In the distant future, Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds is a renegade former interstellar officer now turned smuggler/rogue whom is the commander of a small spacecraft with a loyal hand-picked crew making up of first mate Zoe Warren; pilot Hoban 'Wash' Washburn; gung-ho grunt Jayne Cobb; engineer Kaylee Frye; fugitives Doctor Simon Tam and his psychic sister River, where they travel the far reaches of space in search of food, money, and anything to live off on.