The Cover

Inara (Morena Baccarin). Be still my heart.

Inara, a "companion" is the futuristic incarnation of the geisha. As portrayed by the stunningly beautiful Morena Baccarin, Inara is professional who only takes select clients. Her chaste relationship with Captain Reynolds proves to be one of the more fascinating of the show. It seems that they love each other... but... it seems like they don't. It's an adversarial love relationship that's common in Whedon's work, but always a pleasure to watch.

Soon, Shepherd Book (Ron Glass) climbs aboard, providing a much needed (although suspicious) spiritual viewpoint to the crew. And in the first episode, we also meet Simon and River Tam (Sean Maher and Summer Glau), brother and sister fugitives who seek refuge within Serenity's hull. I'd say more about the Tams (particularly Glau's fascinating portrayal of River), but this is a show where it's the characters that really matter and discovering them is where most of the joy is found.

You'll encounter little techo-babble in the world of Firefly. In fact, I reckon folks are more likely to talk as such I'm writin' here then try to confound the situation with a whole bunch of wordy nonsense. Rather than this dialogue and visual throwback to the west being a distraction, it makes everything feel real. We no longer must address the falseness of uniforms, aliens and robots that seem to plague all other shows. We have things that we as viewers can connect with, and we have a world that's extremely easy to get lost in. Firefly is shot with one camera, mostly handheld (hell, even the CGI shots look realistically shaky) that instantly distance what you're about to see from so many other science fiction shows or just plain dramas that have come before it.

Zoe, Mal and Jayne (Torres, Fillion and Baldwin)

But really, the heart of the show isn't about what the space transport looks like, or how powerful the guns are. Firefly is so good, because it's about the characters, their interactions, their loves, their losses and their flaws. Every character in Firefly is fully realized from start. That's not say that they're predictable - quite the opposite, each turning into something completely different over the course of this partial season. Each character has a heart, as malformed as it may seem, and are alternatively lovable and despicable from show to show, just like real life. A broad, expansive cast for sure, but one which simply feels perfect.

The episodes themselves are great, providing the perfect mixture of character study and action. A science-fiction show that really isn't about science fiction, choosing instead to focus on the small facets of life that would be mundane if not magnified through the beautiful scope of the series.

God, just when I try to think of more to say about the show, my gorge rises and I can't imagine that any network concerned about the quality of programming, would have canceled it. Granted, I didn't watch it like most of the country, but mainly because a lack of advertising and terrible timeslots. But after seeing the entire show, seeing the potential and scope of the stories that could have been, I really understand why the fans were so fervent in keeping the show on the air.

Cutey Kaylee

The show makes feels like there's so much more to tell, so much more to explore within the characters and the world that they inhabit. With the excellent writing, acting and unparralled direction, Firefly is quite simply, one of the best TV shows in recent memory, futuristic or otherwise.

TV Grade: A+

Video: 5 out of 5
It's a beautiful presentation, with delicately balanced colors and nice dark color levels. Even better, the whole thing is in widescreen and each episode looks and feels like a movie.
Widescreen Anamorphic 1.78:1

Audio: 4 out of 5
Fine, TV audio with plenty of bass and subtle effects
English (Dolby 2.0)

Simon and River

Extras: 4.5 out of 5
First up are the excellent commentaries. Each is interesting in it's own right, but the Joss Whedon commentaries are wonderfully sarcastic and funny (he calls Morena Baccarin something like woefully homely). You can also tell that everyone involved in the series has a love for the show, and that they were as sad to see it go as the fans were. There's a nice making-of that runs about half an hour which gives a nice, unfettered look at the show and the reaction to the cancellation. If you add in the other extras like the set tour, audition tape and gag reels, then you have about an hour of solid, interesting extras.

Overall: 5 out of 5
For those of you looking for gifts, you couldn't do wrong with this. Even if you're not sure that the person would like the show, buy it anyway. Chances are, they'll love it as much as I do. The best $35 you'll spend for TV on DVD. I guaran-damn-tee it.

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