Firefly (TV Series) Serenity (2002) User Reviews

A great introduction to a fantastic series

[Tweekums · 10/10 · 21 January 2010]

Despite being listed here as episode eleven that is just due to FOX broadcasting the episodes in the wrong order, this is in fact the feature length pilot episode which really needs to be seen first as this is were we are introduced to the crew of Serenity and where we see three members of the crew come on board for the first time.

As the programme opens it looks like a war film as we see Mal and Zoe fighting in a battle where the rest of their platoon is killed and they are ordered to surrender, this it just an introduction to let us know what the two of them have been through and that there friendship was formed in a time of war. Some time later they are no longer soldiers but living on the edge of society running illegal salvages and smuggling items aboard Mal's ship Serenity. Their first operation that we are shown is a salvage which goes slightly wrong when an Alliance cruiser turns up, they manage to escape but learn that their new cargo is covered in government markings making it harder to sell. The man who commissioned the job is no longer interested so they are forced to find a new buyer. To make some extra money they take on passengers a couple of whom aren't quite what they seem. There is a nice surprise towards the end when we learn just what it is they are smuggling... I won't spoil it here.

I really enjoyed this episode all of the cast did a really great job as did series creator/writer/director Joss Whedon who gave us an interesting group of characters in a different setting; it was nice to see the mixture of science fiction and western and have it based on a small unarmed ship rather than a heavily armed shiny starship. Another strength is the dialogue which has a slightly old fashioned feel to it without feeling awkward, there is also a humorous feel without it ever getting jokey.

I'm with rhoberta, this show rocks!!!

[linefreak · 10/10 · 29 June 2008]

I, like about 99.9% of everyone else who's a fan of this series, didn't get to see the episodes when they were original aired. Which in my opinion was a good thing cause when I learned the original order each one was aired in, I thought "No wonder this show didn't do well on TV! The time-line's so outta wack it's a wonder you can even follow it." Maybe the guys at Fox who decided on that order had the same mentality as theluckdog; & couldn't appreciate this series for what it really was. Firefly is a breakthrough in entertainment, refreshingly different, downright hilarious, & still has a storyline you can get hooked on! Joss Whedon combined the Old American West, Chinese language/culture, and a futuristic setting in a way that you can totally believe is not only realistic, but entirely possible. I love all the characters, & I especially like that none of them take center stage anymore than the others do. I'm not gonna get into details about this particular episode, cause I believe it's already been pretty well covered. But I will say that it was worth 80 minutes of your time. Of course, you shouldn't just take my word for it. Go & see it for yourself. Then you'll find out what everyone's been raving about :).

Promising Pilot

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 3 October 2016]

After scavenging the remains of a cargo spaceship, Captain Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds and his crew are found by the Alliance but they escape. They go to Persephone to sell the stolen cargo to the criminal Badger, but he is no longer interested in the wanted goods. Malcom decides to sell the cargo to the outlaw Patience in the planet Whitefall and pick up passenger to raise money. But soon they discover and Alliance's mole on board that is chasing one of the passengers. Who is who? When they arrive on Whitefall, Patience betrays Malcolm and the infamous Reavers have followed them and will attack Serenity. What will Malcolm and his crew do?

"Serenity" is a promising pilot of Firefly series. Divided in two part, the interesting characters are well developed mainly in the first part. The second one is pure action. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Serenity"

aka Joss Whedon's Space Cowboys

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 21 June 2008]

This is a bad-ass science-fiction/fantasy show that combines riveting melodrama, gritty action, surprisingly good visual effects (for TV at any rate), excellently drawn-out characters and story lines layers with apropos complexity without contrivance, and a quasi-Western theme. The music, not to mention the theme song, is explicitly Western in genre homage, and right off the bat in the pilot one sees that this will be something like a Western story. If one could make a comparison, the Sgt. Reynolds character played by Nathan Fillion becomes a rogue Captain of the ship Firefly after losing in war (i.e. Civil War, turned gunslinger, pirate, whatever). And, as the episode goes on, that a motif of scavengers having to deal with total scum business people- first the shyster in the Mos Eisley-esquire space port, then later with the old-lady gunslinger- one sees it beefed up more-so.

It should be kinda strange, but the 'different' attitude doesn't feel at all out of place. On the contrary, as Whedon probably knows from the lineage of Star Wars, a Western backdrop out in space is just what's needed to keep the drama fresh. Whedon also has a strong knack at getting humorous moments, if not any real comedy, out of scenes and situations that could in other hands be total trash (i.e. mixing together a hooker character and a Shepherd character). On top of this, as just evidenced in the pilot episode that came first in chronology if not in original release date, Whedon is a really spot-on storyteller in getting the intended audience ready for more and more servings. Aside from the obvious- what will happen with that doctor and her fragile sister brought out of near hibernation (if you haven't seen the movie I won't say anything more)- all the characters, put on by actors like Alan Tudyk and Adam Baldwin and Gina Torres with brilliant ease- are perfectly relatable and interesting.

Can't wait to see more! That's the bottom line, folks.

Fantastic Series

[froggy3968 · 4 October 2006]

I've watched it all and loved it.If your into Sci-fi then you've obviously read Henlien, all his colony stuff reverted to the easiest to maintain technology for sustainability. Tractors need fuel and engineers and factories to make more .. Horses sort themselves out and make more naturally.Blacksmith forge requires less training to use than a precision lathe so you can guarantee that if you lose a few people in the colony you don't wind up in the dark ages until the next wave of settlers. The whole dirt grubbing mixed with high tech is like Africa today.. Obviously 'TheDog chap ' hasn't been out of his high tech playpen in a while if he can't understand this.

Firefly is aimed at people who have at least two brain cells which is probably why the Execs at Fox cancelled it, They want shows aimed at the lowest common denominator .. Duh!.

The interaction between crew members has depth you don't see in most programs and unlike star trek isn't clinical.It has elements that you can see from interactions with friends around you.The preacher and River was like watching an uncle left looking after a child and not having a clue.. And his hair.. so funny.. River swaps like a person on drugs and the engineer is so hot.

So disappointing that they didn't make more, its' one of the few programs that where every episode was good.Not one episode of Firefly made me want to wander off, in fact you need to concentrate to catch all the nuances of it.

There's humour, violence and a developing story. Preacher's Reference to Saffron as 'Special' is something you need to watch and pay attention to to get the meaning..

I have like everyone favourite parts and not so favourite parts.. A duel where neither participant showed particular skill ( I was a fencer ) was acceptable as the comment about only toying with him explains.

The engine designs a little iffy , health and safety would have stamped all over it if there was no way to stop someone getting caught in it , but oooh! it's not real, it's fiction and a damn sight more believable and interesting than most of the dross they serve up as entertainment.

Buffy had the girl as the bait to watch but had an interaction between characters, Angel took that further and got more gritty and more believable ( Okay not Vampires and monsters, they just replaced the people in power ). FireFly goes one further, you feel lost at the end wanting to see the continuation of the character's lives.

Very much worth a watch, get the DVD, get serenity the film and watch it you'll like it.

The Pilot 2 part episode

[piratecat-2 · 10/10 · 1 January 2007]

First thing when you run a network Pilots are the first episodes in a series gorramit. Fox are bozos when running new series 101. This show sets up the time, place, and our Big Damn Heroes. We are then introduced to passengers who will be the main story line in the series. We enter a new verse with harsh environments, hostile lifestyle, controlling federal government, evil corporations and a strange mutant race on the edge of space. Themes will be action paced, basics for survival, family is all you have in the black, and endless adventure. Our BDHs start off fighting in a war 6 years earlier from the present times. Now eicking out a living smuggling, salvaging, and robbing out in the border and rim planets. The crew desperate for cash with hot goods on board take on travelers who will bring more trouble than there worth. A job thats gone south so to unload their goods avoid the feds they need to sell their items to a untrustworthy gang on a small moon at the rim of the system. Patience who is known for double crosses remains the same her and her gang are ready. But Mal has other plans just wants to get paid. When the dust settles he gets his reward and Patience gets hers. But wait we have a twist with a mole on board Serenity plus REAVERS are in hot pursuit. A must see to start off the series. Excellently done.

Lives up to the hype!

[Kris8621 · 10/10 · 26 April 2020]

I wanted to see this show after a friend with high standards recommended it to me. This first episode was perfect! Smart, but not too smart. Got enough style, but doesn't push it there either. Story is taut, characters are relatable, dialogues are witty and fresh, and you don't see every twist coming. Visual effects are not amazing, but enough to make things believable. Like the A-grade food packet in the episode, it's got all the entertainment proteins and vitamins. You don't miss the added sugars and preservatives that you think you need but that the makers know you don't. Watch it, and let me know if you think the horses being replaced by dragons or a bit of thrown in would make it better.

This is pilot episode

[call_dip · 8/10 · 25 July 2021]

This is episode 1. I think there has been a mistake.

The luckdog you are incorrect this is the best show ever

[rhoberta · 10/10 · 18 February 2008]

This is an excellent story and details are great. Take it from one that has been a fan of Sci-Fi. The story is great and will live on as Star Trek has lived on long after the show was cancelled. I am looking forward to the next movie as I am sure other fan's are across the world. Zoe is the best as well as the rest of the crew. I love her husband and the captain Mel. The show was on late and cancelled before I knew it was on. I bought the DVD and fell in love with the show and the characters. Joss Whedon is the best and a great story teller. The guy Jane is so lovable and the ship is the best. Zoe is so very very cool and River's character is the very very best. I cannot say enough about the series except it ended way to soon.

Great start

[Fluke_Skywalker · 9/10 · 7 March 2018]

Plot; The crew of a ship for hire get more than they bargained for when they take on a small group of passengers.

Firefly long ago reached cult status, w/fans breathlessly singing its praises, but despite my love of sci-fi, I'd only viewed it as a mild curiosity. I watched an episode back when it first aired, but it didn't grab me and I never came back. When a feature film was announced I was a bit puzzled. "Wasn't that the show canceled after one season? A half season at that.". It was well received, but didn't fare much better than the series that inspired it and again I never felt compelled to check it out. That is until I saw Joss Whedon's Avengers. I loved it so much I decided to check out some of his other work and started w/Serenity. I liked it, but I didn't love it. Part of that likely came down to the fact that I felt like I came into a story in progress despite Whedon's best efforts to give the uninitiated their bearings. Still, I enjoyed it enough that I resolved to revisit Firefly and give it another go. That was six years ago.

I decided to finally watch Firefly because of a book series I'm knee deep in called The Expanse. The crew dynamics of the Expanses' Rocinante reminded me a lot of that of Firefly, so I figured now was maybe the time to check it out. I'm glad I did.

Firefly is a Western in space. Quite literally at times. From the character's drawls and slang to the costumes and arid landscapes, Whedon isn't trying to be cute about it. It's very much on the nose. I actually prefer that to "Look how clever I am." style metaphors. Apparently this 90 minute pilot was deemed unacceptable as a pilot by Fox, and didn't air until the end of the series' run. What I want to know is, what were Fox execs smoking? This is a fantastic opener. It's smart, tight and well written, with clever dialog and a strong story that sets up our cast of interesting characters perfectly. The production values are first rate. Nearly cinematic. I was hooked from the word go and the 90 minutes flew by. If this is indicative of the series as a whole, I can't wait for my next journey aboard the Firefly.

Almost better than the feature film

[m_a_singer · 8/10 · 18 July 2008]

Just what the hell was wrong with Fox, anyway? There is nothing wrong with this double-length pilot that a re-shoot of the flat-out sloppy "invisible steering wheel" wouldn't fix. It establishes the characters very well, sets up a compelling story, and hits the various tones spot-on throughout. Bypassing this and ordering up "The Train Job," which does none of those things (and is one of the less good episodes to boot) was just foolish.

I'm guessing, from what I've picked up, that Fox didn't like Angry Mal. If that is the case, then the violence, the antagonism, and the honest unpleasantness of the setting and some of the characters must have played a part as well: Jayne is a lot less goofy here, and he is less controlled as well; Badger is more dangerous and less of a cartoon, and Patience, from her second line on is, one of the best villains I've ever seen (far better than the irritating ethnic joke that was the twice-appearing Nyska).

I'm sorry that we'll never know what direction this would have gone if Fox had had some stones.

Masterpiece's intro!

[DiptanshuG · 10/10 · 21 July 2020]

As a Pilot in Order literally its the coolest and Bad-Ass intro!the whole Crew was amazing and lovable,the sister-brother bond and story was emotionally amazing and the twists and turns through-out the episode were mind-blowing,the Kaylee's death joke was literally shocking and insanely awesome and the intense one on one of Officer and Brother the entry of captain and shot to officer was literally the mind-blowing,Bad-ass and Awesome scene,the ending "Western" fight was purely incredible,Overall brilliantly Great Pilot!

Serenity

[Joxerlives · 7/10 · 30 December 2011]

The good;

The 'treasure' mislead is very clever indeed as is the mole, we think it's Simon then Book. Love Kaylee's parasol. The Mal/Jayne face off at dinner is powerful as is Mal telling Jayne to shut up on Persephone but then agreeing he's actually right. It's a small gesture but love it when Simon is about to give River an injection and she sticks her tongue out.

The bad; The opening battle scenes are too dark, I can barely work out what's going on. They appear to operate on Kaylee yet keep her clothes on (like Buffy at the end of season 6). Passing the Reaver ship is a tense moment but stupid when you think about the physics as Joss admits on the commentary. Shouldn't Jayne bring his own rifle to the gunfight, what if there were no snipers? What if their rifles were inaccurate/faulty and how does he use a weapon not zeroed for him? The Reavers just letting the Serenity go then arbitrarily coming back for it later with no adequate expectation is just stupid and lazy writing or am I trying to find logic in the actions of madmen? (The Reavers, not the writers). Can't they just take the markings off the food? Why does Mal peg the guy in the hat for the best shot when he's got an ancient Colt repeater rifle? How come Mal shoots Dobson in the head yet he doesn't bleed as he and Jayane chuck him out the door?

Kinky dinky; Naked Summer Glau, a cause for joy as anyone who ever watched The Sarah Connor Chronicles knows ("Put'em back in the holster"). Mal tells Kaylee he's considering tying her up, gagging her and throwing her into the hold. She then kisses him and says she loves him. Much like Willow maybe there's a lot of kink beneath that sweet and innocent exterior? "Force is OK" Wash likes to watch Zoe bathe, Inarra also does it unabashedly in front of Book, causing him to gawp. Kaylee certainly knows how to eat a strawberry, maybe Inarra taught her how? Zoe says the Reavers will "Rape us to death" if they are boarded.

Reminds me off; the Dortmunder reminds me off the Chig ships from 'Space; Above and Beyond' which Joss is a self-confessed fan off. As indeed does the strawberry eating.

Questions and observations; Note Mal kisses his cross before taking on the skiff. Is that why he shows hostility to Book later over grace, he's lost his faith? Note even Jayne does say grace. Mal seems to resent Simon as a 'rich kid', he's a very working class hero. Simon tells Mal to dope Kaylee which you shouldn't do with a stomach wound but maybe their drugs are more advanced? Who are the underground movement Simon claims helped him free River? Did Jayne free the Fed? The Serenity reminds me not so much of a bug as off a goose. I always thought at the end Wash was giving some sort of weird futuristic thumbs up, hilarious to think he's actually faking steering the ship and in the widescreen we see there's no control there. Mal tries to put his past behind him but still can't give up his resentment against the Alliance, won't beg to work for them. He also resents Inarra, Book and pretty much everyone. In the future they still use platinum for money.

Marks out of 10; 7/10, interesting but not brilliant from the beginning by any means

What A Show.................

[theluckdog · 1/10 · 13 September 2006]

........and an extremely bad one at that!!! How long did this train-wreck last?? 14 episodes or something?? I can see why now.

I bought the "Serenity" episode from Amazon Unboxed. It was my first purchase, so was free. That is the ONLY good thing about the experience (incident??)

I won't comment really on the acting, since these were, I guess, fairly new people who hadn't really gotten the job down just right yet. At least I've never seen them before in any type of major show, theater or TV. If I did, then I have easily forgotten them.

But the special effects were absolutely horrendous. True, this isn't exactly a multi-million $$ project, but the original Star Trek did better than this & that was THIRTY-FIVE YEARS ago. I especially got a laugh out of the bad guys (reapers or something like that) ship as it chased the hilarious looking Firefly, with smoke coming out of the engines looking something like a gigantic model rocket. I fully expected to eventually see the Wiley Coyote riding on top, while chasing after the Roadrunner. MODERN jet/rocket engines don't even do it that bad.

And that wasn't even the worst of it. The wild-west type shoot-outs had me wondering if I was actually watching a sci-fi film or a Gene Autry one.

Regardless of the hype, don't waste your time...I did...all 80-something minutes of the disaster called "Firefly".

A very good episode

[Mission31 · 7 March 2006]

Amazing pilot episode(serenity parts 1 & 2) that is as good as the movie. The whole series is great but definitely the best space program i have seen. It is very original apart from the fact that the main character is basically Han solo. Amazing shoot outs, amazing story and amazing adventure. Theirs not much more i can say but this is just amazing! I really enjoyed the first 2 episodes, as much as i enjoyed the first two episodes of lost. It is great because it quickly introduces the characters and who likes who. The best character being Mal, the Han solo alike. But i recommend that you buy the DVD box set so that you can watch it all in one. Their are about thirteen episodes in total.

Too complicated plot for a Pilot

[nicofreezer · 8/10 · 16 July 2022]

The plot was complicated and confusing, a TV show Pilot need to be clear, very clear and this episode was not at all, we start at the middle of the action like if we're supposed to know all these names and faction... But when their is like 10 names to remember, different faction ( alliance ? ) And nothing at all is explain it become confusing.

I've try si hard to focus on the episode but no way to understand what was exactly going on.

I guess there is a reason why Fox put the episode to aired in 11 position.

I truly hope episode 2 ( first aired) will be more clear and easy to follow because I Can see potentiel here.

And eventualy i might Come back to this episode and give it a 9/10 But as it is , its a 7/10 barely.

Update ! : i just watch the first 30 seconds of episode 2 " The train wrack" and they explain everything in the intro... What a shame they did not do it in the Pilot episode, i totally understand Fox to aired episode 2 in first... Now is it too late for me to love the show, i Hope not , how 30 seconds not here can be a shame to a pilot episode... I would have understood everything.

4/23/2022

[awbusa · 10/10 · 24 April 2022]

Why do the characters speak and use random CHINESE , it's annoying & unnecessary - there are a few good episodes but the use of CHINESE ruins the enjoyment factor by alot - this is why JOSS WHEDON'S latest projects fail and why the last 3 seasons of both BUFFY & ANGEL sucked , because he tries to change the basic concepts that fans & viewers enjoy -