So I realize I’m over a decade late to the party, but I just finished the series Firely and I absolutely loved it. This was my first time watching a space-related series and it was better than I expected. I’ll admit I was a little lost in the pilot episode as there was no intro on Netflix. Why was there a war? What exactly was going on? Where is Earth? None of that was answered very well in the pilot, BUT I instantly watched the next episode and thankfully the intro explained exactly what I needed to know.
The character development was, in short, amazing. I really felt that I got to know the characters fairly well throughout the course of the season. Initially I thought Mal was kind of a jerk, but then I realized he’s just like a toasted marshmallow – kind of crunchy on the outside, but so soft (and delicious) on the inside. It took me a little while to be sold on Kaylee as well, merely because I’m not used to television characters seeming so sweet and naive so I thought it was just an “act,” until I realized that’s just who she is and I loved it. Not to mention she’s both girlie and can fix an engine, which wins her extra points from me.
It’s hard for me to pick a favorite character, as it seemed to change throughout the show, but Mal, Inara, and Jayne were my top 3. I really fell in lurve with Mal in the episode “Out of Gas” (my absolute favorite of the season) where I could truly see just how much he loved his crew and was willing to die with the ship. I even saw this on the back of a random car the other day when leaving a parking lot and couldn’t help but squeal and take a picture. Mal is just all sorts of awesome and his loyalty makes him extra sexy.
I watched Serenity immediately afterwards and sadly had a hard time loving it as much. I think because the character relationships were very different in some ways, like Simon and Mal, that it was hard for me since I had literally just finished the entire season. Some characters were highly redeemed in my eyes, like River, since I kind of wished she would’ve just stayed hidden in her cabin on the show, whereas others got the shaft in the movie, like Inara – if I hadn’t seen the show I would’ve wondered who she was since we got to know nothing about her. I realize it’s hard to get a lot of character development into the span of 2 hours, and it did answer all of my questions, I just much preferred the show.
I was pleasantly surprised when I found a (the) Firefly game at Barnes & Noble today. I was feeling extra nerdy while I browsed and since I love Firefly so much, I had to buy it. Who would’ve guessed a decade + old show would have such a cult following to have a serious variety of board games (the Yahtzee one where you shake the dice in Serenity – I die over the awesome!!!) as well as it’s own section of stuff.
I’m so glad I started my journey to the world of nerdy with this show. Firefly was like my gateway drug and now I’m ready to start marathoning some more shows (suggestions welcome). Off to play my new board game with the Hubs 🙂 Have a great weekend!
It’s never too late to start loving Firefly! But I agree, the “jump” from Firefly to Serenity was emotionally not satisfying. Some of the in-between stuff is fleshed out in the comics and it helps a little, but there’s still some disconnect between the two.
You actually just blew my mind with a Serenity comic! Obviously I now have to read them to get my fill of all of the Serenity/Firefly goodness possible. I’ve been debating finding some good fanfic as well because I really just need more.