Take me out to the Black
What can I say about the series Firefly that hasn’t been said already? As I watch the series in its entirety in anticipation for the Sept 30TH release of the motion picture “Serenity”, I realize that I have a great deal to say.
The two hour pilot (which is first on the DVD, the correct order… as opposed to the order that the episode was aired on Fox network) is perfection in itself. Like any pilot episode it introduces all the main characters. We meet Mal and Zoe at the battle of Serenity and see the moment that changes Mal’s life forever. We meet Wash the pilot and Kaylee the mechanic and get a chance to see each of them in action doing what they do best. We meet Inara and learn a little about the future of prostitution, the oldest profession, and how it changed with time. And then there is Jayne… Simon asks Mal what it is that Jayne does and by the end of the episode, that question is still up in the air, along with the question of his loyalty.
Then there are the new characters, Book, Simon and River. There will be plenty of time (or so Josh Whedon thought) to get to know them, but Simon gets a chance to prove his worth as a medic when Kaylee is shot.
In the pilot we get to learn about the universe (‘verse) we are in, and we see that it isn’t too much different from our own world. Space travel and the resultant technology aren’t as important as a box full of strawberries. Even the great treasure that Mal procures (slyly looking like bricks of gold) is revealed nearly three-quarters of the way through to be just concentrated “food stuffs.” This unappealing chewy brown matter is more important than gold to people on the outer planets.
But technology is still important; it’s the very thing that keeps them flying. Serenity isn’t just a ship, or a disastrous battle, or the title of the pilot and the movie… Serenity is another character all together. Whedon shows his mastery of direction in a sequence that starts with Wash on the bridge, he tells Zoë in the hallway that he’s ready, she tells Mal in the hold, and he tells Kaylee outside of the ship. This flow from the center of the ship to the outside shows us all the important parts of Serenity and introduces the audience to the most important character of all. Whedon creates a “real” space for all the action to occur.
Serenity is their home and their salvation. As Mal tells Simon at the end, it’s always a good day when they can keep flying.
<*<*<*<>*>*>* >
www.netflix.com provides me with all the DVD’s I can handle.
As for books, my thanks go out to www.amazon.com, Borders (a chai latte, please!) and all the used book sales I can get to.
For anything I can’t find in any of these places, I go to my local library. (Interlibrary Loans are SHINY!)
LIBRARIANS: the GPS locators in a wilderness of information.
The two hour pilot (which is first on the DVD, the correct order… as opposed to the order that the episode was aired on Fox network) is perfection in itself. Like any pilot episode it introduces all the main characters. We meet Mal and Zoe at the battle of Serenity and see the moment that changes Mal’s life forever. We meet Wash the pilot and Kaylee the mechanic and get a chance to see each of them in action doing what they do best. We meet Inara and learn a little about the future of prostitution, the oldest profession, and how it changed with time. And then there is Jayne… Simon asks Mal what it is that Jayne does and by the end of the episode, that question is still up in the air, along with the question of his loyalty.
Then there are the new characters, Book, Simon and River. There will be plenty of time (or so Josh Whedon thought) to get to know them, but Simon gets a chance to prove his worth as a medic when Kaylee is shot.
In the pilot we get to learn about the universe (‘verse) we are in, and we see that it isn’t too much different from our own world. Space travel and the resultant technology aren’t as important as a box full of strawberries. Even the great treasure that Mal procures (slyly looking like bricks of gold) is revealed nearly three-quarters of the way through to be just concentrated “food stuffs.” This unappealing chewy brown matter is more important than gold to people on the outer planets.
But technology is still important; it’s the very thing that keeps them flying. Serenity isn’t just a ship, or a disastrous battle, or the title of the pilot and the movie… Serenity is another character all together. Whedon shows his mastery of direction in a sequence that starts with Wash on the bridge, he tells Zoë in the hallway that he’s ready, she tells Mal in the hold, and he tells Kaylee outside of the ship. This flow from the center of the ship to the outside shows us all the important parts of Serenity and introduces the audience to the most important character of all. Whedon creates a “real” space for all the action to occur.
Serenity is their home and their salvation. As Mal tells Simon at the end, it’s always a good day when they can keep flying.
<*<*<*<>*>*>* >
www.netflix.com provides me with all the DVD’s I can handle.
As for books, my thanks go out to www.amazon.com, Borders (a chai latte, please!) and all the used book sales I can get to.
For anything I can’t find in any of these places, I go to my local library. (Interlibrary Loans are SHINY!)
LIBRARIANS: the GPS locators in a wilderness of information.
posted by Doloho | 10:59 AM
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