FIREFLY: A True Science Fiction TV Phenomenon

Everyone has their own embarrassing backlog. Until recently, mine was the Firefly series. Somehow, it happened that I never found the right opportunity to watch Joss Whedon’s production, even though over the years I had heard so much about how great Firefly is. Recently, I finally checked off this FOX production, and I must admit that I now understand the phenomenon, and I’d like to share my thoughts. Buckle up, we’re taking off.

However, it wasn’t love at first sight. In fact, it wasn’t even love at second sight. I remember that at the very beginning, it was very hard for me to “get into” the series, to feel even a little bit of excitement. I took a rather cautious observer’s stance, skeptically approaching what I saw on the screen. I don’t know if you also notice this, but Firefly has many, mostly stylistic, signs of unfinished work that, with the benefit of hindsight, are quite glaring. The special effects look, well, very crude. Also, what the creators proudly boasted about for years – the deliberate use of silence in scenes depicting the vacuum of space (for scientific accuracy) – seems to me just a trick to cover up the fact that they were cutting corners somewhere. Additionally, I wasn’t too fond of the somewhat chaotic camera work, which often employed surprising close-ups – something that, as I read later, was explained after years as a deliberate move to enhance the sense of the events’ credibility and the closeness of the characters. Unfortunately, the inadequacy of the money allocated to this production is apparent from the very beginning.

Honestly, I didn’t buy the premise either, in which, five hundred years into the future, we’ll be flying spaceships while simultaneously riding horses and shooting revolvers. It didn’t sit right with me. It’s not for nothing that this kind of story, besides the typical labeling – space western – is also called the Weird West, to emphasize the grotesqueness of the situation. At times, I even had the feeling that Firefly was more of a western than science fiction – the atmosphere was clearly set by the opening sequence, illustrated with a piece of country music. Yes, that didn’t really click with me at first either. If you haven’t stopped reading this text yet because I’m tarnishing the name of your beloved series, I’ll just add that the acting also didn’t blow me away, because it struck me as unusually stiff and theatrical in the wrong sense.

Phew. But enough of these slightly provocative complaints. Firefly is one of those series that, although it has its flaws, truth be told, they don’t MATTER AT ALL. Around the fourth episode, I started to really get into this cosmic adventure, and by the Out of Gas episode, if I remember correctly, I was first moved. That was the turning point, after which everything clicked. It all started to make sense. The rawness began to convey its atmosphere, the wild, cosmic West began to seem incredibly original, and the actors, well, started to gradually steal my heart, one after the other. The reason I’m writing this article is Nathan Fillion’s 54th birthday, the actor who plays Captain Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds, the main character of the series. I hadn’t had the chance to get to know him better before, only through Serenity, which I watched years ago without prior knowledge of Firefly – as you might guess, I liked the film but didn’t fully feel its atmosphere.

So, it could be said that now Fillion had the chance to show himself in full glory. And I must admit, I’m greatly impressed by how much charisma he possesses. He’s the type of guy who radiates positive energy, a leader you’d want to follow into the fire, despite the fact that his personality traits leave much to be desired. As I read, Nathan Fillion said that the role in Firefly was the most enjoyable job he ever got. Interestingly, he had to fight hard for it. He wasn’t Joss Whedon’s first choice – the writer and director of the series initially picked Nicholas Brendon, known from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, another production by the same creator. Apparently, during the auditions, Fillion had to demonstrate a spark in his eye and show how well he fit the role. Let’s add – it was his first leading role in his career.

So what’s the phenomenon of this series? It’s very simple. The FOX production is a very interesting mix of grotesque and kitsch, which, combined with a range of equally interesting characters, the charisma of the main character, and the incredibly magnetic atmosphere of the Serenity ship, invites us to embark on an adventure that should never end. Although Whedon openly speaks about his western inspirations (such as Stagecoach) that form the basis of Firefly and although many science fiction fans see this as a TV version of the story of Han Solo from Star Wars, during my screening, I thought of another comparison entirely. I felt the atmosphere of Robin of Sherwood, the iconic British series from 1984. After all, this is yet another story about outlaws who must survive in a corrupt world, functioning according to its rules, while trying to create a strong community within their ship (or forest) that is resistant to external evil. The character of Shepherd Book, in this regard, is reminiscent of Brother Tuck, as both are figures grounded in faith, yet distanced from it enough not to wag a finger at their companions. And there would be plenty of people to “educate,” as one of the crew members works as a concubine (oops, I mean companion, sorry), while another character is a typical hired goon, bonded only with his gun, who joins Reynolds’ crew after leaving another gang. Everyone has their secrets, everyone has their past, but what unites them all is the Serenity ship. Their home and the place that gives them a sense of belonging in a world completely shattered into pieces.

It’s worth noting two typical aspects of the science fiction genre that were treated with great ease in the series. First of all, it’s impossible to say that technology plays a significant role in Whedon’s vision of the future. In fact, you could say that it’s quite marginal. Secondly, although according to the plot, humanity has moved to distant regions of space, we don’t encounter any representatives of alien races (which makes the series vastly different from something like Star Trek, which largely deals with racial equality). All of this stems from one reason – Whedon planned from the beginning to focus on people, their characters, attitudes, and moral dilemmas. According to the creator, fascinated by Shakespeare, the series is simply about the adventures of nine different people, each seeing nine completely separate things in space. As we learn from interviews with the director, Whedon wanted to emphasize that, in his opinion, the future will not bring any significant social or cultural changes, and regardless of the developing technology, humanity will still struggle with the same political and ethical problems as today. It’s a bit of a depressing realization, but I can’t help but believe it.

However, in order to achieve this naturalness, Whedon had to take risks. And here we get to the most interesting aspect of the Firefly story, which explains why we only got to see fourteen episodes of the series, although according to the creator’s plans, it was supposed to last seven seasons. The thing is, vision and execution are one thing, but expectations are another. The FOX executives were unhappy with the results from the very beginning, and along the way, they got a bit confused in their statements. They demanded that the series not be so dark, while also pushing for Mal to shoot more at his enemies. Apparently, one of the initial issues was that Zoe and Wash were supposed to be a married couple in the script, which was said to undermine the potential for a romance between Zoe and Mal. However, Whedon remained firm on the tone and other elements, with the cast backing him up. The official reason for the cancellation of the series was initially low critical ratings and unsatisfactory viewership numbers, but in reality, it was simply a matter of artistic differences. Could it be that the station deliberately sabotaged the series by airing its episodes out of order, thereby complicating its proper reception? How can we explain the fact that the series was marketed as a comedy, with no emphasis on the space western aspect? We’ll never know.

What we do know is that fans wrote letters to FOX asking for a second season of Firefly. And that nothing came of that campaign (who knows, maybe today a petition or a well-crafted hashtag would have solved the issue?). We also know that the DVD release of the series brought it even more popularity, cementing its cult status. We know that the film Serenity, made two years later, is a kind of cherry on top, a magnificent conclusion to this extraordinary story and at the same time… a middle finger from Whedon to all those skeptics at FOX who doubted Firefly’s potential. However, I’ll dare to put forward the thesis that if it weren’t for the issues the production faced, if we hadn’t been deprived of the chance to see its serial continuation, we might never have talked about Firefly in the context of cult status. Nothing works like a bit of unsaid.

I’m writing this text right after finishing my rewatch of Serenity, which serves as an epilogue and farewell to Firefly, experienced in a marathon lately. I’m sad because I feel like I just have to say “goodbye” to my best friends. Just as emotions still surge within me, I still wonder what will happen next with this gang, and whether Mal and Inara will finally throw themselves into each other’s arms. Maybe that’s exactly how it works – to leave it to yourself to figure out? Maybe it even makes sense to never tire of these characters and always long for them?