Another "fill in the blanks from the backstory" piece, this one from Firefly. It focuses almost exclusively on Simon Tam, and is told as a series of more- or less-disconnected scenes.
It begins in his early life, when he is still his parents' only child. It shows us the innate brilliance that led him to be recognized as "gifted", and the founding layers of his relationship with his parents, childhood friends, and so forth. It shows us a few scenes here, skimming along rather than going into too much detail, until the time where he first hears the news: he's going to have a little sister.
It covers his initial reactions to that news, and to the later birth (River's birthdate isn't clear AFAIK, but he would have had to be at least four at the time), and to the discovery that River's genius not only rivals but overshadows his own - and then it shows the relationship between them, and his development into one of the most devoted brothers fiction has ever seen.
It covers his decision to go away to medical school at the age of sixteen or seventeen, shows elements of his life there, and then of his phenomenally quick post-graduation internship. It probably also covers his and his fellow interns' ill-remembered drunken post-internship "we're finally licensed surgeons!" party, though that may be best left at least partly to the imagination; regardless, it goes on to cover his acceptance as a surgeon at a major hospital, and the beginnings of his working life.
It covers the point where River went (and/or was sent) away to boarding school, and the correspondence Simon carried on with her while she was there - both the early (presumably genuine and unwarped) letters, and the later misspelled and factually inaccurate ones.
It covers his observation that those letters were odd, his realization what that meant, his deciphering of the code, and his reaction to the coded message. It covers his attempt to tell his parents about it, and their reaction, and his reaction to that.
It covers his decision to go find her and get her out, and his two-year quest to do that, including at least one arrest. It covers his interactions with the group who promise to be able to smuggle her out to him, and his own role in the rescue itself.
It covers his escape and flight, with River in tow, and their early days evading the Alliance, with a warrant out on Simon's head.
And it ends either shortly after, shortly before, or just as he first boards Serenity.
It begins in his early life, when he is still his parents' only child. It shows us the innate brilliance that led him to be recognized as "gifted", and the founding layers of his relationship with his parents, childhood friends, and so forth. It shows us a few scenes here, skimming along rather than going into too much detail, until the time where he first hears the news: he's going to have a little sister.
It covers his initial reactions to that news, and to the later birth (River's birthdate isn't clear AFAIK, but he would have had to be at least four at the time), and to the discovery that River's genius not only rivals but overshadows his own - and then it shows the relationship between them, and his development into one of the most devoted brothers fiction has ever seen.
It covers his decision to go away to medical school at the age of sixteen or seventeen, shows elements of his life there, and then of his phenomenally quick post-graduation internship. It probably also covers his and his fellow interns' ill-remembered drunken post-internship "we're finally licensed surgeons!" party, though that may be best left at least partly to the imagination; regardless, it goes on to cover his acceptance as a surgeon at a major hospital, and the beginnings of his working life.
It covers the point where River went (and/or was sent) away to boarding school, and the correspondence Simon carried on with her while she was there - both the early (presumably genuine and unwarped) letters, and the later misspelled and factually inaccurate ones.
It covers his observation that those letters were odd, his realization what that meant, his deciphering of the code, and his reaction to the coded message. It covers his attempt to tell his parents about it, and their reaction, and his reaction to that.
It covers his decision to go find her and get her out, and his two-year quest to do that, including at least one arrest. It covers his interactions with the group who promise to be able to smuggle her out to him, and his own role in the rescue itself.
It covers his escape and flight, with River in tow, and their early days evading the Alliance, with a warrant out on Simon's head.
And it ends either shortly after, shortly before, or just as he first boards Serenity.