What is it about Firefly that draws me in so thoroughly like no other show I've ever seen. Sure, I've liked other shows alot (X Files, Babylon 5, Boston Legal, etc), but they've never connected emotionally like Firefly. Seriously, every time I watch an episode, its like watching people I actually care for and empathise with (even though its a damned science fiction western, about as detached from reality as possible). The show is almost perfect at playing people's emotions like nothing else I've seen and the more I watch it, the more it hurts to know that the story is suspended indefinitely.
Am I pretty much insane to be this way about a stupid TV show?
Sidenote, met a girl that works for my company that resembles Inara very much. Absolutely gorgeous. I wish she didn't live in Columbia.
Proud Cosmotarian
Re: Firefly Question
You're not insane (well, you might be, but not for this). It was, quite simply, unusually good TV, and probably the best science-fiction show evar. It might be detached from reality, but the characters are more human than most shows set on Earth. Rare combination of a great concept with good characters and zingy dialog. In a more just world, Buffy would have been cancelled after one episode and Firefly would have run long enough for it to start sucking. It didn't insult our intelligence, had morally ambiguous characters, and didn't come across as politically preachy.
And the movie totally blew me away.
Show up to work one day with t-shirt that says "Hi, I'm Mr. Greencard!"*
*disclaimer: I'm not one of those people that thinks everyone automatically would rather live in the U.S. My wife lived in Colombia for a year and says it was incredible.
"They civilize left, They civilize right
Till nothing is left, Till nothing is right"
Re: Firefly Question
I dug that show a lot, even though I didn't actually see it while it was on. (I never ran across it while it was on the air, plus: "A science fiction Western? By the Buffy guy? Who says he isn't really into science fiction? Sounds potentially disastrous." EDIT: But I eventually saw it on DVD -- picked up the series on pretty much of a whim.)
Most of its appeal is the chemistry among all the great characters, and the alloying of suspense and wit. And the fact that it had a very intriguing background and backstory that you wanted to explore more. The great special effects didn't hurt either.
Plus you had the beautiful Inara, whom you wanted to roughly ravish from lips to navel with your tongue. And the hypercute Kaylee, whom you wanted to do the same thing to, then apologize to and make her your wife.
EDIT: For couthness.
"My intellect is gigantic, monstrous, terrifying."
Re: Firefly Question
I didn't see it on TV. I saw Serenity with my brother and found it engaging enough that I watched through the series on DVD with my wife.
We both enjoyed it a lot. My wife usually isn't down with A) Josh Whedon B) Westerns C) Sci-fi. We've actually like it enough that we watched through the series multiple times already.
"ps not an lp member so stop beating that drum. the drum is tired and wants to go home now, to the family that loves it. i haven’t even mentioned PRECIOUS PRECIOUS GOLD or ferrets or anything." - dhex
Re: Firefly Question
I wouldn't have put it so uncouthly, but thats the jist.
Proud Cosmotarian
Re: Firefly Question
Oh, come on now, at least Columbia is in the US. You can totally move to NY :-)
Whenever I catch so much as a glimpse of pr0n, I suddenly turn into a sex-crazed barbarian, slashing and clawing my way through whatever and whomever until I find something to put my weiner into. -- Taktix
Re: Firefly Question
Statute of Limitations have not yet been exceeded my friend....
Proud Cosmotarian
Re: Firefly Question
It's Whedon at his best. I think there are stretches of Buffy and Angel that were that good, but Firefly had a very unique tone and let him do stories he couldn't with those shows.
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Oh, come on now, at least Columbia is in the US.
Yeah, but only grudgingly. They put big bronze stars next to all the bits of damage that Union cannons did during construction (the current SC statehouse was under construction when the war broke out, and was just a granite shell, so Sherman burned the original statehouse and just took a few pot-shots at the new one, doing almost no damage). And really, I think South America might be a better place to live than South Carolina.
"But if it makes you feel better, I would also enjoy a world in which there are men, women, transsexuals, genderqueer folk, etc. who all enjoy pelican role-play." - JD
"Extraordinary conditions do not create or enlarge constitutional powers."
Re: Firefly Question
Yeah, Firefly gets to me like little else. I don't know why, though.
Re: Firefly Question
Because there were so few episodes that the misses don't seem so missy. Admittedly, there's no "I Robot, You Jane" or "Normal Again", but "Bushwacked" just isn't terribly good. It's not awful, but it's not great. If the first two episodes I saw were "The Train Job" and "Bushwhacked", I'd have been slower to really get into it.
"But if it makes you feel better, I would also enjoy a world in which there are men, women, transsexuals, genderqueer folk, etc. who all enjoy pelican role-play." - JD
"Extraordinary conditions do not create or enlarge constitutional powers."
Re: Firefly Question
The first episode I saw was "The Train Job," which may have been a problem. Then I saw the pilot, which has a couple of issues if you don't trust the creator.
I'm also not a huge fan of "The Message." Dude gets a little whiney.
However "Our Mrs Reynolds" and "Jaynetown" and "Objects in Space" make me want to...well, hell, I don't know what they make me want to, but it's something significant and possibly dirty, but terribly joyous.
This is a personal problem. There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable use of high explosives. This is not one of those exceptions.
Re: Firefly Question
I just finished watching the DVDs (from netflix) not too long ago. I hadn't realized it, but I had seen almost every episode when they were originally broadcast on Fox.
Anyway I must confess that it is one of those shows that I seem to have little trouble suspending disbelief while watching. I find all the characters engaging and even sympathetic. Even empathetic, and that's a stretch for me.
I missed the pilot and the next episode, and one other, originally, so seeing the whole series I got the whole story. It does help.
I concur with lunchstealer that it has benefited from an early death. If there is one thing (above all the others) that I hate about network TV in the US it is the tendency to milk a concept for all that it is worth until it becomes almost a parody of itself. Most series have no more than about three seasons in them, if that.
At least Firefly never jumped the shark.
I am not young enough to know everything.
— Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Re: Firefly Question
It would've been a space shark, which is awesome, but I think we can all be glad there was no musical episode of Firefly.
Whenever I catch so much as a glimpse of pr0n, I suddenly turn into a sex-crazed barbarian, slashing and clawing my way through whatever and whomever until I find something to put my weiner into. -- Taktix
Re: Firefly Question
It's a
cursemind-control technology put in place on us by ademonagent for Parliament that makes us sing, sing, sing!This is a personal problem. There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable use of high explosives. This is not one of those exceptions.
Re: Firefly Question
George Clinton has mind control technology?
Whenever I catch so much as a glimpse of pr0n, I suddenly turn into a sex-crazed barbarian, slashing and clawing my way through whatever and whomever until I find something to put my weiner into. -- Taktix
Re: Firefly Question
Well, he did say "Free your mind, and your booty will follow."
This is a personal problem. There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable use of high explosives. This is not one of those exceptions.
Re: Firefly Question
Firefly is awesome, if only because it took TV space western drama in a whole different direction. Like Isaac, I almost felt empathy with them, and found something I liked about all of them. Another reason it was so good was the themes it explored, and the general "I'm doing my own damn thing" vibe of the show.
In other news, Buffy rocks, and there totally should have been a Firefly musical episode. I'm thinking a show-stopping rock number from Jayne, a gospel explosion from Shepard Book, a confused and heartfelt back-and-forth ditty between Kaylee and Simon, and a free-jazz extravaganza from River.
But, as Deepak Chopra taught us, quantum physics means anything can happen at any time for no reason! Also, eat plenty of oatmeal, and animals never had a war... who's the real animal?
=Professor Farnsworth
Re: Firefly Question
I think River should have done a Bjork/Portishead thing, myself, but free jazz works. Or some really dark and scary word jazz.
"But if it makes you feel better, I would also enjoy a world in which there are men, women, transsexuals, genderqueer folk, etc. who all enjoy pelican role-play." - JD
"Extraordinary conditions do not create or enlarge constitutional powers."
Re: Firefly Question
oh yeah, also, anyone think that Druscilla from Buffy and River from Firefly are very, very, very, very similar? At least in their waif-y, prophetic way of speaking and flopping/dancing/moving around?
But, as Deepak Chopra taught us, quantum physics means anything can happen at any time for no reason! Also, eat plenty of oatmeal, and animals never had a war... who's the real animal?
=Professor Farnsworth
Re: Firefly Question
I've just realized something about FF. They are able to establish motivations for many of the characters very quickly. Mal, money and some modicum of recovered honor. Zoe, loyalty. Jayne, testosterone and money (and maybe a little bit hanging around with somebody who'll keep him from getting himself killed by his own impulsive stupidity). Book, no one knows, but you don't want to get in his way. River, making the scary monsters go away. Simon, making River's scary monsters go away. Wash, being competent and being taken just seriously enough that people will listen to his wisecracks and let him fly their ships, and being with a warrior woman as often as possible. Kaylee, not letting anybody notice she's Willow, but for machines.
"But if it makes you feel better, I would also enjoy a world in which there are men, women, transsexuals, genderqueer folk, etc. who all enjoy pelican role-play." - JD
"Extraordinary conditions do not create or enlarge constitutional powers."
Re: Firefly Question
You sure aren't not wrong, but I think it's because almost all insane characters from Buffy rather resemble Drusilla or River in behavior, including Glory's victims. (Some psych-student fan somewhere has probably coined a cute name like Whedonverse Bipolaroid-ish-like Syndrome.) Drusilla and River just both happened to be graceful rather than stumbling/skulking.
Buffy's mother didn't have the same mannerisms right before her brain surgery, but I'm told some of her raving had cryptic foreshadowing (the details of which escape me), as Whedon likes the "crazy == prophetic" trope. Hell, that crazy Slayer from Angel fifth season is awfully similar to River during her bar rampage in Serenity. Faith's mental breakdown is the only case of mental instability I can think of in all those shows that doesn't fit the pattern.
Re: Firefly Question
wait, wait! I'm only at the end of season 2! What is this brain surgery spoiler business!!!
But, as Deepak Chopra taught us, quantum physics means anything can happen at any time for no reason! Also, eat plenty of oatmeal, and animals never had a war... who's the real animal?
=Professor Farnsworth
Re: Firefly Question
Pish tosh. Kaylee is the generally extroverted cute, cheerfully whimsical, talented woman who's self-conscious at times about her lower-class status, while Willow is the generally introverted cute, cheerfully whimsical, talented woman who's self-conscious at times about being geeky or
something-something-something.They're nothing at all alike!
EDITED for Buffy spoiler safety. ;)
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Sorry, forgot. Um, Buffy's mom has health problems later in the series, and Faith has issues rather sooner.
Re: Firefly Question
My motivation is getting into her pants!
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OFMFT!
Whenever I catch so much as a glimpse of pr0n, I suddenly turn into a sex-crazed barbarian, slashing and clawing my way through whatever and whomever until I find something to put my weiner into. -- Taktix
Re: Firefly Question
I'll be in my RealDoll(TM).
"My intellect is gigantic, monstrous, terrifying."
Re: Firefly Question
Ewwwwww.......
Whenever I catch so much as a glimpse of pr0n, I suddenly turn into a sex-crazed barbarian, slashing and clawing my way through whatever and whomever until I find something to put my weiner into. -- Taktix
Re: Firefly Question
I just had to dredge up this old thread to post this- while "researching" a Defying Gravity parody, I found this fan video for Firefly/Serenity- most videos like this suck ass, but there are only a couple of moments that maybe don't make sense. Otherwise, if you are a fan of cheesy video moments with your favorite Firefly characters, this is really awesomely done:
"They civilize left, They civilize right
Till nothing is left, Till nothing is right"