Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me

Firefly: Blu-Ray Edition

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Now, what kind of Browncoat would I be if I didn't have the Firefly box set on Blu-Ray? A ruttin' bad one. However, I have put off watching the series for a month or so now, simply because it depresses me, especially during the last couple of episodes. The knowledge that this great show, a haven for sci-fi geeks and people looking for something edgy and different, was coming to an end is one of the most heart wrenching feelings in the world. The thought of how much potential this show had, the stories it could have told and the places it could have taken us to leaves such a sense of longing that it's unbearable. People may not understand that, it's just a show after all. 

But it wasn't just a show - it was an amazingly good show. There weren't dramatic twists every episode, nor were there the tense action that one might find in 24 or something of that ilk. Instead, it was character driven, and with a main cast of nine, there was something for everyone. 

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You had Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), the captain of the Firefly class ship Serenity. A charismatic, cunning, but damaged man from a war he was on the losing side of (though not convincingly the wrong side), Mal takes the opportunity for freedom in the universe by captaining a ship made for smugglers. Taking both legal and illegal work (mostly illegal), Mal seldom breaks his own moral code, and nothing is more important to him than the welfare of his crew - something that comes as a surprise to those who don't know him. A great lead for a show, not always chirpy and honest - a regular Han Solo of sorts.

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Zoe and Wash, played by Gina Torres and Alan Tudyk respectively. Zoe, the battle-hardened first-mate of Serenity, dutifully following her battle comrade Mal Reynolds wherever his misfortune takes them. Stern, determined and strong, Zoe is a woman you don't want to cross. If it wasn't for the airtight relationship and respect between her and Mal, you'd think she'd aptly be able to captain the ship herself, and possibly do a more efficient job of it. Joss Whedon is known for creating strong female characters, and this is one you'd definitely want on your side. And in the case of ace-pilot Wash, you'd want her by your side through sickness and in health. The pairing of the ice-cold Zoe and the jolly joking Wash is an interesting one, and they work as one of the more realistic and admirable on-screen couples of television. Wash provides comic relief in any situation, but we can also see that he has his own fire in his belly when things get heated, even when confronting his amazon goddess of a wife. Following their relationship past the series would have been interesting, knowing Whedon's style of mixing up relationships in his shows.

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Inara Serra (Morena Baccarin) brought an element of elegance to the dusty, gritty world of Serenity in a most unusual fashion. As a Companion - something akin to a geisha - Inara maintained an air of grace in an otherwise rude and uncompromising world. She was an insightful and beautiful character, and one not easy to figure out - she had her own secrets and was very good at, nay, trained in ways to keep them. But that isn't the main reason we love her; she was the unobtainable prize that our Mal Reynolds secretly sought, and we were all wishing and waiting that they would put aside their petty squabbles and sing out their feelings to the vacuum of space. They bickered and challenged each other, both quite obviously afraid and uncertain of the feelings between them, and by the final episodes anyone who wasn't screaming at the screen for them to get together can only be described as heartless. Also, she's hot.

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If Inara Serra had secrets to keep, you can bet they weren't as much interest to fans as the dark and mysterious past of Shepherd Derrial Book (Ron Glass). A evangelist of sorts, Book joined the ship as a sort of pilgrimage, and since boarding took the role of reminding the crew (much to the chagrin of the ship's captain) of the morality of their actions. That isn't to say he was a buzzkill, he just tried to keep people on the straight and narrow, though in many instances this proved impossible. But, behind this good-willed nature, was a mystery that befuddled both fans and shipmates - for a Shepherd, Book was remarkably well versed in the goings on of the type of crime that Mal and his crew found themselves in, and showed proficiency in both armed and unarmed self defence. The mystery of Book was unravelled in one of the recently released comics that tie up some of the loose ends created by the shows sudden demise, which if you are a fan of the series and haven't read, it's definitely worth forking out for.

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The hero of Canton is the man they call Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin) and for fans of the show, Jayne was a different type of hero. Crass, sometimes disgusting, not plagued with an abundance of schooling; Jayne was the oaf that you just had to love. His loyalty was bought rather than earned, and it was no secret to anyone on the crew that he if the reward was big enough he'd likely turn on them in an instant. Why did they tolerate him? Because he was the muscle, and a damn useful piece of muscle to have in the various sticky situations they were often found in. With the strength of three men and an unhealthy obsession with firearms, Jayne is the character most people would want by their side in a fight, as long as they could keep a steady income. He may have rubbed others in the crew the wrong way, but he had his own moments of heroism that showed that there was at least some conscience buried beneath that thick skull.

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Kaylee Frye(Jewel Staite) is the adorable mechanic that is too cute to function. I'm not really sure what that means, but I'll explain why I love her. Kaylee seems to represent innocence in the 'verse, and plays a part on the ship that not only keeps in running in a mechanical sense, but in a communal sense as well. You can imagine that it must get awful lonely drifting through space, but with Kaylee around you wouldn't feel unappreciated in any way. She had time for everyone and always thought the best of people, even knuckleheads like Jayne. For this reason, it seemed as if the crew used her as an outlet for their caring nature, forming familial bonds as protective brothers or doting mothers. I think in most social groups there's that one person that you look out for more than others, and Kaylee is that person on Serenity.

In some ways the focus of the series, Simon (Sean Maher) and River Tam (Summer Glau) are the out of place wanderers far, far away from home. River, a mysterious young girl who is wanted desperately by her past captors, the Alliance, was freed by the sole efforts of her older brother Simon, a gifted surgeon from one of the richer planets in the universe, damning the both of them to live as fugitives. Where their lives would have ended up if they hadn't boarded Serenity? Who knows, but thank goodness they did. Simon never thought he'd be out in the ass-end of the galaxy scrounging for scraps, but here he is as a thoroughly overqualified ship's medic. As a result, it takes him a while to shed his formerly pampered roots and adjust to life on a ship of thieves, and in watching him grow more and more accustomed to this new life he has been forced to lead is a great piece of narrative. Despite empathising with his situation, at first you too will at points find him annoying and wish for him to loosen up, and though he never really loses his manners or general demeanour, throughout the course of the series he becomes more and more willing to take on a rougher version of himself. And, his courage and determination to protect his sister is always admirable; a true hero in that sense. River is even more out of place than her brother, not just on the ship, but with people in general. We don't know what the Alliance did to her or why they did it, but what they created was a young girl who spouts nonsense one minute and delivers chilling insight the next. She has a much more established role in the film that eventually followed the series, where a lot of the questions that we had about her were answered, and we saw more of what she was capable of. Had the show not ended and the film not occurred, you can bet that the development of River's adventures would have gotten more and more complex and thrilling as time on the ship passed by.

And that is that, my love for a show that should have seen more of the world than it was allowed. If you haven't been blessed with this knowledge, then find the series, watch the film and read the comics - it will raise the bar for all film you ingest from then on.


Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me
Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain't coming back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me
There's no place I can be
Since I found Serenity
But you can't take the sky from me...


Firefly Theme Song Written By Joss Whedon and Performed By Sonny Rhodes