Sepulchrave II
Legend
Hey, I've been dissing Whedon's infantilism for years. Long before he was revealed to be a toxic pervert.
Firefly Reconsidered: Why Firefly Isn't "Hall of Fame" Great
- Thread starter Snarf Zagyg
- Start date
Look, I like a lot of the art he created. But ... there were quite a few people out there both pointing out the major issues with the art, as well as discussing observed problems with him, before it blew up.
They were just mostly (and unfortunately) ignored.
dragoner
KosmicRPG.com
I've seen a few episodes, never really liked it. I mean I lived in California for over 20 years, my wife's Father was Apache, born on the Mescalero Reservation so I am familiar with the west. She kind of liked it, took me to see Serenity, it's OK, I don't rip it down, except it isn't a favorite. The Killer Angels was an okay book, nevertheless Dee Brown's Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee should be required reading.
For all his talent, there were always those off-key notes in Whedon's work. The recent revelations make it easier to connect those dots (why, yes, I do enjoy a good mixed metaphor, thank you), but plenty of folks noticed the dots long ago even if not all of us put them together.
Joss Whedon is one more example of why it's unwise to put creators, or their work, on pedestals. It's possible to appreciate his accomplishments without blinding oneself to his flaws--and, conversely, condemn the flaws without denying the accomplishments.
gavalinb
Villager
I really enjoyed Firefly and Serenity. I wouldn't rank the crew higher than my holy trinity of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, but still found it worth watching. Would I put it above Babylon 5? Certain seasons of B5, maybe. One nice thing about the brevity of Firefly's existence is it didn't get bloated or overstay its welcome. I think B5 could have been wrapped up better in that fourth season and avoided the worst bits of Season 5.
I wish B5 season 5 could have been a half season. The last half of season 5 has some solid and epic moments, its mostly the first half that just feels like its treading water. Though I did love View from the Gallery (where you follow the ordinary maintenance crew), that was a fun change in perspective to see how the rest of us actually view what's going on.
One thing about Season 5.... best opening! That opening credits spiel still gets me pumped to this day!
gavalinb
Villager
I did like the Rosencrantz and Gildenstern approach to that View from the Gallery episode. Mostly, I just didn't care for the new station commander or the telepath rebellion nonsense.
Season 5 got royally screwed by real life.
First, the network canceled the show midway through season 4. So the writers scrambled to jam in all of the important plot points in the last half of 4. Then the show was unexpectedly un-canceled, leaving them with very little to do for 5, so they had to gin up some kind of a plot to fill in the gaps. Thus the telepath rebellion.
And then, there was some kind of miscommunication which resulted in Claudia Christian leaving unexpectedly. No one seems real clear on exactly what happened, but it doesn't seem to have been what either Claudia or JMS would have wanted. However, it happened. Thus, Ivanova out, Lochley in.
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Oh, c'mon. Byron and the mopes provided the best scenery-chewing acting since, oh, junior high drama club!
Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
I just finished re-watching the series last week. It had been a long time and I noticed that HBOMax had it.
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