I’ve just gotten on the Firefly bandwagon recently, thanks to friends like Trish, Kim and Julie T. We’ve watched the series, we bought the series, now we’re waiting for the movie Serenity, which comes out at the end of this month. Which leave you plenty of time to catch up on the series before the movie.

Here’s why you should see it:

10) It was written by Joss Whedon, the genius behind Buffy and Angel. I love Buffy and Angel, not for their paranormal bits, but for the character interaction and the dialogue. All three of us can quote Firefly nearly chapter and verse, right with the old fashioned Southern sayings. We haven’t mastered the Chinese cursing, yet, though.



9) It’s a space western. Yeah, you heard that right. It’s set in space in a time similar to the Reconstruction Era in the South. Mal and his crew fought for the wrong side, and now they’re living beyond the reach of the Alliance.

8) Inara. That woman is gorgeous, and has the best costumes, like, EVER.

7) Incredible use of flashbacks. See "Out of Gas" and "Trash." Wow.



6) It’s about honor. Mal realizes he can’t do a job, he rights his wrong. It still costs him plenty, but even though he’s a smuggler, he’s not a criminal.

5) The cast. Joss is amazing at creating an ensemble cast. In Firefly, you have the Captain, Mal, and his sidekick Zoe, who fought together during the war, Zoe’s husband, the pilot, Wash. You have the mechanic, Kaylee, who is such a GIRL. She’s adorable. And the way she got the job – LMAO. Then Inara, who is a “companion,” a legal prostitute, who rents one of the shuttles for her business, but is always so gentle and soft-spoken, except with Mal. You have Jayne, the tough guy who wears the hat his mother made him. Then you have the passengers, Shepherd, a preacher with a mysterious past and the doctor and his stowaway sister with special abilities, who are running from the Alliance (we think, we’re not sure) and getting the Serenity crew in more trouble than she can handle. There’s not one of them miscast, though I could do without the doctor. Jayne has some of the best lines. And I’m curious as all get out about Shepherd – hope the movie answers that question. The relationships are so intricate – Wash and Mal have a kind of rivalry over Zoe. Kaylee and River are almost like children. Jayne pretends not to care, but doesn’t want anyone to know the bad stuff about him.

4) The song about Jayne – and the look on the doctor’s face when he hears it.



3) The mystery. Who is Shepherd, really? How does he know so much about violence? What about River? And the men with the blue hands??

2) Mal, the hero. You almost forget he was Caleb trying to kill Buffy.


1) The sexual tension between Mal and Inara is through the roof, leading to some of the best dialogue in television history. Yum and Yum!



Firefly Life Lessons