BRP Watches Firefly
Ever since I joined up with the Procrastinators who run this blog, they’ve been pressuring me to watch a TV series called Firefly. Apparently, I’m the only geek in the universe who hasn’t seen (and loved) it already. For months, I hemmed and hawed, found excuses not to watch it, and generally just kind of avoided it, although FlashCap had already loaned me the DVDs. Generally, procrastinators, I’m just not a science fiction kind of guy. Eventually, though, peer pressure got the best of me, and I started watching the series a few days ago.
The following are my live notes, made while watching the first episode.
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Serenity…is the the first episode? I have no idea. The on-screen menus don’t indicate whether this is the first disc or not. Nor does it indicate in which order the episodes are to be viewed. I’ll just start with this episode and hope for the best.
The combat zone, which I’m assuming is mostly computer generated, looks great.
Oh, no. He just said “goddamn,” except he didn’t say “goddamn.” He said something that I couldn’t really understand that kinda SOUNDED like “goddamn.” This is a bad sign. One of the biggest reasons I couldn’t watch Battlestar Galactica was “frak.” If you’re going to use a curseword, use it. If you’re not, just write your way around it. Fake cursewords are silly, and I can’t take anything else seriously after hearing them.
The scene when air support pulls out, as the main character stands and watches them fly away, is great. It’s almost unimportant that the other guy gets shot down while standing and watching because the main character’s facial expression totally dominates the shot. The music is great, too.
Six years later…Ah, I guess this is the first episode. The whole “distant past as context for the rest of the series” device. At least I started in the right place.
“Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!” I LOLed.
“We’re humped”? Really?
From what I can see in her first little scene, the one in which she’s shutting down the ship’s system in order to avoid detection, Kaylie is hot.
Further research confirms my suspicions.
The bad guy uniforms look just like the Empire uniforms from Star Wars. Come to think of it, the big gun the main character used to shoot down the enemy aircraft borrowed pretty heavily from Star Wars, too.
Crybaby was a good idea. Heh.
The style of the credits and the music reminds me of Deadwood.
In her second scene, Kaylie comes off as more “annoying” than “hot.”
(EDIT: This attitude only persisted for a moment.)
Aha! He has a name! “Mal”
Episode 1 sex scene…that’s bold. And THAT woman is hot. There are implications that she’s not human, in some way or another. Bummer.
Hey, look! It’s Mos Eisley!
The “Good Dogs” sign over the grill. Heh.
Badger: Is that Jude Law? Dave Matthews? Michael Stipe? Who the hell IS that guy?
There it is again: “gorram,” or something like that. Yeesh. Two seconds later, somebody said “piss” on screen. What’s the big difference?
Aha! A whole name: Malcolm Reynolds
The recurring “I never married” joke is pretty funny. Also, the conversation between Kaylie and gramps is well-written.
Nothin’ into nothin’ is nothin’…carry the nothin’….etc…heh.
“It’s been a long time since [she] shot me…I carry no grudge.”
Is this “telling the story from New Hope from the point of view of Han Solo” thing deliberate?
While the whole group, crew and passengers, stands in the dining room and discusses the ship’s protocols, Kaylie is dressed in a new outfit and her hair is down. She looks great. Clearly, I’m going to have an interesting relationship with her as a viewer.
So the woman from the sex scene is an “ambassador,” which makes her a “companion,” which makes her a whore. I think the line about “becoming a companion” earlier was what made me think she was something besides human. Looks like it’s a title, not a type of being.
Holy shit. I just watched Kaylie eat that strawberry about seven times in a row. God bless the rewind function.
“That’s what governments are for, to get in a man’s way.” Nice.
The well-dressed passenger, the trauma surgeon, makes me uneasy, but I suspect that’s the idea.
Is that guy’s name Jane? “Public relations”? Heh.
…and the whore takes a spongebath…
No wonder you guys like this show.
“He’s not wildly interested in ingratiating himself with anyone.” That just about sums it up.
What language are they occasionally slipping into?
A mole on board? That can’t be good.
“This is not my best day ever.”
Son of a bitch. He shot Kaylie. I like her! (I think…)
Well, isn’t that doctor a prick? Just patch up her gut wound, ya jerk.
It’s odd, although theoretically accurate, that the ship doesn’t make any sound when it changes direction and accelerates in space.
The guns fire actual bullets and not some kind of laser beams. I wouldn’t have expected that, what with the potential to poke holes in the walls of spaceships and such.
Wow. That guy’s carry-on luggage is his girlfriend. Whoa! She’s awake! …and she looks familiar…familiar and STRANGE…
Not girlfriend, but sister. Huh. Her name is River (?), and she’s some sort of uber-genius.
A government center accepts the 14-year-old supergenius and she disappears from her family. Ender’s Game, anyone?
It looks like Kaylie is going to survive. This is good news.
The whore’s wardrobe is fantastic…oooh, and she’s trying to pull a power play on Mal.
“You only gotta scare him.”
“Pain is scary.”
Jane (still can’t believe that’s his name) is highly amusing.
I don’t know what Reavers are, but they don’t sound good at all. Not at all.
“They’ll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skin into their clothing, and if we’re very very lucky, they’ll do it in that order.” Wow. And now various people on board Firefly are preparing to kill themselves. The show does a damn good job of making the Reavers REALLY scary before they ever make an appearance on-screen. (a la Jaws)
Kaylie, looking at River: “She’s a real beauty, isn’t she?”
I tend to think this line should be reversed. River is so goofy-lookin.
Jesus. How long are these episodes?
Wow. He told her that Kaylie died. That’s messed up.
Both the doctor and I freaked out for a moment.
“Certain words were exchanged, also certain…bullets.”
“Here’s a little concept I been workin’ on: why don’t we shoot her first?”
“It IS her turn.”
Even when things are tense, there’s humor. I like the balance.
Horses? Didn’t see that coming.
“Ride east half a mile, you’ll see where it’s been dug.”
“Reckon I will.”
“Well then.”
“Yuh.”
Well written!
…and the lawman gets free and abducts River…That goofy broad is going to be nothing but trouble…
Oh no! The gorram Reavers are coming back! *eyeroll*
Nice shot, Mal!
*laugh*
Awesome!
Then they just chuck his ass out the back of the ship. Love it.
They just pulled the evasive maneuver from Top Gun!
Hmm. We’re going to address themes of faith, too. And the shot where the Shepherd is bowed down before the whore and she lays a hand on his head as if in blessing is most interesting indeed…
River is so ooky. I just don’t LIKE her.
So, if he knows damn well that Jane will turn on him one day when the money is good enough, why does Mal keep him onboard?
“If I ever kill you, you’ll be awake. You’ll be facing me, and you’ll be armed.”
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All in all, it was good.
I’ll watch the next episode when the combination of time and inclination aligns.
Stay tuned for my notes…
