Joss Whedon's Firefly series on DVD ~ Never got the recognition it deserved

This past year, the boy bought me the Firefly series for my birthday, seeing as we already own every other Joss Whedon-created show. Knowing that the series was cancelled, we let it sit around for a while before starting it. Silly, silly us. We should have known better than to doubt. This past week, in preparation for the feature film, Serenity, which is based on Firefly, we finished the series.

I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect before I started watching the show. All I knew was that it was about cowboys, or thieves, or some such group… and it took place in the future… and in space. Oh, and a couple of the cast members also played Big Bads in other Joss Whedon shows. Not a whole lot to go on.

Firefly is set five-or-so hundred years in the future in a new system that utilizes space stations and planets and spaceships. Malcolm Reynolds owns an old “Firefly” spaceship named Serenity. Malcolm is a not-totally-sane renegade who fought in the war to end all wars against the Alliance, the new all-powerful government. Malcolm leads his crew, avoiding the Alliance at all costs, taking passengers for fare, taking jobs for money (“legality” and “morality” are two fuzzy words on Serenity).

* * * * * * Serenity Crew * * * * * *

Malcolm Reynolds is the leader and Captain. He fought on the losing side of the war, but still hasn’t given up his beliefs. Like many of Joss’s characters, Mal is conflicted. He’s a petty thief, but he often tries to do the “right” thing.

Zoe fought alongside Mal in the war and her loyalty hasn’t yet wavered. She came aboard Serenity as his first mate, takes his orders, but has strength enough herself to do whatever needs to be done.

Wash is the pilot, as well as Zoe’s husband. He doesn’t share the bonds and history that Zoë and Mal do, but he offers support in other ways, and often serves as comedic relief in tense situations.

Kaylee is the young, sweet, naive, and exceptionally capable mechanic.

Jayne is the muscle. He’s uncouth, loud, offensive, and… well, muscular. He’s not as moral or loyal as the rest of the crew, but there’s still a lot about him to love.


* * * * * * Serenity Passengers * * * * * *

Mal rents one of Serenity’s two shuttles to a registered companion named Inara. What is a registered companion, you ask? Well, Mal (who has a thing for Inara) likes to call it a whore. But, in these days, registered companions are part of high class society. Inora is often able to get the crew into places that would otherwise be closed to them.

In the first episode, Mal takes on three “temporary” passengers, who become a basic part of the crew:

Simon Tam is a brilliant doctor, raised with all the luxuries money can buy. He has run afoul with the Alliance, however, for rescuing his sister…

River. River has been a guinea pig for… well, we’re never exactly sure for whom, only that they have “hands of blue” and walk “two by two”. At first, River appears to be mostly psychotic, but (in Joss-fashion) her character is developed very, very slowly, and we get more insight into what the experiments were for.

Finally, we have Shepherd Book, a man of the cloth who knows a bit more about military operatives than one would think.


And… because I’ve done this with all Joss Whedon shows, for your reading enjoyment, here is the…

* * * * * * Very Detailed Episode Guide * * * * * *
Note: It is impossible not to give Season spoilers when doing an Episode Guide… Read at your own risk!

1.1 and 1.2 ~ Serenity ~ Original Airdate: December 20, 2002 ~ Written by Tim Minear and Joss Whedon ~ Directed by Joss Whedon
Book: Captain, do you mind if I say grace?
Mal: Only if you say it out loud.

After not getting paid for cargo they stole, the crew of Serenity flies to an outer planet to pick up a couple of paying passengers (Book, Simon and a man named Dobson). Turns out that Simon’s cargo is actually his sister, River, whom he has stolen from people who were experimenting on her.

1.3 ~ The Train Job ~ Written by Tim Minear and Joss Whedon ~ Directed by Joss Whedon ~ Original Airdate: September 20, 2002
Mal: Say that to my face.
Bar Patron: I said you're a coward and a pisspot. Now what're you gonna do about it?
Mal: Nothing. I just wanted you to face me so she could get behind you.
(Zoe punches the patron)
Mal: Drunks are so cute.

Mal takes a job from a ruthless mobster named Niska to rob a train for him. The train is carrying medical supplies for a mining community. The job goes south and Mal and Zoë, along with the rest of the train, get held up. After seeing how badly the supplies were needed, Mal returns Niska’s money and the supplies to the people.

1.4 ~ Bushwacked ~ Written and Directed by Tim Minear ~ Original Airdate: September 27, 2002 ~ 9/10
Jayne: (to Simon) That's what space trash does, you know. Kind of latches onto the first big something that stops long enough. Hey, that'd be a bit like you and your sister, wouldn't it?

The Serenity crew boards what appears to be an abandoned ship, to salvage any useful items, when they realize it was a ship that had been previously boarded by Reavers (men gone cannibal, crazy, and a wee bit supernatural). An Alliance ship shows up, boarding Serenity, looking for brother-sister fugitives.

1.5 ~ Shindig ~ Written by Jane Espenson ~ Directed by Vern Gillum ~ Original Airdate: November 1, 2002
Inara: You have a strange sense of nobility, Captain. You'll lay a man out for implying I'm a whore, but you keep calling me one to my face.
Mal: I might not show respect for your job, but he didn't respect *you*. That's the difference.

To pull off their latest heist, Mal and Kaylee have to attend a high-society ball, where Inara is with her client. Starting trouble, and trying to defend Inara’s honor, Mal accidentally challenges her client to a duel.

1.6 ~ Safe ~ Written by Drew Z. Greenberg ~ Directed by Michael Grossman ~ Original Airdate: November 8, 2002
Man getting ready to burn River and Simon: This is a holy cleansing. You cannot think to thwart God's will.
Malcolm: Y'all see the man hanging out of the spaceship with the really big gun? (pointing to Jayne) I'm not saying you weren't easy to find. But it was kinda out of our way, and he didn't want to come in the first place. Man's lookin' to kill some folk. So really, it's his will y'all should worry about thwarting.

On yet another desert planet, Simon and River are kidnapped by a group of back woods men, needing a doctor. When River shows some psychic abilities, she’s pronounced a witch and taken to the stake to be burned.

1.7 ~ Our Mrs. Reynolds ~ Written by Joss Whedon ~ Directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall ~ Original Airdate: October 4, 2002
Wash: I wish I was somebody else right now. Somebody not married, somebody not madly in love with a beautiful woman who can kill me with her pinky.

In payment for helping a community, Mal somehow ends up married to a pretty girl named Saffron… who is definitely not what she seems.

1.8 ~ Jaynestown ~ Written by Ben Edlund ~ Directed by Marita Grabiak ~ Original Airdate: October 18, 2002
River: Bible's broken. Contradictions. False logistics. Doesn't make sense.
Book: No. No. You can't...
River: So we'll integrate a non-progressional evolutionary theory with God's creation of Eden. Noah's Ark is a problem.
Book: Really?
River: We'll have to call it an early quantum state phenomenon. Only way to fit 5,000 species of mammals into the same boat.

Landing on an outer planet where the poor people farm mud, it’s found that, four years ago, Jayne dumped money he stole from the planet’s rich man onto the poor people. He did it to save himself. But they have erected statues of him, and he’s become a folk hero.

1.9 ~ Out of Gas ~ Written by Tim Minear ~ Directed by David Solomon ~ Original Airdate: October 25, 2002
River: You're afraid we're going to run out of air, that we'll die gasping. But we won't. That's not going to happen. (pause) We'll freeze to death first.

In an extremely well-done, captivating style, through flashbacks to two time periods, as well as current flashes, we see a lot of background into each of the characters, as well as the current situation, where Serenity is running out of oxygen, with no apparent way to fix the problem. This was one of the best episodes of a stellar series, which is saying something.

1.10 ~ Ariel ~ Written by Jose Molina ~ Directed by Allan Kroeker ~ Original Airdate: November 15, 2002
Mal: The next time you decide to stab me in the back, have the guts to do it to my face.

Serenity has to dock on an Alliance planet, Ariel, for Inara’s annual Companion physical. While they’re there, Simon offers a plan that will allow him to use the hospital equipment to examine River, while the rest of the crew steals very valuable medicine.

1.11 ~ War Stories ~ Written by Cheryl Cain ~ Directed by James A. Contner ~ Original Airdate: December 6, 2002
Wash: So, I'm Zoe. Now, what do I do?
Mal: Probably not talk quite so much.
Wash: Right. Less talking. She's terse - I can be terse. Once in flight school I was laconic.

Wash finds himself jealous of the bond between his wife and the Captain, and decides to take her place on the next run. Unfortunately, they’re captured by Niska, who wants revenge for the botched Train Job (Episode 1.3). The rest of the crew have to find a way to save them from Niska’s torture. Kaylee sees a side of River that might explain what the experiments were for.

1.12 ~ Trash ~ Written by Jose Molina and Ben Edlund ~ Directed by Vern Gillum ~ NEVER AIRED
Jayne: (to Simon) Captain says you're to stay put. Doesn't want you to come afoul of his blushing psychotic bride. She figures out who you are, she'll turn you in before you can say, "Don't turn me in, lady."

Mal runs into Saffron again, and this time they join forces to pull a heist. River shows more of her psychic abilities by reading Jayne’s mind and finding out about his betrayal of them in Ariel.

1.13 ~ The Message ~ Written by Tim Minear and Joss Whedon ~ Directed by Tim Minear ~ NEVER AIRED
Mal: Everybody dies. Somebody's carrying a bullet for you right now and doesn't even know it. The trick is to die of old age before it finds you.

A Private who fought in the war with Mal and Zoë has his dead body mailed to them, asking them to return it to his family. An alliance official is chasing the body, which leads everyone to believe there’s more to the story.

1.14 ~ Heart of Gold ~ Written by Brent Matthews ~ Directed by Tom Wright ~ NEVER AIRED
Jayne: My John Thomas is about to pop off and fly about the room, there's so much tasty in here.
Wash: Would be you'd get most poetical about your pecker.

An old friend of Inara’s has opened her own bordello, but is running into problems with the local rich man, who wants to take one of the girls’ baby, whom he swears is his. The crew of Serenity come to lend a helping hand.

1.15 ~ Objects in Space ~ Written and Directed by Joss Whedon ~ Original Airdate: December 13, 2002
Wash: Psychic, though? That sounds like something out of science fiction.
Zoe: You live on a spaceship, dear.

A ruthless bounty hunter boards Serenity to find River. This was the last episode ever produced, and since the show was cancelled, and due to Joss’s penchant for dragging plotlines out for years, there are many, many, many loose ends at the end of this show.


* * * * * * Cast and Characters * * * * * *

Nathan Fillion ~ Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds
Gina Torres ~ Zoe Washburne
Jewel Staite ~ Kaywinnit Lee 'Kaylee' Frye
Alan Tudyk ~ Hoban "Wash" Washburne
Adam Baldwin ~ Jayne Cobb
Sean Maher ~ Dr. Simon Tam
Summer Glau ~ River Tam
Morena Baccarin ~ Inara Serra
Ron Glass ~ Shepherd Derrial Book


* * * * * * Trivia and Notable Notes * * * * * *

~ Summer Glau (River) has only had one acting role before taking this role: she was the Prima Ballerina in the Angel episode Waiting in the Wings. It’s no secret that Joss Whedon likes to use the same actors in many of his projects.

~ Nathan Fillion (Mal) played Caleb in the final season of Buffy.

~ Gina Torres (Zoe) played Jasmine, the human-eating goddess in the fourth season of Angel.

~ Kudos to the boy for catching this one for me: Adam Baldwin (Jayne) plays Marcus Hamilton (Liason to the Senior Partner) in the final episodes of Angel.

~ The order in which the shows were intended to air (and the order seen in the Episode Guide above) is not the order in which they aired on Television (see Original Airdate).


* * * * * * DVD Extras * * * * * *

~ Can you say Commentary, Commentary, Commentary? There are commentaries on 8 of the 14 episodes. I’ve listened to 6 of them, and they are excellent. Episodes include: Serenity, Parts One and Two, The Train Job, Shindig, Out of Gas, War Stories, Objects in Space and The Message
~ Featurette entitled Here's How It Was
~ Featurette entitled Serenity: The Tenth Character
~ Joss' Tour of the Set
~ Alan Tudyk's Audition
~ Joss Sings the Firefly Theme
~ Deleted Scenes & Gag Reel
~ An Easter Egg with Adam Baldwin singing "Hero of Canton" (on the 4th disk, select Special Features. Then select More. Press "down" on your controller to highlight Joss Sings the Firefly Theme but instead of pressing "enter", press the left arrow. The filigree pattern to the left will light up. Press the "enter" button.)


* * * * * * Related Reviews (Other Joss Shows) * * * * * *

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season One, Season Two ~ Season Three ~ Season Four~ Season Five ~ Season Six ~ Season Seven

Angel, Season One ~ Season Two ~ Season Three ~ Season Four ~ Season Five