The Train Job (Series Premiere, original airdate: Sept. 20th)
This episode is no pilot by any measure, but it is a decent episode for a new viewer to come in on and grasp what the show is about and the post-civil war setting. Since it's mostly about Mal, one can easily see who the main protagonist is and how the other characters relate. The biggest questions are about Simon, River, Inara, and Book. The viewer is told about some academy that Simon took River away from and that the government is after them for it, but we don't understand why. Granted, the episode Serenity doesn't answer this either, but it does tell you that Simon doesn't know exactly what happened. Inara is also a bit of a question mark. She is referred to as a Companion and mentions she has clients, but no one says prostitute, whore, or sex, so her profession isn't actually defined. Book is clearly presented as a preacher by his attire and dialogue, but it's not until well into the episode that it becomes clear that "Shepherd" isn't just a nickname. Fortunately we do get a hint of his mysterious past. I think first time audiences were a little confused since the episode was not intended to air first and there are little references that a first time viewer wouldn't pick up on (for example, River's line, "Mal, bad, in the Latin," doesn't make sense right away since no one had said Mal's name yet). That said, the bar fight scene does quickly ground the viewer in the new universe and most of the other characters' personalities are pretty well established. As an introductory episode, its moderately successful.Bushwacked (original airdate: Sept. 27)
This episode follows a pretty familiar formula. The crew finds a derelict ship, board it, and find some scary things on board. The scenerio is used as a backdrop to further develop Simon and his relationship with the Alliance. We learn it was his actions alone that made him and River fugitives, and that he is very unused to being in space. It also gives insight into Jayne's distaste for him as both a liability and unexploited source of income. This episode gives us the other half of the coin that is the Alliance. In The Train Job, the Alliance presence was that of an apathetic government too important to bother with its peripheral citizens. In Bushwacked, it's an intrusive and unjust force. Most importantly, we are introduced to the Reavers. Since the Reavers are never seen, and aren't even mentioned until halfway through the episode, they came off as some sort of ghost story that comes to life. Since Simon being out of his element is a strong point in the story, it kind of works. Still, the introduction is a little sudden and seems unresolved.Our Mrs. Reynolds (original airdate: Oct. 4th)
What this episode mostly does is bring the Inara/Mal attraction into the foreground, which had only been some passive flirting in previous episodes. The episode implies that Inara's profession is a stumbling block to the two of them getting together, which is the strongest hint of her trade, though it still doesn't come out and say it. The story is mostly about Mal and his relationship with the crew. For example, Zoe takes that role of the brains, who thinks that having Saffron aboard is a bad idea. Jayne is the vice, who sees a commodity to be enjoyed, and Book is the conscience who tries to keep Mal honest. These and the other crew members represent his various feelings on the matter of Saffron since, for the first time, he appears very uncertain on how to deal with a situation. We also get a few tidbits of his background before the war.Jaynestown (original airdate: Oct. 18th)
This is the fourth episode and after numerous hints, we flatly learn that Inara is a prostitute (this episode being the first client we see) as well as the details of the Companion title. The episode is mostly about Jayne, obviously, but it also establishes the Kaylee/Simon romance. The introduction is a little sudden, since in previous episodes we only saw a small attraction on Kaylee's part. Now, for the first time, Simon comes out as interested in her.Out of Gas (original airdate: Oct. 25th)
There's a lot of important things about this episode so I'll go in order. First, the episode changes the opening narration from Sheppard Book's to Mal's. This changes the point of view from a supporting narrative to a first person, which is appropriate since every story of the episode is from Mal's perspective. In the absence of a true first episode, this one goes a long way to answering how the status quo got established. That said, there's still a lot of information missing, specifically how Simon, River, and Book came aboard. We are reminded that Simon and River are fugitives and rather recent arrivals on the ship, but get nothing on Book. There was a small reference to the worn out compression coil in The Train Job, but no other foreshadowing for this problem. It's likely a first time viewer would not have caught the connection.Shindig (original airdate: Nov. 1st)
This episode is a counterpoint for Our Mrs. Reynolds. Whereas that episode featured a mostly rural setting and Inara feeling jealous over Mal's accidental wife, Shindig is a high class urban setting with Mal feeling jealous over Inara's doting client. In the end, both call their rivals out as villains and have a fight over it. We are also introduced to Badger as a former associate of Mal's who somehow stiffed them on a deal, though we're not told the details.Safe (original airdate: Friday Nov. 8th)
Despite changing the order, the network was good enough to maintain the continuous action from Shindig by airing this episode next. After seeing a lot of Simon's situation in the present, we now learn about his past. We learn he and River came from a very well off family and, despite his talents, River was the smarter one. We learn how River told Simon she was in trouble and that he had to resort to some illegal activity to rescue her. We're not told any details about the mysterious academy, though it had been mentioned previously that it was a government institution. A detail that hadn't been mentioned yet, but gets established is River's love and talent for dance. As far as the other characters are concerned, the Simon/Kaylee romance has regressed a bit since he seems insensitive to her feelings. Mal succinctly explains that he has accepted Simon as a member of the crew. The most important development of course is Sheppard Book and his mysterious connection to the Alliance, though there had been a few hints of this The Train Job, and Our Mrs. Reynolds. A final note when Book is wounded, Kaylee holds his hand and says he had done the same for her once; an incident that we haven't seen or been told about.Ariel (original airdate: Friday Nov. 15th
This episode is the second caper episode after The Train Job, and follows a more classic formula of it. It's also the second Simon/River episode in a row, which implies some sort of buildup, though it's never followed through. We learn that when Simon joined the crew, he and Mal made a deal that involved Simon keeping his sister in check. We're not told any other details. The Hands of Blue men return after The Train Job, though we're not told any further details about them and none of the crew actually see their faces, so the situation is mostly unchanged by the end, save for Simon getting more data on River's condition. Jayne's antagonism towards the siblings comes to a head when he finally betrays them, but Mal straightens him out, more or less concluding that arc.War Stories (original airdate: Dec. 6th)
The airdate of this episode preserved the continuous action from Ariel. It's mostly about the relationship between Mal, Zoe, and Wash. Wash's jealously over Mal's authority over Zoe is established. We saw something similar in Out of Gas, but the argument there was about Mal's authority over Wash in a crisis. In that case, Wash was the one with split loyalties. In this story, it's Wash feeling shorted by Zoe's split loyalties. Adelei Niska returns, making him the second and last primary villain to recur in the original airing.Objects in Space (original airdate: Dec. 13th)
With the altered scene between Mal and Inara, this epsiode actually works pretty well in this slot. In River's point-of-view scene, we see Zoe and Wash being close after their makeup in the previous episode. River also appears to find out about Jayne's betrayal when she reads his mind. If Trash had ever been aired, Simon and River's confrontation with Jayne would have been setup from this episode. During the discussion of River's future, all of the previous River incidents are mentioned, including her actions in Mal's rescue that happened the previous episode. All in all, it marks a turning point and the crew's final acceptance of River as a member of the crew. Lastly, Mal's opening monologue is dropped for a cold open.Serenity (Series Finale, original airdate: Friday Dec. 20th)
This episode appears to start with a flashback of the end of the war, which we had only gotten a few details on previously. It's a really great and emotional action sequence, but it's relevance isn't really explained. It doesn't actually become clear that this is the first episode until the 22 minute mark when Book meets Kaylee. Until then, it just appears the crew is on another job for Badger, and everyone else is just staying out of the way. That said, there are some noticeable differences. The pacing is much slower and some of the language the characters use is unusual, such as Mal referring to Inara as "The Ambassador," and Wash calling the crew "Travelers."I would say that, while most the original order holds up fine, Fox's decision not to air Serenity first was the greatest disservice done to the show. Everything that I said was established in a particular episode was actually properly established in the pilot. I believe that the absence of this information inhibited the word of mouth popularity until it was too late. When someone is introduced to a new show mid-season, it helps to have someone else explain any information they've missed. Well, most first time Firefly viewers didn't have that information, so there was no one to explain everything they needed to understand the show. Fox essentially traded a potentially problematic pilot for problematic ratings.
Fox has never looked back or showed much remorse on its decision to cancel the series. Last year, former Fox president Gail Berman spoke to the Pittsburgh Gazette about the decision.
Canceling 'Firefly' was as difficult as anything I'd ever been involved in because Joss and I had been creative partners at one time... I worked with him very closely on this particular show and when it didn't perform, having to cancel it was very difficult... If I had to do it over again, I might have reconsidered [airing them in order] but I'm not sure it would have changed anything. It was a numbers thing. It was a wonderful show and I loved it and I loved working with him on it but that was a big show, a very expensive show and it wasn't delivering the numbers.Looking back on the marketing and promos, it seems that Fox wasn't that excited about the show itself, but just about working with Joss. Nearly all the promos mention "From the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer," even though the space and vampire fan bases aren't exactly the same. Some even described the series as "quirky", "twisted", or "really out there." I'm not sure which audience they were trying to attract with those adjectives. I also noticed a lot of footage used was from the pilot, Serenity, even though the network thought it was a bad opener.
I'll admit, I know precious little how a channel network operates, but some of the decisions made on this series are still baffling to me. They aired the show on Friday nights, which is a risky move on a good day. It's even deadlier for a freshmen show (SyFy Channel not withstanding). The marketing was also inaccurate and poorly directed. I'm not sure what shows it was paired with, but I sense it got precious little support from Fox executives. Everyone involved with the series was the right person in the right place, but Fox was just the wrong network for it.
"Hey, remember that time we were off the air for ten years, and thousands of people came to see us anyway."
-Tim Minear at San Diego Comic Con 2012
Perhaps one good thing that came out of cancellation is that it never had the chance to get bad. As the old adage goes, "Always leaving them wanting more," and that's what happened. One can still watch the show from Serenity to Serenity and be awed but never satiated.
Mal: We're still flyin'.Simon: That's not much.Mal: It's enough.
-Last lines of the original airing.
Happy Holidays Browncoats!
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