Firefly

I have more than a few TV shows on DVD that ran for only a single season. I have decided it is high time I revisit them and spew some ephemera about each one in turn.

Firefly

A sci-fi show that aired on FOX in 2002.

The Set-Up: A rag-tag group of marauders eek out a living heisting items and smuggling them throughout the galaxy. In the first episode, the characters pick up some passengers (Simon, his sister River, and unrelated man-of-the-cloth Book) who ultimately join the crew and draw the attention of the Alliance (think the Empire from Star Wars). Apparently, taking on passengers was a bad experience because it never happens again throughout the series.

Typical episode: Taking a cue from The X-Files, there are two kinds of episodes. In the more typical kind, a heist/smuggling operation takes the crew of Serenity to a planet and they must interact with the local culture. These are the filler episodes. Surprisingly (for a sci-fi show set in space) the characters never encounter any aliens. Wise decision, I think.

The other episodes service the over-all arc of the show – involving the Alliance’s efforts to track down River and Simon.

My favorite episodes:

• 1.1: The Pilot, of course. It sets up the story. Introduces the backstory of Mal and Zoe, who fought together in the war against the Alliance.
  
• 1.3: “Bushwacked” This episode explores the idea of the Reavers, cannibalistic monsters who will “rape us to death, eat our flesh and sew our skins to their clothing. And if we're very, very lucky they'll do it in that order.” The Reavers will not appear in the show again until the movie that came later.
  
• 1.4: “Shindig” A filler episode that does a great job of letting all the characters shine. You really get a feel for the crew from this episode.
  
• 1.9: “Ariel” This episode pushes the Simon-and-River-on-the-run arc front and center. We learn more about what happened to River and why the Alliance is chasing them. This is also the first episode where we see how skilled everyone is at pulling off a heist.
  
• 1.12 “The Message” This episode explores the backstory of Mal and Zoe’s time as “Browncoats.” A genuinely sad episode. A bit awkward toward the end, and I think Tracy gets a bum rap, but I still liked it.
  
• 1.14 “Objects in Space” The final episode produced. River and Simon finally become part of the crew proper when a bounty hunter tracks them down.
  

The bottom of the barrel:

• 1.7 “Jaynestown” I can’t fucking stand the character of Jayne. Neither can any of the other characters. No one seems to like him and he has a history of betrayal. It defies all logic that the crew would keep him on. This episode is Jayne-centric and extremely goofy.
  

How many episodes were produced? 14

Why was it canceled? Fox was notoriously unsupportive of the show – airing the episodes out of order, if at all. The ratings were never high and the show was canceled after eleven episodes aired. The pilot was the last episode shown.

Was there closure? According to Wikipedia, Joss Whedon (Buffy) designed the show to run seven seasons, so there’s no way in hell it could have the kind of closure he hoped for. It does arrive somewhere, but to get any kind of real closure, you have to see Serenity, the movie that came later. There, you will find out all about the Reavers and what happened to River.

Any unattended issues? The character of Book. There are numerous hints and references to a mysterious past that never gets answered.

The verdict: It is a bit frustrating to encounter so many filler episodes on a show that didn’t run very long. Joss Whedon dialogue is always fun and does a great job of setting up clichés only to slap them down. The show goes to some very dark places, but never stops being light-hearted. The characters are likeable – with one exception. You get a sense that there was much more left to be explored, so there is some disappointment that it ended so soon, but overall, definitely worth checking out.