Firefly first-time/rewatch (NO SPOILERS, please)

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by lurok, Nov 11, 2012.

  1. 6079SmithW

    6079SmithW Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Shindig is the episode that made me fall in love with Firefly. :adore:

    I love Mal's attempts at defending Inara's honor and Kaylee chatting about engines with the guys. Especially liked when the older gentleman shooed away the young man asking her for a dance because they wanted to hear more engine talk.
     
  2. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    It's so perfect after she is ostracized by the queen bees!
     
  3. marksound

    marksound Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    "Why Banning Miller, what a vision you are in your fine dress. It must have taken a dozen slaves a dozen days to get you into that getup. 'Course your daddy tells me it takes the space of a schoolboy's wink to get you out of it again."
     
  4. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    It was all very GWTW.
     
  5. lurok

    lurok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I think most first seasons have a tipping point when things start to gel, and this episode was it for me :) Looking forward to next one later...
     
  6. Shawnster

    Shawnster Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Agreed. When I looked at the episode guide list on IMDB with the airdates, I was shocked to see just how out-of-order FOX aired the series originally. No doubt this contributed to the mixed response and lower ratings and ultimate cancellation.

    Here is the IMDB episode listing. The number before represents the episode number from the DVD

    2 The Train Job
    3 Bushwacked
    6 Our Mrs. Reynolds
    7 Jaynestown
    8 Out of Gas
    4 Shindig
    5 Safe
    9 Ariel
    10 War Stories
    14 Objects in Space
    1 Serenity (TV Pilot)
    13 Heart of Gold
    11 Trash
    12 The Message

    Looking at that list and thinking about how River's story unfolds, I can see where it would be a confusing mess for a first-time viewer.
     
  7. lurok

    lurok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    wow, that does seem a wacky tx order as (so far) there does seem to be progressive character development. Speaking of which:

    EP 5 - SAFE
    In which we get some Simon/River backstory, but it don't really amount to a hill o'beans yet. From flashbacks it's clear something retrograde happened to the precocious young River but unless I blanked out I couldn't tell you what. A bit of a letdown after Shindig; the backwards folk/witch thing is such old schtick.
     
  8. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah that is one of my less favorites but I'm going to rewatch tonight to follow your review with my review.

    My favorite episode is still before me :adore:
     
  9. jespah

    jespah Taller than a Hobbit Moderator

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    That's one that I've seen (I've really been slacking in the viewing department). Yeah, it was kinda meh. I kept thinking of Monty Python.
     
  10. lurok

    lurok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I knew it reminded me of something:lol:
    well, she turned me into a newt
     
  11. Skywalker

    Skywalker Admiral Admiral

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    "Safe" is probably my least favorite episode. It had a couple of good spots (like the hints to Book's past and the Big Damn Heroes saving the day), but for the most part I thought it was slow and just kind of blah.
     
  12. jespah

    jespah Taller than a Hobbit Moderator

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    I got better.
     
  13. Enterprise is Great

    Enterprise is Great Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I hated Safe. Worst Firefly episode.
     
  14. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Safe: Okay I remembered this as being all about the big witch deal but this part doesn't start until 32 minutes into the episode! I also remember there being a bunch of preachy crap about ignorance in Safe but this turned out to be only ONE sentence that Simon delivers to the crowd.

    I blame 20,000 hours of Star Trek on having such an allergy to the superstition vs rationality theme that a smidgen of it took over this episode in my mind.

    So the great parts in this episode..

    We learn a whole lot more about the Tam family history. When watching Simon and River's father have conniptions over a mark on his profile because he had to get Simon out of Alliance lockup I felt very satisfied that his reputation is now royally screwed with his two children on Alliance's most wanted list. Karma baby :lol:

    I noticed this wall decoration which I'm thinking wasn't in previous episodes? It is in the living room zone. It appears to be paper flowers and photos and ribbons.. I'm thinking it looks like Kaylee made it. We can see she has painted flowers and vines on bits of the ship and painted her sleeping quarters.

    [​IMG]

    I loved this scene in the store, really shows the difference in background between Inara, Simon and Kaylee.

    [​IMG]

    I love all the bric a brac and useful bits and tools and buttons.

    And finally I cracked up at this scene. Simon is back and Jayne frantically dumps all the stuff he stole off him onto Simon's bed though it was all packed neatly when he first acquired it.

    [​IMG]

    And more Shephard Book mystery!

    I no longer dislike this episode. The witch bit was eye rolling, though it wasn't like it didn't make sense. And more importantly it wasn't what the episode was about. It just wasn't a very distinct story, more a series of vignettes (the cows) and more character development which is a good thing.
     
  15. 6079SmithW

    6079SmithW Vice Admiral Admiral

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    One of the things I've always liked about Firefly is the fact that it featured an interracial couple and never made a big deal out of it. It was never even an issue. Never mentioned. I find this remarkable as usually in American television programs an interracial couple is a huge deal and a central focus of a show.
     
  16. FarStrider

    FarStrider Commander Red Shirt

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    I think that the problem most people have with Safe (other than the whole witch-thing -- which I will admit was a little ridiculous ) is that it is an exposition episode. . . when you think about it, we now know more about Simon and his motivations than any other character on the boat, especially after this episode. . . while this was a slightly clunky episode, some of the questions raised in it become important later. . . and it makes me wish that we had gotten more episodes to answer the lingering questions. . . like, were the Tam parents actually that dense, or were they aware of what was going on with River and wanting to protect Simon from a similar fate (for instance). . .


    ~FS
     
    Last edited: Dec 12, 2012
  17. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Or maybe they were promised enough status if they gave River to "them" they were able to pull the wool over their own eyes.

    As to the interracial couple I had never thought about it that way until you said that 6079!
     
  18. lurok

    lurok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I never gave the interracial aspect a second thought. And agree the scene in shop with women was highlight. Rapidly went downhilll after that.
     
    Last edited: Dec 12, 2012
  19. marksound

    marksound Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    It's not the strongest episode, but it's not the weakest either. Some good dialog and a couple of chuckles.

    "Dear diary ... "
     
  20. Forbin

    Forbin Admiral Admiral

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    The whole hillbilly/she's a witch theme bothers the hell outta me. The rest is okay. I did love watching Summer dance.