It's a shame that this show didn't make it further than it did. After battling James Cameron's Dark Angel for a spot on the Fox network, Joss Whedon's sci-fi adventure lasted only 14 episodes (15 if you count the pilot as 2 episodes). Nathan Fillion starred as Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds, a soldier that server with Zoe (Gina Torres) during the war against the Alliance. Wash (Alan Tudyk), is married to Zoe, and was hired to pilot Serenity. Then there's the tough mercenary, Jayne (Adam Baldwin) who is just out to make a buck anyway he can, and the loveable mechanic Kaylee (Jewel Staite). When the crew decides to take on passengers, Shepard Book (Ron Glass), the doctor Simon Tam (Sean Maher) and his sister River (Summer Glau) are brought on board. Possibly the most interesting character is Inara (Morena Baccarin), a "companion" which Captain Reynolds affectionately calls a whore. In the future, companions are very respected and she brings legitimacy to the ship.
Firefly had a troubled start, almost from its inception. When Whedon took the pilot to the network he was told that it didn't contain enough action, and it was pushed off, only to be aired later. Instead, they aired "The Train Job" as the first episode. This caused problems because everything was set up in the 2 hour pilot episode. I watched the first 2 episodes, but it didn't grab me. I found it lacked something, but when I watched the show on DVD I felt different. The episodes on the DVD are placed in their intended order, and it makes more sense. This is how the show should have aired, and if it aired in the correct order, it might still be on the air. I'm saddened because I've discovered this great show after it's been cancelled. With the talk that Family Guy might come back due to strong DVD sales and high ratings on the Cartoon Network, fans of Firefly are left wondering if the same thing could happen with their show. There's already been talk about a feature movie being made, so who knows what the future will bring to Serenity and her crew.
Video
Though the show originally aired in the standard 1.33:1 aspect ratio, it was shot with widescreen in mind. These DVDs are presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1), and they look great for the most part. Something that has always bothered me about Whedon's shows is how dark they are. When it's night, or just a dimply lit scene, it's very hard to make anything out. As frustrating as it is, this is intended, and there are many cases of dimly lit scenes in these episodes. Most of them fair quite well on the DVD, but the dark scenes in "Jaynestown" look poor, often containing quite a bit of grain and noise. Colors in the transfer are beautiful, and each room in Serenity looks as though much work went into the colors and feel of the space. Scenes shot outdoors are equally great, often with night, bright colors which are in contrast to the dirtier insides of the ship. There is a chapter market set right after the opening, allowing the viewer to quickly skip ahead.
Audio
Fox provides viewers with English, Spanish and French surround tracks for Firefly. Sci-fi shows usually sound very good because so many of the sounds don't exist in reality. This allows sound designers to get creative, not only in the sounds they use, but how they place them in the channels. Firefly sounds quite good, but could probably have benefitted from a Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Things just don't sound as good as they could; the lower frequencies could have used a bit of help from the .1. Overall it's a very nice sounding DVD. There are also English and Spanish subtitles, and the show is closed captioned.
Here's How It Was: The Making of Firefly (28:37)
This is a great making-of featurette. Interviews with all the cast members and many crew members make this worth watching. Joss and the gang walk us through the creation of the show, the characters, actors, story, language, it's all covered here. There is a ton of material packed into this featurette.
Deleted Scenes ()
These are four deleted scenes from the episodes.
Serenity - Scene 1 (1:35)
Serenity - Scene 74-75 (4:34)
Our Mrs. Reynolds - Scene 18 (3:39)
Objects in Space - Scene 6 (2:10)
Serenity: The 10th Character (9:44)
The cast reflect on the ship their characters called home. Carey Meyer (Production Designer) and Loni Peristere (Visual Effects Supervisor) talk about the design of the ship, and how it functions.
Alan Tudyk's Audition (1:04)
Alan Tudyk's short audition for the role of Wash.
Gag Reel (2:39)
The gag reel that was created for the Christmas party, which turned into the wrap party for the series. Too short! Too short!
Joss Tours the Set (1:21)
Joss takes us on a tour of the set. It's quick, but it gives you a sense of the scale of the ship. The "Serenity" featurette is much better.
Joss Sings the Firefly Theme (1:14)
Joss wrote the theme song, and also performed it in this preliminary version.
Easter Egg: Hero of Canton (2:36)
Adam Baldwin sings the "Hero of Canton" song. I loved this song in the episode. Try to find this on your own (it's on disc 4).
Commentary Tracks
There are 7 episodes with commentary tracks in the set, and they're all excellent. They are: Joss Whedon (executive producer) and Nathan Fillion ("Mal Reynolds") on "Serenity"; Joss Whedon and Tim Minear (executive producer) on "The Train Job"; Jane Espenson (writer), Morena Baccarin ("Inara") and Shawna Trpcic (costume designer) on "Shindig"; Tim Minear and David Solomon (director) on "Out of Gas"; Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk ("Wash") on "War Stories"; Alan Tudyk and Jewel Staite ("Kaylee") on "The Message"; Joss Whedon on "Objects in Space." These commentary tracks are GREAT! Whedon and Fillion sound like brothers on their track; they joke around and tease each other. Whedon's commentary on "Objects in Space" is a bit different because he talks a lot about things that aren't on screen, often telling stories of how he wrote something, or feelings he had. Fans of the show will eat these up, it's just too bad there weren't commentary tracks on all the episodes.
Summary
As I went through these discs I became sad. This was a show that was crippled from the start and wasn't given a fair shake. Friday nights at Fox are certain death, then having the pilot episode aired last, instead of first, there's no way the show could succeed. It's sad because this is a show that could have lasted a long time, had it been given a chance. People like me might have stayed around a bit longer had we not felt lost during the first few episodes. There are so many unanswered questions, so many ways the show could have gone. Yes, I felt sad watching these episodes.
I have no doubt that fans of the show will buy this set, but for those of you who watched a few episodes and then ditched the show, give it a chance. It's a clever approach to sci-fi, and sadly Firefly is a show that went down before it should have.
