Review of Firefly: The Complete Series (Box Set)

Introduction

After the huge successes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and spin-off series Angel, creator Joss Whedon decided to have a go at something a little different. He still wanted to make a character driven series, but set in space. Still, it wasn`t to be the sterile driven environment of your Star Trek`s or the kind of huge cities created by George Lucas. Influenced by a love of the Western, Whedon envisaged a frontier-style future where technology had evolved to the point where man could travel to and beyond the stars, but where planet-side most men built frontier towns and rode horses. The language was a hybrid mix as well, with the two pervading superpowers of this future being the US and China; everyone knows how to swear in Mandarin.

Central to this story is a man named Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and his ship Serenity, a Firefly class vessel. Reynolds and 2ic Zoë (Gina Torres) were comrades in the great war between the Independents and the Alliance, they were Browncoats fighting for the Independents and were on the losing side. Neither can fly, being infantrymen, so they have a pilot called Wash (Alan Tudyk) who is also married to Zoë. Keeping everything mechanically sound is the wonderfully intuitive and shiny shiny Kaylee (Jewel Staite). Adding a touch of class to the ship is Inara (Morena Baccarin), a Companion (a high class escort with quite a high social standing). Bringing the rear crew-wise is hulking lummox Jayne (Adam Baldwin), a man who believes he`s the most cunning fox in the `verse, much to most everyone-else`s bemusement.

Serenity moves from planet to planet, the crew taking jobs where they can to raise a bit of cash, also trying to fit in clients for Inara where they can. On their first stop, they pick up two new passengers, the mysterious priest-like Shepherd called Book (Ron Glass) and a Doctor out of his natural habitat in Simon (Sean Maher). Unknown to Mal at first, Simon is a fugitive from the Alliance and has smuggled his sister River (Summer Glau) from a medical facility where the mysterious Blue Sun organisation were experimenting on her.

Mal and crew deal with major villains in Badger and Niska, both picking up jobs from them and trying to avoid them at the same time. Both are much higher in the pecking order than the Serenity crew, and it doesn`t pay to fall on their bad side. They pale into insignificance next to the much feared Reavers though. The Reavers are men that went insane at the edge of space and became savage. As Zoe says, "If they take the ship, they`ll rape us to death, eat our flesh and sew our skins into their clothing and if we`re very very lucky, they`ll do it in that order."

Sadly this series only runs to 14 episodes due to a lack of understanding by Fox, who clearly preferred something that insulted viewers intelligence rather than one that allowed them to think. The original broadcast run also saw the episodes run out of intended sequence, which didn`t help the character/story arc that Whedon inserted.

Still, a concerted effort by a core of Browncoats saw first the release of this DVD and then the film Serenity in 2005 (which I still have to watch…).

Video

This is quite possibly the best framed sci-fi series I`ve ever seen. Whedon and David Boyd have taken the rule book for a modern series and thrown it away. In come old filters and flares on screen, long continuous shots through the ship, shots with actors incorrectly framed just because it looks interesting (and forced Fox to film in widescreen), zipped shots a la NYPD Blue. The latter also extends to the sfx, which gives the show an amazing unique look. Talking about the sfx, these are quite amazing and it`s quite wondrous to see how far sfx have come on the small screen over the last decade or so.

Audio

Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 soundtrack, a shame really as this series is crying out for a 5.1 mix. Just about everything that needs to be is nicely subtitled as well. The opening theme tune is a bit confusing at first, but fits the programme beautifully. Special mention needs to go to Greg Edmondson who provided the most extraordinary soundtrack, where anything could and would be used. The piece of music at the end of The Message is something special indeed (and is commented on in the main featurette as Edmondson`s farewell message to the series).

Features

Commentaries - half the episodes get a commentary, I`ve only listened to the opening one with Nathan Fillion and Joss Whedon so far, but boy, was it fun. A mix of informative and just ripping the Michael by creator and leading man, well worth a listen.

Here How It Was: Making Of - a nice half hour documentary on all aspects of the show including the cancellation and the Browncoats campaign to save it. All the cast are involved and all have extremely fond memories of their time on the series.

Serenity: The Tenth Character - a look at the ship itself.

Joss` Tour Of The Set - very brief featurette that I`m guessing must have been part of the initial promotional campaign with the flurry of footage at the end of it.

Deleted Scenes - interesting set of pieces with text at the beginning to explain the context and why it wasn`t used. Four of these in all, one of which was actually broadcast originally but deleted from the DVD episode - which makes sense when you see it.

Alan Tudyk`s Audition - the actual tape that Tudyk sent in when auditioning for Wash. Looks a bit random until you realise that he is in fact doing the fighting dinosaur scene.

Gag Reel - very funny (for a change)

Joss Sings The `Firefly` Theme - oh dear. Still, he wrote it so he`s allowed to butcher it.

Easter egg with Adam Baldwin (and not Alan as it says in the booklet) - this isn`t that hard to find and involves a hat from The Message and a song from Jaynestown. Very amusing.

Conclusion

I bought both this and the film Serenity at the same time about Summer last year (if I remember correctly), but never got round to watching the series until now. I`m not sure why. I can make the excuse that Reviewer Towers kept sending me other stuff to watch and so I never had time, but that`s not quite true. I guess, truth be told, I wasn`t 100% sure I wouldn`t fall victim to hype over substance. This series has such a fanatical following for something so short-lived, that you have to wonder just how good it really could be. Well now I know. It`s ace and so much more. I liked Buffy and Angel, Joss Whedon`s previous inventions, but wasn`t a die-hard fan. I loved the way those series were only a small part `Monster of the Week` and mainly character driven, examining relationships of both friendlies and not so friendlies. Firefly takes the best of those qualities and turns the humour quotient up to eleven (as Nigel Tufnell would say…).

I have to admit that I wasn`t really sure on the sci-fi Western, particularly when I heard the theme tune for the first time. It caught me more than a little by surprise, but by the third episode everything had fallen into place and I was smitten (and not just with Kaylee`s beaming smile). I honestly can`t remember a series that is billed as serious that made me laugh half as much as this did. Nathan Fillion is superb as the deadpan rogue captain with a touch of the Han Solo about him, but possibly even more cynical and world-weary. Adam Baldwin pulls up a very close second with a stonking performance as the quite possibly the funniest lummox on screen, some of the one-liners and expressions he pulls are pure comedy gold.

One of the major draws of this series is that while Mal is a heroic figure, he is a very flawed character where the lines between good and bad are more than a little blurry. Whilst he and his crew are very likeable, it is made quite clear that they operate outside the law with their main income coming from smuggling and robbery. Even so, Reynolds has a clear moral code and more often than not makes a decision based on what is right rather than what is most profitable - which is more than can be said for Jayne. There is also a mass of sexual tension in some of the relationships. Mal and Inara is the most in-yer-face, and you`re never quite sure where it`s going despite a pretty major hint in Heart Of Gold. Unresolved feelings by Wash over Zoë`s relationship with Mal come out in War Stories, and Simon can never quite get close enough to Kaylee - suffering as he does from foot in mouth syndrome.

The sheer shame of Firefly is that so much detail is packed into the 14 available episodes that you really want more and more, if only to see where it could have gone. There are many secrets still to be told. What exactly did happen to River? Who are Blue Sun? Just why do the Alliance treat Book with such respect, what career did he follow prior to becoming a Shepherd? What is in the mystery vial shown by Inara when they encounter the Reavers? Will Simon ever get to kiss Kaylee?

It`s a travesty that this series wasn`t given a chance to really make a mark, particularly when you consider that DVD sales are reportedly past the half million point. Not bad for a cancelled series, and not a full one at that. Just what exactly are the qualifications required for a Network TV Executive anyway?

Not just recommended, but absolutely required viewing for anyone who likes quality TV.