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Date Posted: 08:43:47 12/08/02 Sun
Author: cjl
Subject: OK, I'm in.

"War Stories" was the clincher. I'm officially "interested" in Firefly now. (Hey, I'm posting here, aren't I?)

But first, a small caveat:

I still have a few problems with the science fiction/Western combo platter. Perhaps leading off with "The Train Job" messed up my head, because it exemplified everything that's wrong with the format. Joss obviously loves Westerns, and there nothing wrong with that, but he hasn't been able to put a twist on the genre the way he has with horror in BtVS and Angel. Doing the train job with a spaceship instead of horses doesn't count. (Notable exception: knocking Nische's henchman into the turbine. Cool!) The Western elements come off as cliche, and whenever they're on the screen, I get a little sleepy. (See: "Jaynestown.") My favorite eps so far are "Our Mrs. Reynolds," "War Stories," and the ep with the Reavers, the title of which escapes my memory right now. Note: heavily character-driven and virtually no Wild West influence to speak of.

Similarly, the science fiction elements aren't exactly the crunchiest part of the mix, either. "A rag-tag spaceship crew, scrounging the universe for a meager living, depending on each other for"--well, you get the idea. Again, not much subversion of the cliche, and if the cliche isn't subverted, it's just...cliche. (I knew those college courses on logic would pay off some day.) Maybe Joss should study Red Dwarf for ideas about how to tweak SF convention. (It's another series set in the indefinite future with no aliens to muck up the universe and distract the make-up artist...)

"Gee, cjl, not exactly a ringing endorsement. What DO you like?"

Well, as I said above--the characters. ALL of 'em. Not a dud in the bunch, and if you think that's easy, switch to Enterprise some time. I love the triangle between Mal, Zoe and Wash, the UST between Mal and Inara, the mystery behind Book (Ron Glass is back! Yay!), the bigger mystery behind River, Simon's devotion, Kaylee's innocence, Jayne's swagger--it's all SO tasty. "War Stories" had all the character arcs going at full steam, and it was beautiful to watch:

"Take me, sir. Take me hard."

"No power in 'verse can stop me."

"[The Bible] said nothing about kneecaps."

But even more, there's a genuine IDEA behind the series, an idea that peeks out from behind the corners of the plotlines every once in a while and registers on an almost subliminal level. The reason these nine characters are huddled so tightly together is because they've all lost everything they ever loved.

What do you do after your dreams have died?

I hope the series sticks around long enough for us to find out.

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