For those unaware, Firefly is a sci-fi TV series, cancelled before the completion of its first season nearly a decade ago. It has been celebrated and mourned among its fans ever since.
While technically sci-fi, the show has a very Western feel – which works far better than you'd think. Space Westerns can be very nicely done, as one would see in both Firefly and Cowboy Bebop (a popular anime series). This mix of genres works very well thematically – in Westerns, as in sci-fi shows like Firefly, humans are reaching beyond the borders of 'civilised' society, further and further out, where life is harder, harsher, wilder, but freer from oppressive governmental restrictions. The music adds exponentially to the Western atmosphere. See the Firefly Theme – written by Joss Whedon for reference (a Youtube search should do the job).
The story focuses around a ship called Serenity and her crew of (in Whedon's words) “nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things,” struggling under the oppressive nature of a corrupt 'Alliance' government (allying all planets in the solar system under one rule – whether they like it or not).
I would recommend Firefly not just to lovers of sci-fi (or even Westerns) but all those who love wonderful characters, beautiful and dark story lines, excellent writing and hilarity.
This episode in particular is one of my favourites, sucker that I am for back stories and character development. 'Out of Gas' is one of the darker areas of the series, when Serenity loses power while out in the Black, meaning life support won't function, spelling out slow but certain death for the protagonists, lost in the depths of space. The mounting tensions under such despair and panic lead to character interaction of a sort not often seen within the series, highlighting problems and resentments in the crew, as well as the closest relationships, contrasted with a series of flashbacks during the crisis and, later, as Mal – Captain Malcom Reynolds – ends up waiting, alone, for death within his dead and empty ship. Each crew member's first introduction to the captain, and the ship herself, is shown in bright, warm colours, contrasting to the dim coldness of a dying ship and a dying man. It also illustrates how far each of them have come, how much they have been changed since they met one another, since they first found Serenity, and the jarring nature of such a time ending in such sudden tragedy.
This episode, with its warmth, love, despair and depth of character exploration, while perhaps not the best introduction to the series (due to a disconnected and non-linear plot structure, as well as its focus on back story without much broader in-'verse context), it is without a doubt one of the highlights of the series' all-too-short life-time.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go comfort myself with Firefly fan-fiction.
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