After saving River, in a fit of righteous anger and hopelessness, Simon decides to go to their parents first with her. A horrified Gabriel and Regan are confronted with the truth and a broken daughter, and suddenly things aren't the same anymore. They make decisions unlike themselves and find themselves on the run with their kids, traversing the 'Verse that shake up their refined sensibilities. Then a united Tam family end up running into a ragtag family of outlaws, who more or less become part of the family, and the Alliance might as well have signed their own death warrants. Honestly, Malcolm Reynolds just thought he and his were going to get a hell of a lot of good pay -not a whole family to add on as crew.