This Goram Show!

After pushing it off for years I finally watched the entire canon of Joss Whedon's Firefly. In four days I watched Serenity, every episode of Firefly, and then Serenity again.  Fans of the Firefly universe would probably ask why I waited so long, but I would have to say I am glad I did wait. The show has been gone for nearly 10 years and the movie is six years old. Plenty of time for it age and either become dated, thankfully it came no where close. That show, and adjoining movie, needs to be carved into the science fiction Mount Rushmore along with Star Trek and Star Wars. If you think that's too far, can we agree that it is easily the best science fiction show of the last decade. I'd venture to say it is the most believe-able space venturing show I have ever seen. No wizardy or puppets (Star Wars), no aliens or abhorrent techno-jargon (Star Trek), no robot uprising (BattleStar). Simply a tale of Han Solo placed in the future and not a long, long time ago with a more realistic sized crew and lifestyle.

What makes Firefly so great to me is that it stays away from those common science fiction tropes. Aliens,  Warpseed, and super intelligent Androids are all well and good but they make for cheap storytelling. Are your characters ever truly at risk when last minute scientific discoveries or super aliens come to the rescue? Mal and his crew are just pirates on the run, making a few bucks where they can. It's not until the film that you understand what their greater purpose for being is. They aren't looking for new life and new civilization, they aren't worried about aliens with better weapons or technology, and while they may be steering clear of an "empire," i.e. the Alliance, it isn't run by superior beings. Obviously there is some advanced technology and weapons but not to the point that battles are completely unfathomable.

It's a tragedy that Firefly existed during Fox's heyday of killing shows too early; i.e. John Doe, Tru Calling, Undeclared, Family Guy, Arrested Development (a show I was never a fan of but people seem pissed). What's worse is I am hesitant to believe it will ever come back, in television, book, comic book or movie form. Joss Whedon nixed several books. The film is just too good and tied off too many excellent story lines. There are definitely characters from the T.V. show that could make for interesting plot devices in a film but after some of the twists in Serenity, it would be hard to endure the characters continuing. In the end some of what unravels is just too heartbreaking. So until I'm proven wrong I guess we're left with a small supply of an amazing show and hilarious one-liners like this: