|
|
Finding Firefly - Part One |
By Joe Utichi. |
As part of our celebration of Serenity - we bring you our guide to the show that started it all, Firefly, with an exclusive episode guide. For now, Part One - in which we take a look at the first episodes, Serenity (the two-part pilot), The Train Job, Bushwhacked and Shindig.
Important note: The verdicts on this page relate only to Firefly, so a two-star review means we think the episode is worth it agaist the rest of Firefly only. |
| |
Serenity |
|
 |
|
THE PLOT:
Meet the crew of Firefly-class ship, Serenity. Their captain, Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), is an amiable sort of fella. But the cargo they're carrying is marked and the crew rush to offload it, completely oblivious to the fact that one of thier passengers is carrying marked cargo of his own.
THE REVIEW:
You'd be forgiven for thinking this should have been the first episode if you watched them all in the order they were aired. The first clue, it's in two parts. The second, it seems to precede the events of most of the rest of the series. The third, it was filmed as the first episode (Not really a clue, but doesn't Nathan Fillion look just a little younger?). The DVD puts this episode where it should be, where Whedon wanted it inspite of Fox's objections, and so does our episode guide. It's a fine piece of television, setting up Firefly better than any other and providing everything you'd want from a good TV pilot - action, intrigue and a sense that you're picking up on things as it unfolds. It's also all Firefly in its themes, there's a bit of the Wild West charm of the series but it's just as plentiful on the sci-fi. The pre-credit sequence is one of the finest in television history, we join Mal and Zoe (Gina Torres)during the war, at the crucial battle that silenced the independents, and we see the moment of realisation on Mal's face as the message all-is-lost hits his face.
|
 |
|
BEST LINE:
Serenity has come upon a Reaver ship and, in Whedonesque fashion, we're given a no-holds-barred explanation as Simon (Sean Maher) quizzes Zoe.
Simon: I don't understand...
Zoe: You never heard of Reavers?
Simon: Campfire stories... Men gone savage on the edge of space... Killing--
Zoe: They're not stories.
Simon: What happens if they board us?
Zoe: If they take the ship, they'll rape us to death, eat our flesh and sew our skins into their clothing. And if we're very, very lucky, they'll do it in that order. |
|
|
Our Verdict:  |
|
|
The Train Job |
|
 |
|
THE PLOT:
Mal’s ethics are tested when he discovers that an Alliance train the crew of Serenity have been hired to hijack is transporting much-needed medical supplies to a mining town. Unfortunately, pulling out isn't an option...
THE REVIEW:
Originally aired as the first episode, after Fox decided they’d be holding the excellent Serenity until later in the run, The Train Job somewhat pales in comparison. It’s still an outstanding episode of television but it just isn’t captivating enough to hold those first-night audiences. Mal’s ethical dilemma here, though, is what really sets the tone for Firefly; if some of the crew aren’t on the run from the law they’ve broken their share of it all the same, but they’re fugitives with conscience and the clash of those two characteristics is always explosive.
|
 |
|
BEST LINE:
Dodgy European-accented Niska is showing Mal what he'll do if he crosses him. A man hangs suspended upside down in some kind of torture device.
Niska: Oooh... You do not like I kill this man?
Mal: No, I'm sure he was a... very bad person...
Niska: My wife's nephew. At dinner I am getting earful. But there is no way out of that... |
|
|
Our Verdict:  |
|
|
Bushwhacked |
|
 |
|
THE PLOT:
The crew of Serenity happen upon a seemingly-deserted cargo ship and its murdered inhabitants. The culprits? Reavers - folk who happened to the edge of space, could go no further and got a little crazy and, you know, psychopathic.
THE REVIEW:
Bushwhacked is possibly one of the most uneasy episodes of Firefly as far as pacing is concerned. Its first half sits oddly with its second; the crew of Serenity loot an abandoned cargo ship, decimated in a Reaver attack, and then all of a sudden an Alliance ship finds them and starts interrogating them for the whereabouts of Simon and River (Summer Glau). Oddly, though, it's also one of the most effective, intermingling several different genres - with some of the best set pieces in the whole series. An example; as Alliance crews storm the mess the camera pans back out of the window to reveal Simon and River hiding, in environmental suits, on te ship's hull and further back to reveal Serenity dwarfed by the behemoth that is the Alliance Cruiser. When we cut back to Simon, he's tense, but he looks over at River who's looking out in awe, a massive grin on her face, at the field of stars she's seeing. Inspired.
|
 |
|
BEST LINE:
Zoe's being interrogated by the Alliance
Commander: You fought with Captain Reynolds in the war?
Zoe: Fought with a lot of people in the war.
Commander: And your husband?
Zoe: Fight with him sometimes, too. |
|
|
Our Verdict:  |
|
|
Shindig |
|
 |
|
THE PLOT:
When the crew land on Persephone for the first time in months, Badger offers Mal a job, acting as a go-between for a transport deal with a rich Lord who refuses to do business with him. When Mal defends Inara's (Morena Baccarin) honour at a lavish party, with his fists as only he can, he finds himself the challenger to duel. With swords.
THE REVIEW:
Shindig is perhaps one of the funnier episodes and it delves into the curious relationship Mal has with Inara, but it's also one of the least interesting in Firefly's run. An old-fashioned duel could only happen in sci-fi in Firefly, but it's all a lot of effort to go to for very little reward. By the episode's end, of course, Mal and the crew have completed their task but the in-between is rather unneccesary. Still, Kaylee (Jewel Staite) proves she can scrub up well and River puts on a cockney accent to fool Badger, so all is not lost.
|
 |
|
BEST LINE:
Mal's ready for business, tracking down the Lord they're to do business with at a lavish party. He's brought Kaylee.
Mal: Help me look.
Kaylee: Is that him?
She points across the room.
Mal: No, that's the buffet table.
Kaylee: But how can we be sure... Unless we question it?
Mal rolls his eyes.
Mal: Fine, don't make yourself sick... |
|
|
Our Verdict:  |
|
|
 |
Elsewhere... |
 |
|
|
| Our essential episode guide continues. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| We conclude our guide to Firefly. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
