Firefly - Complete Series Review (Including Serenity)

      Let me begin by saying two things. First off, I have never been a huge fan of Joss Whedon. I saw some Buffy episodes and I wasn't a huge fan. I watched over half of the first season of Dollhouse and got bored with it. While Toy Story was an amazing movie, I felt like after that, Whedon would never again match the high quality of that film. Secondly, Fox is a horrible network that has no idea how to handle a brilliant series when it has one on its hands. The number of outstanding programs that the network has pulled off the air due to less than impressive ratings (Fox's fault for poor advertising and bad time slot placement) is nothing short of baffling.

Canceled? Are you ruttin' kidding me!?

     Having said all of that, I have to say that Joss Whedon brought us one of the most unique, intelligent and entertaining shows OF ALL TIME. Of course, Firefly being a brilliant show and all, Fox decided to brutally mishandle the episodes and cancel the series after just eleven episodes had aired. After refusing to air the two hour pilot that established the characters and some of the setting, Fox went on to broadcast the initial 11 episodes completely out of order. Why they would do this... I have no idea, but viewers were lost and confused which led to massive decline in the ratings. That was the biggest mistake Fox made with the series, but it was far from the only one. I won't get into that though and instead will get on with my review of the series.

The Series

     The two hour premier episode of Firefly was a great way to begin the series and did not feel overlong in any way. The pacing was good, the characters were established well and the universe was given an introduction and some back story. Despite being a Sci-fi program, the characters were all very grounded in reality and their choices felt natural. The blending of futuristic science fiction and western themes somehow worked not only well, but wonderfully.

Malcolm Reynolds doing what he does best

      As great as the first episode was, the series only grew stronger. With each passing episode, the characters were fleshed out, the universe expanded in both dazzling and frightening ways and the plot was given depth far beyond where I thought it could ever go. Each of the fourteen episodes is great in its own way, but there are a select few that I need to praise for being truly outstanding.

     The first of which is episode six entitled 'Our Mrs. Reynolds'. An episode that started ordinarily enough and looked to be more of a filler episode turned into an unmissable hour of television with some exciting twists. The second stellar episode was episode eight, and was the highlight of the season for me. 'Out of Gas' was a masterful episode in every aspect. The story was tight and beautifully written, the dialogue was as sharp as ever, and the seamless transitions between the present and the multiple flashbacks were marvelous. The third episode that stood out was the series finale. While it didn't give proper series closure at the end, that didn't hold this installment back from being one of the best the season had to offer. Firefly is the perfect example of a show that should have and would have been a huge hit had it been given proper treatment by the network. It did not deserve to be canceled and it truly is such a shame that it wasn't given a second chance. All I can say is that I am so thankful that Universal Pictures had enough faith in Joss Whedon to allow him to give the series closure in the form of the feature film 'Serenity'

Here are the scores I gave each episode.

Serenity - 8.6 out of 10
The Train Job - 8.8 out of 10
Bushwhacked - 9.1 out of 10
Shindig - 9.0 out of 10
Safe - 8.8 out of 10
Our Mrs. Reynolds - 9.5 out of 10
Jaynestown - 9.2 out of 10
Out of Gas - 10 out of 10
Ariel - 9.1 out of 10
War Stories - 9.3 out of 10
Trash - 8.8 out of 10
The Message - 9.0 out of 10
Heart of Gold - 8.3 out of 10
Objects in Space - 9.5 out of 10

Series Score: 9.4 out of 10

Serenity

     To be perfectly honest, I wasn't quite sure how to score this movie. As a standalone film it is fast paced, very well written and an all around great movie. But this isn't just a movie. Instead, it serves a far greater role as closure for the terrific series that came before it. When viewed as the final chapter of the story set up in Firefly, Serenity is damn near perfect. Many times when a movie spawns from a series, the characters don't seem like themselves. They seem to be written differently for the big screen than they were for television. When it comes to Serenity, nothing could be further from the truth. The full cast is back and portraying the characters we came to know and love over the brief fourteen episode run of the series. Even the dialogue and writing was just as amazing, if not better than what the series had become known for. One of the best things about this film is that they aren't running under the budget constrictions that they were on television. This meant as a viewer you were able to experience the sense of scale in the universe that Whedon had always wanted to show. If there is one complaint I have with the movie, it's that it feels a bit rushed at points. I can fully forgive that though as Joss Whedon did his very best to give closure to these characters, and a mighty fine job he did. This is how you end a series!

Movie Score: 9.0 out of 10

What more can I say about this outstanding series and movie that I haven't already said? Well honestly I could go on for hours about how amazing Firefly and Serenity are. I wont though. Instead, I will close this review by highly recommending this show to anyone who reads this. Even if you aren't a fan of science fiction, (Other than The original Star Wars films I'm not really into sci-fi) this show is so much more than that! This is a show that everyone should watch.