Firefly Review

Firefly is a bizarre thing. Although it only lasted for one series, with a film (Serenity) later coming to fruition due to the outraged demands of fans; it is one of the most talked about and debated sci-fi television shows ever created. Why?

The full title is Joss Whedon's Firelfy. Joss Whedon wrote Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Let's get one thing straight: I hate Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The show spawned so many god-damn awful spin-off's and has such annoying fans that I can hate it without looking at it's own merits. The three episodes that I've actually watched were painful, narcissistic, borderline masochistic attempts to combine the genre of teen drama with supernatural.

Yeah, I said it: Buffy was shit.

Although, the one good thing I will say: Buffy's main flaw was it's concept. Not it's writing. Whedon was admittedly able to provide half decent character progression alongside reasonably successful horror and action sequences, and always quick-witted dialogue. So, if Firefly's concept is any good we might have a good series. Firefly's concept: Cowboys in space.

For fuck's sake.

As it turns out, this is less jarring than I initially thought. Once you get past the initial change from flying around space to riding horses and the show begins to pick up pace it becomes by far the least important element of the show. In fact, after seeing Buffy I was shocked to find that by the most interesting thing about Firefly was the characters.

You see, at the show's heart, it is a character drama. Each character within the cast is both deeply written, unique and perfectly portrayed. The main character, Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) never stops being completely fascinating, as he drags the audience through moral dilemma after moral dilemma without ever letting them know enough about him to get tired of it.

The supporting characters are also excellent, as each character manages to consist of both believable interaction with the other members of the crew, and a concrete grounding in character development and moral direction. As with Fillion's portrayal of Reynolds each of the supporting actors manage to craft an exceptionally deft and witty interpretation of the character that they have been cast as. No-one ever becomes tiresome or annoying and special mention must go to Adam Baldwin (Full Metal Jacket, Angel) for his portrayal of the character Jayne Cobb as he steals the show no matter what.

However, Firefly's true strength ultimately lies with it's writing. All 14 of the episodes within the series are tightly woven and perfectly executed sci-fi adventures into the unknown. Whedon displays all the hallmarks of his previous endeavours: his charismatic wit, his exceptional character development and manages to make it perfect by getting rid of the one thing that made Buffy awful in my eyes: angst.

The use of sound and special effects within the series bring each episode to the point of masterpiece as they perfectly capture not only the atmosphere and tone of any given moment, but never seem out of place given the context of the entire plot: a drama about cowboys in space. No easy task.

So, after all of this I'm left wondering why Firefly was cancelled. Was it because Whedon wanted to return to Buffy? Was it because it cost too much? Was it because the show wasn't actually that good and I'm just an entity unto myself?

No, it's because no-one watches sci-fi any more. In the eye's of most people I've talked to sci-fi has outstayed it's welcome. Why? People associate it with Star Wars and Star Trek. I think it might be time for me to re-start a little fan-attack on something...

10/10