Shiny. (Firefly - The Complete Series (DVD))

Member Name: xxsaxonyxx

Product:	Firefly - The Complete Series (DVD)
Date:	27/03/06 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting and fun, a great show!

Disadvantages: Only one season.

This week I completed the finial leg of the cult series Firefly by watching the film that followed the cancelled show. For the life of me I cannot understand why this series was cancelled, it is by far one of the best series I have watched.

THE CHARACTERS - summed up in three phrases.

Captain Mal Reynolds - sarcastic, fist-happy, bad-tempered
Zoe - tough, sharp, solid.
Wash - innocent, even-tempered, apprehensive.
Jayne - unpredictable, slow to catch on, loves guns.
Kaylee - ditty, sweet, kind.
Simon - well dressed, smart, dedicated.
River - strange, unpredictable, mysterious.
Shepard - well spoken, dutiful, caring.
Inara - beautiful, spiritual, calm.

SETTING

This series is set in space, Earth as we know it became to over run and soon people had to find new places of settlement. They found a knew solar system, one with plenty of planets and moons and after decades of making these planets capable of sustaining life they moved in. It is between these planets in the pockets of space that we find a Firefly ship by the name of Serenity.

PLOT

Mal is a petty thieve, smuggler, he is whatever he can be as long as it earns him some money and keeps his ship in the air. The series takes us on a journey that uncovers many things, one of which is River. I feel that the whole series is very loosely revolving around this strange girl.
Among the characters is Simon, Rivers brother who has saved his sister from something, even he isn’t sure what has been done to her. Simon knows the answer lies in River’s brain and with the Alliance and makes it his quest to find out what they have done to River that has turned her into a ‘weapon’. His plans and Mal’s clash often and the two always seem to be on edge with each other, it is the job of Kaylee to keep the peace and try her hardest to stop either Mal throwing River and Simon ‘off his boat’ or persuade the siblings from walking out by themselves. She has a soft spot for Simon and spends the whole series trying to get it on with him.
We also see a few problems from Jayne, he’s just itching to make Captain on the ship and on some occasions pulls a few bad moves that leaves Simon and River in a very tricky situation. Despite this I couldn’t help but like Jayne’s character, he’s a brute who has plenty of guns but not many brain cells, he adds some great humour to the series.

They have a ton of adventures, many of which are more than they bargained for, here are some of my favourites:

Our Mrs Reynolds

Mal gets a little bit too drunk and finds that not only will he end up with a hangover but also a wife. Shocked and bemused by the whole affair he finds out that his wife seems the perfect woman. The rest of the crew find it a hoot apart from Inara who despite all their bickering is quite obviously jealous. Saffron makes it her way to look after her husband but like everything in Mal’s life, its not always that simple.

Jaynestown.

Arriving at a planet that Jayne had occupied previously the crew finds a mud statue of their crew member standing in the village. Jayne leads them to believe that it is a warning. He has to keep his head down to stop from being recognised. They want him found but for what, what could Jayne possibly have done that lead to a statue being constructed. Is it so everyone’s knows his face enough to recognise the villain should he return or could it be something else?

Out Of Gas

This is a great episode that during Mal’s final moments before he thinks he is going to die he thinks back about how he found his ship Serenity and how he picked its crew. it’s a great insight to how everyone got where they are now, how friendships formed and where everybody came from. It also shows us Mal’s true loyalty to his crew and how is willing to die for them.


OVERALL

During all these episodes the ever restless questions about River’s depleting mental state are ever present. Unfortunately the questions are never answered in full. After the first season the show was cancelled. It was a shame to say the least. I couldn’t fault it at all. The characters were great, the special effects were better than most sci-fi hit and the story lines were quirky, funny and smart, unfortunately the network didn’t have a slot for Firefly and it never returned as a series.

That wasn’t the end of the story, Joss Whedon did not give up on his baby and neither did the huge following of fans. A movie was created and one that I felt really finishes off the season. If you watch this series then you simply MUST watch the film Serenity, it sums up everything that goes on in the season and gives us all the answers we need to feel happy about not having any more seasons.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Well worth watching if you want to know the ins and outs of what goes on with the show. The gag real is hysterical, if you only watch one of the special features make sure its that! They also contains commentary, behind the scenes futurities , deleted scenes and auditions tapes.

STATS

14 episodes over 4 disks.

625 minutes

12 rating

Hope you enjoy it!!!!

Summary: The best sci-fi series yet.