Why, oh why, was this show cancelled?!? There are so few shows on television that show maturity of writing as well as complexity of theme. Most shows are either trashy reality shows, soap operas disguised as dramas, or comedies that appeal to the lowest common denominator of humanity, which is staggeringly low. And when a show like Firefly comes along that takes the opposite tack, that challenges people to go up to a higher plane and really pay attention to what they’re watching, it gets shown scathing disrespect, and then gets cancelled after half a season. I don’t get it. Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, said in an interview that he doesn’t grieve well, and when Firefly was cancelled, he decided to forge ahead and find a way to make the rest of this story heard. Three years later, we had Serenity. All the actors from the TV show signed on for the movie, as this was a project they all believed in. It shows, too. All the characters seem like they are full and complete people, and have been lived in.
Only a few people actually saw the original Firefly when it aired, but even if you did, the episodes were shown out of order, so it’s best if you get the DVD set of the show. I saw Serenity before I had watched Firefly, and I don’t think it’s terribly important to see it first, but it helps. If you totally love Serenity like I did, you should watch Firefly, because it will give you a chance to see those characters again, and enjoy the world that it’s set in for hours more.
I won’t reveal plot details, but the show and the movie center on the crew of the Firefly ship Serenity, particularly its captain, Malcom Reynolds. It’s sci-fi to be sure, as it takes place 500 years in the future. The area in which it differs wildly from lots of other sci-fi movies is that there are no aliens. We left earth and didn’t find anyone else in the entire universe. Also, it’s a western. Now, lots of other sci-fi movies and shows are westerns in theme, being that they are about good guys and bad guys facing off, and it’s either that the bad guys are the law and the good guys operate outside the law (The Magnificent Seven, Silverado) or the other way around (Tombstone, True Grit). And dozens of sci-fi shows have followed the same thematic pattern, from Battlestar: Gallactica to Star Wars. What’s unique about Firefly is that it is western in setting as well as theme. Here you have the typical good-guy-bad-guy paradigm, but you also have six-shooters, horses, accents, and a distinctive lexicon. The crew of Serenity are cowboys.
I’m so glad that Joss Whedon got the chance to give these characters another shot, and that the actors got to play them again. These characters are so deep and involved that the depths of their secrets can only be hinted at in a movie and half a TV season. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of possibilities for the story to go even further, for reasons I won’t reveal.
I should caution you, however, that this isn’t for everyone. As sci-fi shows go, it contains much less techno-speak and futuristic babble than pretty much any other show. Whedon has really tried to make it like the present +500 years, and to not include vast changes to the human character, like on Star Trek. Even so, this is still a sci-fi show and movie, and will simply not appeal to some demographics. That’s a shame, however, since a large part of the movie deals with basic concepts of right and wrong, and that is something every demographic can relate to. But it also deals with spaceships and interplanetary travel, and that is not everyone’s cup of tea, I know. But it is mine, so there you go.
“I am a leaf on the wind… watch how I soar…”
“You know the first rule of flying? Love. You can know all the math in the 'verse, but you take a boat up in the air that you don’t love and she’ll shake you up just as sure as a turn in the whirls. Love keeps her in the air when she should fall. Love lets you know she’s hurtin' 'fore she keels over.”
“It’s been nigh onto a year since I had anything 'twixt my nethers that ain’t battery powered!”
Particle Man
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