Joss Whedon's Firefly

Joss Whedon is a genius. I have been a fan of his for some time. No one does a better job of putting together an ensemble of unique individuals in unique situations or with unique abilities and then manages to make them all-too human. He did so with one of the best-written television shows in history, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and then managed to follow it up with "Angel."

Somewhere in there he also created a science fiction show that deserved better than it got from the people over at Fox. That show is called "Firefly" and the entire season is now available via DVD box set and you can finally watch all of the series as it was meant to be seen, in the correct order.

Whedon says he was inspired by the idea of the American Civil War, in particular, the Confederates. He wondered what it would be like to follow the people who were on the losing end of such a battle after the war was over. So, he invented a world where humans have gone into space, terra-formed numerous planets, and then just fought a ware between the totalitarian Alliance who want to bring all of the planets under one rule and the Independents who felt the planets should all govern themselves. The Independents lost.

At the center of it is Malcom Reynolds, played by Nathan Fillion. He was a sergeant in the Independent army (the Browncoats) and now he runs a transport ship known as Serenity, which is in the Firefly class of space ships. He takes whatever job he can get including smuggling, stealing and, sometimes, legit work. He is a man who has seen terrible ware and lost many friends, but he cares for his crew.

At his side is Zoe Washburn, a career military woman who can handle a gun and fight better than most men. She fought beside Mal during the Unification war and survived the Battle of Serenity Valley. She is the only one who follows his orders without question and still calls him "sir."

Married to Zoe is the pilot extraordinaire and comedic relief, Wash. Portrayed by Allan Tudyck, he is the much-needed humor a the center of this drama. He can fly anything and loves Zoe, but resents how close she also is to Mal.

Kaylee is a young girl who always sees the positive in everything. She also has an instinctive aptitude with machines, and treat the ship Serenity as if it were a pet. She is a free spirit, innocent, yet sexually free and naïve beyond any reasonable way.

Rounding out the core crew is mercenary Jayne, played by Adam Baldwin. He is a man who wants money, women and a good fight. He has a bunk filled with weapons and names his favorite gun Vera. He is uncouth, unmannered and somewhere, deep down, actually still loves his mother.

Adding to the crew is Shepherd Book. He is portrayed by Ron Glass and he is a priest. However, he has a past. It is a past that hints at violence and, perhaps, power. He strives to be the moral center of the crew, but sometimes fails.

Inarra is a Companion. In the society of the future, Companions are held in high esteem and give the Serenity a kind of respectability. She is gorgeous and provides not just sex to her clients, but emotional support and counseling. She and Mal are deeply in love, but neither wants to acknowledge it because it might be bad for business.

Finally, there is Simon and River Tam. They are siblings on the run from the Alliance. Both are child prodigies and Simon is a respected doctor until he realizes the special school his sister has been sent to is a cover for an Alliance operation to develop her psychic abilities and turn her into the ultimate assassin. When Simon finds a way to steal her, he goes on the run on the most disreputable ship he can find.

Whedon's writing is better than ever here. The characters are merely hinted at the depth that was there before Fox cancelled the show before doing everything the network could to sabotage the show's chances. It disliked the original pilot episode and then didn't show at least three episodes and the rest got shown out of order. Despite a hardcore fan base and letters to the network, Fox unceremoniously pulled the plug on a show that could have become something even more special than it already is.

The show deserves a Star Trek-like existence. As you may recall, the first run of that show did not last very long. It survived in reruns and syndication for over a decade, slowly growing legions of fans and spawning fan conventions before someone decided not only to start making movies, but to bring back the franchise. "Firefly" deserves that chance as well, and I hope it finds it.

A show this well written and acted with stories as exciting, deep, funny, adventurous and delightful as this one deserves to have as many chances as it could get. The actors deserve it and the people who built the sets deserve it and Joss Whedon deserves it for creating such a great group of characters and such a great show.

So, my advice to you, is do the world of television, movies and sci-fi entertainment a favor. Go out and find the full series set of "Firefly." Then watch them. Then fall in love with the show. Then start writing letters, demanding movies and more shows and keep doing it until someone listens.