Doug Hilton's Blog

Firefly

I have been borrowing the Firefly complete series DVD from a friend at work over the past month and watching it in my spare time (what little I have). Like most good science fiction series, this has a western flavor, set in a futuristic/fantastic universe, shortly after what has become known as World War III. After watching the pilot, "Serenity", I was only slightly impressed. I thought there was too much of a western flavor to this series. I prefer more of the science in science fiction, but have been pleasantly surprised with further episodes.

I do, unfortunately, see why the show flopped on TV. When it was aired, they decided to show the episodes out of order. Much like Buffy and Angel, Joss Whedon goes to great lengths to put seemingly inocuous details into the show, that turn up in later episodes with a large impact. This show can not be watched out of order, especially not the pilot. Joss also does a lot with character development that adds to what we have already learned in previous episodes, and these building blocks need to be there before more can be learned and understood.

I now have only two episodes left to watch, and will be sad to see the show go once I finish them. There is hope, however. On September 30, 2005, Serenity will be released in theatres across the US. There are many unanswered questions that the show leaves open due to it's untimely cancellation that I'm hoping the movie will begin to answer. Questions such as "What happened to River at the Academy", "Who are the Reavers", and other questions central to the story of these characters and the universe in which they live. This is one more movie I am looking forward to this year.