It aired on October 18, 2002 following a two-week hiatus due to Fox Sports' coverage of the MLB postseason game between the Anaheim Angels and the Minnesota Twins the previous Friday.
Mal and Simon catch Jayne trying to use medical tape to hide a gun under his shirt, in violation of Canton's no-gun law.
At a tavern, the crew hears a folk song revealing that the locals, who refer to themselves as "mudders", worship Jayne as their savior.
Higgins and his foreman release a half-blind man, Stitch Hessian, from what appears to have been four years of solitary confinement in a very small cell, giving him a loaded shotgun and telling him that this is his chance to get revenge on his old partner, Jayne.
On the ship, an agitated River tears up Shepard Book's Bible, insisting that it makes no sense and that she has to "fix" it.
Later, she attempts to repair and return it to him, but panics when she sees his wild head of hair (per the rules of his order) that he normally keeps in a tight bun.
Kaylee has a heart-to-heart talk with Simon but cannot resist briefly making him worry about what happened after the previous night's party.
In the cargo bay, Jayne broods about the mudder's sacrifice and how the townsfolk will probably put the statue back up and continue to worship him.