Firefly & Serenity (2005)

After spending a few years devouring and writing about my voyages with the entirety of Star Trek: The Next Generation, I thought I would go with a different sci-fi franchise that was quicker to consume. Within a few months, I was able to re-watch all of 2002’s Firefly TV series that had a tragically short 14 episode run, along with its 2005 film to conclude their story arc, Serenity (trailer). I already watched both many years ago, but a few years back, I upgraded both to BluRays, and this was the perfect opportunity to jump in and re-experience the cult hit sci-fi/western hybrid created by Joss Whedon.

Firefly kicks off with a two-part "Serenity" special that establishes the ensemble cast and the catalyst that brings the crew together on the vessel, Serenity. In the far-flung future, the United States and China emerged as the two dominant superpowers to colonize outer space, and thus everyone only speaks English and Chinese. After some time, a civil war brews up between the two dominant powers. This results in Captain Malcom Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and his second-in-command, Zoë (Gina Torres), on the losing end in the war's final battle to kick off Firefly's opening scene. The opening battle scene is an impressive CG-feast for a TV series budget.

The next scene jumps forward six years, where Malcom and Zoë now command a small independent salvager vessel, Serenity. They work for whoever pays the most, usually transporting sketchy cargo discreetly, which leads them to a heated wild west-esque gunfight on land with other scoundrels after the same shipment. Also aboard Serenity is their trusty mechanic, Kaylee (Jewel Staite), a working companion, Inara (Morena Baccarin), the comic relief muscle, Jayne (Adam Baldwin), the pilot and husband of Zoë, Wash (Alan Tudyk), their mysterious person of faith, Shephard Book (Ron Glass), and the siblings that are fugitives on the run: Dr. Simon (Sean Maher) and his sister, River (Summer Glau). It is quite the crew, but for nearly the entire run of the show, the showrunners do a fine job at balancing out adequate TV time for most of them, and by the end, they have charmingly dysfunctional family chemistry between them all.

Nathan Fillion receives major credit for his tremendous work as the lead role in the series as the charismatic Captain Malcom Reynolds. His never-give-up, DIY spirit to consistently turn the insurmountable odds against him is an irresistible character quality that makes it impossible to hate him. He has a unique relationship with nearly everyone on the ship, and it is exciting to see how those relationships develop and grow during the oh-so-brief run of the show. Pardon the aside, but Nathan Fillion and his character on the show are nearly a dead ringer for the protagonist, Nathan Drake, of the mega-hit Playstation game series, Uncharted. When first playing the original PS3 game, I thought for sure it was him. When there was an announcement that they were going to try and make the game into a movie, there was a huge outpouring of fan support to cast Fillion as Nathan Drake until the movie fell apart and never made it into production. At least Fillion was part of this unofficial Uncharted short film as a nice tease of what would have been. Back to the matter at hand now….

On my notes for Firefly and Star Trek: TNG, I would give a brief description of each episode and would put a star next to it if I enjoyed the episode. It should go without saying how much I enjoyed Firefly when I ended up "star-ing" 11 of the 14 episodes. Here are some highlights from a few of my favorites: "Train Job" is exactly as the episode title indicates, and I was all in on this episode to see the many twists and turns it took for the Serenity crew to evade authorities throughout their heist. "Safe" sees River and Simon kidnapped as more of their past is unveiled. "Jaynestown" is a top three episode of the series that sees Jayne return to a settlement years later after an earlier job where he is adored as a legend by the local townsfolk, complete with the local tavern bard singing a song of his past heroics.

"Ariel" is another standout from the season that sees the gang attempt another heist for medical supplies at a hospital, but naturally, nothing goes according to plan. "The Message" has Malcom and Zoë on an escort mission to deliver a fallen comrade to his home, but like all episodes, not all is as it seems to be. "Heart of Gold" features the best on-land wild west shootouts in the series, as most of the episode builds to a climactic final battle that lives up to the buildup. Finally, the inadvertent series finale, "Objects in Space" sees the crew overcome their qualms with Simon and River and embrace them as part of Serenity….all while dealing with an assassin who snuck onto the ship.

Unfortunately, FOX suddenly pulled the plug on the show after it failed to deliver in the ratings without airing three of the 14 episodes. Thanks to an overwhelming amount of fan support, Universal stepped in to put an exclamation point on the series with a theatrical movie to wrap up as many plot threads as they could in two hours with the 2005 film, Serenity.

A constant in the TV series was how Simon busted his sister out of an experimental center doing eerie treatments. As a result, River is in a precarious state throughout the series. One of the two big plot points in the film reveals the secrets of the experiments on River, and the origins of the menacing threat, the Reavers. The Reavers were only touched upon in a couple of episodes that set them up as a grandiose threat to all life. On top of that threat, and hot on the heels of the Serenity crew, is an unnamed assassin (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who has early encounters with Malcom that prove he is a vastly superior match in wits and combat.

The film is a constant cat and mouse chase with Malcom and company trying to stay one step ahead of the assassin while also discovering the answers to some of these mysteries that were left hanging when the show came to an abrupt halt. It culminates with a fantastic final act that felt similar to the "suicide run" mission in the Mass Effect 2 video game. Here, the crew comes together to put a final front against the Reavers and the assassin while trying to expose some of humanity's deepest and darkest secrets. Watching Serenity again all these years later felt like the cast and crew wrapped everything up as best as they possibly could in the theatrical time allotted.

Both Firefly and Serenity BluRays have a fair amount of extras. The TV series has three worth checking out. Here's How it Was is a half-hour must-watch that details the lore and characters of the show and details the behind-the-scenes drama with FOX. Firefly Reunion is a luncheon with Joss Whedon and cast members that have them reminiscing with the show's stories and memories several years later. Serenity: The 10th Character is a thorough breakdown of the spacecraft and its set design we all fell for throughout the show's run. There are commentaries with various cast and crew members on most episodes and two commentaries for the movie.

I viewed the film commentary track with Whedon and most of the cast, and it is absolutely worth checking out. It has very few lulls and lots of chemistry still there as they shared anecdotes like Glau's fight camp training she had to endure and Whedon's cuts he had to make to ensure a PG-13 rating. Make sure to have subtitles on for the commentary because Whedon cuts off the audio commentary right as the credits start as his stated rule, but the subtitled commentary continues until the end of the credits and seems almost like a secret meeting that should not have been on the disc.

There is a slick "Alliance Database" interactive menu feature on the Serenity BluRay that felt like exploring the galaxy map in the Mass Effect games to learn more info and lore from the franchise. Two other recommended extras on the Serenity disc are Re-Lighting a Firefly, which is a 10-minute piece on how the fans brought the franchise back with this film. A Filmmaker's Journey is a unique 20 minute extra primarily focusing on the first table read for the film's script and interviewing the cast on that special intangible feeling with all of them sitting down together again for the first time since the show went off the air.

I know I am far from the first and last person to be glowing over Firefly and Serenity. If by some chance, you have not seen it and you are a fan of sci-fi, I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this enough. This brand has the mysteries of deep space, an endearing cast worth investing in, and land-based wild-west action that combines to be an exquisite entertainment dish well worth devouring. Regardless of how much of a bow the film put on the franchise, I cannot help but crave more adventures from Mal and company, and any sci-fi fan will be doing themselves a disservice for skipping over Firefly and Serenity.

Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs

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12 Angry Men (1957)
12 Rounds 3: Lockdown
21 Jump Street
The Accountant
Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie
Atari: Game Over
The Avengers: Age of Ultron
The Avengers: Endgame
The Avengers: Infinity War
Batman: The Dark Knight Rises
Batman: The Killing Joke
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice
Bounty Hunters
Cabin in the Woods
Captain America: Civil War
Captain America: The First Avenger
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Christmas Eve
The Clapper
Clash of the Titans (1981)
Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special
The Condemned 2
Countdown
Creed I & II
Deck the Halls
Detroit Rock City
Die Hard
Dirty Work
Dredd
The Eliminators
The Equalizer
Faster
Fast and Furious I-VIII
Field of Dreams
Fight Club
The Fighter
For Love of the Game
Good Will Hunting
Gravity
Grunt: The Wrestling Movie
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2
Hell Comes to Frogtown
Hercules: Reborn
Hitman
I Like to Hurt People
Indiana Jones 1-4
Inglourious Basterds
Ink
The Interrogation
Interstellar
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot
Jobs
Joy Ride 1-3
Justice League (2017 Whedon Cut)
Last Action Hero
Major League
Mallrats
Man of Steel
Man on the Moon
Man vs Snake
Marine 3-6
Merry Friggin Christmas
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpions Revenge
National Treasure
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Nintendo Quest
Not for Resale
Old Joy
Payback (Director’s Cut)
Pulp Fiction
The Punisher (1989)
The Ref
The Replacements
Reservoir Dogs
Rocky I-VIII
Running Films Part 1
Running Films Part 2
San Andreas
ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery
Scott Pilgrim vs the World
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Shoot em Up
Slacker
Skyscraper
Small Town Santa
Speed
Steve Jobs
Source Code
Star Trek I-XIII
Sully
Take Me Home Tonight
TMNT
Trauma Center
The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2
UHF
Veronica Mars
Vision Quest
The War
Wild
The Wizard
Wonder Woman
The Wrestler (2008)
X-Men: Apocalypse
X-Men: Days of Future Past