I really enjoyed the series and I am bummed that I totally missed it back in the day.

    1. Glad you enjoyed it Mom! I have a feeling Firefly is more your type of show than BSG but we’ll definitely make that our next marathon. xoxo

  6. I love both BSG and firefly… and Kaylee is perfect in every way… and Cally may not be soo nice… but it is not easy for me to choose… I love both of em… i do enjoy firefly more than bsg… but its still a toss up… now if you asked river or starbuck…. its starbuck

    1. River vs Starbuck is a tough choice for me, they are both so flippin’ awesome

  7. Wow. I’m a huge fan of BSG and Firefly, and I have never noticed these similarities between Cally and Kaylee. Your nerd rep has just earned a +1 in my book, friend.

    Btw, great blog! Stumbled on it from Help Nathan Buy Firefly. Keep it up!

    1. Thanks! And will do!

  8. i guess im a little late to the party on this post, but i just cant help it. at the end of last year i discovered firefly. 3 day later i’d seen every episode as well as serenity and was pining for more just in time to get swept up by the HNBF movement. when i realized nothing immediate was going to come of it, i went looking for other shows to whet my appetite. since then i’ve seen all of dollhouse, the sarah connor chronicles, and stargate universe (im not sure if im just attracted to canceled shows or if its just summer glau :p). and now im 1.5 seasons into BSG, and loving every episode. the fact that i have more than 2 seasons to look forward to helps as well :). anyways, i kinda forgot where i was going with this post, but just keep up being hot, awesome, and of course nerdy, i love all of it!

    1. BSG just gets better and better! You’re going to LOVE it!

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