April 14, 2007 -- I finally got a chance to see all the episodes of Joss Whedon's (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel”) best series ever, “Firefly,” by way of a boxed set of DVDs which has all 11 episodes that aired before the series was cancelled and three which never aired. It is a truly great series, better than most science fiction movies you'll see in the theaters. Speaking of which, there is also a fine movie, Serenity, which is based on the same series, with the same director and actors. It is essentially an extension of the series.

The 14 episodes are essentially an introduction to the series, setting up the history of a future in space that looks a lot like America's Old West. The episodes also flesh out the characters, a bunch of ex-soldier space cowboys who are much like the Civil War veterans who drifted in the wild west of America's history. It is clear that Whedon planned a long series and that he was just getting started on what would have been fascinating television when the series was cancelled. Firefly is a logical extension of the old westerns, the Star Trek series (originally pitched to TV executives over 40 years ago by creator Gene Roddenberry as a “wagon train to the stars”) and various other space operas like the British series “Blake's Seven” which is similar in many respects.

There have been a number of other science fiction movies and series with western themes, though none quite so explicit as this one. For instance the science fiction movie Soldier is a take off on the classic western “Shane,” and the sci-fi film “Outland” is clearly a take off on another classic western, “High Noon.” The original “Battlestar Galactica” series had an old-fashioned gunfight in one of its episodes. Firefly goes a step further with cowboy hats, old-fashioned guns, horses, saddles, the whole nine yards. This series is about 50 percent western and 50 percent science fiction.

The series begins with “Serenity,” parts one and two, which follows the characters Malcolm Reynolds and Zoe Alleyne, rebel fighters against the powerful Alliance forces, in the battle of Serenity Valley, which was the equivalent of the battle of Gettysburg for the rebels, who would soon loose the war. Betrayed by the leaders of their own cause, the battle leaves Malcolm deeply disillusioned. After the war, he and Zoe buy a Firefly-class cargo spaceship and name it Serenity. The name is a bittersweet reminder of their most valiant battle and their most terrible defeat.

Firefly is a series that follows the captain (Mal) and his crew through adventures as they make a meagre living as smugglers, thieves and sometimes as legitimate cargo and passenger carriers operating on the lawless frontiers of a large solar system where humans have migrated after earth became too crowded. At the edge of civilization they elude the law, the powerful forces of the Alliance, and a murderous race of space-roving madmen called the Reavers. The series carefully sets up each member of the crew and passengers of Serenity, a high-priced hooker named Inara Serra, a preacher named Shepherd Book, a gunman named Jayne Cobb, ship's pilot Hoban 'Wash' Washburne, his wife, Zoe Alleyne, ship's engineer Kaylee Frye, and ship's doctor Simon Tamm, along with his mysterious sister, River. Malcolm Reynolds is the ship's captain.

The most noticable thing about the series is the excellent writing, complete with slangy dialogue, a mixture of Chinese and English. The dialogue includes catchy futuristic contractions, like 'verse, meaning the universe, and “Gorram,” which means “God damned.” Like the rest of the show, the dialogue is a mixture of words and phrases from the Old West and a more futuristic formulation. There is a rich component of humor written into every episode. One episode, “Our Mrs. Reynolds” is almost pure comedy from end to end. The epidsode names are as follows, - Serenity, The Train Job, Bushwhacked, Shindig, Safe, Our Mrs. Reynolds, Jaynestown, Out Of Gas, Ariel, War Stories, Trash, The Message, Heart of Gold, Objects in Space.

As you would expect, there really isn't any proper conclusion to the series, except for the movie “Serenity,” since Firefly never made it through a whole season. Probably the best ending episode is “The Message” which has a kind of bittersweet finality to it. This series was lovingly crafted by Joss Whedon. If not for the idiocy of the Fox TV Network, it might still be on the air. You would think that since Whedon made about a billion dollars for Fox with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, the network would have done a better job promoting Firefly and would have nurtured it and given it time to find a bigger audience. Instead, Fox mishandled the series badly and it was axed quickly.

The quick departure of Firefly makes for some interesting parallels between Whedon and the character he created, Malcolm Reynolds. Both are idealistic. Both battled bravely for what they believed, Reynolds for the rebel cause, and Whedon for his favorite series. Both were defeated by forces with two notable attributes, power and stupidity. There are also some parallels in politics, where Fox News backed George Bush, but Fox's parent company did not back Firefly. As a nation, we'd have been way better off if Fox had made the opposite decisions. Once, we were a nation of rebels, but we have turned into the Alliance, sort of like the Empire in Star Wars. Others now rebel against us. This DVD collection rates an A.

The DVD package includes a number of exta features, including “Here's How How It Was: The Making of Firefly,” “Serenity: The 10th Character,” “Joss Tours the Set,” “Alan Tudyk's audition tape,” “gag reel” and “Joss sings the Firefly theme.” There are commentary audio tracks on “Serenity,” “The Train Job,” “Shindig,” “Out of Gas,” “War Stories,” “Objects in Space,” “The Message” and deleted scenes.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics, theater tickets and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2007 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.