One of the greatest SF television series of recent years was Firefly. Of course, it never made it past 14 episodes (actually, only 11 were aired). This is what makes this mock-review of the first episode of Season 7 of Firefly hilarious.
The end is nigh. The last season of Firefly started last night and if the season premiere is any indication, it comes a season too late. …
The episode wasn’t all bad, though. Jayne’s big action piece in the fourth act when he was chasing Mal across the rooftops on Ariel had me actually kinda rooting for him. And Adam Baldwin just crackles when he tries to get all authoritarian and keeps flashing that badge to people who couldn’t give a rat’s ass.
There’s lot’s more, but I can’t help but think how uninspired the show sounds in its 7th season. The 14 episodes of the show that were produced were great, and so it’s natural to lament that we’ll never get closure to a lot of the plot threads… but at this point, I’m almost glad it didn’t go much beyond those 14 episodes. I enjoyed Serenity a lot, but there was something off about it. It was too rushed, too compressed. Whedon is on record as saying that the events of the movie correspond roughly to his plan for the entire second season. When I saw Serenity, I found some pieces of it lacking… the government conspiracy that drives the plot is cliched, some of the characters don’t get much to do, and other characters are given the prize of an arbitrary and unceremonious death. As an movie that is independent of the series, it’s great, and it’s one I rewatch relatively often. Would it have worked if the story had been spread out across a season? That is the assumption most seem to make, but honestly, I don’t know. What I do know is that I don’t have to worry about it anymore, and that might actually be a good thing. It’s a tragedy that the series was torpedoed by Fox, who did a lot to sabotage the series, but at the same time, I’m a little relieved that it didn’t live long enough for Whedon to torpedo it himself.
Thanks to Jonathan Last for the link, and he correctly notes that the comments, where people take the gag and run with it, are hilarious as well. For instance, this one:
The third season kicked a@@! (They won three Emmys, for frak’s sake! And I STILL say Joss was screwed over – Abrams is good, but “Lost” was [and STILL IS] just a ‘gimmick’ show!) But I thought Mal being on the other size of the law let them explore some “gray zones” of morality – the REAL cause of Bowden’s Malady (with the great Gregg Henry reprising his role as Sheriff Bourne) – And Badger revealed as a paid snitch for Blue Sun – Or what about the two-parter where the crew finally gets their (legal!) revenge on Niska? And who didn’t shed a tear over Zoe’s pregnancy? Okay, Wash going undercover with the carnival was just a rip-off of “The Trouble With Tribbles” -except with baby geese – but it WAS funny! And speaking of funny, what about the episode with Jayne’s mother and four sisters get quarantined aboard Serenity for a month? I usually don’t care for Melanie Griffith, but I thought she was perfectly cast here…I could go on, but I urge everybody to go back and take another look at Season #3!!
Heh.