Update: There is now a feature film in production.


Update: Show was aborted by Fox after 12 episodes in a bad timeslot. Also, having now seen all the episodes, I find that there *are* energy weapons in this fabula but that they're just really expensive.

Title: Firefly

Subgenre: Space Opera, Western

Notable Cast: None

Description: Spaceship and crew, odd jobs on the fringes of the settled galaxy, oppressive Empire

Analysis: I admit to not a little skepticism about this new SF show from Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer et al, and I'll note that after viewing two episodes so far (the premier and the unaired pilot), I'm still not convinced. There's a predictable cheesiness about it that differs somewhat from the lower budget cheesiness of shows like Andromeda (in that the writing seems more by committee so there's generally less personality in it, and the acting is normally better but the characters never believable).

There are several aspects of this show that I find truly outstanding:

1) The guns. There are no energy weapons here, no laser pistols, pulse blasters, hand phasers, disruptor cannon, plasma rifles, neutron beams, or sonic annihilators; all the guns are good old fashioned firearms, from 12 gauge sawed-offs to classic Colt revolvers, in an effort to add to the Frontier in Space theme of the show (think Wild Wild West with spaceships--which is probably how the pitch meeting began). I don't find anything objectionable about energy weapons in SF, particularly in a Space Opera--if I'm willing to believe in interstellar travel and terra-forming, I'm not going to moan over a photon gun--but due to the fact of their expected inclusion, with all their special effects potential, Firefly's decision to drop them is refreshing.

2) Outer Space Silence. More important to me personally, for the first time as far as I know in any Space Opera outside of novels, Firefly's outer space is blissfully, realistically, utterly silent! Exterior shots of ships under power, their drives lit up like miniature suns, are devoid of the clichéd and fantastic sound of fuel thrust.

As for the other tritisms network SF is typically guilty of: everybody is human in this future, and apparently multilingual (they actually drop into some sort of Chinese for brief stretches, usually for cussing), so it passes the Babble Fish test. There is, however, inexplicable gravity; maybe they'll explain that at some point. Also there's a Galactic Empire oppressing them, but hey: plots don't grow on trees, and at least it's not a happy little Federation.

The characters have been supplied adequate back-stories (well, at least a few of them have): it seems there was a war, a failed revolution or something, our guys lost, so they moved out to the frontier in order to prey upon the fringes of the Empire as pirates, earning money and a bit of revenge at the same time (sound familiar?--it's US history from the perspective of the Confederacy). This place is replete with double-crossing mob bosses, disease-ridden planets (notice how the scale of things always balloons in Space Operas), arrogant government loyalists, and crazed rapist space-faring cannibals. All in all a fairly rich environment for stuff to go on in.

If this show, as it has done so far, is able to remain true to itself and it's own internal logic rather than to the dictates of convention and genre, then it may be promising. It's definitely taken some rare risks so far, and I applaud it for that.

Music and Titles: Has one of those double lead-ins, the first a lame back-story fill-in, the second the standard opening theme and titles. The theme song, a western ballad by Greg Edmonson, is genuinely good if somewhat incongruous for spacefaring. Nothing offensive in the titles, mostly typical.

Depth: Generally no, but there is the obvious US post- Civil War western expansion memeplex, and it remains to be seen if the writers are able to do anything with that (standard themes being: individual vs. society: questions about personal identity in the waxing of the new Republic and the loss of the frontier; civilization vs. freedom, typically centered on the woman's role in frontier settlements; individual vs progress or history: industrial revolution, particularly in transportation and communication). It's unlikely they'll find anything new to say.

Tritisms: Universal Gravity, but not too offensive. This show scores really high in this area.

Seasons: 0

Promise: Promising

Rating (out of 10): 6-8 (still too early to say for certain)