Firefly - The Complete Series Reviews

• A Tragic Loss to the Television Landscape

  
  By A3796E1UZP37A2 on 2004-01-20
  Let me preface this by saying that I rarely watch television anymore. The worst book ever published is a thousand times better than the best tv show left on the air... With the possible exception of Joan of Arcadia. Even that's not enough of a draw to keep me home on a Friday night though. And reality tv... Pheh...

  But Firefly...

  There was a time when Friday nights were reserved for tv time. Picture me, on the floor in front of the tv, begging my kids to play somewhere else... Plleeeeeeaase! It's only on once a week! And then the theme song begins... It's got a bit of a twang... fiddles... And then the words, the spirit. You instantly know what the show's going to be about. It's the American Dream. No... Not the new one about living like Trump in a palace seemingly miles above Manhattan... The real American Dream The one that brought our ancestors. It's about living free, room to stretch out and breathe, self reliance, and self determination. Would a simple television show dare to reach so far?

  Firefly dared that and more, bringing the dream to the very stars. Along for the ride are some of the most complex and original characters ever seen in cookie-cutter-land. Then Fox, in true ratings-dazed fashion, lassoed the dream and pulled it down.

  If you've ever dreamed of open-spaces, open-minds, and a life lived not without danger but without fear, you must own this collection. You must.
  
  

• You can't take the skies from me

  
  By on 2003-10-17
  Firefly was a show that came on the heels of Fox's usual brilliant decision-making--right after it cancelled my beloved Dark Angel. I first thought this show would be awful, but I sat down and watched it--and it was love. Truly. It's rare to find a show that can be taken seriously that also made me laugh out loud in every episode. The writing was extraordinary, and the actors/actresses were absolute gold. It was really like watching a movie each time around. Yet again, Fox shot itself in the foot and iced another good show. Nonetheless, at least the DVD is soon to come. At least they had the decency to do that. Come on, sing it with me: "Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot stand. But I don't care--I'm still free. You can't take the skies from me..."
  
  

• Best I've ever seen

  
  By ALYYRFUO0G6W9 on 2004-03-21
  I'd never heard of this show until I noticed the customer reviews while browsing through Amazon.com ... The response was so overwhelming that I HAD to check it out. It is without a doubt the best series I've ever seen. I was completely absorbed by the stories and characters, and watched the entire series in one sitting - I just couldn't stop. I hope another station picks up on this great show and carries it forward!! (and I can hardly wait to see the movie!!!)
  
  

• This show deserved so much better...

  
  By A2WGDD593HWXF5 on 2003-10-17
  Buy the DVD; you won't be sorry.
  One of the best things on TV recently, Firefly deserved better than the shabby treatment it got from FOX. While it is a SciFi show, like all great SciFi, it transcended the genre. Tight writing, solid acting, and beautiful camerawork made this show a standout. Flawed human characters thrown together in extreme situations made it a show that could have become a classic.
  I'm still bitter over FOX's poor treatment and rapid cancellation of this show. It's no wonder that TV is a wasteland with dumb decisions like this one.
  Now, let's get that feature movie deal going...
  
  

• 9 faces looking into the black, seeing 9 different things

  
  By A1UIFX5O8PTNZJ on 2003-07-23
  I despise television. I even gave it up last year, and now only see a few shows a friend and I watch together. "The West Wing". "24". "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

  Until last fall. Then I saw "Firefly", named somewhat whimsically about a cargo ship whose end lights up when it accelerates. But this is no flashy futuristic show about technical wonders, but rather a very nitty-gritty character study of nine very individual people.

  Joss Whedon, who created "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel", had an idea for a science fiction show unique to that "Southern California born/spent time in Britain as a teenager" background of his: He read a book about the ground level grunts of the American Civil War called "The Rebel Angels" and wanted to do a TV series about the people who didn't make the history books: the people history stepped on. He wanted to do a story set in a future about a ship and where it went. Not a vast engine of war or a great vessel of exploration and diplomacy, but an old tramp steamer of a ship, so small it didn't even have a mounted gun, that made its way through thick and thin by taking any job, anywhere, no questions asked.

  The nine people on board the Firefly-class ship "Serenity" aren't rich, famous, particularly smart or particularly gifted, for the most part. They all have pasts, and not all of them are comfortable about talking about themselves. They live in the aftermath of a major war that lead to the forceable unification of all of humanity, and not all of them were on the same side. The ship's name, "Serenity" is that of the climactic battle of that war, and they find themselves still trapped psychologically in a war that ended six years before. They have doubts, fears, old pains and new concerns, like where their next job is coming from and whether they'll live through it, because the few people that can hire them and will hire them have scant concern for ethics, the law or good manners. Sometimes your employer is more dangerous to you than the law you're trying to avoid.

  And this is a show about the outskirts: there are laser guns, hoverships and advanced technology, but few can afford them. Big Dumb Bullets are still cheaper than Flashy Powered Blasters, and on the frontier reliability is more important than fashion, particularly when the other fellow has a habit of firing first. A horse will do you better than a powersled if you have lots of grasslands but no repair facilities or money to pay. A man dressed like a cowboy may have artificial organs and a revolver, or own a space station and need to pick up advanced medicines or even transfer a herd of cows. "Serenity" flies between the Core worlds of advanced technology and the newly terraformed Rim worlds, where people are grateful to have a wooden roof overhead.

  It is this peculiar mix of the old and new that fascinates those looking for the unexpected: the comically serious and the deadly comical. Any given episode will shift you from adventure to terror, farce to drama, slapstick to deep thought and a sense of "boy, I didn't see THAT coming" without a sense that no-one is at the wheel, or that the screenwriter is merely playing with your expectations. More importantly, there are no "cheats": every action more deeply reveals the characters and who they are becoming. Unlike the broadcasts, this DVD shows the episodes, including three new ones, in their intended order.

  "Firefly" is seldom what it first appears to be, either in terms of appearance or behaviour. No plot works out as expected, and people can surprise you. Joss Whedon indicated that "Buffy" was about growing up, "Angel" is about getting to work and "Firefly" is about being grown up and the choices you have to make as an adult. It's not like any other show you've seen: a story of the nine people who find themselves on board a ship, looking into the black of space, and seeing nine different things looking back at them.

  Even if you've seen all the first season episodes broadcast on FOX and are waiting for the forthcoming 2005 Universal motion picture, this DVD has all episodes to date, including the three not previously broadcast in the U.S., and such extras as cast and creator commentaries, a blooper reel to equal any other show in history and a few other easter eggs here and there.

  Like such great television shows as "Hill Street Blues", "Babylon 5", "Homicide: Life on the Streets" or "The Supranos", this will introduce you to people and places that will enrich you and your concept of the world. I still hate television. I'm buying this DVD.
  
  

• Firefly keeps flying...
  By A2M8ZYBW57OQTP on 2003-07-22
  This short-lived but well written television series comes to DVD just months after being cancelled by the shortsighted FOX network. If FOX had not bungled the marketing campaign for this show so terribly, many more people might have come to the conclusion that this was the best show on television for a while there. Only a half-season was made, including a second pilot episode (FOX didn't like the first, despite the fact that it was excellent), but there isn't a bad episode in the bunch, including the three unaired episodes (not to mention the gag reel) that have found popularity on the internet. The show garnered an Emmy nom for Outstanding Visual Effects. Word has it that a feature film may be in the works, so there may be life for Firefly after network television. As for the details regarding this yet unreleased DVD set, here's the skinny from series creator Joss Whedon:

  Oh my god. They couldn't be specialer. We've got three unaired episodes, commentary by every cast member, big interviews with everybody, gag reel � all kinds of stuff. It's just bells and whistles, and they'll be in the right order. And widescreen. So it really couldn't be better DVD package... a wicked one, at that. They really went to town on it. I was like, "I don't know if they'll release them on DVD, because it was cancelled," and they're not only releasing it, they're doing everything. I did the commentary on the two-hour pilot with Nathan. He and Alan did one together... Alan Tudyk. It's really exciting.
  Shiny!
  
  

• Even baby-boomers will enjoy this gem
  By A3LIC37WHCKA6C on 2004-01-14
  As a baby-boomer, I was taken aback at how wonderfully enjoyable this DVD set was. I did not watch it when it was on television, but discovered it by watching the set I bought for my daughter as something for the entire family to enjoy. I am not a fan of science fiction so I was not expecting to like the show, and was pleasantly surprised. It reminded my of the early `Star Trek' with a mixture of 'Mavrick' and 'Support Your Local Sheriff'. The tongue in cheek humor was especially enjoyable and I expected it would be the new genre in Science Fiction television. It was bitter sweet to learn that there would be no future episodes to watch. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for substantive entertainment, even if you are not a fan of Sci-fi, or Westerns, the seamless miscellany of the two take a back seat to inspired writing and salient character development.
  
  
• Firefly was the best thing Fox never knew it had
  By on 2003-07-23
  Fox has had its share of failed shows in the past years. This is to say nothing of their chronic ability to underadvertise and pre-empt their best programming in lieu of sporting events and mindless programming.

  How Joss Whedon's Firefly managed to get a prime-time Friday night slot on Fox is beyond me. It was smartly written, well directed, extremely well cast and for its short-run had enough sub plots to keep you watching week after week. Firefly is, hands down, one of the best shows that Fox has ever aired. Why they relentlessly under-promoted this well-viewed show may never be known.

  It is my sincere hope that now that Buffy is gone, Whedon manages to find another network that will pick up Firefly. It is too good to die.
  
  

• Converts galore!
  By A3RKCR4SA1WA9T on 2004-01-01
  I was an avid Firefly fan (I already posted one review). So when I received my DVD set for Christmas I was thrilled. I have been watching it since Christmas - after watching all the episodes I am now going back thru watching the episodes with commentaries!
  But the exciting part is this. My husband has no use for series television. Unless it's on the History Channel, Discovery or Science Channel he's not interested. So when I pressed him to please watch Firefly with me, he reluctantly agreed.

  NOW, he's as big a fan as I am! He walks around the house spewing lines from the shows (Gorramit) and pretending to speak Chinese! :-) My college student daughter does the same! I have converted them all!! My husbands exact reaction was "I'm impressed" - if you knew him, you'd know what it takes to get that kind of response.
  I just can't say enough about this show, the cast, the stories, the music, the special effects and visual style. It's just the most incredible viewing ever.
  If you don't buy any other DVD set this year - grab this one. You'll never, ever regret it!
  
  

• A Balanced Review
  By A1FH79YMHTZ2IK on 2005-05-14
  For all those regular joes out there who can't possibly believe it's THAT good...It's not. But it IS good.
  
  I'll try my best to give a fair, balanced, honest, review.
  
  I did watch it's first run, missing a few episodes, here and there. I remember thinking it was only just okay, with potential to be better...Until I saw Objects in Space. With that episode I was convinced that this was something unique. In the end, I gave up watching because of the erratic program schedule.
  
  I ultimately saw the DVD this year, after seeing so many fansites still up and the news that this (Say what?!) is being made into a feature film...To be released in, no not TV, not direct to video, but in MOVIE THEATERS.
  
  First of all, if you dislike westerns, sci-fi, and quippy dialogue, stay FAR, FAR, away from this.
  
  For all of those who have never seen Firefly, and especially in light of recent Serenity screenings, you must ask yourself, "What is it about this show that garners such an eusthusiastic cult audience? What is the deal here?"
  
  #1 It's the thoroughness with which the characters were written. There are many main characters, nine in all, and they are all completely rendered. There are no flat, clichéd, "types" here.
  
  One can tell, that had the series survived, these characters would have evolved and/or devolved in spectacularly interesting ways.
  
  #2 It's the thoroughness and uniqueness with which the world was concieved. There are details that make the series feel tangible, plausible, dirty even...Like good speculative fiction.
  
  No sound in space...
  No aliens...
  No "lasers" on the ship...
  A shot of Mal's tiny stainless steel toilet...Yes, a toilet was actually shown on primetime television.
  
  Fully-rendered worlds ALWAYS garner cult followings. Potter, Star Wars, and most famously, Star Trek are prime examples.
  
  The ship itself (the most important character on the show, hence the title) is small and submarine-like. This feels more plausible than deck afer deck of sleek corridors.
  
  The pristine, sterile, expansiveness of most other sci-fi series is not to be found with the heroes here.
  
  #3 Nobody's perfect. Everyone's got something going on. There's not one episode, where the characters are "in the white"...They are always grey, sometimes dark grey.
  
  #4 The audience is trusted to have the attention span and patience to watch a multi-episode, multi-season character arc...Now, this could be a good thing or a bad thing for you.
  
  If Lost has already lost you, you may not want to see this. For me, however, I find it refreshing when writers trust their audience with pacing that's not for ten year-olds with a sugar-high.
  
  #5 For a TV series, the tone and action in most episodes is bleaker than average. It also explored some experimental non-linear directions...Objects in Space, Out of Gas, and War Stories, in particular, come to mind.
  
  Now, here are the aspects I think could more than likely turn off the casual viewer...
  
  #1 The eccentric dialogue a.k.a. western speak, country-western influenced music, and Chinese curses may be not be "shiny" (great), for everyone...
  
  #2 For the Star Wars-heads, Captain Mal Reynolds, the main hero, is quite similar to Han Solo...Or maybe that's a plus?
  
  #3 It's set in a future where eastern influences can be felt everywhere and yet... Full-blooded Asians are simply used as rare, background flourishes here and there.
  
  This is dissappointing and offensive for many Asians, whose Hollywood visibility, outside of Kung-Fu flicks, isn't exactly high to begin with...And here, the justifiable chance to use them in what could have been the first fully dimensional way on TV was squandered. And on Asian-infuenced show, no less.
  
  It must be mentioned, however, that many of the main actors are of mixed ethnicities...
  
  #4 With so many characters, there are bound to be a few who don't click for you...I like Mal (a cool M.F.), Kaylee (sweet and lovable, without inducing sugar-shock), and Jayne (funny without trying too hard to be). The actors portraying them do a particularly wonderful job.
  
  I don't really care for Simon (too lame/boring), River (too crazy), or Wash (too quippy).
  
  #5 And finally, the "sci-fi western" genre is not new. There have been quite a few other shows that have tread a similar path like Wild Wild West, Galaxy Rangers, Cowboy BeeBop, Brisco County Jr., and yes, even Star Trek...But then again, hospital shows aren't new either and there seem to be quite a few successful ones on TV.
  
  In other words, if you're looking for something COMPLETELY different, you won't find it here.
  
  I just want to reiterate that this isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread. It's simply an above average, high-quality, well-written, show that was cancelled before it got a fair chance.
  
  The episodes were aired on a Friday, out-of-order, with episodes pre-empted for weeks...
  
  I think Lost, for example, depending on where it's going, is a better show...And it's home network did a FAR BETTER job of promoting and nuturing it...Fox execs, do you see what happens when you actually believe in a good show?? Yup...
  
  I don't guarantee you'll like Firefly. I know a few folks who don't particularly care for it. But just rent this thing or borrow a friend's set and give it a try. It's worth a look.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Good, The Bad and The Stupid
  By A1LW4C970XNE56 on 2003-08-04
  The Good is Firefly. As other reviews have mentioned, it is possibly the best written show that was ever on TV. A Space Opera Western that simple cannot be compared to another show, including Joss Whendon's Buffy and Angel. That is unless you compare it's outstanding quality and originality.

  The Bad is that we may never know what happened. Both the characters and the storylines are so intriguing that you just have to know more. How did Zoe and Wash fall in love? What are River's powers? The guys with the blue hands? What's the Rev's story?

  The Stupid would be Fox. [People]. What more can be said except surely such short-sightedness will eventually bite them in the... My goodness, the pre-order of the series sold out in days. The show is still making fans thanks to downloads and tape sharing. Yep, [people].

  So buy, watch, laugh, cry, enjoy, and keep hoping for more.
  
  

• Groundbreaking
  By A1SPZ50ZL9QKSO on 2003-09-10
  This show is groundbreaking in its conception for three reasons:

  1. The combination of genres was surprisingly effective. Honestly, I cringed the first time I heard about the then soon-to-premeier "science fiction western." But I watched it anyway, and it worked.

  2. The inclusion of a main character who is a prostitute is adventurous. But even more, this is a society in which prostitutes are held in the highest esteem and treated like honored dignitaries. That's daring and thought provoking.

  3. Most impressive (to me) was the fact that the show mixed Mandarin Chinese words and phrases in with the dialogue, smoothly, and without subtitled translation. The Mandarin was always included in such a way that you could figure out what the essential meaning was from the context (a guy walks up to a bar, says something in Mandarin, and then gets handed a drink, for example).

  Mandarin provided a unique flavor to the show and a bit of socio-political background: clearly, in this future, Chinese culture has remained powerful, so much so that the language pervades the society and is spoken by pretty much everyone. Chinese culture, too, keeps subtly appearing. The prostitute does Chinese caligraphy in her spare time.

  Too bad the show didn't last long enough for us to uncover much of the backstory of this future vision. It was certainly an intriguing one.
  
  

• Wow
  By A15SH88X0BWTQN on 2004-02-08
  This is probably the best science fiction series ever produced even though there are only 14 Episodes.

  I have bought one copy of the DVD for myself and another for my Dad and we have both been blown away. Its such a weird mixs having both elements of western and science fiction, but some how it just works. The dialogue is funny, and fun without becoming tacky or cringe worthy.

  If you feel let down by the volume of rubbish that studios produce these days... buy this and remind yourself what it is like to enjoy something special.
  
  

• Like no other show on television
  By A1NXGK1L6P2D4D on 2003-07-23
  Not since M*A*S*H have I seen a show so perfectly blend drama and humor. The quality of this show is at a level normally only seen in movies, and the fact that the writers, directors, producers and actors were capable of producing this week after week says much about their abilities. Sadly, FOX destroyed any chance of the show's success with misleading advertising, bad scheduling and by rejecting a wonderful two-hour pilot episode, forcing the creators, Joss Whedon & Tim Minear, to come up with a mediocre one-hour pilot that was rushed, introduced the characters very poorly and clumsily, and proved to be by far the worst episode of the series. (still better than most television though) Thankfully, Whedon loves this project, and it looks like Firefly may well be making the jump to movies faster than any show in the history of television.

  Simply put, Firefly is the best television show I have ever seen.
  
  

• Excellent series with something for everyone
  By A3GQCU5UUW162 on 2004-04-13
  I was not familiar with Buffy or Angel when I first saw this show, and I was initially a little skeptical of its combined Western and Sci-fi elements. After seeing a couple of episodes out of order, I was interested but it wasn't until I watched the pilot, "Serenity," and then started viewing the rest of the series in order that I realized what a terrific show this is! The dialogue is extremely witty, and it is very quotable and memorable. The characters are three-dimensional, and this certainly isn't a simple "good guy vs. bad guy" show. It is great entertainment, but it's interesting that people with very different political, religious, and general world views all seem to find something in this series that reflects their viewpoints. It stimulates intelligent thought and conversation, which is not something that can be said about a lot of TV shows. In short, it's funny, smart, interesting, and a definite 5+ star DVD. Start enjoying the Firefly 'verse today (there is even a movie forthcoming!).
  
  
• I can't believe there is so little of it.
  By A2AR0DF135Q5ZY on 2005-12-14
  I liked Star Trek. But Star Trek was a sterile proto-socialist fantasy, without a comprehensible culture beyond starfleet itself.
  
  I like Star Wars better, but despite the detailed world building it remained a fairly predictable space opera.
  
  Firefly (and the Serenity movie) are the best damn science fiction I have ever watched on a screen. I can't believe that there is no more of this to watch. I will not believe it. I am going to think really, really desperate and evil thoughts until someone gives me another fix.
  
  OK, so I hate reviews that just say something was good and the network is evil for having cancelled it, no matter how true that is. A person reads a review not to determine whether someone they have never heard of likes something, but, hopefully, whether they might like it. So here is my pathetic attempt to describe greatness. Why I loved Firefly
  
  1. Detailed world building. I can easily see how the worlds of humankind shown in this series evolved from the world of today. Any projection into the future is hazardous, but at least this series makes a reasoned attempt at such a projection. I see bits and pieces of the world we know, taken apart and reassembled on another stage, as, indeed, they will have been after the passage of 500 years. Whether it is the Chinese characters in the shop windows, the opulent, almost Raj-like feel of the Tam estate and the clothes worn there, the eclectic, practical, almost wild west garb of the outer worlds, or the oriental but not quite specific derivation of Inara's quarters, I can tell that someone spent a lot of time and energy trying to trace out the lines of this future society. Which leads me to
  
  2. The emphasis on the everyday and practical. There aren't any aliens cluttering up the landscape. What's more, industrial zones look like there is active industry, rural areas have real farmers and miners. Laser weapons exist, but there is a realization that putting a high speed piece of lead through a person is likely to be just as fatal (if not more so) than burning them with a laser. (And I loved the "check battery" indicator on the laser pistol, too.) We also get to see what sort of goods a future smuggler smuggles, and its not always "spice" or precious metals. Firefly deals with medical supplies, concentrated food bars, engine parts, ceramics, seed, even a herd of cows for goodness' sakes. Anything real people might want to get that they may not have. They even talk about buying clay of high quality (though this is a cover) Which leads me to
  
  3. A view of the future from street level. There are few worldshaking events in Firefly, and what there are are seen from the viewpoint of ordinary people, hustlers, dirt farmers, "mudders", mechanics (and, yes, prostitutes, but preachers, too). This show is not about ambassadors, jedi knights, queens, admirals or generals. I think it's significant that Mal was a sergeant in the Independent army, not even an officer much less a field commander. Which leads me to
  
  4. Nine very unforgettable and well formed characters. None of them are particularly extraordinary people (ok, River is, but that's the exception that proves the rule. The series ended when we were just getting a glimpse of how extraordinary she is. The movie tells us a lot more. She is, however, still a "little person") All of them are complicated, all of them are compelling, and all of them could make a suitable paper about character development in a college English class. Sometimes I might think I like Kaylee best; her wide-eyed upbeat attitude, her poor white trash background (being as how that's what I am), her crush on Simon, or the bigger crush she has on engines. I think of her lying wounded crooning "there's my good girl" to the ship. Other times I can't help but like not-quite dumb as a post tough-guy Jayne, who always seems to want to kill somebody (and tries selling out fellow crew members once) but who wears the stupid hat his mother made him and agonizes over the young man who dies for him in "Jaynestown." Actually, I love them all, but I don't have room for more examples. (My daughter, the English major, doesn't care for Inara and Simon. I think she's wrong. The show would be different without them.) All of which leads me to
  
  5. Real people dealing with real moral dilemmas. Mal likes to think of himself as a hardbitten criminal. Problem is, that in the course of the show he is constantly turning down jobs, backing out of them, protecting people with no hope of return, and doing other insipidly noble things. He drives Jayne to distraction, but Jayne is not immune to this malady either. None of them are. Shepherd Book may comment that he seems to have gotten on the wrong ship, and Kaylee may lightly reply to Simon's question about what they are doing with "Crime." but these are basically good people. The epitome of this, of course, is the fact that Serenity takes in Simon and River, despite the trouble this is bound to cause them. On the other hand, evil in the world of Firefly is both less obvious and more real. (Clue: The Alliance is evil). However, there is no leader in black robes with a maniacal laugh shouting out that here lies evil. In point of fact, perfectly good people might and do honestly see the Alliance as a force for good, as exemplified by Inara's statement that she supported unification. No, rather than being told that evil is here, we are shown it. The epitome of this is what was being done to River, but there is much more. "We meddle," says River in the movie. Darn right they do.
  
  6. Contravention of stereotypes. I always thought that if a villain told me he was going to hunt me down and kill me, that, rather than walk nobly away, I would shoot him in the head. Mal does me one better. He kicks the guy into a spinning turbine. Another example: when Mal demands of a recalcitrant crew "Do you want to run this ship?", Jayne replies "Yes!", and all the flustered hero can think of to say is "Well, you can't." Not to mention other cool and different things enumerated above incidently, like the continued use of slug-throwing weaponry (and even non-laser swords and knives).
  
  7. I can't enumerate all the really funny parts. Just one example is when Jayne wants to trade Mal his favorite gun for the woman Mal supposedly married while drunk. "She has a name," says Mal, and Jayne replies, "So does this! Vera . . ." (Vera sees action in at least two episodes. She is indeed a fine gun.)
  
  The one thing I can't get my mind around is that this series is Joss Whedon's work. I am something less than a fan of his other work. I can't imagine in what corner of his brain he was hiding it; I just want to thank him for it. I can't believe I missed the series when it was on tv. I can't wait for another movie. Can somebody take the hint out there? I'm a bit desperate.
  
  
• Browncoat Forevermore - We will Fly Again.
  By A1ZKTHJULZQWB1 on 2003-07-27
  I watch a lot of TV. It's true, though I like to think I limit myself to only the truly good stuff - no reality TV, no stupid sit-coms.

  I always liked westerns, and science fiction. That meant so nothing when I found Firefly. I never imagined anything this wonderful could be taken away from me. I am ashamed to say I think of Firefly everyday. EVERY day. I have never CONNECTED with a Television show as I did with Firefly. I was enthralled. Fascinated. Amused. Shocked.

  Television is often mocked, ridiculed, and Belittled. I see "Kill Your TV" bumperstickers. But I have seen Firefly, and I know that TV can be amazing - it can be better than a movie, better than a book (and for ME, that's REALLY saying something). It can be Art and Literature, together. Firefly is, to me, the height of the best that TV can bring. So different, so beautiful, and ugly, and funny, and so fascinating. The people were so REAL - with myriad facets, unlike any I'd seen before. Just when I thought I knew - oh, he's the fighter-type-guy, who beats people over the head and picks on everyone, and only cares about money - I see Jayne, hugging his knees while little Kaylee's life is hanging by a thread. And an married bouple with a REAL relationship - love, jealousy, arguing, teasing - hey, it's just like me and my OWN husband!

  I used to say I needed to find ONE character, at least, that I REALLY cared about - that touched that part of me that made me HAVE to know what happened to them next. I have never, ever, seen a show that didn't have a character I kinda wished would just go away - that I found stupid, annoying, or too 1- or 2- dimensional to feel anything for. I loved Capn'n Mal - the tragic Hero, man who lost his faith and drops a wry "Huh." like no man I've heard before. Kaylee - sweet Kaylee, the tomboy engineer who loves a frilly dress, and who'll do anything (even a loser engineer) to get close to a REAL starship engine. Jayne - the man with a girl's name, who loves his gun, and knows the value of the all-mighty credit. Simon - a genius willing to risk all for love of his sister, River. River - mysterious, funny, scary - I SO want to know her secrets!! Zoey and Wash - the married couple, she the amazon who has a relationship with the captain rarely seen on TV, except in the likes of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (REAL friends, and no romantic interest), and Wash, the pilot who plays with plastic dinosaurs, and quips like no other. Inara - beautiful, sexy, exotic, the Companion, fascinating, with secrets barely hinted at. Book - preacher-man who recognizes the gun used by the bullet hole left behind (!wow!), who's secrets I am the most baffled and intrigued by. No other show ever managed to hook me with EVERY character's stories - each one as fascinating as the last.

  Firefly is the ONLY show I have found myself able to watch over and over and over and OVER - and I only managed to save three episodes! It's like my favorite movie - but 15 hours long, instead of 1 and a half. Continuing on and on, yet still maintaining a basic story - with many, many smaller stories, entwined with the long story of the entire show.

  We can all go on and on, those of us who saw and know, we can share it with those who have not seen. If you haven't seen this, and you like action, comedy, drama, science fiction, westerns, horror or mysteries, you must see this DVD.

  I know I must have gone on and on, but all I can say is wow, sorry. I guess this really shows how deeply I feel about this, and I can't say anything more to reccomend it than that.
  
  

• People -- have you never watched "Alien Resurrection"?
  By A1ERZIZ48CBCSB on 2003-12-06
  In all fairness, I only caught one episode of FIREFLY ("Shindig") before Fox yanked it. So I am giving it two stars to be fair. I will also make an sincere attempt to rent the video set and watch the whole thing. I have to admit that in my one-episode view, I was very put off by the whole Wild West thing -- in my humble opinion, when a futuristic sci fi series utilizes 19th century costumes, it isn't some act of great cleverness...it's because it is far cheaper to dip into the movie studio's big archives of western clothing from various cowboy series of the past than it is to come up with neat, interesting futuristic costumes (and requires far less imagination).

  I have to mention, also, because I just read all 158 reviews here on Amazon, and not a single one of mostly enthusiastic supporters managed to say: This is basically a re-do of Joss Whedon's "Alien Resurrection" plot minus, of course, the copyrighted Aliens. Honest.

  I always thought that "Alien Resurrection's" crew of the freighter "The Betty" had some kind of backstory that never made it to the screen. Unfortunately due to the demands of the Alien franchise, half of the Betty crew gets eaten...and early on. I think Whedon always wanted to develop this idea, and "Firefly" was his big chance.

  Don't believe me? Re-rent "Resurrection". The Betty is also a small, dirty unregistered freighter running slightly illegal operations, occasionally smuggling or doing mercenary work in a ragtag universe. Just like FIrefly, aside from the famous "Aliens" (who are unknown to most of humanity) there are no other extra terrestrials (ala Star Trek) in this universe. Despite being set 500 years in the future (just like Firefly), the sci-fi setting looks contemporary and industrial...no fancy high tech anything. And it's very dirty. The Betty originally had a crew of 8 (cut down in the final shooting script to just six) and the Serenity has a crew of 9.

  The Betty captain is crude mouthed, morally ambivalent but is basically a decent guy, who thinks of the crew as a kind of family -- he calls the ship the "family wagon" and its constantly out of food or supplies. While he isn't exactly married, he is clearly in a long-term romantic relationship with the ship's pilot. The ship's mechanic is a fiesty, cute young girl, just out of her teens. There a "muscle man", who is big and burly but a nice guy underneath it all. The ship's female pilot and second-in-command is a tough cookie who is just as smart and strong as the guys.

  I can only guess that this is an idea Whedon just can't get out of his system...he was reportedly VERY unhappy with the final shooting script and production of "Resurrection", as were most hardcore Alien fans. Maybe it would have worked a whole lot better to have started "Firefly" off as a movie, maybe on the Sci Fi network if not big screen, and THEN spun off a series... .when there was a measurable fan base. Cuz THIS method sure didn't work.

  Clearly everything to do with the advertising/promotion and the scheduling of Firefly was blown, big time. I am generally a sci fi fan, and would have given it a chance, but the reviews were very damning and the whole western thing really put me off. It will be interesting to see what kind of movie Joss Whedon comes up with out of the flotsam and jetsam that is left...for example, will he shoot the movie with the same cast as the TV series?

  Not really a good or bad review here....I just think that fans and even non-fans ought to know what the back story is.
  
  

• Don't be fooled into wasting your money!!
  By AF66815FWU1OJ on 2005-04-03
  The reason for all the five star ratings is because of a campaign that the very few people who like this show have started. You can find the proof by simply using any search engine and typing in Firefly. Be honest, how often have you seen something with five star rating on this website? And you think a show like this would get them?? TvTome called this show ill-fated, badly scripted and out of its league. Why do you think FOX cancelled it so early? Normally FOX completes a whole season before cancelling good shows. I have seen Firefly, and there was nothing in it I liked. It was sometimes lame, at at other times, very predictable. Don't buy something like this. The DvD was only released to get one last haul of money out of people before this show became unheard of. If you actually want to waste money on this be my guest, its not my wallet, but hey I tried to be a nice guy and warn you...
  
  
• Beware the 5 star rating
  By A17XJNBQ8T8VQ4 on 2005-02-26
  Thanks to the reviewer who let me know, "The reason for huge numbers of five star reviews is because the die-hard fans have started a campaign to overwhelm the more realistic reviews of this show". I watched two episodes and promptly removed this DVD from my wish list (only there because of the 5 star 'average'). It really is the most tedious, ill concieved, badly scripted and appalling piece of TV trash.
  
  
• Firefly is new and innovative
  By A1MJQ6L85HEEU8 on 2003-07-24
  I "found" Firefly by accident last fall. Lost in the avalanche of mind-numbing new fall shows (98% of which weren't worth a first glance, let alone a second one) and poorly advertised, Fox had done nothing to build my interest in watching this particular series. However, one Friday evening I turned on the television while finishing whatever it was I was doing around the house. It didn't matter what channel was on, it was mostly just on for the noise. But I took a first glance. And then a second one. And then I stopped whatever it was I was doing, and sat down, and started watching. I couldn't stop.

  Firefly caught my interest as no new series has since Stargate SG-1. Yet I had been anticipating Stargate SG-1, whereas Firefly came out of the blue ... or perhaps I should say "out of the black". And Firefly is not at all comparable to Stargate SG-1. In fact, I can't compare it with anything I've ever seen. Firefly is new and innovative. It is a series that gives you the unexpected - a true feat in this era in which every network simply wants to bombard us viewers with the latest hit craze. Firefly makes you stop and think, yet doesn't overload your brain as some high-tech, hard-core Sci-Fi can.

  If you're not a Sci-Fi fan, you could still love Firefly. It's not about intergalactic travel and aliens and laser guns. It's not about special effects (though it does a fine job in that arena when necessary). It's about people - `Real', three-dimensional people, with conflicting motivations and secrets and emotions we may or may not always understand, depending on what the story has revealed to us. It's about relationships, both good and bad. It's about trying to make a living, or simply trying to stay alive. And sometimes, as the episode "Jaynestown" shows us, it's about the muddy reality that exists behind legends.

  Watch it. You won't regret it. And if you really want to know who these people are, these nine folks brought together by coincidence to form a misfit sort of family, watch "Out of Gas" - the best episode of the best series I have ever seen
  
  

• If you can't run, you crawl, and if you can't do that...
  By A1GSR7RGCG1QYZ on 2006-01-18
  Firefly is like no other television program. Only lasting one year, with episodes randomly thrown on strange nights on FOX, this series boasted a classic combination of science fiction with a western flair. How could it go wrong? A humorous program that had fun, fought bad guys, and harbored extremely dark secrets. Why did it only last one season? Marketing. FOX, as we all can learn from my review of Outfoxed, is not quite the "fair and balanced" type of programming that it promotes, but instead attaches itself to the hottest trend and pushes it nearly to the point of sickness. For those that would disagree, I ask you to check out how many predictable seasons of American Idol we will have to endure until someone realizes that it lost its steam a many a moon ago. Or how about the disaster of a series called Wife Swap? Honestly, did FOX just ignore the idea of creativity and push directly for insulting "reality" television? From what I see on television today, I could only assume the answer to be "yes". Firefly was a bold, unique, and highly original series that gave us powerful characters, detailed stories, and that Lost itch in the back of your mind that keeps you asking that age old question, "why". Yet, in all of its power, it was cancelled.
  
  Firefly is perfection on a stick. The twang of the guitar, the stone-face stare of Mal, the goofiness of Jayne (is that a girls name?), the questionable past of Shepard Book, the humor of Wash, the power of Zoe, and the innocence of Kaylee is exactly why I fell in love with this show. This is honestly, one of the few series that I could go back from the beginning and watch again, loving every moment of it. Whedon created a masterpiece in my eyes, and a huge opportunity was missed by several major networks to keep this imagination alive.
  
  While some will argue that Firefly was full of nothing more than C-rated actors who were "shallow cut-outs, and whose dialogue never rises above the level of a so-so sitcom", I thought that they brought so much personality and charisma to a smorgasbord of unoriginal programming. I wanted to know the truth behind River and the darkness behind the good Shepard. I continually waited for a snappy comeback from Mal, and was excited whenever he showed humility. Jayne was a big favorite of mine, always questioning authority, yet as loyal as the family dog. The love between Zoe and Wash brought a new layer of honesty to this sci-fi series. It wasn't just about paying for the ship, flying through unmapped terrain, or stealing, it was about humanity. That sense of humanity could be found in the opening episode for this series aptly titled "Serenity". In it, the crew takes upon some passengers with some rather unknown cargo. Inside one of those crates is a girl that will change their lives forever. For this series to work successfully, as it did, we needed human characters that bled, felt compassion, and demonstrated connectiveness to each of us. Mal's ship, Serenity, was a living example of how television could be done creatively and originally.
  
  The characters could only be as strong as the words that were handed to them. Listening to the words that pass through Mal's mouth, the charm of Wash, or even the inconsistent ramblings of River, you could only wonder where Whedon could have gone with all of them. In each of these characters, Whedon had written secrets. While, sadly, we may never know what they all were, that is what made you itch for more episodes. You not only wanted to see the creative "western" adventures that Whedon was sending his crew, but you also wanted to learn more about these band of renegades. They were good, but possibly darkness reigned inside of them. The character most guilty of this (outside of River) was Shepard Book. I loved this character. Whedon drew him with so much passion and conviction, yet with every episode you learned more about this man than imaginable. He is an excellent example of what this series was like. He represented the smart words of Whedon, the humanity of his character, and the secrets that each of these shared. He was a "priest", yet he knew more about the Alliance than anyone aboard that ship. If anyone were to ask me to describe the series in two words, I would simply say, "Shepard Book".
  
  George Lucas is credited with creating this detailed futuristic world that gives us glimpses of a possible future, or a galaxy far far away, Whedon succeeded in this series by giving us a plausible future in the not-too-distant future of 500 years. Prostitution in legal, in fact respected in the community, the Chinese and Americans have forged one super power called the Alliance, and our hero is a war veteran, still not shaken by the loss that his side took due to the Alliance control. While Lucas gives us far-fetched characters and situations, Whedon gives us a imaginative look at our future. I think that is why this series worked so well for me. I could imagine this future. I could see it past the characters. I wasn't bogged down by dopey looking aliens, but instead a plausible man vs. man situation. Firefly was simple, yet so complex.
  
  I could honestly go on forever about how much I enjoyed this show. I have never watched a series where I found myself prepared to watch over and over again. Firefly blends a power mixture of comedy, western, and action all together ... and the characters bleed. Villains die in this series. How often do you see that? If you have not watched this series, or have not spent the money to support it, DO IT RIGHT NOW!
  
  Grade: (proudly) ***** out of *****
  
  
• Monument to one of the FOX's worst decisions ever
  By A16QODENBJVUI1 on 2003-09-21
  If one ever had cause to doubt the wisdom of those in charge at FOX and are unfamiliar with the absurdly short-lived series FIREFLY, just watch these CDs and have your worst fears confirmed. There seems to be an ongoing and massive disconnect between what is great on TV and what is fopped off to the public in primetime. FIREFLY never really got a chance, though based on the few episodes that made it onto the airways, it most probably was going to go down as the finest Sci-fi series since STAR TREK: NEXT GENERATION. It had a depth and complexity and potential for development that never really got developed. One can only speculate about how good the series would have gotten, but some idea might be derived by considering producer Joss Whedon's two other series: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and ANGEL. Neither of those shows, as great as they were, was especially great in their first season. BUFFY was short budgeted, and Whedon was still learning how to make a TV series after a lifetime of working strictly as a writer. ANGEL was trying to find its own identify after breaking Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley out of Sunnydale, but by the second season it managed to find its own magnificent, if quite dark, identity. FIREFLY was excellent from the get-go, but how much better might it have become had Whedon and Tim Minear had time to develop it?
  
  Nearly everything about this series stands out. The special effects are without much competition the most outstanding I have ever seen on TV, most of it the result of CGI scripting rather than modeling, though models are used as well. Just how spectacular the effects could be could be seen early on, in the episode "The Train." The Serenity, the space freighter used by the show's protagonists, soars down over a hyper speed freight train and hovers over it while one of the crew is lowered on a rope to one of the cars, where two other crewmembers have extracted cargo for the purposes of theft. The sequence is simply stunning, even by feature film standards. Luckily, there is more to FIREFLY than special effects. One can't conceive a Joss Whedon show without great writing and a complete eschewal of the hackneyed and stereotypical. Whedon is the finest chain puller in the history of TV writing, and just when you think a show is becoming predictable, the entire storyline will shift into completely original and sometimes shocking terrain. Whedon is also a master at both short and long-range story arcs, and thanks to the brain trust at FOX, we didn't get to experience the long-range story arcs.
  
  The cast is absolutely first rate, and one of the great tragedies in the show ending as quickly as it did was losing the opportunity to get to know these folks better. Just as the relations between the cast members were getting really interesting (another hallmark of a Whedon production), FOX pulled the plug. Nathan Fillion showed that he had the presence to be a charismatic lead character as Captain Mal Reynolds, former fighter against the federation on the side of the Independents, now a rogue who takes on all kinds of odd jobs, as long as it never hurts everyday folk. Gina Torres is a familiar face from movies like THE MATRIX RELOADED and guesting on TV shows like ANGEL, HERCULES, and ALIAS, and was great here as the ship's number two, with Alan Tudyk playing her slightly under-her-thumb (in a cute way) husband and ship pilot. Adam Baldwin is great as Cobb, the ship's resident tough guy and muscle. The incredibly stunning Marena Baccarin plays Inara Serra, a registered Companion (i.e., a very high-class prostitute along the lines of accomplished, educated, sophisticated courtesans) who is clearly in love with Reynolds despite her coolness. Her role is remarkable in that she is not portrayed as being at all sleazy. In fact, she is the ship's most respected passenger, being treated with inordinate deference wherever they travel. Jewel Staite is Kaylee, the ship's mechanic, and Ron Glass the ship's chaplain. He describes his role as that of giving guidance in an area where things are often confused and lacking in moral order. Finally, the crew is rounded out by Sean Maher, who plays the ship's doctor, and Summer Glau, who plays his mysteriously gifted sister River, who is desperately sought by the Alliance. Clearly River was the character who would have caused some of the most interesting plot developments had the series continued.
  
  Fans of FIREFLY have had in recent months two great pieces of good news. The first is that not only the episodes originally shown on FOX will be shown on these DVDs, but three previously unseen episodes. The latter along would justify the cost of the discs. But recently we have had what is potentially an even greater piece of news: Joss Whedon's next major project is going to be a full length feature film of FIREFLY, and he hopes to bring the entire cast of the TV show into the film. Of course, this creates fantasies of the show being revived on a different television network. But at the very least, it means that we have the DVDs of this great, great series and a forthcoming film to help us over our hurt.
  
  
• So bad its funny!
  By A1UG0YH7CALVR5 on 2005-07-20
  Where to start... Borrowing this set from a friend, I was skeptical, I had seen a trailer for Serenity, which looked like a bad, low budget Sci-Fi channel made for TV movie. Reading more about Serenity - it looks like it is just a push for DVD sales, though I believe they saved tons of money by using tv budget effects and actors.
  
  Easily the worst part of the show is the dialogue. Or wait, is it the actors? Or the mind numbing canned music? Or the painful intro song? Hard to choose. I'll say the dialogue since the last thing we need is a boring buffy western sci fi drenched in wittiness. Yes, everybody is very witty in this crew. You'll be up to your ears in wit, one-liners and creative sci-fi, techie speak. It was embarassing to watch. There was even an attempt at a western bar fight. So painful I had to skip to the next chapter. Even more lame were the "bad guys". Ouch.
  
  Then you're left with mediocre sci-fi, uninteresting characters and the most boring leading man in television history. One plus, a companion on the ship is one of the loveliest women you will ever see. Almost worth watching just for her.
  
  Most if not all of the plots will be familiar to any watcher of the A-Team, Sliders, Stargate SG-1, The Lost World, Lost in Space, etc.
  
  
• Wow, what a horrible show this was
  By A6VEKK7P7SYRV on 2005-08-21
  I love sci-fi, been watching star trek and star wars since I was an infant. This show however was so god aweful I couldn't get thru the first episode without changing the channel. I attempted to watch it and like it each time it came on without success.
  
  Firely is so predictable it's pathetic. The acting is some of the worst I have ever seen and the storyline is a joke. Flying around space pretending to be cowboys with six shooter revolvers isn't sci-fi, it's an attempt at dumbing down the genre. The idea isn't even original as it's been tried before.
  
  Thank God Fox canceled this craptastic excuse for a sci-fi series.
  
  
• Joss Whedon's Firefly
  By ASCBFXFZXV4ME on 2003-07-23
  Killed off long before it was given a chance to get its space-legs, this is one of the most original and engaging sci-fi series to come down the pipe in years, if not decades. Taking place in a remote future in the wake of an interstellar civil war, the show chronicles and adventures and misadventures of the crew of the transport ship Firefly. That crew includes Capt. Malcom Reynolds, the embittered captain who fought on the losing side (Independents) of the civil war against the Sino-American Alliance; Zoe, the warrior-woman who fought with him and now is his second-in-command; Wash, the ship's pilot and Zoe's constantly wisecracking husband; Kaylee, the ship's engineer and eternally optomistic bright light; Jayne, the ne'er do well mercenary who's loyalty is always in question; Inara, a "companion" and the ship's most respectable member; Shepherd Book, the preacher with ambiguous Alliance ties; River Tam, a psychic prodigy who fled the clutches of Alliance scientists who were experimenting on her brain; and Simon Tam, her physician brother who gave up his life of luxury on the core plants to rescue her. Like most people, the show took an episode or two to grow on me, and the frequent western settings and dialogue took some time getting used to. But in no time at all it became obvious that in terms of dialogue, humor, effects, characters, storylines, and the internal consistency and vibrancy of this future universe as envisioned by the mind of Joss Whedon, there's just nothing out there, especially in the world of sci-fi, that's come close to this show in years. And to top it off, you get to hear characters swear in Chinese! The DVD set also includes three episodes that were never aired on the States (only in the UK) as well as tons of commentary, making it a must for any completist.
  
  
• Simply the finest SciFi in years...
  By A12YQMSK32MGTF on 2003-09-13
  Don't get me wrong: there are many good things to say about recent Sci-Fi series (and even greater volumes to write on their passing), but the buck stops at Firefly. Had Fox given it a chance to bloom like Farscape, or the time to flounder like Enterprise, the TV-'verse would have been a far better place to be.
  
  But Alas.
  
  And yet we Browncoats can rejoice that Firefly is to be released on a full, all eps (IN ORDER!!) DVD so that we can continue to spread the word among the ones who missed it's short 'life' on Fox. With this tool, we can continue our evangelical viewing parties, our 'Saloons' at Sci-Fi 'Cons and our banner-wavin' for the upcoming Universal silver-screen release.
  
  Let the 'Verse rejoice with the shiny DVD of Firefly, and may Serenity fly for many years to come.
  
  
• Where has all the good Sci-Fi gone? Ask FOX!
  By A39LRLKACX89IP on 2003-11-17
  Never mind their network was built on the backs of shows like the X-Files; FOX, is all about reality television, (Really now, Joe Millionaire is Reality?) hokey action shows, (like 24) plus some T & A shows, (like the also cancelled: Birds of Prey and Fastlane), and not quality television. Joss Whedon, famous for his clever writing on shows like Buffy, Angel, and several movies was the creative force behind Firefly. This was to be a different type of Sci-Fi show. He presented us with a realistic view of our possible future, a contrasting viewpoint, from the overly optimistic, Star Trek series. If it looked like a western, it was because Terraforming other planets, would be a lot like the pioneering days of the old west.

  Joss presented us with a future time without particle weapons, transporters, and without alien races. If you think about it, then you'll see the logic in that. Aliens are still rumor, and even if they do exist, they seem to hide themselves from us (in some sense can you blame them). Particle weapons would take an unlikely leap in technology, and expense, (and government policy changes) to be handed over to the layman for his personal use. Transporters, well it's just not set that far in the future! The FOX executives, (suits) basically seem to believe we are all morons. They thought the pilot was much too complex to be understood, (for us feeble minded morons) so it became the last episode broadcast, instead of the first. Hopefully, they will put these in the correct order on the DVDs, and not in their broadcast order.

  The pilot had the Firefly, (which refers to the cargo ship they fly) landing on a large city- like settlement. It reminded me of the sets of Blade Runner, the combination of old versus new technology was quite striking, and very well done. Like Blade Runner you had a mixed blend of races, with a prominent Oriental presence. Missing, (since it was a settlement on a different planet or moon) was the non-stop darkness, (it wasn't totally polluted as yet) and relentless rain that characterized the Blade Runner movie. The pilot had a good combination of plot, character development, and action to help you relate to the story. The episode FOX chose to show instead of the pilot was weak by comparison. The Sci-Fi Channel does not seem to recognize a good thing when they see it, and passed on picking this up when FOX dropped it. Instead they spend good money developing proven, past turkeys, like Battlestar Galactica. Give me a break!

  The cast on this show was very diverse, but seemed to work well together. They had the right blend of fellowship, conflict, tension, and personal agendas to keep it interesting. There was a slowly unfolding mystery, in the unknown origin, of some of the passengers. Some members of the crew were loyal to the highest bidder, and others crew kept their agendas hidden for reasons all their own. Joss, (the shows creator) generally has a master plan for each one of his seasons. His stories build to a big payoff in the end, and he does not practice cliffhangers. I'm sorry this one did not get a chance to play out. He does say he'll try, and resurrect it one day. I still wish FOX could have completed one full season at least. Their decision to cancel this, and replace it with a relocated freshman series had a further effect on their programming. Fastlane, the replacement in the Friday early time slot, probably cost them the higher rated show that followed, John Doe. I believe this because it makes too much sense that the Sci-Fi audience, would be more likely to stay around, and watch John Doe than fans of Fastlane. In the end, FOX lost all three shows.

  Nathan Fillian plays the captain of this group, and seems to be your classic hero type on the surface. You forget sometimes he's really a smuggler. He is tough without being a Rambo, and a lot smarter than he lets himself appear. He has a few trusted crew, and some perhaps not so trustworthy, but otherwise very useful in a fight. The Firefly crew would probably be doing honest work, if it would pay the bills. Instead a little smuggling, and some outright theft, is the way they make ends meet. I believe the questionable ethics explored here would have made for lots of interesting episodes, had the show continued.

  The crew of the Firefly is not totally bad or good, but perhaps better than most. The captain's cynical nature, (and probably his criminal ambitions) is forged in a past time, which is detailed at the beginning of the pilot. Diversity is nice in the members of the crew; they have a tough girl, a cute techie type, and a worldly type (actually a socially acceptable high-class space prostitute) with some political connections. Plus one of the passengers is a mysterious girl, with perhaps unknown, mental powers. The male crew is made up of a pilot, a tough guy, and among the male passengers a preacher, and a doctor, who is brother to the mysterious girl passenger.

  As I mentioned before, some episodes after the pilot are a little weak. Probably they will play better after knowing the story from the pilot. After that, the episodes will get progressively stronger. The production values on this show are excellent, as are the special FX visuals. The ship design is interesting, and it makes for some cool special FX graphics, especially in the pilot. The price of the DVD set is pretty good considering the many hours of entertainment you get for it. If FOX includes the unaired episodes, you could hardly find a better bargain! I can't comment on extras or sound yet since it hasn't been released.
  
  

• Fox's fall from grace
  By A248I7B5NW0SZF on 2003-08-09
  I can't explain how much Firefly had sparked my faith in television, and how it's sudden death put that spark out quickly. shame on you fox for not understaning what a gem of real television you held.
  
  
• simply awful
  By ASJZT7DM51QEM on 2004-01-13
  If I could give negative stars I would. I remember reading once that startrek was at the time it was created thought of as a western in space. Well the guy who created this series decided just to basically pick up a western series and put in space. Its a stupid series- you can get more entertainment watching old westerns on tv land. IF you into true sci-fi spend your money on Stargate or Babylon 5 or just about anything else because this will dissapoint you.
  
  

• Serenity (Widescreen Edition)
• Serenity, Vol. 1: Those Left Behind
• Firefly: The Official Companion: Volume One
• Firefly (Original Television Soundtrack)
• Battlestar Galactica - Season One