In-depth of Firefly

To those who are new to the series, or haven't the slightest idea what I'm talking about, please read this thrilling article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_%28television_series%29.
This article will tell you everything you need to know. I would recommend that you at least borrow the series from a friend who has it, or rent it. You won't be disappointed!

Firefly is such an amazing television series, and one of a kind. When I heard the show described as a "Space Western", I chuckled. I thought it sounded dumb. After watching the complete series, it makes perfect sense. It is set about 500 years in the future. After the apocalypse, Earth is no longer populated, and a new solar system is found; the peoples of Earth traveled to these planets, and terraformed them to be inhabitable. The main, or "core" planets are ruled by a single government, the "Alliance". Those outer planets who refuse Alliance control are like the frontier areas, like the old American west. Plenty of lawlessness abounds, hence the western feel. The Alliance planets take on the feel of Bladerunner. There are many Asian influences all around. It is said that the Alliance is mainly American and Chinese, since they are Earth's two biggest super-powers. Asian dialog is even weaved into the regular English, usually in the form of curse words. It takes a little getting used to, but it grows on you, and is just another accepted part of the new culture.

Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds is the owner of Serenity, a Firefly-class space cruiser that is used mainly for shipping. Of course, Mal is a Han Solo character who is a smuggler. He is at odds with the Alliance, as he was a volunteer fighter against them during the Unification War, a civil war between the Alliance and those who refused their control. As such, Mal and his crew are always dodging the Alliance. During a particularly slow spell, they take on some passengers to help pay the bills. Among these fares is a young doctor who has precious cargo. Over the course of the pilot episode, it is revealed that he is transporting his sister, River, an extremely intelligent young girl who was experimented on by the Alliance, even though her family was not aware of it. Simon, the young doctor, rescued his sister from the Alliance, and in turn, brings on a huge amount of trouble for Mal and the crew of Serenity. There are many mysteries to the show that were never given the chance to be revealed, due to the show's early cancellation. There are two mysterious men who wear blue gloves, in search of the missing River Tam. These two are very much like something out of "The X Files". They kill anyone who comes in contact with River, even Alliance, and they are extremely creepy. There is so much to this aspect of the series that held such promise to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat, waiting in eager anticipation for the next episode.

Aside from the intriguing mysteries, the show's main strongsuit is its characters. There are no less than 9 main cast members, 5 crew members and 4 additions, each of whom is given a great set of quirks and oddities. They interact with eachother in fabulous ways, interjecting humorous one-liners all the while. This show is extremely funny! Joss Whedon has a fantastic sense of humor, and the audience is in stitches, even during the more intense scenes. There's Mal, the Captain, his first mate Zoe, who fought along side him during the war, the pilot Hoban Washburne (Wash), who ended up marrying Zoe, Kaylee is the ship's young mechanic and all around sweetheart, and the mercenary/muscle Jayne Cobb; Inara is the ship's "ambassador". In actuality, she is a Companion, which in the Firefly universe is like a Geisha/Courtesan. The final characters are Shepherd Derrial Book, a man of God who has an unknown and possibly dangerous past, and siblings Simon and River. These characters are so easy to get into that you really care for them by the end of the series, and it makes it so much harder to know that the show was cancelled. Each actor played their part perfectly, and after hearing the commentaries on various episodes of a certain actress who was originally to play the part of Inara, I couldn't imagine how the show would have been had she played the part instead of Morena Baccarin. Honestly, I couldn't think of anyone else who would be better in these roles than the original cast. The synergy present between all the characters and their actors is so apparent, that nothing needs changing.

Another wonderful aspect of the show is the music. As there are several cultures thrown together to survive the post-apocalyptic worlds in the new solar system, there are several different music styles thrown together, such as Chinese, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Indian, and even Bluegrass and some Classical. And they were all masterfully done, and melded quite well. Many of the instruments were very real, not just synthesized. Click here to read an interesting interview with Greg Edmonson, the composer for the series. This brings me to mention the theme song. It was written by Joss Whedon, the show's creator, and is a bluesy folk song, meant to give you the feeling that it's sung by a person on a porch. For myself, it took several episodes before I became accustomed to hearing this song as the theme. After I became more familiar with the show and it took its hold on me, I couldn't think of another theme in its place. I can't help but sing along with Sonny Rhodes as he performs his heartfelt rendition of this survival tune. This song would be a perfect campfire song to be experienced on one of those distant outer planets that refused Alliance control. It's brilliant.

All these aspects come together to form a brilliant show that never got the chance to shine. It was hard to place, and the Fox network just didn't give it enough priority. It's sad to know that such clever shows like this are always drowned out by pointlessly shallow garbage like "reality" shows and countless police procedural and courtroom dramas. One can only hope that the DVD sales of the movie "Serenity" can convince the studio hot shots that more Firefly deserves to be made.