As stated in my review of Serenity, I already mentioned how I feel about this series and how I watched it before I learned about the movie. So rather than retread that
paragraph, I’m going to start by asking a simple question: why was this
show canceled? Seriously now, why in all of Zeus’s beard was this show
thrown off the air? Why wouldn’t people want to watch a show with great
characters, an interesting storyline, and action that means something?
Why would they all tune in for the all-too-contrived series of
something like Battlestar Galactica or the lesser Star Trek
works when they could see something fresh and new? It just doesn’t make
sense to me, and something like this always fails to garner any
understanding out of me. Why people would not shell out their money for
something possessing a high level of quality is completely astounding
to me, although not quite unexpected. After all, there have been a lot
of great shows and movies that got ignored and went on to gain great
cult followings, much like this show did. But I digress, I am getting
off-topic. The point of all this rambling is this: Firefly is an amazing show.

Taking place 500 years in the future, humanity has expanded through an entire star system and an unsteady peace currently remains between the totalitarian Alliance and the former Independent colonies. This
peace contains many rifts, the most obvious being the technological gap
between the highly advanced Alliance-run inner planets, and the
frontier-esque planets on the outskirts. On these outskirts, poor
people finds themselves scrapping for a living among looters, bandits,
and the villainous cannibals known as Reavers. Amidst this environment,
we follow the crew of the firefly-class ship Serenity, as
they traverse the star system in search for any job they can find. The
crew and cast include a giant hodge-podge of characters including gruff
Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), second-in-command Zoe
Washburne (Gina Torres), Serenity’s pilot Hoban Washburne
(Alan Tudyk), hired muscle Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin), simple mechanic
Kaywinnit Frye (Jewel Staite), and companion Inara Serra (Morena
Baccarin). This crew is expanded upon in the pilot episode with the
inclusion of Dr. Simon Tam (Sean Maher), his genius but disturbed
fugitive sister River (Summer Glau), and the religious Shepherd Derrial
Book (Ron Glass). Through these nine, we get a very interesting view of
the universe through adventure, action, and the simple desire to keep
on trucking.

The main thing about this series that is done right is the overall tone and atmosphere of the entire piece which is quite interesting to say the least. Firefly utilizes a hybridization of different
genres as it combines elements of space opera and western genres to
create an overall feel that is highly reminiscent of Outlaw Star or Trigun.
All of the environments of the outer planets feel like something out of
Oregon trail, with old fashioned guns, horses, and landscapes despite
the occasional spaceship blasting through. Much of the characters speak
with a oddly endearing western twang that doesn’t feel forced but seems
to naturally roll off the tongue. And even the battles themselves
reflect this, as the show refrains from the usage of weird aliens, mass
space armadas, or crazy lightshows in favor of fistfights, small gun
battles, and the occasional run from a pursuing trip. All of this works
to make the series feel very original and fresh, especially in a world
too highly inundated with Star Trek clones regurgitating the
same technological vision of the future. The scaling back feels much
more natural and rings of a personality that many sci-fi shows fail to
have.

Speaking of personality, the cast and crew of Firefly are the brightest examples of why this show works so well. The balance of screen-time is quite impressive, as neither character feels over-used
or under-utilized. This is true even for character-specific episodes,
which still manage to insert characters in the story seamlessly and
with purpose. In a way, this cast reminds me of Star Trek,
albeit on the other end of the tracks from a career standpoint. Nathan
Fillion is as gruff and passionate as Malcolm Reynolds as Captain Kirk
ever was, albeit with a simple honesty to his voice that make you like
from the beginning. Summer Glau and Sean Maher play an interesting
dynamic as the Tam siblings, and their constantly evolving
relationships with themselves and the rest of the crew provide the
focal points for many episodes. The biggest treat or the more minor
roles among the crew, which are always a joy to experience. Ron Glass’s
Shepard is a stoic mentor whose wise speeches for justice always set
the mood and Adam Baldwin’s blunt idiocy provides a great balance of
badassery and hilarity to that character in every scene he’s in.
Characters such as that provide a dimensionality to the show that ones
like Star Trek (with their propensity to focus entirely on the big three characters at the sacrifice of the rest) sadly lack.

All in all, this is a really fantastic show and I am sorry to see that it was canceled. The stories were greatly written and executed, the premise and universe were fascinating, and the characters were
always a treat. You enjoyed every minute you spent on board of the Serenity,
so it’s a shame that this show didn’t get renewed for more glorious
adventures. If you haven’t seen this show, check it out on DVD. You
will not be disappointed.