Firefly - I think I'm starting to get it *spoilers*

[bodhi]

My wife disagreed, as I'm sure a lot of people here do as well.

I watched "The Train Job" when it aired, as I liked Whedon's other stuff, and I was curious. There were several things that hooked me. The characters, the secrets, the dialogue. It's a western in space. Now, as I recall, Star Trek got pitched as "Wagon Train in space". And now, here we are, and we have an honest-to-goodness western in space. Mal's wearing a duster. Everyone's got six-shooters. The spaceship looks like a freakin' horse. And in the first (as aired) episode, they're pulling a train heist!

I loved Niska. "And now, for you, my reputation is no gossip. Is fact. Is solid."

Then later, I think "okay, here's the setup for the recurring baddie. He'll pop up every once in a while and screw things up for the crew, and HEY HE JUST!!! Wow!"

That scene made me really respect Mal. He has no qualms about doing what's necessary, even if it isn't "right". And it really got me intrigued. To me, that scene said "Here's your standard setup. And here's how we're going to be different.

While "Serenity" admittedly does a better job of introducing the characters and setting, I really liked "The Train Job" as the opener. I like shows that trust me to keep up.

 

[Jeremy]

Yup. It's part of who Mal is. Not everyone will like it. Mal doesn't understand sometimes why so many people DO like him. He's of the opinion he's a very dried up mean man sometimes.

But it's one of the reasons I really do like him. It's like the trailer for the movie when he's talking to the self-admitted child-killing assassin who wants to talk face-to-face like "civilized men".

'I am unarmed...'
'Good.' Mal draws and fires seemingly without hesitation.

I mean, he's an embittered civil war veteran turned outlaw who's probably killed a good number of people. Killing a big knife wielding maniac professing how he's gonna do terrible things to your family is probably a lot easier than shooting some 17 year old kid with a rifle who happens to be on the other side of a civil war.

 

[Warrior Poet]

To be honest, I was disappointed he did that. It definitely was true to form, but it seemed very "wrong" to me. I'm not saying it was not what he "should" have done, being who he is and what they're up against, but, to me, that's just wasn't the "right" thing to do

This is precisely one of the many reasons I am so interested in the characters on this show. They're people.

They aren't always good, they don't always do the "right" thing, they make mistakes, they hurt the ones they love, they act in their own self-interest, they try to take the easy way out, they exhibit distrust, jealousy, rage, incompetence, xenophobia, naiveté, duplicity, petulance, and a host of other things. They also try to do right when they can, and sometimes, when they can't. They're funny, tragic, complex, multi-faceted, interesting people. They're like a lot of folks I know.

Of course, I'm speaking of other incidents and other episodes. I think Mal's choice there was absolutely the right thing to do. Philosophical differences aside, I think the characters are written wonderfully, and, for me at least, it's nice not to see another paladin on a horse, but characters that have more depth than just white hat/black hat. The Alliance is a good example. As much as they're set up to be the bad guys, they've probably made life much better/more livable for many, many people. Maybe not the people we're interested in for purposes of this story, but there's probably tons of people that swear allegiance to the Alliance who work to make other people's lives better, regardless of what the Alliance may be "up to" at higher levels of power.

Anyway, I'm glad you're liking the show a bit more, and I hope it continues to unfold as a really great story for you.

Warrior Poet

 

[Warrior Poet]

But it's one of the reasons I really do like him. It's like the trailer for the movie when he's talking to the self-admitted child-killing assassin who wants to talk face-to-face like "civilized men".

'I am unarmed...'
'Good.' Mal draws and fires seemingly without hesitation.

It's like that great moment in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly where

Spoiler

Tuco's in the bath and the gunman bursts in on him, starts talking about how he's got him now, etc., and Tuco pulls out his pistol and shoots him. Then Tuco looks at the dead body and says, "If you're going to shoot, shoot! Don't talk!"

Mal strikes me very much the same way, no nonsense, read the field, see the advantage, take it and hope it works out best for your ship and crew, then fly on and hope folks just pretty much leave you alone so you can leave them alone (OK, so Tuco's a different story somewhat ).

Warrior Poet

 

[sniffles]

But there's a difference. Mal was losing the fight until Jayne shot the tough guy in the leg. When Mal had the guy on his knees, hands tied behind his back, that's when he decided to kill the guy. Just not something I view as right, even if the tough guy did threaten him.

I just enjoyed it because it was such an unexpected and unusual thing for him to do. It was so startling to have someone do something that ruthless, and yet still not be an evil character. I found it kind of refreshing. Made Firefly really stand out from the rest of the sci fi tv crowd.

 

[Macbeth]

Both the Engine INtake in Train Job and the hostage situation in Serenity stood out to me as being very much like a PLayer Character. The audience feels like the GM: expecting the PCs to have to negotiate with the hostage taker, or expecting to have created a recurring villian. Then the PCs come in and end the encounter with a single shot.

Those two moments are part of what sold me on the show. They have a vague humor about them, and they really break what you expect of the plot.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Talk about ugly ships, what about the Alliance cruisers - "OMG! It's Downtown Chicago in space - We're doomed!" What's with the flying skyscrapers? Even allowing that they don't need to be streamlined if they stay out of atmo, they are not appealing to me in the least. But then again, I guess that's the point.

Yep.

The commentaries even mention this. The Alliance ships were supposed to look big and inefficient, just like the Alliance. They also shot the scenes on the Alliance ships differently. The camera tends to be held a lot more still.

 

[KaosDevice]

The commentaries even mention this. The Alliance ships were supposed to look big and inefficient, just like the Alliance. They also shot the scenes on the Alliance ships differently. The camera tends to be held a lot more still.

According to the commentaries the vast amount of camera work on Serenity itself are all handheld. ALL of the shots of Alliance ships, on Alliance ships are stedicam. Oh and they all wear hats. Whendon had a thing where he wanted as many of the bad guys as possible wearing hats. He didn't get all of them but you never see one of the good guys in a hat ('cept in the civil war flashbacks.)

 

[reveal]

According to the commentaries the vast amount of camera work on Serenity itself are all handheld. ALL of the shots of Alliance ships, on Alliance ships are stedicam. Oh and they all wear hats. Whendon had a thing where he wanted as many of the bad guys as possible wearing hats. He didn't get all of them but you never see one of the good guys in a hat ('cept in the civil war flashbacks.)

So is the "Safety Dance" the official theme song of the Alliance?

 

[Enkhidu]

According to the commentaries the vast amount of camera work on Serenity itself are all handheld. ALL of the shots of Alliance ships, on Alliance ships are stedicam. Oh and they all wear hats. Whendon had a thing where he wanted as many of the bad guys as possible wearing hats. He didn't get all of them but you never see one of the good guys in a hat ('cept in the civil war flashbacks.)

Except of course for when

Spoiler

Jayne's momma sends him a tuke.