'cept that gorram primary buffer panel.
And yes. The bad guys were win. I freaking LOVED the Operative from Serenity. He's so perfectly Lawful Evil it's beautiful. I just want to take the DVD after making my old D&D group that tried (and failed. So hard) at being an evil party and BEAT THEM WITH IT.
The Operative: I'm sorry. If your quarry goes to ground, leave no ground to go to. You should have taken my offer. Or did you think none of this was your fault?
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: I don't murder children.
The Operative: I do. If I have to.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Why? Do you even know why they sent you?
The Operative: It's not my place to ask. I believe in something greater than myself. A better world. A world without sin.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: So me and mine gotta lay down and die... so you can live in your better world?
The Operative: I'm not going to live there. There's no place for me there... any more than there is for you. Malcolm...
I am a monster. What I do is evil. I have no illusions about it, but it must be done.
Joss Whedon can write a character who is both sympathetic and, well, a childkiller.
That's why he is a damn good writer, and that's why Firefly isn't just another TeeVee show.