7d ago

Firefly S01E01 (aired as S01E11) Serenity Original Air Date 20 December 2002

While this was the 11th, and final episode aired in the initial run of the show on Fox in 2002, it was intended to be the 1st and pilot episode. It introduces all of the core characters, and it does so quite well.

As we may have people who have never watched the series joining us, please keep conversations limited to this episode.

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How rare is fresh fruit in the verse? I ask because Preacher was packing a veritable fortune in strawberries.
- What else was he supposed to do at the abbey when he wasn't busy hunting rats? Especially since he never married.
- It sure did seem to have been a while since Kaylee had had any fresh fruit.
  
  Were I unwed I would take her in a manly fashion.
  
  Brother that's how I eat strawberries every time.
  
  A right long spell.
- I always thought that food on a whole is tight but yeah fresh fruit and veg were considered a luxury item.
  
  Which is a bit strange for parts of the verse where folks could have gardens, now that I think about it. I get it in a cyberpunk mega-city or whatever where no one has ever seen a tree but you'd think in some of these places they could grow their own.
So some thought about the Pilot:
I haven't watched it in about five years so I'm really happy to doing this again, especially with other fans so we can chatter about it.
I've always understood that the battle scene at the start was put in due to network pressure, but even if they were made to put it in I really like it. It give a good introduction to Zoe and Mal, especially Zoe. You get a good feel for how she's the sensible second in command and he's going to what ever it takes to get shit done.
Casting Anya Colloff and Whedon & Minear really do deserve so major nods for how well they cast this show From hindsight we all know how good they are but seriously Fillion, Torres and Tudky are all major actor who ether have headed their own shows or been big in major movies. (Tudyk also played a chicken once too). The rest of the cast, mostly have moved on major starring roles in big shows as well. But at the time these were all still on the way up, Fillion had been a supporting player in a sitcom, Torres had been Cleopatra 2525, and Tudyk of course had been in A Knights Tale, but all the rest were fresh new faces.
I'm amazed at how well the effects stand up too, everything looks really and the set designs works mostly, although I find the Alliance ships interiors a bit weak. The Serenity has a very nice look evoking the western feel with the horse head bridge and I love the way the engine really evokes the Firefly look. The mix of the old and the new really helps build the universe. I love the kitchen / dinning room with the rough hew wood table across from the airplane storage carts holding all the stuff. This isn't the Expanse but the sets and scenery really help in the world building and feel quite 'real' and lived in.
The writing ... Oh the writing ... the dialog is sharp and tight. Everyone get introduced and all there relationships are kicked off in nice little ways. I love Zoe and Walsh's bit about asking Mal for a day off. You get a great sense of their relationship, of how he love his wife and kind of resents the closeness she has with Mal, of how she loves him but also feels like he's a bit of a manchild who doesn't understand her responsibilities as an XO. Mal and Kaylee, how he wants to be gruff and tough but then he looks at here puppy dog eyes and kind of fails, and how they both have done a hundred times before and know the dance, but don't quite know how to get out of it.
The action scenes are well shot, but I wouldn't expect less of Whedon, he knows his way around good fight scene, and I love the gunplay that feels like a real western.
The world building is top notch, I wonder how much of that was Tim Minar vs Whedon? A lot of the stuff Whedon did always seamed a bit more built on the fly after the pitch, where as Minar's later shows like Wonderfalls, Drive, and Terriers seem more conceptually planed out beyond the elevator pitch.
Over all I think it's safe to say I really loved the pilot it really did a great job of opening up the story and the world, but there are a few missteps. Maybe it's from having learned about the problems Whedon created on sets but there was a certain ickyness about some of the lingering 'sexy' shots that bothered me, especially Inara giving herself a sponge bath. Than one seems totally unnecessary and just for the male gaze. Also, making River be completely naked in the box? I guess you could say she's being reborn but it seems a stretch and feels a bit over the top. And the patented Whedon torturer porn with the whimpering sad girl was a bit much. I seem to have forgotten how long it took for River to become a bad-ass because I kept expecting her to kill the Alliance agent herself. That being a Whedon trope I don't mind.
Overall I'm really into doing a re-watch and I'm even looking forward to the Train Job next week
- Tudyk also played a chicken once too
  Found on the Moana wiki :
  « Heihei is Alan Tudyk's fifth consecutive voice role in the Disney Animated Canon. »
  « The villager that suggests eating Heihei is also voiced by Alan Tudyk. »
  Ha ha, that is so wrong.
  
  But still “The chicken lives!”
- making River be completely naked in the box? I guess you could say she's being reborn but it seems a stretch and feels a bit over the top.
  I agree about the rebirth stuff, pre-whedon issues, I also figured it may have been because of cryosleep etc etc clothes freezing to her skin. But now that we know what we know it does feel creepy.
  On the fandom page the still for the episode is the overhead shot of River in the cryo chamber. I thought better to grab my own screen cap of the inevitable betrayal.
  
  Thanks for the better screen grab. I don’t mind the TVDB one that Kodi uses for a thumbnail but it’s kind of boring.
  And yeah Whedon’s creepiness is a bit more obvious in hindsight but honestly I didn’t see it coming either much like Neil Gaimans I was surprised to hear it but not completely shook.
For anyone who doesn't speak Mandarin here is a site I used to use to figure out what the hell they were saying:
https://fireflychinese.kevinsullivansite.net/title/index.html
- Thank you for sharing, that website’s very interesting!
  I suspect it could also be useful to Mandarin speakers. I’m no expert — studied it for a year in high school — but from what I remember, I wouldn’t be surprised if, one time out of two, the line is mostly unintelligible to a native speaker.
- Hey that's cool, I had always wondered!
"How is business?" - "None of yours" Why does the dialogue work so well between the characters?
- I love that this episode shows how much Mal actually cares for Inara, but he is too... proud? to admit he cares for a companion.
  
  Yeah it is a great setup for the rest of the show and it really introduces the characters well. Still don't get why this was not aired first
- That one line between Mal and badger? Oh man that kills me it's so good. Paraphrasing;
  Mal: "Wheels always turning Badger."
  Badger: "That only matters to the people on the rim."
  Damn that's a dope ass parting exchange.
  
  They managed to write so many quips in the show that portrays the characters well. The exchange between Mal and Jayne at the end as well.
  "Why didn't you take the offer?"
  "The moneg was not good enough."
  "What will happen if it is someday?"
  "We will see, this will be a very interesting day."
  in like 4 lines you get to know their working relationship and also get a glimpse of how much Mal knows and deduces.
Oh I should watch this again, thank you!
goramit! i just finished watchin that ruttin show a day ago, do i gotta go fer a rewatch?
- Sounds like it ain't no hardship on ya.

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