April 22, 2005

If you know me, and I haven't proselytized to you about Firefly yet, then it's really only a matter of time. I absolutely love this show. More than Buffy, even (and if you know me, that says a lot). I didn't catch the show when it was on the air, although I always meant to. Unfortunatly, Fox killed the series in their typical fasion before I had a chance to tune in. I don't remember what inspired me to add the first disc of the series on DVD to my Netflix queue, but I did, and watched the entire four hours in one sitting. The next day, I ordered the rest of the series from Amazon and by the end of the week had watched the show's entire run.

When I asked my buddy Dan if he had seen the show, he remarked "Holy bad writing." Now, most of the times Dan and I disagree on something, it turns out that he's right -- partly due to the fact that he seems to know something about absolutely EVERYTHING -- but this time I have the satisfaction of knowing that Dan is completely and unequivicably wrong. The writing is brilliant, and you'd be hard pressed to find anybody who's given the show a fair shake and disagrees. The characters and the world that Joss Whedon has created draws you in so deeply, that you not only will fall in love with it, but you'll want to be a part of it.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. What's the show about? The simplest way to describe it is as a western in space; horses and spaceships: that's gist, but it really doesn't do the series justice; unfortunatly, no description I can write, really can. Someone described it as a live action Cowboy Bebop, but although that's certainly high praise, it doesn't really give one a good idea of what the show is about. The best description I can find at the moment comes from the guys at FireFlyFans.net:

Inspired by the Battle of Gettysburg and the Reconstruction Era of the American Civil War, Joss Whedon’s Firefly is the story of Captain Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds and his ragtag crew on the rogue Firefly class starship, Serenity, and their struggle to stay alive in the wake of a galactic civil war 500 years in the future.

"Thrust together by necessity, these disparate men and women are cowboys of the future. They're seeking adventure and the good life, but facing constant challenges on the new frontier, which test and reveal their true identities. FIREFLY is about their unpredictable lives and relationships, as well as their search for meaning in a very uncertain time."

After watching the final episode of the series, I felt empty. There were so many great storylines set up in the first 14 episodes, yet which were never realized. We never did find out the secret of Book's past, or exactly what the Hands of Blue guys were up to. Most of all, I couldn't stand the thought of not being able to continue to join in the adventures of these fantastic characters. Fortunatly, there were still the hopes of a big screen adventure, but who knew how long before we would get to enjoy that.

Well, apparently, the answer was "about nine months." The premire of Serenity, the Firefly movie, has been set for April 22, 2005, and I am fucking thrilled! I'm probably going to spend all my free time until April just re-watching the series in order. Then I'm going to start making a costume to wear to the premire. I'm balls-out crazy about Firefly!

You can read updates from the set of Serenity here:
Serenity: The Official Movie Website