The Best Television Show You've Never Seen

by Mary Richardson

How many of you out there desperately miss seeing Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel every week? After having my Joss-Whedon-produced fix for the past seven years, I was jonesin’ for something more, and I found it in the DVD boxed set of Firefly: The Complete Season. Even if you didn't enjoy Buffy or Angel, you may find Firefly intriguing. It has a little something for everyone, while still staying true to Whedon’s formula for success: ensemble cast, snappy dialogue, subtle subplots, and pretty people. It’s the kind of show that can hold a dramatic moment, turn on its head to make you laugh, and has pretty explosions. The characterizations are phenomenal, even though they might seem a little two-dimensional at first. The more episodes a viewer watches, the better the acting gets as the action and plots unfold. In typical Whedon form, the viewer is thrown into a chaos of information and back story that can bog one down a bit, but the show is lightened up by the wit and action of the series.

Firefly can be summarized as Western meets Millennium Falcon, with a splash of Asian culture thrown in to give it an exotic look. It’s set five hundred years in the future, when China and the U.S. have merged into one giant superpower called the Alliance. There has been a universal war between the Alliance and the Independent planets. That’s where Firefly picks up. In the two-hour pilot episode, we meet Captain Malcolm Reynolds, of the Firefly class spaceship Serenity. Reynolds is a war veteran who fought and lost on the Independent side. He's an ornery tough character, slightly reminiscent of Han Solo mixed with Angel. He has a dark side, yet is still a dry-witted rogue.

Comprising the rest of the ensemble are: Zoe, Reynolds’ second in command and war buddy; Wash the pilot; Kaylee the engineer; Jayne the muscle; Inara the "ambassador"; Book the preacher; Simon the doctor; and River the crazy girl.

Reynolds mainly runs a low- key smuggling operation, but when he takes on passengers in the pilot episode, he gets more than his crew bargains for. Doctor Simon Tam has smuggled his brain child sister, River, on board. It seems River was selected to attend a special Alliance school, where her brain was tampered with, turning her into something like a schizophrenic. Simon rescued her, and they are now on the run from the Alliance. Reynolds offers them a place on his ship, as it is constantly on the move, and hard to track.

This viewer's favorite episodes are "Out of Gas" and "Objects in Space." The first is a great episode experimenting with narrative. You get not only the present, but also the two- hours-ago past, and the story's origins. A vital part of the ship's engine breaks, and they're just drifting out in space with no hope of rescue, since they're on the edge of the Universe. The initial scenes are of Reynolds, who's been shot (we have no idea how), dragging himself around the ship. I was totally confused about what was happening--and loving it. Then it flashes to two hours ago, and you find out that something broke, and they're all gonna die because the life support only has a couple hours of air. Then it flashes to back story about how everyone came to work on the ship. It's such a great episode because this weird, fractured narrative exposes how much the characters mean to Malcolm Reynolds, who is often such a stoic figure. It reveals a depth into his character as well as the kind of great suspense that will have you ignoring your ringing telephone because you want to know what happens. I don't want to go into much more detail, or I'll ruin the story for you.

I also loved "Objects in Space," which is the last episode on the four disc set. Joss Whedon really went existential when he wrote this story. If you watch the whole series in order, you get sucked into River's story, and will find yourself trying to figure out Simon what the Alliance did to her. She's a great character because she is crazy, but there's also a childlike awe and wonder to her that makes her accessible. For the first ten minutes of this episode, you get see the world through River's eyes. She's completely tapped into the world around her, but unable to process emotions and thoughts normally. My favorite line is when she says, "River understands, but she can't comprehend," which is just awesome, as you've spent the past ten minutes in her head, and you know her character so much better.

The basis of this episode is that a Bobba Fett type bounty hunter named Jubal Early has tracked River down, and wants to bring her back to the Alliance to collect a very large reward. Early is actually sadistic killer. He has no qualms about killing or hurting anyone. This is the last episode, so you're attached to these characters, particularly the engineer Kaylee as she really is the heart of the show. When Early tied her up and threatened her I was outraged, and almost yelled at my television. This bounty hunter is cruel, but also has a philosophical dimension to him. Whedon really gets into this weird idea of existence in space--literally and figuratively--in this episode.

Overall, this is a great a show that I think everybody needs to see. Joss Whedon and his team put a great deal of time into making this DVD a full experience. I was thoroughly entertained by the episodes themselves, as they really do have something for everyone. I tend to like the darker episodes like the ones mentioned above, but there are also lighter comedic episodes such as "Shindig" and "Our Mrs. Reynolds," as well intensely action-oriented episodes like "Train Job" and "War Stories." The fourth disc is great since that's where all the extra stuff is. There's the making of Firefly, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and a crazy bit with Joss Whedon singing the title song. If you fiddle with your remote, you can even open up an Easter egg featuring Adam Baldwin singing a song.

I will have to say, if you have the time, definitely check out the commentaries. For once, you get commentaries that aren't overly technical with "this lighting shot and angle blah blah." Instead you get the perspectives of the actors, writers, and directors, so it's really a fun-filled experience with anecdotes and interesting trivia. It's also hysterically funny when the actors are giving commentary, because they give it a Mystery Science Theater 3000 feel to it by ripping on everybody. So if you want to be thoroughly entertained, Firefly: The Series is where it's at.