Episode: Ariel

The crew prepares to land on the planet Ariel so Inara can renew her license to be a companion… which means she'll be spending several days in a hospital undergoing tests. Without warning, River suddenly rushes Jayne with a kitchen knife in her hand. Jayne backhands her across the room. Later, Jayne tells Mal that if River isn't kicked off the ship, she may sneak up on one of the others during the middle of the night and slash them with a knife.

Unsure how to proceed, Mal tells Simon that River must remain in her quarters until further notice. As Mal and Jayne discuss the improbability of finding a job so deep in Alliance territory, Simon steps forward with a proposition. He tells the group that the hospital they're going to is filled with medical supplies that fetch an enormous sum of money on the black market. If Mal and the others can help him get River into the hospital's diagnostic ward, Simon will, in exchange, tell the group where the supplies can be located and how much they're worth. Simon hopes that the hospital's neuro-imager will shed some light on River's condition.

Simon outlines the entire plan, which involves disguising Mal, Jayne, Wash and Zoe as medical personnel, who will travel to the hospital in a refurbished ambulance shuttle salvaged from a junkyard. Simon injects himself and River with a sedative to make it look as if they're both dead. Mal and the others fly the ambulance shuttle to the hospital landing strip, where they inform a receiving doctor that they're dropping off two DOA's. The doctor instructs them to take the bodies to the hospital morgue.

Once the group reaches the location, Simon and River are revived. Meanwhile, Jayne rendezvous with Agent McGinnis…telling him he's brought two fugitives to the hospital as promised. McGinnis assures Jayne he'll be made a very rich man. As Jayne ushers Simon and River to the imaging suite, River senses that a nearby patient is about to die because the doctor caring for him will make a mistake. Moments later, the doctor-who's actually an intern-reacts when monitors around the patient begin sounding an alarm. Simon steps in, realizes the intern made a mistake, and revives the patient.

Meanwhile, an officious doctor instructs Mal and Zoe to follow him. Mal and Zoe grow tired of his attitude and overpower him. As Mal and Zoe access the supply vault and begin filling body bags with drugs, Simon uses the imaging equipment to create a three-dimensional image of River's brain. Simon soon realizes that surgeons stripped River of the filter that keeps human feelings in check. As a result, River feels everything.