Firefly, a show that might not be known much in the publicity limelight in the present day. It is a show of critical acclaim, and I mean it when I say this show is underrated awesomeness. The plot is based on a spaceship crew that travels around the 'Verse with the genre of Western Cowboy brought to Space. Broadcasted in Fox Network during 2002, it is perhaps the best Space Sci-fi TV show ever made. I would have been pretty much confused with the said statement when I had heard of the show. Being a sci-fi fan myself, I'd say the show caught my attention from the moment I watched the first episode.
Created by Joss Whedon, the story follows the journey on the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity, led by Captain Malcolm Reynolds (portrayed by Nathan Fillion), and his crew of transporters who would fly under the radar of the Alliance government to perform interplanetary jobs of cargo runs and smuggling. Everything follows the business life of the crew until two passengers get on board the ship as paying passengers on the planet of Persephone, turning the crew's usual sojourn more hostile. The story follows the adventures of Captain Reynolds and his crew through various jobs and circumstances of trouble that they face through space.
The show broadcast during its initial run was a big fail, due to the mess made in marketing and planning by Fox Network, who had scheduled the show during the 8pm block on Friday nights. The entire series consists of fourteen episodes, of which the show was taken off air after the 11th episode following the continuous low ratings on TV. Little did Fox know that it could've been the best Space Sci-fi anthology of all time. Now you might ask, what made the show special?
The story is something that I haven't seen anywhere before. Indeed, sci-fis have their reputation for including aliens, intergalactic wars, and all of the cliché, but this show's story is amazing because of the reality it is connected to. For the most part, the above said sci-fi elements aren't much present, especially no aliens. Now, some might feel disappointed with this but I assure you, it was really well-written with an uncanny yet crafty screenplay that entertains the audience throughout the series. It's rare for me to say for any TV media (TV shows, movies, anime) that I wasn't bored at all throughout the series. And I mean that for Firefly. As a matter of fact, I was very much eager to continue the next episode despite each episode lasting around fifty minutes, and the pilot episode, an hour and a half. It's not only because the story and screenplay were amazing, but also the fact that I wanted to observe more time with the Serenity crew, representing various backgrounds and characteristics, each of them amazingly written and unique in their own way.
The acting has been great if not excellent with no objections for the most part. The actors representing the characters matched well and represented the 'family' of felonious protagonists with the story. The graphics and cinematography were amazing throughout the show, representing situations of fun, remorse, tense, and action, to the best of my expectations. As a matter of fact, despite the show being cancelled from TV mid-air, Firefly won a Prime Emmy for Visual Effects.
The opening theme seemed odd in the beginning. As for the rest of the soundtrack, I didn't believe it could've been better for the show. It fit perfectly right into the context of the series, mixed with space and western-spaghetti feels. As for the opening, it grew out to be a recurring favourite later once the series ended, revolving around in my mind and its unique mix of cowboy music and space-based lyrics resounding the entire story, long after the series was completed.
I enjoyed the series all the way, and made multiple re-watches of the episodes just to feel home in the Serenity. The series has a follow-up film named, 'Serenity' (released in 2005), worked on by the same actors and directed by Joss Whedon himself, but in end, it is regrettable for the series to have ended in just a single season. It had much potential and critical acclaim, despite its broadcasting failure, the sole reason that led to the cancellation of this series. It hurts, but in the end, we have to deal with what we have got and cherish the great work done by the entire team of Firefly.
Score (out of 10):
Story/Screenplay - 9.5 Sound - 10 Characters -10 Acting - 8 Cinematography/Graphics - 10 Enjoyment - 10
Overall: 9.6/10
The scores would make more sense if you are an ardent enthusiast of Sci-fi and Space-based shows, or if you've already watched Firefly.
Created by Joss Whedon, the story follows the journey on the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity, led by Captain Malcolm Reynolds (portrayed by Nathan Fillion), and his crew of transporters who would fly under the radar of the Alliance government to perform interplanetary jobs of cargo runs and smuggling. Everything follows the business life of the crew until two passengers get on board the ship as paying passengers on the planet of Persephone, turning the crew's usual sojourn more hostile. The story follows the adventures of Captain Reynolds and his crew through various jobs and circumstances of trouble that they face through space.
The show broadcast during its initial run was a big fail, due to the mess made in marketing and planning by Fox Network, who had scheduled the show during the 8pm block on Friday nights. The entire series consists of fourteen episodes, of which the show was taken off air after the 11th episode following the continuous low ratings on TV. Little did Fox know that it could've been the best Space Sci-fi anthology of all time. Now you might ask, what made the show special?
The story is something that I haven't seen anywhere before. Indeed, sci-fis have their reputation for including aliens, intergalactic wars, and all of the cliché, but this show's story is amazing because of the reality it is connected to. For the most part, the above said sci-fi elements aren't much present, especially no aliens. Now, some might feel disappointed with this but I assure you, it was really well-written with an uncanny yet crafty screenplay that entertains the audience throughout the series. It's rare for me to say for any TV media (TV shows, movies, anime) that I wasn't bored at all throughout the series. And I mean that for Firefly. As a matter of fact, I was very much eager to continue the next episode despite each episode lasting around fifty minutes, and the pilot episode, an hour and a half. It's not only because the story and screenplay were amazing, but also the fact that I wanted to observe more time with the Serenity crew, representing various backgrounds and characteristics, each of them amazingly written and unique in their own way.
The acting has been great if not excellent with no objections for the most part. The actors representing the characters matched well and represented the 'family' of felonious protagonists with the story. The graphics and cinematography were amazing throughout the show, representing situations of fun, remorse, tense, and action, to the best of my expectations. As a matter of fact, despite the show being cancelled from TV mid-air, Firefly won a Prime Emmy for Visual Effects.
The opening theme seemed odd in the beginning. As for the rest of the soundtrack, I didn't believe it could've been better for the show. It fit perfectly right into the context of the series, mixed with space and western-spaghetti feels. As for the opening, it grew out to be a recurring favourite later once the series ended, revolving around in my mind and its unique mix of cowboy music and space-based lyrics resounding the entire story, long after the series was completed.
I enjoyed the series all the way, and made multiple re-watches of the episodes just to feel home in the Serenity. The series has a follow-up film named, 'Serenity' (released in 2005), worked on by the same actors and directed by Joss Whedon himself, but in end, it is regrettable for the series to have ended in just a single season. It had much potential and critical acclaim, despite its broadcasting failure, the sole reason that led to the cancellation of this series. It hurts, but in the end, we have to deal with what we have got and cherish the great work done by the entire team of Firefly.
Score (out of 10):
Story/Screenplay - 9.5 Sound - 10 Characters -10 Acting - 8 Cinematography/Graphics - 10 Enjoyment - 10
Overall: 9.6/10
The scores would make more sense if you are an ardent enthusiast of Sci-fi and Space-based shows, or if you've already watched Firefly.
