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Date Posted: 22:58:11 10/26/02 Sat
Author: Rob
Subject: Re: Watched Firefly for the first time (some spoilers for last week's ep, "Jaynestown")
In reply to: Sheri 's message, "Watched Firefly for the first time" on 22:38:27 10/26/02 Sat

Definitely an excellent week to start watching, because, with the flashbacks, you got a nice intro to each character. This would probably have been a better first episode than the one they did pick to air. Since the one they did air as the first episode wasn't the actual first episode anyway, it wouldn't have made much of difference. The problem the first week was that we were thrown into this new world, with tons of characters, and there wasn't enough exposition. But that's gotten a lot better now.

Basically, this show, if I read it correctly, is not as metaphory as "Buffy" or "Angel." It is, however, a complex show where, instead of the drama coming from metaphorical monsters, representing the horrors of growing up, the drama comes from the interaction between this group of very different characters who are all thrown together on this very low-tech ship. They don't have any luxuries, and the line of work they do--odd jobs, thefts, outlaw type stuff--provides some excellent moral ambiguities. For example, the character of Jayne is both almost completely unlikable but also intriguing at the same time. Which is quite a remarkable achievement. Interestingly, although this show is more literal than "Buffy" or "Angel," a great deal of complexity has arisen in the character development, interactions, arguments, etc. Take last week's episode, "Jaynestown," for example: Jayne, the tough guy, is mistakenly raised to the level of folk hero by a small community. They sing songs about him, write poems, etc., and believe that he is almost god-like. This story is paralleled with that of a brilliant girl, River, trying to find scientific explanations for everything in the Bible, and Shepherd (the priest) trying to explain to her that trying to explain the Bible isn't important...faith is important. Which linked the faith of the townspeople with the faith that people have in the Bible. It added a great deal of depth to the story.

Whether this show will get more metaphory is anyone's guess at the moment, but right now we are still among the stand-alone episodes that the season is starting out with. After the next two episodes, should the show, with any luck, stay on the air, Joss has said that the show will be more story arc-driven and serialized like his other shows. So it should get even more fascinating when those start.

The show kind of slowly built for me, to being merely pretty good the first episode, to being very good. Again, this past week was really the best so far, and it was a great time to start watching. The show, I don't think, has yet achieved the classic status of "Buffy," or "Angel," but, remember, it took both of those shows until late in their first seasons/early in the second seasons to really become masterpieces. Hopefully "Firefly" will be afforded enough time to develop similarly, and FOX network will be wise enough to see that.

Rob

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Replies:

  • Re: I posted it in BTVS board but (mild spoilers for 'Out of Gas') -- Sang, 23:25:27 10/26/02 Sat
  • Thanks for reposting here (NT) -- CW, 06:49:41 10/27/02 Sun
  • Re: one more thing, between BtVS and Firefly. -- Sang, 17:05:16 10/27/02 Sun
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