[ARTICLE] Comfort Viewing: 3 Reasons I Love "Firefly"

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From NYTimes.com ...


Comfort Viewing: 3 Reasons I Love 'Firefly'
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An Emmy-winning space western that was canceled after one season,
the series is a perfect mix of palliative and palate cleanser.

If, as a young teen, you experienced a fiery sexual awakening the
first time you set eyes on Harrison Ford's fitted pants in "Star
Wars," you should make Joss Whedon's "Firefly" your next pandemic
binge.

Created by Whedon (the brain behind "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
and "The Avengers"), "Firefly" is a quirky dramatic comedy set
aboard a dilapidated spaceship, the Serenity, in an unfamiliar
star cluster. Nathan Fillion - wearing a pair of Solo-like tight
trousers - plays the Serenity's captain, Malcolm Reynolds, better
known as Mal.

The show initially ran for four months back in 2002 and was
canceled midseason after Fox intentionally aired its episodes out
of order; the network bumped Whedon's lengthy pilot to later in
the season, skipping the exposition and diving straight into the
action. (Many of the series's negative early reviews included some
version of "it's incoherent.") Despite its rocky rollout, "Firefly"
won a prime-time Emmy in 2003 (for visual effects), and a growing
base of devoted fans went on to fight for its resurrection. Whedon
ultimately followed the series with a flawed but toothsome film
called "Serenity," released in 2005, that hastily tied up loose
ends.

These days, the series is streaming on Hulu - in the right order.

Set in the year 2517, "Firefly" follows the crew of the Serenity -
a motley band of nine characters including a preacher, a mechanic,
a doctor and a professional courtesan - as they zip from planet to
planet, evading the star cluster's shadowy, authoritarian central
government and picking up jobs (most of them illicit) along the
way.

Part of the show's appeal is its meticulous world building. Planets
close to the capital are sustained and regulated by the central
authorities, while settlements out on the edge of the system exist
in a state of Wild West-like lawlessness. "Firefly" is a space
western, and the show plays with the details of its mashed-up
setting, bouncing genre expectations off one another. In one scene,
Mal and his first mate, Zoe Washburne (Gina Torres), provoke a
fight in a grimy saloon. Mal is thrown through a window - standard
fare in any western - but this saloon's window is a hologram,
scrambling as his body passes through it and reforming moments
later.

The show remains a cult favorite, thanks largely to the charm of
the Serenity's crew. The central characters are spiky and
sarcastic, but also tender and sincere. They crush on one another
at a relatable velocity and fight like siblings. This makes them
both lovable and realistic, and they have provided a welcome
injection of vivacious humanity into my pandemic vista, which is
otherwise devoid of unfamiliar life-forms.

Even if you aren't nostalgic for sticky bars or new faces, the
series still has plenty to offer. Here are three reasons to watch.


The space western is an appealing genre right now

The outer planets in "Firefly" are parched, backwater worlds that
are patchworked with farmland - "terraformed," in sci-fi parlance,
to replicate the environment on Earth. Dotted with dusty frontier
towns, it's an environment that lends itself to the show's western
plot conventions, which Whedon gleefully harnesses. In one episode,
the crew pulls a heist on a levitating train. In another, an
exchange of illegal goods with a leathery, mistrustful matriarch
ends in a gunfight on horseback.

Space westerns root their drama in familiar characters and themes
(outlaw brigands, frontier exploration) while offering a visual
palate cleanser by way of their crisp, futuristic aesthetics - a
deeply comforting combination. "Firefly" is not the first
television show to attempt this merger (Gene Roddenberry called
"Star Trek" a space western) nor the most recent
("The Mandalorian") but it is, in my opinion, the funniest - which
leads to my next reason.


It's easy sci-fi viewing: serialized and comedic

The start of quarantine saw a flurry of articles and Reddit posts
espousing sci-fi and fantasy shows as the "best" distraction during
lockdown. I disagree: Many series in these genres require careful
attention to comprehend their labyrinthine political intrigue, and
I have no energy left for political posturing. The other
interplanetary show I return to over and over is Ron Moore's epic
"Battlestar Galactica," but that's basically "The West Wing" set in
space. I want a show right now that I can watch in the bathtub
without worrying that I've missed a line or three, so I'm saving my
next "Battlestar" binge for a time when lockdown doesn't feel so
draining.

By contrast, "Firefly" is easy to watch: It has a serialized plot
("find a job, keep flying") and a quick-witted script. Fans of
Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" will find the show's comedic
patter - parry, riposte - soothing and familiar.

"Firefly" also has the perfect comedy-to-action ratio. Even in
serious moments, the repartee cleverly subverts dramatic cliches.
In the show's fourth episode, "Shindig," Mal has just narrowly won
a sword fight (!) against a bigoted stuffed shirt, and Mal refuses
to kill him as custom demands. "Mercy is the mark of a great man,"
he says, then immediately jabs the point of his rapier into the
man's stomach. "Guess I'm just a good man." He stabs him again.
"Well, I'm all right."


It features women in dynamic action-hero roles

Male bravado exhausts me, but on "Firefly," the most formidable
character is arguably Zoe, Serenity's first mate. "She could kill
me with her pinkie," her husband (Alan Tudyk) remarks lovingly.

Although some parts of the show haven't aged well (for instance,
the show's use of Chinese slang, clumsily spoken by not a single
Chinese lead), "Firefly" was ahead of its time with its female
characters, who were often complex and driven by surprising
motivations. Zoe is reason enough to watch the show - she delights
in sex with her husband and has no problem punching her
antagonists in the face.

It's worth noting that Zoe's wardrobe hews closely to Mal's - both
wear faded red tops (in Zoe's case, a breastplate-like leather
vest), tall boots, strappy leather holsters, and, yes, fetching
fitted pants. They're clearly meant as a matched set, but the show
doesn't push them toward a romantic relationship; instead, they're
the leaders of their Western-style outlaw gang, not unlike Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. For "Firefly," it was yet another
trope, refreshingly remade.


<https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/arts/television/firefly-rewatch.html>