Summer of Firefly: "Serenity"

It's another edition of the Summer of Firefly! We're still flyin'. It may not seem like much, but it's enough.

Episode 01: "Serenity"

Directed by: Joss Whedon

Written by: Joss Whedon

Original Air Date: 12/20/02

Plot Summary:

*If you've seen the episode recently or have a pretty good memory of what happens, skip this Plot Summary*

Set five hundred years in the future, "Serenity" opens on a battle taking place in Serenity Valley. Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and Zoe Alleyne (Gina Torres) are soldiers for the Independents, aka Browncoats, a group fighting against the unification of all worlds under one government known simply as the Alliance. Despite their efforts, the Browncoats lose the Battle of Serenity due mostly to the Alliance having superior numbers.

Six years later, we find ourselves with Mal and Zoe once more, but the war is over. Malcolm Reynolds is now the captain of a Firefly class vessel named Serenity with Zoe as his second in command. The crew of Serenity includes a pilot married to Zoe, Hoban 'Wash' Washburne (Alan Tudyk), a gun hand, Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin), and a mechanic, Kaywinnit Lee Frye 'Kaylee' (Jewel Staite). Mal also rents out one of Serenity's shuttles to a companion, the Firefly 'verse's version of a sophisticated escort, named Inara Serra (Morena Baccarin). Mal and his crew have been hired to salvage some goods from an abandoned ship. Unfortunately, two things go wrong. For one, an Alliance cruiser spots their Firefly class vessel doing the illegal salvage. For two, the goods are all stamped with government insignia. These two things together make the employer, a gentleman with a very fine hat, named Badger (Mark Sheppard) unwilling to pay Mal for the job.

The news is most definitely in the bad category since Mal needs the money in order to keep Serenity flying. Unable to simply discard the cargo, Mal decides to try to sell it to one of the border planets (as opposed to the more Alliance dominated central planets). In an attempt to earn some more money, Serenity takes on some guests to act as a sort of shuttle to Boros with a brief stop on Whitefall to try to sell their troublesome cargo to a woman named Patience. Amongst the guests are a preacher, Derrial Book (Ron Glass), and a doctor, Simon Tam (Sean Maher).

More bad luck hits the crew of Serenity when they find out there's an Alliance mole on board. Further investigation reveals that the Alliance agent is actually not interested in Malcolm Reynolds or his cargo...at least not for now. In fact, Agent Dobson (Carlos Jacott) is in pursuit of Simon Tam. During the confrontation between Mal, Dobson, and Simon, Kaylee finds herself caught in the crossfire when a bullet finds its way in her abdomen. They quickly subdue the agent and Shepherd Book takes it upon himself to insure no member of the crew decides to take the life of the man. Simon agrees to patch Kaylee up, but only if Mal flees from the incoming Alliance cruiser. Mal reluctantly agrees to the arrangement, but decides to investigate just what it is that Simon Tam is hiding in his cargo.

To everybody's surprise, it's actually Simon Tam's little sister River (Summer Glau). We learn quickly that the Alliance was experimenting with her brain, and Simon risked everything he had to save her from that. It is because of this that he and his sister are now fugitives. Not exactly wanting more attention from the Alliance, Malcolm Reynolds let's Simon know that he intends to kick them off his ship as soon as possible. Moreover, if Kaylee doesn't pull through, as soon as possible include releasing him into space. Fortunately for the Tam's, Kaylee does pull through with all signs pointing towards a complete recovery.

Eventually Serenity finds its way onto Whitefall after first having a close call with a ship full of Reavers, abominations of nature who will rape you to death, eat your flesh, and sew your skin into their clothing. Anticipating a double cross by the ironically named Patience, Mal has Jayne search for snipers in the surrounding hills of where the deal will go down. Fortunately for Mal, his paranoia pays off when Patience does attempt to keep her money and the cargo. Successfully subduing Patience and her crew, as well as getting paid, Mal, Zoe, and Jayne hurry back to Serenity after news reaches them that the ship of Reavers are headed their way.

Meanwhile, Agent Dobson has broken free and taken River hostage. Simon tries to stop him, but Dobson takes advantage of his inexperience and manages to overtake him. Unfortunately for Agent Dobson, when Mal comes back, he's in no mood to waste time with a hostage situation. He walks in and takes a shot at Agent Dobson who falls down dead*. Mal and Jayne quickly toss the body outside as the ship takes off. Thanks to the skillful piloting of Wash and the bright ingenuity of Kaylee, Serenity and its crew manage to escape the party of Reavers.

At the episode's end, Mal invites Simon to join the crew as a medic so long as he follows orders and keeps his sister under control. Shepherd Book also stays to help however he can.

Discussion:

There's a lot going on in this pilot episode of Firefly. With a runtime that comes in at about an hour and a half, there's a lot of show here to think about.

Firefly is most simply labeled as a Space Western. It's not exactly a new genre. The original Star Wars trilogy dabbled in that area as well. Star Trek, in its own way, was also a member of the genre. Some might even argue that much of the Sci-Fi genre carries with it much of the Western genre, new frontiers where the notions of law and order are mostly nonexistent. Science Fiction played a fairly significant part in the decreasing popularity of the Western. The 1960's was a decade where we were dedicated to sending a man to the moon. We were looking to explore new frontiers. One of my favorite examples of this transition was recreated in the film Toy Story, a movie for which Joss Whedon was a screenwriter. The point I'm trying to make is that Science Fiction isn't so separate from the Western. A lot of the elements people came to expect from the latter were found in the former, so perhaps the notion of a Space Western isn't so far fetched. While the Western was a huge influence on Star Wars, George Lucas also took elements from some of the samurai epics, a subgenre of jedaigeki (where Lucas gets Jedi from), so Star Wars is a little too complex to be deemed a solid Space Western. Both Star Trek and Star Wars spend enough time rooted in fantasy, a genre not inherently essential to the Western.

For me, Firefly strikes the balance perfectly. Not just in style, but in substance as well. Joss Whedon created a new frontier. Star Wars had one Han Solo. Firefly has several. Most any element of the Western genre can be found in his unique vision of the future, except for the snazzy cowboy hats. When we see Serenity jump into hyperspace, we don't hear the eerie sound of a theramin, nor the big brass section John Williams is so comfortable with. There's just the twang of a guitar.

One of my favorite elements in a Joss Whedon show is the characters. Whedon creates these exceptional ensemble shows where each character brings something special to the table. They're well developed enough to feel real even if they're a vampire with a soul, for instance. Firefly is no exception to this. After watching the pilot episode, one can get a real sense of a living breathing makeshift family coming from the crew of Serenity. And as the family finds itself with new members at the episodes end, I can't help but feel an extreme curiosity as to how everything is going to happen. There's the larger plot at stake involving the mystery that is River Tam, but I'm also just as drawn in to the characters and the journeys they are bound to undergo. The pilot episode manages to successfully introduce us to a universe with many more stories to tell.

Take Malcolm Reynolds for instance. There's a definite change between the Malcolm Reynolds we see during the Battle of Serenity and the captain we see six years later. Malcolm Reynolds, the soldier, is more optimistic, and we can clearly see him putting faith in a divine power as he kisses the crucifix around his neck and makes reference to the angels which are coming to save them. Not to mention the line where he notes jokingly that he and another soldier are too pretty for God to let them die. When Mal loses the Battle of Serenity, he actually loses a part of himself. Six years later, Mal is a little more hollow as he holds on to the one thing the Alliance can't take away from him. One of the most interesting elements to look into in all of the Firefly/Serenity 'verse is the development of Malcolm Reynolds with the addition of the new crew he's taken on. Book, Simon, and River all have an impact on Mal which helps him get in touch with the man he used to be.

There are many seeds being planted in this episode. We see the hint of a relationship between Mal and Inara, as well as Kaylee and Simon. There's a hint of some marital problems between Wash and Zoe when we see how upset he is that Zoe seems to respect Mal's opinion more than his. The way River and Simon interact with one another is always touching. Then there's the threat of a possible betrayal by Jayne Cobb, provided the money is good enough. I love the way the crew takes to Kaylee. Even Jayne, the manly man that he his, can't resist checking in on her while they wait to see how she'll do. Each member of Serenity serves a purpose, and I think it's pretty clear that Kaylee is the heart. She also makes eating a strawberry look like the cat's pajamas.

Another signature of a Joss Whedon project is the witty dialogue. "Serenity" certainly has it's share of great moments in comedy. I could spend the rest of this paragraph listing some of my favorite moments, but I'd much rather leave that to you, the reader.

Let me know some of your favorite moments, comedic and not so comedic, in this episode.

That concludes this week's edition of the Summer of Firefly. I'll see you next week when I tackle "The Train Job."

*Agent Dobson may not be completely dead. We'll learn more when we get to Serenity: Those Left Behind.