The Firefly Experience
Firefly (2002)
"Five hundred years in the future, a renegade crew aboard a small spacecraft tries to survive as they travel the unknown parts of the galaxy and evade warring factions as well as authority agents out to get them."
- IMDB
First of all, Nathan Fillion. I watched all of Castle, had multiple marathons or Firefly, and currently watching his latest series, the Rookie. Fillion has such charm & charisma while also having the ability to deliver emotional performances & give dimension to his characters. This role that kickstarted his career is no exception. The rest of the cast does really well too, with talents such as Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau, and the ever legendary Alan Tudyk. Everyone had great chemistry together and worked well off each other when it came to both comedic & emotional scenes.
What Joss Whedon is best at is creating a very interesting and lovable group of characters. I'll talk about Mal later, as he's one of the greatest fictional characters of all time. You had characters like Wash & Kaylee that were so likeable and easy to attach to. We've got the morally faltering yet fan favorite brunt that is Jayne. Zoey, Mal's right hand man, is a strong, stoic, female fighter that always gets the job done. Dr. Simon probably goes through the most character development in this short period as he goes from his old life to this bizarre new one. And then the ever mysterious River & Sheppard. (Sheppard's backstory is only explored in the comic books, highly suggest looking into it, this man had stories to tell!) Though it was a short time, we were still able to see a lot of the characters' personalities as well as explore their relationships with each other. I feel connected to all of them in some way.
One of the most impressive things about Firefly is its world building. It's so interesting to see the melded cultures of what is basically consisted of Texas & China. The Verse's history and culture is so ingrained in every episode and I am always ready to learn more about it. I also love the story of the Serenity crew we grow to love. A fun story of Han Solo smugglers mixed with drama that came with the likes of the Alliance, River, and that one Russian guy made for some great pacing in the few episodes we got.
Just remembering the effects we saw in the final seasons of Buffy & Angel that were made around the same time as Firefly, this show's graphic were above & beyond compared to some other shows. Even 20 years later, the CGI isn't that bad. Part of me wonders if it was canceled because of all the money that went into the graphics.
My favorite episodes were definitely the few River episodes that we got, Ariel being one of the best episodes on the show. The Assassin concept of her story fascinated me and I just loved her as a character. Out of Gas was also a huge standout. This episode really drove home what Serenity meant to Mal & the crew. The last image of Mal looking at the ship adoringly in the distance the day he bought it brings me to tears every time.
I have watched all of Buffy & all of Angel. I appreciate them for what they were at the time and for the fun supernatural shows that they are, but I gotta say, I just prefer Firefly so much over those shows. Firefly had such compelling writing, dialogue and acting was excellent, music was unique, the world building was phenomenal. Most importantly the show didn't rely on dumb romances and drama, which hindered my Buffy & Angel experience at times. There was already an established, functional marriage, and the 2 other developing romances felt much more organic than some of the pairings in the other shows. And I guess because the show was canceled, it's easier to watch with a maximum of 16 hours of content with the movie. The show also never had time to draw out any dumb arcs over to a 20+ episode count. And thankfully, there weren't too many open ended arcs to fuss over. With the movie, it all feels as complete as it can be given the circumstances.
Before I talk about said movie I just want to gush about Malcolm Reynolds. He is the Han Solo of his generation & the most ideal image of a space cowboy that I know of. He's a little goofy, sometimes takes himself too seriously. He's got that charm given to him by Nathan Fillion. He's overconfident and sometimes too impulsive. But with all his flaws is a sincere and loving person who cares so much about his crew. He tries to protect his people the best he can, even willing to die for them on multiple occasions. He often has to make hard decisions not because because he wants to but because he has to. And he loves his ship. He has such an affinity with Serenity. It's a home he created for himself that shelters the family that he also built. And then there's his concept of life that was introduced in the pilot - it doesn't matter what troubles the day brings, as long as everyone is breathing and his ship is still flying, it's a good day, because it's the simple things that matter.
My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★
Serenity
"The crew of the ship Serenity try to evade an assassin sent to recapture telepath River."
- IMDB
It is an utter crime that Firefly was canceled. But hey, at least we got a movie out of it. And the movie itself is actually pretty good. Not only were they able to have more time and money on production quality, but Serenity was able to explore two of the most interesting plots from the show - River's story & the concept of Reavers. It was apparent that River's story arc had enough to be spread over a season or two. I'm sure it wasn't told the way it was meant to, but to finally see River go full Assassin mode was extremely satisfying after this concept being touched only a few times before. Reavers were also introduced as space zombies, with only an episode or two about them. There was definitely a lot to learn about them as the concept of these space zombies was so out there and never explained until now, so I'm glad they managed to squeeze them in. And not for nothing, but the River vs Reavers battle was pretty cool.
I must give props to the show because even despite the cancelation, it still feels like a complete experience. And many of the open ended concepts were concluded the best they could here in the movie. River's story was told as fully as it could be. Simon & Kaylee finally got together. And the crew was truly cemented as a family. There were many directions the story could've gone to from here, thankfully there are comic books that could be considered canon for any who choose to follow.
There were still things that were left unsatisfactory, to no fault of the show or movie. It's just how it is. We never got learn Sheppard's whole story, which is actually fascinating if you look it up. I also think Inara had a lot of room to develop. I really wish Zoey had more opportunity to break her stoic character and show more emotional levels, but there wasn't enough time to develop that side of her. After nearly 20 years, I think it's safe to say what happened to Wash is as much a crime as Firefly getting canceled and fans are still sensitive about it.
When all is said & done, the Firefly experience is an amazing one. I love coming back to the Verse & being reminded how much I love the characters. You can't take the sky from me or any other fan, cast, or crew member that took part in this experience. I hope Firefly & Serenity are always appreciated & loved for what it was and what it could've been.
My Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆