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There's not a whole lot on TV that's new nowadays. Every fall we're subjected to a rapid-fire barrage of ill-concieved crap from all the networks. By my estimation, only about 15% of shows debuted during this time actually make it to a second season. Statistics are even worse for other times during the year. On a TV polluted with sitcoms, reality shows, cop shows, and soap operas in disguise, only the shows that are truly different or those that have a unique angle can survive. In addition to all that, the show must be properly marketed. Like the network often does, Fox managed to completely botch Firefly's execution.

Firefly - A Brief History
Joss Whedon's Firefly debuted on Fox network and its local affiliates in September 2002. Now, you'd think that when a writer with the kind of clout Joss Whedon has makes a show for you, you'd want to make sure everyone knows you've got him on your side. Whedon helped keep crappy networks like the WB and UPN in the black for years before he was unjustly jettisoned from the WB with the conclusion of Angel: Season 5. Next, Fox scores him and hopes to make a long running series. Unfortunately, Fox has a history of giving good shows the short end of the stick.

Firstly, Firefly was poorly marketed (especially considering its budget) and received a crappy Friday prime time slot that was often pushed off the schedule for baseball and other 'specials'. Adding insult to injury, the two-hour premiere episode was not shown until December that year, being the last episode shown before the show got the axe. You know - the episode that introduces the characters, their backstory, and all that stuff you need to see to understand the show. Instead of dedicating its first Friday prime time block to a two-hour Firefly episode, Fox decided that it would air Firefly episodes all out of order so that it could premier alongside 'John Doe', a [failed] show about an amnesiac who knows everything except who he is. Even worse, word has it that Fox execs were never that happy with Firefly. They wanted a shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later sci-fi show. What they got was an intelligent space Western with a plot. Apparently, not a good fit for Fox - which is littered with shows like 'The Simpsons', 'World's Scariest Police Chases', 'Trading Spouses', 'American Idol', et cetera. The show was cancelled mid-season, having only aired ten out of thirteen recorded shows.

After the Fox network fallout, fans of the show were rabid about getting the show on DVD. After much campaigning, petitioning and letter writing, Fox publicly admitted it had botched the show's execution and that it would release the complete series on DVD. As sales of the DVD soared (as of this writing the DVD is cemented into the Top 25 Selling DVDs Nationwide), Whedon and the cast went to Universal to have a movie made based on the TV show. This movie is called 'Serenity' and has already grossed a domestic take of $25M and $30M world wide. Add that to sales of the DVD, network TV airings and everything else that contributes to the success of a movie and it looks as if we'll get a sequel to that as well. God willing.

The Review
So what's all the ruckus about any ways? At first glance, Firefly looks like another Star Trek clone. A ship, a captain, and space. Just like Star Trek, right? Firefly is best described as a 'space Western.' It goes without saying that Firefly's is a sci-fi universe unlike any other. In the Firefly universe, the core planets are well populated and developed. However, the outer rim worlds were haphazardly terraformed and then had boatloads of settlers with pitchforks and livestock dumped onto them, left to make their own way 'frontier style.' Most of the universe is populated by these rednecks trying to eke out a living on these worlds, while the rich and famous live in the lap of luxury on the core worlds - all under the watchful eye of the Alliance.

This show is all about one ship and her crew: a Firefly-class transport named Serenity. Serenity is captained by one Malcolm Reynolds. 'Mal' is a veteran of the Browncoats war with the Alliance. After winding up on the losing side of that war, Mal purchases Serenity and, along with fellow Browncoat veteran Zoe, assembles a ragtag crew as he jets from one end of the galaxy to the other, taking any jobs he can get along the way in order to keep fuel in Serenity's tanks. Other members of his crew include: Kaylee, the young and gifted ship's mechanic; Jayne, the cutthroat mercenary; Inara aka The Ambassador, a trained and registered 'Companion' (prostitute) that rents one of Serenity's shuttles; and Wash, the happy-go-lucky ace pilot and Zoe's husband.

During a routine stop at Persephone, one of the core worlds, to drop off some ill-gotten-gains and refuel, Serenity takes on some passengers to make ends meet since they are unable to sell their marked goods on the Alliance dominated Persephone. They include Doctor Simon Tam (hauling a very large silver piece of cargo), a Shepherd (preacher) by the name of Book, and a quiet man named Dobson. However, this load of passengers turns out to be way more than Mal and his crew bargained for. During their voyage, Dobson sends out a call to an Alliance cruiser which alerts them to the presence of two fugitives on board Serenity. During a brief tussle, law-man Dobson is taken prisoner by the crew after he accidentally shoots Kaylee. Mal concedes that he will dock with the Alliance cruiser to turn over the Doctor and his cargo. Simon then refuses to help with Kaylee's wound unless Serenity runs from the cruiser. Left between a rock and a hard place, Mal agrees to run and the good doctor quickly patches Kaylee up. After Kaylee stabilizes, Mal moves quickly to discover what cargo the Doctor has that the Alliance wants so bad. Against Simon's wishes, Mal opens the cargo only to discover a girl by the name of River.

It turns out that Simon rescued his sister, River, from an Alliance Academy that had been "playing with her brain" for many years. Being naturally gifted, it is assumed that the Alliance had a special interest in River's brain for unknown reasons. River, unfortunately, is not the same person she was before her hiatus at the Academy and she frequently displays fits of hysteria and experiences vivid hallucinations. After unloading their cargo and their feisty law-man on one of the outer rim worlds, Mal agrees to harbor the doctor and his sister since he needs a good doctor on board. Shepherd Book also decides to stay on board to guide the crew. Thus, the stage is set.

Firefly, like all shows written by Whedon, is heavy on the character development. Unlike previous Whedon shows, continuity takes a backseat in this outing, preferring a largely stand-alone episode format in its one season run. The show still retains some continuity: Mal and Inara share a love/hate relationship that develops slowly over the course of the show and Simon has to contend with River's extremely inconsistent and sometimes psychotic behavior. The show manages to flesh out its characters completely by the end of its run and leaves you wanting more. This is smart writing, folks, with just the amount of wit one would come to expect from the friendly pirate stereotype.

This show is very unique and I want to touch on some of these aspects. While appearing as if its a Star Trek clone, Firefly goes to great length to distance itself from more traditional sci-fi shows. For example, eschewing the unrealistic but exciting approach to sound design in the airless void of space, there is never any sound heard in Firefly's space. Also, instead of the bombastic operatic tunes we're used to hearing in sci-fi entertainment, we're treated to a simple guitar, violin, and drum combo for most of Firefly's music. The music constantly lends the show a constant air of simplicity and old fashioned wonder at even simple things like Serenity executing a 'hard burn.' During some of the big action sequences (very few and far between, as Firefly has no use for balls-to-the-walls action in its story) the music gets orchestral and upbeat, but most times the guitar is lazily strumming the episode away, perfectly setting the tone of the whole proceeding.

I mentioned earlier that Firefly is something of a 'space Western.' In all honesty, it would probably be more accurate to say that the show is a 'Western with spaceships.' Since our motley crew doesn't exactly appreciate the oppression and callousness of the Alliance, Serenity and her crew mostly stick to the outer rim worlds taking jobs, legitimate and illegitimate, as they come. Most of these worlds, as I also mentioned earlier, are populated with nothing more than backwards rednecks. Thankfully, the Alliance has little presence on these worlds. This also makes outer rim worlds somewhat dangerous due to lack of adequate law enforcement. Combine this with the constant threat of Reavers (flesh eating humans who have lost their humanity) on the edge of civilized space and you basically have what amounts to the Wild West. And when I say that, I want you to know what it means: Horses, shotguns, whore houses, rampant lawlessness, disease, the works. The only thing they're lacking out there is Indians.

As far as special effects go, Firefly is mindblowing. Keeping in mind that the show was produced on a TV budget (albeit a larger one than usual), these special effects are flawless. Serenity is beautifully rendered every time we see it and the space sequences involving actors are also well done. The artists and production designers also did a very good job of giving Firefly's various worlds a consistent, dreamlike quality to them. This is, hands down, the best looking television show I've ever seen and every frame of every episode will back that up.

Wrapping things up, Firefly will go down in history as one of the best sci-fi dramas of all time. Its a goddamn Greek tradgedy that the show was given the short shrift by Fox and every bit of fan backlash Fox gets for prematurely canning this fantastic show is well deserved. I could use all kinds of glorious expletives to describe Fox in this particular instance, but I'll leave that to a friend whom, I believe, is already working on a lengthy rant on the subject.

In short: buy it, watch it, love it, want to kill Fox executives. Then, come back and read on for a more comprehensive discussion of the events in the show, but be warned there is a...

!!! SPOILER ALERT IN EFFECT !!!

The first thing that I want to get out of my head is the idea of the 'Companion's Guild.' In Firefly's universe, prostitution is an accepted and honored profession. This, in and of itself, sets the show worlds apart from other popular works. Serenity plays host to Inara, one of many registered Companions throughout the galaxy. Many worlds won't even let transports like Serenity land without a Companion on board and I find this particularly indicative of how important Companions are in the natural order of things in the Alliance territories. Seeing how it works in Firefly, you almost have to wonder why things don't work the same way here on Earth right now.

It would make ludicrous amounts of sense from a buisness and health standpoint to have trained and licensed prostitutes. Train them to distance themselves from their clients emotionally, how to best please their clients and how to avoid disease and pregnancy. Then, put them through rigorous yearly check-ups to make sure they stay up to par physically and mentally. Finally, the idea that Companions choose their clients would also be understandable given the track record for 'Johns' in our era. A Companion chooses her client and, if anything goes wrong, the guild would bring the scales of justice down upon the John. If you think about it, everybody wins. The government would have a healthy take on license and training fees, women who choose the career path would be well respected and safe, and the Johns would be both enforced in their actions and protected from disease. Then again, writers with creative minds like Whedon's often come up with ideas such as this. George Carlin has some good ideas on the death penalty, for example. But I digress. The concept of a Companion's Guild almost seems like an indictment of how this country views sexuality and is a wholly welcome alternative perspective on the subject.

Speaking of which, the relationship between Mal and Inara is a constant source of entertainment. It seems like Mal would be a natural around the ladies as we watch him constantly 'play' Inara. The neat thing is that he doesn't even mean to. He constantly busts her balls, never puts up with her little games and rules, and, little by little, she gains a great respect and love for him. This is made obvious by the Heart of Gold episode: When Mal takes advantage of Nandi's hospitality, Inara breaks down and cries, something that is unthinkable for a Companion to do over a man. Mal, like most guys, is completely oblivious to Inara's feelings because he thinks that, as a Companion, she can't possibly have any feelings for men. I'm anxious to see if and how this relationship progresses in Serenity. Hopefully, it doesn't fizzle out, X-Files style. I'm inclined to believe, however, that Inara fiercely values her independence and identity as a Companion and will soon jettison herself off the cast.

Mal plays the Angel role in Firefly. Simultaneously a mystery and an open book, we have to constantly wonder where he pulls his strength and solidarity from. The man is a born leader, no doubt. Same as Angel does, he represents one of the moral rocks of the show with one important distinction: As the Shepherd so adequately put it, "He is very protective of his crew." To the Captain, his crew is family. Anyone who tries to hurt any of them in any way is dealt with switfly and harshly. While not a fascinating character by any means, its immensely fun to watch the man in action as he formulates one broken plan after another.

River is the show's big mystery. Although we know that the Alliance has altered her brain, its unclear why. The trailer for Serenity sheds some light on this topic but doesn't answer all the questions we have about her. We know that she is now a latent psychic but that she has very little control over her power. Watching the final episode, Objects In Space, I am reminded of one of The Matrix short stories. In it, a human mind is unwittingly recruited to operate a Sentinel. They saddle him with a simple game that he plays for the length of his stay. All he has to do is shoot some asteroids, but what he's really doing is operating the Sentinel and destroying human lives and ships. In Objects In Space, we find that River's mind operates on a similar principle. The problem is that she just can't turn it off. When she experiences her hallucinations, they're actually acting as simple killing games for River to play. She doesn't get to choose her targets or choose when she unwillingly shifts into simulation mode. This is another development that I hope we get to see more of in Serenity.