Firefly – The Series (2002)

Synopsis: Sometime in the future, humans colonize other galaxies. Space travel is commonplace. The ruling (Empire) government is The Alliance, and (Rebels) Browncoats fight for independence…and lose. Former Browncoat Sergeant (Han Solo) Malcom Reynolds thumbs his nose at The Alliance by captaining Serenity, a Firefly-class vessel known for salvaging and looting Alliance property. Along for the ride are his First Officer Zoe, pilot Wash, engineer Kaylee, hired gun Jayne and companion Inara. New to the crew are Shepherd Book, Doctor Simon Tam and his sister River. All three have secrets in their past that involve The Alliance. Come to think of it – everyone on Serenity has a skeleton or two in their closets…except maybe Kaylee. The series revolves around Reynolds and his crew dealing with The Alliance and other unsavory types of scoundrel that exist throughout the ‘verse.

Comments: I’m not a huge Joss Whedon fan. I never liked Dollhouse, thought Dr. Horrible was okay, couldn’t get into Angel and thought the Buffy movie was better than the series.

Needless to say, I’m in the minority.

My wife discovered it first. She grew up watching John Wayne westerns with her dad, and she fell in love with it. She described it to me as a “Space Western”, and my mind went to some lame-ass 80’s cartoon I remember seeing that had sheriffs riding space horses. I gave it a try, and am now squarely on the Whedon bandwagon.

This show had nine characters, ten if you count the ship – which Whedon did – and they all worked. Every one of them was fully developed, with rich backstory, despite having clichéd stereotypes: The Captain, The First Officer, The Hired Gun, The Engineer, The Pilot, The Doctor, The Counselor, The Priest and The Patient.

Whedon turned those clichés on their ears. The Captain had a fire in his eyes that went out after losing the war, and was slowly getting it back. The First Officer – a woman by the way – was married to The Pilot, who ran away from a fight when he had a choice. The Hired Gun couldn’t be trusted. The Engineer was a naive young woman who had never been in space before. The Counselor was a highly respected prostitute. The Priest used to be high ranking Alliance officer, and The Doctor was wanted by The Alliance for breaking his sister, The Patient, out of a mental hospital.

What amazed me most is how well the cast got along. They felt like a family…the way the cast of ST:TNG did after seven years together…only these people were together seven months.

And the cinematography!

The constant zooming in and out of focus, the ‘realistic’ look, and the total lack of sound in space!

Did you see the latest Star Trek movie? Did you love the shaky cam work? The flares made by all the lights and the realistic grit under The Federation’s fingernails? How Kirk, Spock and the rest were not nicey-nice all the time?

That all worked because Joss did them first…on this show.

It’s a tragedy that the series lasted 14 episodes, and only 11 even aired!

Adorkable Moment: Joss Whedon is, hands down, the best writer of women characters. He should have been allowed to make his Wonder Woman movie by D.C./Warner Brothers, but was denied. Marvel smartened up and signed him on to do the Avengers movie - an ensemble cast of fully-developed male and female characters. I can’t wait.