Forums » Smalltalk » So, I just watched Firefly for the first time

I just. How have I never seen this before? How is it so good? HOW IS IT OVER? Every single character was so well written, and the stories were fantastic! I just! I got wrapped up in EVERY EPISODE. And do you know how hard it is for me to sit down and watch TV?! It requires monumental effort for me to invest the energy in actually watching all of a series, and Firefly held me for the whole time. I love every single one of those characters, and now they're gone.

I dislike River though. I wanted to like her, and sometimes I did, but just... ugh, too good at everything. Especially how they did her in the movie, though I'm going to go ahead and assume that a lot of folks dislike the movie. I thought it felt rushed, but I don't think there could be a non-rushed way to wrap it up, so I accept it. Overall I liked it, but River almost ruined it for me. (Or rather, the abilities they gave her.)

Damn, I've heard so much good about Firefly and have yet to watch it.

I've heard people say it's a lot like Cowboy Bebop, and Cowboy Bebop is one of my most favorite anime ever.

There are a lot of similarities between both Cowboy Bebop and Firefly. Though I would not go as far to compare the two side by side. Both shows are absolutely BRILLIANT in their own distinct ways, and to compare the two does neither of them significant justice. IMHO.

Glad you enjoyed Firefly!

I find it a hard show to watch because it ends so quickly and you're left wondering what could have been

Oh how I envy you! The first time seeing Firefly is just magical.

River is actually also my least favorite character as well, although over time I came to accept the powers that she had. Her plotline was about the government trying to make super soldiers after all, and she's not... a reliable tool for the crew.

There's actually one more firefly "episode" that you haven't seen, although it IS about River.

Warning: It starts kind of grisly!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6n1PMZ-TBs

Gil, it is kinda like Cowboy Bebop (from what precious little I've seen of the show) inasmuch that they're both space westerns that focus on a crew. I honestly don't know how anyone could dislike Firefly, so... watch it!

I am left baffled, Darth! How could they have canceled it? Was it not very popular when it was on? People don't dislike scifi--look at newWho and Star Trek. It had better character drama than I've ever seen, and and... argh!

Because I can't shut my mouth and I've been angrily dwelling on this for hours, my main beef with River:
The fact that she's a sort of psychic I'm more than fine with--I loved how vague they were about her powers in the show. Her being a prodigy (good dancer, smart, etc.) I'm actually also okay with, for the most part. She's really annoying when she goes crazy (I got ANGRY when she slashed Jayne and everyone was like "whatevs"), but fine, that's not me disliking the character concept, that's just me being frustrated with the character herself.

What gets my goat is her magical physical prowess. Sure, she could have been trained in hand-to-hand (and if you want to sci-fi it up by saying the government implanted the knowledge in her brain or some bull since she was only there a couple years, fine). And she's a graceful dancer, okay, so she should be nimble and fast. But unless her muscles are straight-up magical, she couldn't send people flying with a kick, or ignore the recoil from that big pistol when she shot behind her back (or do anything with that stupid gun), or knock people out with a punch or fight off hordes of big dudes (and by that I mean REAVERS, damnit, who are supposed to be bestial and known for physically messing people up). I was so angry they had her be some kung fu goddess when she's supposed to be about getting into peoples' minds. I mean, even if she DID have magical super-efficient muscles... why wouldn't the government give her steroids to be even stronger (like inhumanly strong), if she's supposed to be some all-powerful weapon? On that note, why didn't they shave her head when they were cutting into her?

It's little things like that that bother me. Her character was sacrificed for superficial reasons like "she would be uglier bald" and "no one wants to see a jacked girl" and "LOL SHE SHUD BE AN AWSUM FIGHTAR BCUZ PPL LIEK IT!!1"

The first or second episode I saw was near the middle of the season, and it was when she was correcting the logic errors in Book's bible. And then there was the scene where she pretended she had become one with Serenity? I bought it! EVERYONE bought it! It was amazing! And that, to me, is what her character should have been more about, not her magical fighting skills.

Phew. That said, when I have more time, I'll have to watch that last episode!

The other person in that video is Joss Whedon

My friends had to bug me for ages, because I refused to watch this...seeing as I am not really a fan of Joss Whedon's other stuff. I finally did though, and I LOVED every minute of it just like you Heimdall. As for cancelling it, Fox cited a bunch of reasons, one of which being that it was too expensive to make.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the fans raised at least part of the money for Serenity to be made so we got some kind of closure. I'd read that even the creator of the show said that if it was ever continued he'd like to discount the movie because of stuff that happened. I agree with a lot of the stuff you said about River. She definitely wasn't my favorite, I really loved Kaylee. Actually, all of the characters had something to bring to the table and I ended up caring about them all!

There is another movie, called Browncoats: Redemption, but it is entirely fan made. I own a copy, but I haven't gotten around to watching it yet.

Browncoats:Redemption

This is the first trailer

I assisted in bullying Loki into watching Firefly, I love this show. Sadly my introduction to it was the movie when a friend dragged me to it, then I picked up the show. My favorite episode is probably one of the sadder ones which is "The Message". The characters all brought a ton to the table, they were well written and the story is just fantastic.

I mean cowboys in space? Sorry that's pretty ingenious, especially when there are actually cows in space. Ahem.

Something Neat! Saw this when checking my Facebook this morning, some things that you may not have known about Firefly! I thought it was pretty interesting

I cannot put into words how much I love Firefly. I love it so much that I can't even type correctly at least half of the time. I don't think there'll be another show for a while that will ever be able to fill the void in my heart that the demise of the series created. I also agree with most of Heimdall's points about River, too. It's a damn shame they didn't get the go-ahead/funding for another season.

We should create a shrine to it on RPR so that all may worship it's greatness.