Curse Your Sudden But Inevitable Betrayal

I know, two posts in the same day. Does that seem right to you? I want to speak (maybe briefly) on my very favorite television show ever: Firefly. It's a damn crime that this show was canceled so early. In case you don't know (even though you should) Firefly is a sort of sci-fi spaghetti western with a dash of bluegrass music. It's an odd crossroads, but it is a fabulous idea that benefits from terrific writing, a deep story, dynamic characters, and amazing actors. Indeed, it's virtually everything one doesn't find in science fiction television...and everything I love.

Firefly has a rabid fanbase into which, I confess, I was rather late being inducted. The series has the dubious distinction as the only canceled TV show resurrected into a full-fledged Hollywood movie. The fans, Browncoats, they call themselves, accomplished this through an obsessive resolve that could rattle even the most determined Klingon wannabe.

I knew of the show for some time before I actually saw it. By the time my interest was really piqued, the show was gone. Ye olde Internet gave me my first taste and there was no turning back. There is genius at the core of Firefly; it's not necessarily a person. This is one of those exceedingly rare times that I believe the product is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Some of it comes from the passion that all those involved clearly poured into the camera. Some of it comes from the fans. Some of it comes from Fox's odd decision to drop it. Beyond all of that though, is the sense that simply by viewing these episodes, I have been a part of something special, something unique, something gone.

The opening song speaks volumes and, if one wishes it to be, seems almost prophetic:

Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me
Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain't coming back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me
There's no place I can be
Since I found Serenity
But you can't take the sky from me...

I've watched the series from beginning to end no fewer than four times. I've watched my favorite episodes probably an additional three or four times. I've seen the movie, Serenity, three times as of this writing. Without exception, I love it more with each sit-through.

If we recall back to my opinion of Wall-E, I gave an emphatic "Go see it!" at the post's conclusion. It is at least equally imperative that everyone see Firefly and Serenity, probably more so, but the feeling is different somehow. Where Wall-E was fun, Firefly is seminal. It is the standard against which all future television, regardless of genre, should be held to. Where Wall-E is a great movie for the family, Firefly is but the tip of an iceberg composed of Awesome.

Don't watch Firefly because of my endorsement. Don't watch it to bow to geek pressure. Don't even watch it to support those involved. Watch Firefly because you do yourself a disservice through ignorance.