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| "Find a job, keep flying." The fascination that is FIREFLY by Lisa Dugmore |
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| There is little to watch on television these days that has the ability to make me sit up and say “wow!” to make me want to keep coming back to my set week after week to watch, to make me want to trawl the Internet for sites or fanfic. Firefly, however, is an exception to the rule. From the first moment I watched it, purely by accident, I was hooked. Written by Joss Whedon, who in my mind is one of the greatest storytellers of our day, it encompasses everything I want from a television show. He gave me characters that were round, diverse and human, stories that were compelling and by turn humorous and dark, sets that were believable and real and a show where characters took precedence over effects. There are nine main characters to this show, which by any standard is a lot, yet the show never suffers the same way that Star Trek did. All the characters are balanced and time is found to develop them all. By its later seasons Star Trek gave up the ghost and pretty just concentrated on a core crew, with the rest of the cast given the odd line or story and then just left in the background. Joss has so far managed to do justice to all his characters. Set in the future, there has been a war, The Alliance wanted everyone under their rule, The Independents (Browncoats) fought them to the bitter end, but came away the losers. Many planets have been terraformed and forgotten, man has spread out across the galaxy, core planets ruled by the Alliance have all the technology and everything they need, on the outer rim many live a hand to mouth existence with barely enough for shelter and food. Our crew live between these worlds on board the ship Serenity, a Firefly class ship. The Captain of Serenity is Malcolm Reynolds, a Sergeant in the war he was at the Battle for Serenity Valley where they finally are ordered to surrender. He’s a complex man; on the one hand he can be gruff, callous and coarse, on the other he’s deeply caring of his crew, loyal, courageous and generally tries to do the right thing whilst still doing what is needed to survive. His faith in God is gone, lost at Serenity Valley and from all he witnessed in the war, his belief in now in himself and his crew and his wish to keep flying. Played by Nathan Fillion, who many of you will know as Caleb, the Evil Preacher from the final season of Buffy, he brings much to this character. At times his eyes can see so cold and full of pain, yet at other times there is such humour and joy within them, a man whose soul has seen and suffered so much, but with an unbreakable spirit that will not give in. The rest of the crew are made up of Zoe, his second in command who has been with him since their time together in the War. She’s one of those women that Joss writes so very well, strong, independent, able to take care of herself yet without ever losing her femininity or grace. Zoe is played by Gina Torres, again recognisable from her stint as Jasmine in the latter half of the last season of Angel. Jayne, the man with a girls name is the mercenary, the hired gun, whose morals are doubtful and loyalties even more so. A man who can never be wholly trusted and who proves this half way through when he sells two of the crew out to the Alliance, only to have the plan backfire on him and for Mal to find out. The ending of the episode Ariel is one of the truly finest scenes of the show, as Mal confronts Jayne with his betrayal and makes him realise that by betraying any member of his crew he has betrayed him. We finally see a glimpse of a deeper Jayne here, as he realises he doesn’t want the rest of the crew to know what he did, he would rather they thought he had just died than for Mal to tell them of his betrayal. At this point Mal realises there is hope for Jayne and allows him to live, but things are never quite so easy between the two of them again. Kaylee, the engineer, a happy, sunny girl, brilliant with engines who adores Serenity and her Captain in turn. She is the one who can generally bring a smile to his face and the tender side of his nature. He often calls her mei mei , mandarin for sister. Shepherd Book, a most enigmatic man, a wise and learned preacher, who knows much about God and religion, yet with a very diverse knowledge of guns, bombs and the way the Alliance works and a very good shot. He comes aboard Serenity as a passenger and never leaves, he’s a very enigmatic man, many guesses have been made as to his true origins but alas we were never to find out just what parts made up the whole of this man. Simon and River Tam, brother and sister, he a brilliant young doctor, she a genius, hidden away in an Alliance Academy that he gave up all to rescue her from. On the run from the Alliance they come aboard as passengers and after finding out what happened to her they are given shelter by Mal, Simon’s use as a Doctor is something they need on board and Mal is more than happy to prevent River getting back into Alliance hands where some very dubious people had been doing experiments on her, cutting open her brain. We never find out why they do this, but River has some extraordinary abilities, she is able to see and hear things, which for the most come out as babbling that no one can follow. Clearly disturbed she does over time settle onto Serenity, but no one is ever sure of her and Simon is determined to one day find the cure that will allow her to live a normal life. Inara Serra, a registered companion, or to quote Mal, a whore, she rents a shuttle from him which she runs her business from. There is an uneasy relationship between the two of them, ironically it is her business that gives them some respectability, registered companions are well thought of by the Alliance and a few times it is her influence that helps them out, yet there is chemistry between the two of them that neither is able to deal with. Usually it ends up in arguments and fights, she calling him a petty thief and he calling her a whore, yet underneath there is some definite UST between them, hidden behind their attitudes to one another. The pilot is Wash, a wonderful character who brings a smile to your face. He’s way different to Mal, where Mal is dark Wash is light, he laughs, he jokes, he wears dreadful Hawaiian shirts and plays mock battles with his toy dinosaurs on the console of the flight deck. He also happens to be married to Zoe. I’m not sure I can ever recall another show having two of its main characters married to one another, and without ever detracting from their individuality. Mal, Zoe and Wash have a fascinating relationship between the three of them, Mal never very easy with the fact that Zoe married Wash, Zoe doing her best to keep her relationship with the two most important men in her life even and Wash whilst knowing that Zoe loves him struggling to come to terms with her past with Mal that he was no part of. In the latter episode War Stories this comes dramatically to the surface, where all the insecurities are brought to the fore. For me the greatest aspect of this show is the characters and their relationships, the tangle of Mal, Zoe and Wash, the depths to Jayne who on the face of it is just a mercenary with a gun, yet on the one hand is able to betray fellow crew members and on the other express so much delight in receiving a knitted hat from his mother. Kaylee, the brilliant engineer who sees so much happiness in everything, yet hides some very deep insecurities over her ability to protect herself and the others, whist having a very sweet crush on Simon. Inara, the companion, who stays with the ship and Mal despite his comments and harsh words. Simon, the brilliant doctor, so skilled as a surgeon and so inept with other people, Book the very enigmatic shepherd with many hidden depths and talents, River, crazy, temperamental, dangerous, yet so very perceptive. All these characters are bound together by their need for one another and a home, which for now they all find aboard Serenity. Mal’s credo is “Find a job, keep flying” and it’s one that fits them all perfectly. Firefly has an unusual feel to it, part sci fi, part western and part Chinese, with many lapses into Mandarin (a very inventive way by Joss to have them swearing and yet avoiding the censor <g>). It’s definitely not run of the mill and to my mind is one of the best shows to be written in many years. Sadly Fox cancelled it, after showing episodes out of order (the pilot was about 11th!) and not promoting it, but fortunately thanks to the belief of the crew, the actors and the fans Joss has written a feature film which has just been picked up by Universal and will go into production early 2004. I, for one, cannot wait to see it. |
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