Torture, smorture, the real pain is in not getting to see the rest of what happens between Inara and the Counselor!

Written By: Cheryl Cain
Directed By: James A. Contner

–I always envisioned Niska as a recurring big bad for the series, I’m always glad when I get to War Stories and he recurs as the case may be.

–Little moments like Mal yelling at River and Kaylee to “shut up” when they’re running around near the beginning of the episode, or his following barb about not cleaning it up when one of them falls and dies brings the family aspect of the show front and center. Mal’s trying to act cold and detached, but with each episode that facade gives way to the emotional core that exists within him.

–Jayne’s “I’ll be in my bunk” is an all time classic.

–The unspoken growth of a relationship between Jayne and Shepherd Book is one of many unspoken of things that Firefly does that make the show so unique.

–The more lines Alan Tudyck gets the happier I tend to be, now you have an episode where Tudyck and Nathan Fillion are interacting all the time and I’m downright giddy!

–The way they structure the torture scenes between Niska, Mal and Wash is pure genius. It’s funny, it’s dramatic, but at the same time it gets to the heart of what type of man Wash is, but most of all what type of man Mal is.

–I love the abruptness of when Zoë chooses to save Wash.

–I remember being quite shocked when I first watched War Stories at the moment when Mal is pronounced dead. It doesn’t shock me any more, but it’s still a great moment.

–It is suitably creepy to hear River’s words post-shooting.

If it weren’t for a particularly dicey instance of CGI when Mal’s torturer’s dead body is shown falling to its ultimate resting place, I reckon War Stories would be yet another perfect episode in Firefly. Most of what War Stories does so well I touched on in my bullet points above, and thus I don’t feel the need to touch on them again. Something else War Stories does however, is to create mystery around a certain idea, Shepherd Book’s knowledge of and skill with a gun, and then suddenly shift that mystery to a scarier place, River’s actions in killing Niska’s men. That is an example of the layered storytelling found in Firefly that is hard to find in a lot of television shows. Most TV shows have an A and a B plot, sometimes even C or D plots, but it’s not often that I’ve seen a show suddenly introduce a major plot point like River’s gun play and have it exist on its own not, to simply linger in the mind of the viewer until a future date.

For the above reason and for War Stories being yet another example of how seamlessly the people involved with Firefly blend the worlds of drama, action and comedy, I have no choice but to highly recommend War Stories. It is another great episode of Firefly, and as redundant as that statement may be, it means even more when discussing this series since Firefly has created some lofty standards for itself.

Rating:

99/100

A

Cheers,
Bill

Betrayal is a bitch, yes, betrayal is in fact a female dog!

Written By: Jose Molina
Directed By: Allan Kroeker

–Watching Simon lay out the plan is pretty neat, not just because of how cool of an idea it is either. The way the episode is filmed we get to see the crew in action in many small ways, all this time we’ve seen the start or tail end of jobs, but Ariel shows us how cohesive and well oiled the crew can be in the preparation for a job, it reminds us why they work so well together.

–Jayne saying his “cortical” line anyways, remains one of the loudest belly laughs Firefly ever gleaned from me.

–Jayne’s betrayal isn’t surprising, but it’s still hurts to watch.

Ariel is two tales in one, but as is often the case with tremendous storytelling the two tales work off of one another. Ariel is the story of two broken people, one who is broken mentally and one who is broken emotionally. These two broken people must mend themselves, they need to find a way to be somewhat whole again or they will lose the very thing that keeps them alive, Serenity and her crew.

On the one hand you have River, a character who is mentally broken. Through no fault of her own she is on a path that will lead to the ruination of the very friendships she needs to survive. She needs to be made whole again, or at least come close to it, and to come to this end and avoid a path of isolation she trusts her brother implicitly. In her eyes we see tears form, we know that what Simon is asking of her scares her greatly and hurts her, but we also know that she wants to get better because she goes along and she trusts.

On the other hand you have Jayne, a character who is emotionally broken. He tries not to show it, he tries to hide behind a tough guy facade, but in reality Jayne is a man who has been tossed around his whole life and thus lacks the ability to trust. He doesn’t trust that the crew of Serenity will ever truly be there for him so he turns on them the first chance he gets, a move that should move him further down the path of losing the only friendships that will help him.

An interesting thing happens in Ariel, two characters are broken, they approach their situation from different places, yet they come to the same conclusion. River has already given her trust and because of that she finds the tools to help her become closer to the mentally whole person she once was. By turning his back on his friends Jaye learns that he does have people that he can trust, that he wants someone in the world to hold a good opinion of Jayne Cobb as a man. They start out differently, they veer towards the edge of the path that leads to total isolation, but in the end they are drawn back in by the family dynamic of the crew, by the love they share for one another that ever need be spoken of aloud.

It’s obvious where I am going with this, the issue of Jayne and River parallels that of Firefly as a TV show. Time and time again Firefly comes back to the theme of family, of the ties that bind us together and allow us to continue on with our lives through the harshest of times. Firefly is always looking for ways to drive this theme home, but the key to the shows success is that it always finds different methods of delivery for its main theme. Ariel uses two divergent characters to once again touch on the idea of family, and when you add in all the usual fixings of comedy, characterization, great writing and so forth found in an episode of Firefly you are left with yet another amazing episode of television.

Rating:

100/100

P

Cheers,
Bill

I’m never out of gas, not that type of gas you dirty miscreants, I’m talking about the hot air I’m constantly spewing in my reviews, get your minds out of the gutter, sheesh!

Written By: Tim Minear
Directed By: David Solomon

–The moment the score for this episode kicks in it gives off the vibe of something special, but once Mal hits the floor, I know it’s going to be something special.

–I don’t give Firefly enough credit for the cinematography that it employs, but all one need do is look at the way lighting and shadow is used in Out Of Gas to see how great the cinematography on this show really is.

–Wash’s stache is so, so awesome!

–I love Kaylee’s introduction, and Bester, oh Bester (I hope that’s a Babylon 5 reference by the way)…

–Jayne’s introduction is even better.

I may not have written a lot about Out Of Gas in my dash point section, but that is because Out Of Gas isn’t so much a “hey, look at this” episode of Firefly. No, no, no, Out Of Gas is an episode of Firefly that is all about the big picture, the reason that the show exists in the first place, love. Maybe that surprises some of you, but I can’t see why it would, could or should. Firefly is a series that is about love in it’s many incarnations, the search for love, what happens to a man when his love is thrown back in his face, and how love can rebuild that very same man. Out Of Gas is the episode of Firefly that focuses singularly on one thing and one thing alone, love.

Out Of Gas does this through the framing device of an accident as well as the various stories that brought the crew together. This fits in with the love changes motif, and it especially fits in with the motif of love slowly entering back into Mal’s life after his country took it away from him. Yes, he does seem awfully chipper when he first views Serenity with Zoë, but that’s just the way his personality is. You and I both know that what Mal shows on the outside isn’t always what is on the inside. We do see however that as each person becomes a member of the crew a little bit of love enters into Mal’s life, and in the end we discover that the crew aren’t solely responsible for this chnage in Mal, but rather that Serenity deserves a lot of the credit itself.

Maybe I’m crazy, well, I probably am, but the above is my take on Out Of Gas and the reason I love it so much as an episode. The typical Firefly wit, humor, attention to details, characters, awesome costumes, set design and created world are present, but Out Of Gas may contain more heart and meaning than any other episode of Firefly. If not for an unusual slip up with some bad looking CGI fire this would be yet another perfect episode of Firefly, but that fire, ouch!

Rating:

99/100

A

Cheers,
Bill

I want a town I can be the hero of, but only if it comes with lots of easy hot chicks, oh yeah!

Written By: Ben Edlund
Directed By: Marita Grabiak

–Jayne’s goggle getup is epic, purely epic!

–The idea of a mud farm is ingenious, another example of the many flavors that make up the tootsie roll that is Firefly.

–The Man They Call Jayne is easily one of the greatest songs ever written, ever I say!

–Kaylee is super cute whenever she makes any face, any face at all.

–Book’s awesome hair, is awesome, brains spilling out everywhere.

I suppose before I go any further with this review I should let the cat out of the bag, I love Ben Edlund. How can you not love the man who created The Tick, I mean seriously, if you’re asking yourself what the big deal is about The Tick then you have no soul, no soul at all. The term that most comes to mind when I think of The Tick and Edlund’s subsequent career is irreverent. Edlund’s an original thinker, but he does so around tried and true ideas. Jaynestown is a great example of the type of originality within an established idea that has defined Edlund’s career.

The idea of a hardened man finding a deeper core within himself isn’t original, nor is the idea of the screwed over partner or the lesson of what constitutes being a man. If this were any other show with any other writer I have no doubts that Jaynestown would have been an ordinary and decidedly average episode. But, this is a Ben Edlund episode, he understands these characters and he understands how to take the tried and true ideas I listed at the beginning of this paragraph and breathe new life into them. Storytelling isn’t always about the story being told, rather it is about the way the story being told is framed. By framing this particular story around a character like Jayne in a land that is as foreign as can be with a hearty helping of off the wall humor and you have a typical Ben Edlund story.

The character of Jayne is obviously the linchpin of Jaynestown, and once again, what he goes through is old hat, but watching him go through it is what really matters. Up till this point it’s been hard to see that there’s more beneath the surface with Jayne, he has acted every part the neanderthal ruffian. But, Jaynestown marks a turning point in the life of this character, the first loud and clear sign that the time he is spending on Serenity is changing him. It’s a testimony to the writing found throughout the show that despite not knowing anything of Jayne previous to the beginning of Firefly we still welcome his oncoming change and recognize why it is happening and what it will mean for the future.

While not the most original, Jaynestown is framed in such a way that it calls into question just how important originality actually is. Jaynestown is yet another episode of Firefly that is all too easy to get lost in and all too easy to have a ball with. In short, it’s more awesome sauce from Ben Edlund and more proof of how special Firefly really is.

Rating:

99/100

A

Cheers,
Bill

I will say this a few more times during my review, but yowza, that Christina Hendricks is a babe, they do everything they can to try and hide her rack when she’s playing the doting wife, but there’s no hiding any part of her hotness!

Written By: Joss Whedon
Directed By: Vondie Curtis-Hall

–Mal and Jayne as a married couple is choice!

–Drunk Jayne may be even more choice.

–Oh my tiddly winks, when they came up with the word hot they must have known Christina Hendricks was going to come along someday.

–Mal’s side bar with Jayne asking how drunk he was the night before is a tiny slice of comedic heaven.

–A special hell.

–Jayne’s trade is fucking brilliant, brilliant, and Vera, oh, Vera.

–Man, I can’t stop gushing over this episode, and the Saffron/Mal scene in his room is worthy of even more gushing, that’s how well both actors play off of one another.

–Inara is hilarious in the scene after she finds Mal.

In what could become a recurring theme of these reviews, Our Mrs. Reynolds may just be my favorite episode of Firefly, and it may be the best episode of Firefly as well. On the surface it may not seem like Our Mrs. Reynolds has as much to offer as an episode like Shindig does, but upon closer inspection that just isn’t the case. Our Mrs. Reynolds is fun like a great Firefly episode should be, it has action like a great Firefly episode, it has a good story like a great Firefly episode, and it has character growth moments like the best Firefly episodes.

I know I said it earlier, but that Christina Hendricks, wow! On pure sexual physicality she is damn near the perfect woman, so that’s already a huge plus right there. But that woman can act, her repartee with Mal and the crew is something to watch, she knows just when to change her tone, to genuflect a little, to draw the attention to her and then to push it away again. Maybe future episodes will prove me wrong, but I don’t think Firefly had a better guest star than Ms. Hendricks.

I laughed at Our Mrs. Reynolds, then I was enthralled, then I laughed some more, and ultimately I was very happy. Our Mrs. Reynolds is more Firefly awesomeness, equal parts comedy and drama, with something for everyone, if not the best episode of Firefly it is at least one of the best and yet another home run in the series.

Rating:

100/100

P

Cheers,
Bill

I wouldn’t mind living in some hidden community out in the woods, but then I remember that I’m an atheist who’s very vocal in terms of sex and other provocative things and I know I would be killed within a day, probably a few hours.

Written By: Drew Z. Greenberg
Directed By: Michael Grossman

–I like the visits with the Tam’s in the past, it’s contrasted nicely with their present, but beyond that, I simply dig the looks into the pasts of River and Simon.

–Morbid and creepifying, yes!

–Oh, Simon, an idiot after my own heart.

–Once again, the world design at play is outstanding.

–I’m not gonna lie, I could watch Summer Glau dance all episode long and be a happy man.

–I love how every episode offers a teeny bit more insight into just how different River actually is.

–Safe serves a very important purpose, beyond its main one that I shall discuss later, it finally shows just how much Mal and the crew need Simon, even if he would never admit it.

–Hey, that nurse is Rachel from Justified, cool.

–Ah, the great mystery as to the origins of Book. They may have covered it in the comics, but I haven’t read the comics so I’m still in the dark, it’s quite the cool little mystery though.

Based on the final shot of Safe, one would assume that this episode is all about the family structure of the ship, however I don’t find that to be the case. Yes, that family structure is an important theme in Safe, but for my money Safe is about the lengths one man is willing to go to for his actual family. Wait, that really doesn’t make any sense, mainly because I am an idiot, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Let’s try this again, Safe is all about family, in three different ways. The first is Simon’s family of the past, the family he had to leave behind because ultimately they weren’t really what a family should be. Next is the family of Simon and River, and the fact that Simon will do anything and has given up everything for River, and she knows this. Finally you have the silent family in the form of the crew. We are able to identify them as a family unit from the pilot on, but they don’t always see themselves that way. Safe pushes the fact that they are a family on them & makes two key people, Simon and Mal, finally realize that the crew of Serenity is their family, warts and all. Watching all three of these family versions play off of one another was darn tootin’ awesome, I tell you what.

The only slight problem I have with Safe is the ending, specifically the arrival of Serenity. It isn’t exactly a deus ex machina ending because Serenity is an already known commodity, but it does feel a little too happenstance too me that Mal and company show up at that exact moment in time. It works, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a tad too coincidental for my liking. Otherwise, another splendid episode of Serenity, Safe offers up more character development, more world building, more sarcasm and more awesomeness.

Rating:

93/100

A

Cheers,
Bill

I’ve never seen a party so fancy, the fanciest party I ever went to involved a lot of booze and a bevy of strippers!

Written By: Jane Espenson
Directed By: Vern Gillum

–Some sort of weird electronic/holo pool game is pretty awesome.

–Morena Baccarin is so beautiful that it should be illegal for her to exist.

–Mal being an ass and Jayne’s complete befuddlement to the reaction of the women is a thing of Jayne beauty.

–Besides the fact that the party is lush and amazing from a set dressing and costume standpoint, it’s so cool and different to see a party like this in the setting of Firefly.

–Captain Tightpants!

–Holy crap, I forgot Durant from Darkman was in this episode.

–Nathan Fillion’s comedic timing is unparalleled.

–Badger’s broken language is yet another thing of beauty.

–River’s speech to Badger is cool, cool, cool.

Before I get into Shindig specifically I wanted to say one thing about Firefly. For some reason I’ve never noticed this until now, but the episodes in Firefly really fly by. At some point I look at the DVD screen and expect a few minutes to have gone by, yet each and every time I’m thirty plus minutes into the episode. That just goes to show you how enthralling these episodes are.

As I segue into Shindig I feel the need to highlight how wonderfully creative the world of Firefly is. It never ceases to amaze me how inventive the show is visually as well as in its dialogue. Take Shindig for instance, that party is amazing to watch, then somehow out of all the jumbled languages and weird customs the powers that be come up with the idea of a duel and then the transporting of cows as illegal goods. I know I used the word already, but inventive is a great word to describe Shindig as an episode and Firefly as a series.

I can’t pinpoint exactly why Shindig is such a perfect episode, it just is. From the machinations of Badger to the relationship building between Inara and Mal, there isn’t a moment of Shindig that isn’t awesome. That’s really where my thoughts on Shindig begin and end, awesomeness. Shindig is funny, features a wonderfully constructed world, some interesting moments with the crew and some great character building and relationship moments between Inara and Mal. This is the first episode of Firefly that I maintain is perfect, but I’m pretty confident it won’t be the last, definitely check out Shindig if you’re looking for yet another amazing episode of Firefly.

Rating:

100/100

P

Cheers,
Bill

Space can be a scary place, but humans who lack humanity are even scarier!

Written By: Tim Minear
Directed By: Tim Minear

–I know that Alliance Commander from Melrose Place and Godzilla, neato!

–Dinosaurs!

–The interrogation sequence is great stuff.

You’ll notice I didn’t write much this time, and that’s not for lack of a quality episode, but because in a lot of ways Bushwhacked is a different Firefly episode. It’s still the same characters and the same universe, but it’s tone is much harsher and plaintive, with an overt abruptness to it. The really fun episodes give me lots of dash points because there’s always something cool going on, but an episode like Bushwhacked about the whole than any smaller moments.

Bushwhacked also does a splendid job of setting up the universe a bit more, offering some more layers to a few of the characters and most importantly presenting the universe of Firefly in a different light. In its short run time this is a theme that Firefly will come back to, it isn’t content being just one type of show, it can be moody, light, dark, adventurous, scary and everything in between. Bushwhacked is the first Firefly episode to go to a bit more of a dark place while at the same time relying on mood to carry the momentum as opposed to the interactions of the characters. Bushwhacked is something different, but it is yet another example of why Firefly was such a great television series.

Rating:

91/100

A-

Cheers,
Bill

I’d gladly be an indentured man to a chick as hot as Inara, as long as sex is part of the deal, because otherwise it would be like most of my friendships with women!

Written By: Tim Minear & Joss Whedon
Directed By: Joss Whedon

–Ah, the origination of the Browncoats, if only most fans who call themselves Browncoats didn’t ruin that nickname for me.

–A holo-window is such a brilliant idea!

–Kosherized rules!

–Terrifying space monkeys!

–I do love how things are being set in motion for later episodes, even a movie, with little tidbits here and there. Moments happen and phrases are uttered that appear to be of no import, until we get to later in the series/movie and it clicks in your head how important they actually were.

–Niska is a favorite of mine, yet I seem to recall a few Firefly fans voicing a sullied opinion of the man, for shame, for shame.

–We’re only one episode in, well two if you want to get technical, and already it is a pleasure to spend time with these people and that is due to the efforts of the writers to develop these characters and their relationships, basically we care, and it’s great to care.

–It’s not thee hat, but Jayne’s choice of hat in this episode is still endearing.

–Gregg Henry, the sheriff, is one of those character actors whose name I never know, but he’s always good in everything I see him in.

–An irate Jayne, as if there were any other kind, is always a pleasure.

–The Niska resolution, in this episode at least, is darn tootin’ funny.

–Blue hands!!!

The Train Job is held back just a tiny bit by the fact that it serves as an introduction episode, but we’ve already been introduced to these characters and this world in the pilot. But, the key words in that sentence are tiny and bit, because while the introductory tone is redundant, the story isn’t and neither is the fun to be had with The Train Job and what it sets up for the future. The Train Job moves at a brisk pace, further establishes the world of Firelfy, is a lot of fun, and sets up many storylines for the future. Wait, now I’m getting redundant, so I’ll leave you with this, The Train Job is yet another example of a great episode of Firelfy, ya heard?

Rating:

96/100

A

Cheers,
Bill

Spaceships and horses, at the same time, what am I watching?

Written By: Joss Whedon
Directed By: Joss Whedon

A note before we get started, I will not be following the original airdates as far as these episodes go. Instead I will be going with the DVD ordering, and that is the ordering that Joss Whedon and company have said is the correct way to view the episodes.

Note number two before we get started, I love Firefly. I know, I know, I’m supposed to let that come out in the reviews, but I’ve never been one for doing things the standard way. With that being said, I’ve loved Firefly since the first time I brought home the DVD and I’m hoping that going through these episodes will be fun for you, and for me.

–Mal!

–Zoë!

–I love the hybrid language of the Firefly universe, as well as the made up swear words, so awesome.

–It’s early I know, but the moment near the beginning of the episode when Mal looks up and sees the Alliance ships landing on Serenity Valley sets the tone for what I consider to be the main drive of the series, a broken man attempting to find something to fight for.

–Jayne!

–Wash!

–Once again, I know it’s early, but one area where Firefly always impressed me but never seemed to get a lot of credit was in the effects department. Every scene that takes place in this episode, and in the series as a whole, looks amazing.

–Dinosaur showdown over this land, awesome.

–Kaylee!

–Oh that theme music, it gets me every time, it’s such a perfect fit for the series.

–Inara!

–I love the touch of prostitution not only being legal, but being well respected, if I had my way both of these would be true in our present day.

–Book!

–The banter between Mal and Badger is divine, yeah, I said divine. It’s also an early example of how full the universe of Firefly is, with recurring characters like Badger who actually matter and make an impact every time they appear.

–Admittedly this next tidbit is more of a repeated viewing thing, but I really like how with each new viewing I discover more and more in the background, especially more that pertains to the larger arc.

–Simon!

–The shot on the ramp of the ship with Mal and Simon on opposite sides and Kaylee smack dab in the middle of them is a great foreshadowing of how her loyalties will be tested by the arrival of Simon, and an early example of the great framing that is always found in the series.

–River!

–The Reavers are a great invention by Joss, and their set-up in this episode is especially chilling.

–Wash holding a phantom steering wheel as they celebrate surviving the Reavers is hilarious, a problem in the episode, but hilarious nonetheless.

With the first episode of Firefly in the books, it’s time for me to utter a few words that you will hear quite often as I traverse the small running order of Firefly, what fun! I know it’s something that is hard to quantify, especially in a review, but it’s very rare for a TV show to come out of the gates and create such a positive buzz within me. I literally had a grin from ear to ear for every second that Serenity was playing and even now as I type I’m still grinning.

I love science fiction and I love Westerns, yet never would I have thought of combining the two in such a way as Joss Whedon and company do with Serenity. As a jumping off point for a series it doesn’t get any better than this, but most of all I can’t think of another series that immediately goes for a unique tone, setting, aesthetic and general idea and manages to pull it off so flawlessly. Yeah, there are a few gaffes here and there, but so what, Serenity is a rip roaring introduction to the world of Firefly and a fun time should be had by all who watch it.

Rating:

98/100

A

Cheers,
Bill