So the family binge-watched Firefly/Serenity this Christmas break (and yes, I know). Nathan Fillion and Joss Whedon at their best. A very smart show, a very thoughtful show, and as a result a necessarily dark show. There are too many obscure historical parallels to use to explain why the show had to be so dark. You can think of it as survival on the outskirts of civilization when you realize that the central government doesn't have your best interests in mind. It's not pleasant. What makes the show so meaningful is the contrast it paints between the state of civilization and state of humanity localized in the crew of Serenity. A captain's fierce loyalty to his crew, a husband/wife's love for one another, a brother's devotion to his sister. You take those relationships and put them in any number of barely-civilized situations and you get this show. Am I appalled at the theology of the show? Of course. But I don't watch television shows for theology. Twelve years after the show was cancelled, it actually has a stronger and more vibrant following than when it ran (I guess that makes sense or else it would have been a stupid decision to cancel it); there aren't too many shows that can say that (one website only put Arrested Development, Freaks and Geeks, and Firefly in this category). I've read myriads of reasons why the show was cancelled and more than a few reasons why we should be glad it was (go out on top - don't drag us through seasons 7 and 8 of X-Files again). I have no doubt that it would have a place if it were released today - there are so many channels needing programming - and costs of special effects have come way down. But there are a number of reasons why it had to come out when it did for it to work. The cast was affordable because they were still mostly young. Joss Whedon was affordable because he wasn't appreciated enough yet. The money went into sets and locations (which can't be fixed by special effects on a network scale). And there was nothing on television like it. I wonder if it would be lost in the crowd and weeded out by it's too-large budget, like so many sci-fi shows before and after. Think about it - how many otherworldly fantasy/sci-fi shows "make it"? X-Files was basically set on modern-day earth, so it's in a different category. Doctor Who has the backing of the BBC. Frankly, the longevity of Star Trek TNG is somewhat baffling when you take all of that into account. To illustrate my point, consider these shows that got cancelled pretty early on (I hadn't watched most of them, but they sound interesting):
Enough rambling. Because Firefly was canceled when it was, we don't have to worry about what might have happened if it stayed on a season too long. We don't have to worry about the cast losing chemistry because it never happened (they still have great chemistry in their reunions, and how many shows can have a cast picture ten years later where everyone wants to show up?). We don't have to go through the inevitable pain of a season without our favorite character who got killed off due to a contract dispute. We only have positive what-could-have-beens, and I can live with that. (Reading Joss's take on his relationship with the FOX brass, their expectations of the show, where Serenity ultimate went, and both Joss's and Tim Minnear's willingness to walk away if FOX meddled with them any more, it's pretty obvious that any future seasons wouldn't have worked.) My Favorite Firefly QuotesTrying to narrow these down to the best quote or two per character is tough. Dialog is so relentlessly clever.
Mal: "I swear by my pretty floral bonnet I will end you." Mal (2): "Well, any friend of Inara's is a strictly businesslike relationship of mine." Wash: "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" Wash (2): "I've been under fire. Well, I was in a fire. Actually, I was fired. I can handle myself." Zoe: "Sir, you seem to have a problem with your brain being missing." Zoe (2) under interrogation: "You fought with Captain Reynolds in the war?" Zoe: "Fought with a lot of people in the war." "And your husband?" "Fight with him sometimes, too." about Jayne: "Your mouth is talking. You might want to look into that." Jayne: "What'd y'all order a dead guy for?" Kaylee: ["That's the buffet table."] "How can we be sure unless we question it?" Kaylee (2): ["Okay, people, if it moves, shoot it."] "Unless it's the Captain!" Simon: "I'm very sorry if she tipped off anyone about your cunningly concealed herd of cows." Simon (2): "I'm sorry, Dad. You know I would never have tried to save River's life if I had known there was a dinner party at risk." River: "Also, I can kill you with my brain." River (2): after being freaked out by Book's hair: "It doesn't matter. It'll still be there . . . waiting." Book: "If you take sexual advantage of her, you're going to burn in a very special level of hell. A level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theater." [I know this is so, so inappropriate, but as someone who has taught Dante's Inferno multiple times, it makes me laugh.] Book (2): ["Preacher, don't the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing?"] "Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps." Inara: "Any well-bred petty crook knows that the small, concealable weapons go to the far left of the place setting." Inara (2): "It sounds like something this crew can handle. I can't guarantee they'll handle it particularly well, but . . ." ["If they got guns, and brains at all?"] "They've got guns."
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