Day 2 – Huzzah!
(*Note – I found that “Firefly” by Southern Culture On The Skids was playing on a constant loop in my head while writing this. Doesn’t have a single thing to do with the show, but if you’ve got the song, maybe play it while you read…)
Firefly was a gem of a show from Joss Whedon, who certainly knows a thing about ass-kicking females after creating Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This show (from a business aspect) worked almost exactly opposite of how Buffy did, though. Buffy was a movie flop that spawned a great TV show, while Firefly was a TV failure (thanks to Fox – read yesterday’s post for my thoughts on them) that set up a great movie (Serenity).
The premise seems odd at first – a hardcore action and sci-fi theme mixed with the overall sensibilities of an old west heist flick, add a generous dollop of comedy, and just for flavor pour in some swearing in an Asian dialect. But the overall blend is near perfection, and the cast work so well together that you’d swear they’d been training for this role together since they were hatched.
So, what’s it all about? Well, about five hundred years in the future, humanity has abandoned “Earth That Was”. After a war between the new government (“The Alliance”) and their resistance (dubbed “Brown Coats”), our story flashes past the conflict and follows some of the rebels as they try to survive and stay under the radar. Unfortunately, working outside the law doesn’t exactly provide the best opportunities for “legal” work. So, aboard the Firefly class spaceship Serenity, we find our “heroes” – smuggling, thieving and, currently, taking paying passengers since they’re low on money.
And who ARE our heroes?
The core crew consists of two former Brown coats: Mal Reynolds (the Captain and dysfunctional father-figure to this merry band) and Zoe (his second-in-command, and a
lady you’d want on your side in a gunfight), Wash (daredevil pilot, Zoe’s hubby and often comic relief), Kaylee (possibly the best damn mechanic you’ll ever see, and the emotional heart of the gang), Jayne (unkempt mercenary-for-hire who is mostly loyal to the crew – unless someone has better money) and Inara (a “Companion”, essentially a high priced courtesan, who has the highest social standing on the ship - which allows her to act as ambassador).
But it’s the new passengers who throw the crew into disarray. We get Book (a “Shepherd”, which is essentially a minister), Simon (a doctor, from a wealthy and privileged background) and River (Simon’s sister, and the ongoing mystery girl who may very well have every bad guy in the universe trailing her). Add these very dissonant personalities to the existing crew and – well, just hope they make it out of dock before Jayne kills anyone.
As the story begins to unfurl, we start to see why River is so sought after and this wild new universe is brought into the light. On our trip we see seedy dives, beautiful scenery, horrible carnage and the beginnings of wonderful relationships. This is how Joss Whedon often creates his stories – showing a realistic portrait of what one might find in everyday life painted against the backdrop of this fantastic new place he has created.
And now some of you get to go out and enjoy the whole series (and the movie) for the first time. Now, you too can curse the Fox network for slowly killing this show – or rejoice that they’re bringing Mr. Whedon back to TV! Somehow, through all the stupidity in the way Firefly was doomed, Joss is taking another chance with the network. He’s working with Buffy alum Eliza Dushku on a new show called Dollhouse. Let’s lust hope this one has legs, folks.
Now go out and find those DVD’s and I’ll work on digging something else up for tomorrow…
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