Post by mr. excellent on Nov 28, 2011 13:22:15 GMT -5
In the spirit of research, I decided to check out this short lived but amazing sci-fi, written and directed by Mr. Joss Whedon.
Firefly is a space western, set 500 years into the future. It's in space in the sense that the crew lives on their space ship, Serenity. It's a western in the sense that the crew will take on any job (legal or illegal) for their livelihood, but they do live by an unspoken code... sort of. And that's the fun of the show. Anyway, they're always on the move because they have no permanent place of dwelling, thanks to the totalitarian regime known as The Alliance.
Firefly is an ensemble show in the sense that there is no "Will Smith" of the show. Every character is important, and probably could have carried an episode alone had the show lasted long enough. Firefly is funny, quirky, visually impressive for tv (it came out back in '03); its stories are rich and unique. To see what I'm talking about, here's a brief description of the shows 9 characters. There are 14 episodes total, and a movie for a conclusion. It's definately worth looking into on your guys's upcoming winter breaks. The characters are in no particular order, since they're all important to the show.
Jayne: The muscle of the ship. He's loud, dumb, and has dignity. He'll double cross you for the right price, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like you. His respect for the captain never fails though. I love this man ape.
Malcome Reynolds: The Captain of the ship and the glue that holds everyone together. He's was a fighter for the Independents, overthrown by the Alliance. He and his right hand woman Zoe have witnessed the worse parts of the war, and such accounts have left his spirits jaded. All that means is that he'll now do anything to keep food on the table and fuel in the ship, so long as the illegal jobs hurt only those who have it coming. The Captain is smart and resourceful, his greatest attribute is his ability to lead, followed closely by his scrapping talents.
Zoe: This woman is tough as nails, an honest to goodness soldier and strategist. She still has a very feminine quality to her though, which helps to make an interesting dichotomy for her character.
Wash: The sarcastic pilot of the ship. He's the best at what he does, but he's no fighter. That's why he married Zoe (actually no, she is really foxy...), who he's fully aware can kill him with her pinky. He played the trigger happy Russian in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Inara: A companion, she lends her talents to clients of her choosing (both male or female) on various planets (there are no aliens on the show). She's of very high status and sometimes gains the crew access to high profile jobs. The Captain and her have a lot of romantic tension that probably gets resolved in the movie (I haven't seen it).
Shephard: He's a priest, so it goes without saying that he provides some moral guidance. Had the show gone on further, we probably would've found out more on why he's such a badass with insights on everything from thieving, war, trade, etc.
Kaylee: The mechanic of the ship, Kaylee is a free spirited twenty something year old. She speaks her mind using colorful language to do it, and she is something of a genius, but she's mostly looking for the best in a situation. She's extremely cute, but I didn't find her to be stereotypical. I tend to get pissy about bad female representations on tv, so that probably means something.
Dr. Simon Tam: The medic of the ship, who is also a twenty something year old. He was to be one in an elite society of the most respected doctors in the entire planetary system. He threw it all away to save his kid sister River from a branch of the Alliance that disguised itself as private school. He's a fun character, and he's great with women, until it comes to the physical stuff. Then he tends to screw everything up in spite his best efforts. Kaylee and he have some romantic tension going on, and it damned well better be situated in the movie. What?
River: She is the most unique character of the show. A prodigy in every sense of the word, she picks anything up as a second nature. Mathematics, poetry, music, dancing, fighting, shooting... anything. She can read people's minds (but she can't control it), see brief glimpses into the future, etc. The Alliance doctors experimented on her brain, completely eliminating her ability to suppress her emotions. Thus, she is unpredictable and loopy. Her character provides a lot of comedic moments on the show, but there's an eery quality to her too. This character was very well conceived. Again, she's just a kid.
Firefly is a space western, set 500 years into the future. It's in space in the sense that the crew lives on their space ship, Serenity. It's a western in the sense that the crew will take on any job (legal or illegal) for their livelihood, but they do live by an unspoken code... sort of. And that's the fun of the show. Anyway, they're always on the move because they have no permanent place of dwelling, thanks to the totalitarian regime known as The Alliance.
Firefly is an ensemble show in the sense that there is no "Will Smith" of the show. Every character is important, and probably could have carried an episode alone had the show lasted long enough. Firefly is funny, quirky, visually impressive for tv (it came out back in '03); its stories are rich and unique. To see what I'm talking about, here's a brief description of the shows 9 characters. There are 14 episodes total, and a movie for a conclusion. It's definately worth looking into on your guys's upcoming winter breaks. The characters are in no particular order, since they're all important to the show.
Jayne: The muscle of the ship. He's loud, dumb, and has dignity. He'll double cross you for the right price, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like you. His respect for the captain never fails though. I love this man ape.
Malcome Reynolds: The Captain of the ship and the glue that holds everyone together. He's was a fighter for the Independents, overthrown by the Alliance. He and his right hand woman Zoe have witnessed the worse parts of the war, and such accounts have left his spirits jaded. All that means is that he'll now do anything to keep food on the table and fuel in the ship, so long as the illegal jobs hurt only those who have it coming. The Captain is smart and resourceful, his greatest attribute is his ability to lead, followed closely by his scrapping talents.
Zoe: This woman is tough as nails, an honest to goodness soldier and strategist. She still has a very feminine quality to her though, which helps to make an interesting dichotomy for her character.
Wash: The sarcastic pilot of the ship. He's the best at what he does, but he's no fighter. That's why he married Zoe (actually no, she is really foxy...), who he's fully aware can kill him with her pinky. He played the trigger happy Russian in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Inara: A companion, she lends her talents to clients of her choosing (both male or female) on various planets (there are no aliens on the show). She's of very high status and sometimes gains the crew access to high profile jobs. The Captain and her have a lot of romantic tension that probably gets resolved in the movie (I haven't seen it).
Shephard: He's a priest, so it goes without saying that he provides some moral guidance. Had the show gone on further, we probably would've found out more on why he's such a badass with insights on everything from thieving, war, trade, etc.
Kaylee: The mechanic of the ship, Kaylee is a free spirited twenty something year old. She speaks her mind using colorful language to do it, and she is something of a genius, but she's mostly looking for the best in a situation. She's extremely cute, but I didn't find her to be stereotypical. I tend to get pissy about bad female representations on tv, so that probably means something.
Dr. Simon Tam: The medic of the ship, who is also a twenty something year old. He was to be one in an elite society of the most respected doctors in the entire planetary system. He threw it all away to save his kid sister River from a branch of the Alliance that disguised itself as private school. He's a fun character, and he's great with women, until it comes to the physical stuff. Then he tends to screw everything up in spite his best efforts. Kaylee and he have some romantic tension going on, and it damned well better be situated in the movie. What?
River: She is the most unique character of the show. A prodigy in every sense of the word, she picks anything up as a second nature. Mathematics, poetry, music, dancing, fighting, shooting... anything. She can read people's minds (but she can't control it), see brief glimpses into the future, etc. The Alliance doctors experimented on her brain, completely eliminating her ability to suppress her emotions. Thus, she is unpredictable and loopy. Her character provides a lot of comedic moments on the show, but there's an eery quality to her too. This character was very well conceived. Again, she's just a kid.