Firefly

Comparable in flavor to critically-acclaimed Cowboy Bebop. If you're one of the many people that enjoy a good, character-driven show, with a decent plotline and writing hand-crafted by some of the finest in the business, then this is the show for you. Apparently so for the Fox network, but only for a few weeks. Thankfully, the show was released in its entirety on DVD, in all of its glory. Also, as if the brilliant episodes weren't enough to satisfy, there are great, insightful commentaries on most episodes, by creator Joss Whedon and others, and lots of other extras. I can't say enough about this show. Everyone was sad to see this show go, especially the stars.

***** out of *****

FOX must have the greatest talent scouts in the world, but the worst executives. "Firefly" is the best example. It was simultaneously the best new show, the best western series in decades, and the best sci-fi show on TV (and coming from a die-hard Trekkie, placing them above "Enterprise" is saying something). They didn't have a single bad episode, and some were spectacular. The premise, the characters, the plots and the dialogue were all top-notch. And FOX cancelled it without even really giving it a chance.

Maybe the show couldn't stand in the end. Maybe I'm alone in this, and there aren't enough fans to justify what the show cost. But making that call after half a season, with half of the episodes pre-empted for baseball playoffs was a phenomenally stupid thing to do. That show should have been here to stay, and it got axed without a chance to prove itself. I only pray the movie works out. At least we'll have something.

As with BtVS, the world is divided into people who get Firefly and people who don't. In this series Joss Whedon created one of the most realistic post-war visions of the future ever committed to tape, that at the same time spoke about yesterday and today. Maybe a little too much today for its own good.

The series is anti-corporate, anti-government and, while it takes the stand that some things are worth fighting for, it is largely anti-war. No wonder FOX did everything in its power to kill it off, including airing episodes out of order, skipping weeks after airing only three eps and, inevitably canceling the show without even airing episodes 12, 13 and 14 (out of 15). This was particularly damaging, as Firefly had a greater sense of ongoing plot than any other Whedon series in its first year. Viewers were left wondering, on more than one occasion, when a character would reference something we hadn't seen yet.

The backstage dramatics aside, Firefly is intelligent and, like Buffy, mythic - except this time Whedon is dealing with the myth of America: the Frontier, the Civil War, the rise of the Corporation, etc . . .

Firefly is a demanding show. It asks its audience to appreciate the shades of grey in its characters' moral scale. The villains are not comfortingly dressed as an alien race. In 500 years mankind will still be its own worst enemy. Technology will be in the hands of a privileged few, and others will in "The Black" - Whedon's frontier third world - where it is possible to exist without the interference (or benefit) of civilization and government. Things will be dirty, and used. Firefly creates a universe that almost totally opposes that of (that bastion of television sci-fi) Star Trek: its Federation-like central power (the Alliance) is interpreted as being oppressive and dystopic. We are on the side of those who resisted (like the Maqui) and lost.

The acting is strong, the writing as excellent, funny and moving as on any Whedon show, and the effects and sets create a consistent, believable world. It is a shame the series didn't have a more hospitable environment in which to grow and become all it could have been.

I have to admit, I had serious doubts about this show. I hate westerns, and a sci-fi/western combination sounded like a really bad show concept--especially since the most recognizable actor in the show was a guy who had a minor part in Two Guys, A Girl, and A Pizza Place (itself a pretty forgettable show). But I found myself getting drawn into this series very quickly. It is very witty, as well as suspenseful. The characters are a lot of fun, too. It is definitely a little quirkier than most of the shows out there, but is that really a bad thing? I loved the banter, loved the acting, and was very disappointed to watch the last episode last night. This show deserved better than to be canceled in the middle of its first run. I'm guessing that the humor was too high-brow for most of the TV watchers of the world.

Never heard of Firefly? Get your hands on the DVD.

Saw some, weren't that impressed? Get your hands on the DVD.

Loved it? Well, you don't need convincing.

Fox did an incredible disservice to this show by showing the episodes out of order. They still made sense on a very low level, i.e., there weren't a lot of plot points that were part of the continuing arc that ended up being out of order in the order they were aired, but this show is so much better if you see it in the order intended. In the aired episodes, characters would sometimes do things that either seemed out of character or really weird, or sometimes even just boring, that make so much more sense on the DVDs, even though there's a grand total of one scene (and only about 3 lines of that scene) that's different between the DVD and the aired version.

That said, this show is the most innovative thing I've ever seen on TV, even despite its mistreatment. It has nine main characters, all of which are fairly well developed in the pilot episode, who then grow and change but remain true to their characters as originally conceived throughout the rest of the series. I could talk about the incredible attention to detail for the special effects, etc., but special effects are getting really good, so that doesn't really set this apart from a lot of movies out there. The concept seems odd at first, but is amazingly well done, with each world they go to having its own quirks, charms and dangers, but it always comes back to the characters and their relationships with each other.