Michael J. Totten: Firefly and Serenity

June 28, 2005

Firefly and Serenity

Last week I groused about Hollywood’s appalling lack of imagination. Today I want to thank Hollywood for saving us from Fox’s appalling decision to cancel Joss Whedon’s Firefly series - arguably the best science-fiction show in television history - before it could even finish its first year run.

Joss Whedon, as you may already know, is the man behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. I never saw a single episode of either of those series, but if they’re anywhere near as good as Firefly I am going to have to get the DVDs now.

Firefly takes place in the future. It is not the politically correct utopian future of Star Trek. If you act like an asshole in Joss Whedon’s future you’re liable to get a fist in your face, if not a wrench slammed into the side of your head. It’s what you would get if you crossed Star Wars with a Clint Eastwood Western. And I mean that in more ways than one. As in Star Wars, the universe – most of the populated part anyway – is ruled by the oppressive imperial Alliance regime. The “good guys” are rogue rebels, smugglers, and thieves operating on the fringes of known space on frontier planets. And when I say “frontier planets,” I mean frontier planets. They’re Wild West outposts with horses, saloons, and laser-toting outlaws. It sounds ridiculous, but somehow it works brilliantly.

That’s the backdrop. Here’s the story: One group of smugglers who pilot and live on an outdated “Firefly” ship make a rogue’s living running errands (which often involve ripping worse people off) for big-shot criminals. They pick up a spooky young woman named River Tam, formerly a child prodigy who was abducted by the Alliance regime so they could conduct hideous, tortuous medical experiments on her. Her brother breaks his traumatized and brain-damaged sister out of the futuristic equivalent of Buchenwald and now they’re on the run from Alliance assassins. The Firefly crew is likewise hunted by the Alliance, now that they’re carrying fugitives, which only makes their little back-planet smuggling racket more complicated than it already was.

Fox cancelled the show before the first year was even up. They even brainlessly aired the two-hour pilot episode last. I have no idea why they pulled the plug, but Firefly’s fans pitched an epic-sized fit. They threw such a big fit that Hollywood decided to let Joss Whedon finish telling the story on the big screen. So Firefly will continue, in theaters this September, as Serenity.

I had not even heard of this show until recently. (I pay precious little attention to what’s on TV.) I heard about it from Patrick Lasswell who came over to my house and all but forced the DVDs on me.

“The movie is coming out in September,” he said. “And it is going to be huge. You need to be ready.”

I think he’s right. Firefly has developed a fanatical cult following since Fox replaced it with whatever forgettable series they replaced it with. The fans love it so much they’re working overtime on their own to promote the movie themselves. They’re even lovingly creating – by hand – their own posters, some of which you’re seeing here. (Thanks to fellow Portland writer M.E. Russell for the tip off.)

I’ve watched almost the whole series now, and I don’t think there’s a single line of bad dialogue in there. George Lucas should be utterly shamed by the existence of Firefly. It may not be as well known, but oh my God does it beat the pants off the hackneyed dreck he’s been cranking out lately. It beats Star Trek, too, for its gritty realism and its refusal to pull its punches and tell overwrought morality tales. The characters are fully realized human beings who live, breathe, grow, suffer, and change in the crucible of wrenching experience. It’s hard not to have sneaking affection for even some of the least likable characters in this story.

The Firefly universe isn’t necessarily one I would want to live in. It’s dangerous, rude, and oppressive. Still, it’s one heck of a place to spend a dozen or so hours, which is what you get if you order the DVDs. (I strongly suggest you do that if you have any intention of watching the story’s finale, Serenity, on the big screen.)

But even a dangerous, rude, and oppressive ’verse like Firefly’s has its free spirits, its lovable bad guys who – when you get right down to it – are really the good guys.

They certainly are the kind of people I’d like to hang out with if I lived in their world. I think I will cry if Joss Whedon kills off any of them in the finale.

A high-resolution trailer for Serenity is available here. Do go and watch it. I’ve seen it at least ten times by now, in breathless anticipation.

Posted by Michael J. Totten at June 28, 2005 08:25 PM

Comments

I LOVE Firefly. Somebody loaned me the DVDs and I didn't want to give them back after I watched the first couple of episodes.

I can't wait for the movie!

Posted by: Justin Gardner at June 28, 2005 09:12 PM

I haven't seen Firefly yet, but am an enormous fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I didn't watch it because I went through an angry-at-Joss phase. Michael, if you like dialogue, BTVS has excellent dialogue in spades. The dialogue is what made me love the show. I was a real snob about the whole concept of the show. I mean a blond girl named Buffy! Fighting vampires and demons! Yech! But the dialogue was so wonderful it broke my pretensious ass in half. I'd suggest checking out in particular the second and third seasons as well as the first half of season 4, which are my particular favorites. The first season is good but has much lower production values and is only 12 episodes, but you'll want to watch it anyway to understand much of what is happening :) There is even an episode that is mostly silent (and amazing) in the 4th season and a musical episode in (I think) the last season (both written and directed by Joss Whedon) that are just wonderful.

Some quotes:

Buffy: We have a marching jazz band?
Oz: Yeah, but, you know, since the best jazz is improvisational, we'd be going off in all directions, banging into floats... scary.

Xander: Right, you can't just go 'librum incendere' and expect...
[the page he is reading from bursts into flame. Xander looks at it in shock, then slams it shut to put out the flames]
Giles: Xander, don't speak Latin in front of the books.

Buffy: Wah! This doesn't make any sense!
Willow: Oh, sure it does, see... Oh, this doesn't make any sense.
Buffy: It's senseless!
Willow: It is, but, at least you know that, so, you're learning!

Xander: We Bohemian anti-establishment types have always been persecuted.
Oz: Well, sure. You're all so weird.

[Dawn kicks Buffy in the shin]
Buffy: Ow.
Dawn: Dumbass.
[Buffy looks at Xander]
Xander: Don't look at me. This is a Summers' thing. It's all very violent.
[Glares at Dawn]
Buffy: If you get killed, I'm telling.

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce: I didn't get this job because of my looks.
Buffy: I really, really believe that.

I copied these from imdb.com. They're not even the best ones.

Posted by: lindenen at June 28, 2005 09:43 PM

lindenen,

This seriously makes me want to watch Buffy now. I caught a few episodes, but never really got caught up in the mania.

But with dialogue like that, how can I resist?

Posted by: Justin Gardner at June 28, 2005 10:34 PM

sorry, i'm sure it's my problem, but when i hear the name 'firefly' i think of groucho in 'duck soup.' i can hear the 'american patrol march,' played by chico and harpo on the palace guards' helmets, as i write.

Posted by: greeneyeshade at June 28, 2005 10:35 PM

Huzzah! A new convert!

Yeah, another part of why I never turned out for Firefly was because I thought the name was really lame. A space western named Firefly?!? Fox always ends up with what could be great sci-fi series, but then never gives them the support and publicity they need.

Posted by: lindenen at June 28, 2005 10:49 PM

Firefly was another great series killed too early. Joss Whedon is the man. I've no dislike for Star Wars or Star Trek (I liked Episode III a whole lot), but shows like Firefly (and Battlestar Galactica) are damn refreshing. Buffy and Angel are damn good series, so you should check them out.

I must say this though. The greatest sci-fi series ever is Babylon 5. Period. In times like ours, it never goes out of style.

Posted by: Rafique Tucker at June 28, 2005 10:52 PM

There's some pretty silly Chinese on the flier...one of the slogans is my favorite saying:

Not afraid of heaven, not afraid of earth, I'm only afraid of Cantonese speaking Mandarin.

Posted by: Aaron at June 29, 2005 01:36 AM

Aaron: There's some pretty silly Chinese on the flier

The characters in the show swear in Chinese. It's never explained why this is, but it's pretty funny and it implies a huge historic backstory that is never revealed. My wife understands little bits of it, but it's all - um - Chinese to me. (She used to live in Taiwan.)

Posted by: Michael J. Totten at June 29, 2005 03:13 AM

Welcome to the club Michael-
What I like about the show is that all of the characters are interesting and none of them are preachy (not even the preacher).

I don't know how it will work, but eventually I'd hope we can figure out a way for shows like Firefly to work economically without being dependent on the network TV model.

Posted by: Hunter McDaniel at June 29, 2005 04:39 AM

Welcome to the club. You're right, this is clearly the year Star Wars gets revealed as a tired fraud and Firefly becomes huge. I only wonder how Joss thinks he can live up to the tremendous amount of expectation - but people who've seen the advance screenings seem to think somehow he has.

If you love Firefly it's no guarantee you'll love Buffy - you'll probably prefer the later episodes of Angel which is closer to Firefly in tone. Buffy is usually lighter and campier, but funnier, than the other two Joss series.

I read in an interview with Joss somewhere that the conceit behind the Chinese (which is not always swearing by the way) is that everyone in the far future is basically bilingual in the two major languages of old Earth. Mainly for the viewers' benefit the characters mostly speak English. You'll notice lots of the signs and writing is also in Chinese. Very shiny.

Posted by: vanya at June 29, 2005 05:56 AM

I'll delurk for this one:

The reason they swear in Chinese is that Chinese is one of the two major languages spoken in the settled areas (the majority one being English). The Alliance is, essentially, Sino-American.

I've always looked at it like some areas of Canada (around Quebec) and the American Southwest I've visited -- mostly communication is in English, but get someone emotional and you can hear the ...ummm... earthier side of a second language.

Posted by: Aaron at June 29, 2005 06:06 AM

hehe glad to hear you're a browncoat now. We need all the converts we can find.

Posted by: stuzzy at June 29, 2005 06:09 AM

If you like good sci fi, try the new Battlestar Galactica pilot movie. Don't laugh, this isn't your daddy's Battlestar Galactica, it's all growed up now. There's zero camp in it, and in fact it takes itself dead serious and pulls it off flawlessly (nearly flawlessly). And it LOOKS fantastic.

Posted by: spaniard at June 29, 2005 06:31 AM

Never saw firefly, might have to give that a look. The only sci-fi I watch anymore is the two Stargate series, which I think are pretty well done.

Posted by: TallDave at June 29, 2005 06:41 AM

Do they curse in Mandarin or Cantonese?

My gf giggles whenever he hears Cantonese swearing (usu on Deadwood).

Posted by: TallDave at June 29, 2005 06:52 AM

she, not he.

Posted by: TallDave at June 29, 2005 06:53 AM

Firefly was good but not nearly as good as Angel or Buffy. The tragedy of Firefly is it never got a chance to hit it's stride. Buffy didn't find itself until mid-way through the second season. Angel, having the benefit of a three year head start (through Buffy) hit the ground running.

Posted by: Scott Janssens at June 29, 2005 06:54 AM

The Sci-Fi Channel just bought the rebroadcasting rights for Firefly. It is going to be playing at 7:00 PM on Friday's, starting sometime in mid-July.

I'd say there is a pretty good chance, if you like Firefly, that you'll also like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. And vice versa.

Posted by: alcibiades at June 29, 2005 07:02 AM

J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5) and Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly) are both master storytellers. They weave worlds with their words and the people -- human or not -- in them are in peril; actions (and inaction) in their worlds have consequences that echo down through the story for years.

I think that eventually Firefly would have been better than Buffy/Angel, as there is a broader world to live in.

Posted by: htom at June 29, 2005 07:13 AM

Wow, Spaniard and Atrios agreeing on something (the high quality of the new Battlestar Galactica). Pop Culture will keep us together. Seems like all the old Scifi shows have grown up, even the new Doctor Who. They're certainly better but it's kind of sad if you're a kid - I would not let my 7 year old watch Firefly or the new Battlestar Galactica, but the old Battlestar Galactica was a lot of fun when I was his age, as was Doctor Who and Star Trek.

Posted by: vanya at June 29, 2005 07:20 AM

It was cancelled for Fastlane.Man that show looked good, all shiny and slick....anybody?

Posted by: Patrick at June 29, 2005 07:41 AM

From May's return episode of "Family Guy":

Peter: Everybody, I got bad news. We've been canceled.

Lois: Oh, no! Peter, how could they do that?

Peter: Well, unfortunately Lois there's just no more room on the schedual. We just gotta accept the fact that FOX has to make room for terriffic shows like Dark Angel, Titus, Undeclared, Action, That 80s Show, Wonder Falls, Fastlane, Andy Richter Controls The Universe, Skin, Girls Club, Cranking Up, The Pits, Firefly, Get Real, Freaky Links, Wanda At Large, Costello, The Lone Gunman, A Minute With Stan Hooper, Normal Ohio, Pasadena, Harsh Realm, Keen Eddy, The Street, American Embassy, Cedric The Entertainer, The Tick, Louie, and Greg The Bunny.

Lois: Oh no! Is there no hope?

Peter: Well, I suppose if ALL those shoes go down the tubes, we might have a shot.

Posted by: Steve at June 29, 2005 07:44 AM

A lot of the shows Peter mentions were actually pretty good and canceled well before their time. The Lone Gunmen was great, even if you don't like the X-Files - it was well produced, had some smart and clever scripts, and likable characters very different from the average mainstream fare. It was just hitting its stride when they pulled the plug. And of course in retrospect the pilot episode where the terrorists try to fly a plane into the World Trade Center (aired in March 2001!) is now one of the creepiest things you'll ever see.

Posted by: vanya at June 29, 2005 07:52 AM

Never heard of Firefly but will certainly now Netflix.

Whedon is a great writer, not just a great TV writer. His Emmy winning episode of Buffy, "Hush," is required reading for any budding screenwriter.

Posted by: Patricia at June 29, 2005 07:52 AM

I never got into Lone Gunmen, even as a long-time "X-Files" fan. "Undeclared" was a great show too, probably as close to the real college experience as any sitcom I'd seen. Andy Richter's sho was great too, and "Greg the Bunny" had its moments.

Worst shows on the list? "Skin," "Girls Club," and "Normal, Ohio" (the two-episode sitcom where John Goodman played a gay guy).

Posted by: Steve at June 29, 2005 07:56 AM

I heard that Senator Durbin compared Josh to the Nazis.

Posted by: exhelodrvr at June 29, 2005 07:57 AM

I read an article on Slashdot, which discusses "Global Frequency" a new series that Warner Bros passed on. The pilot was finished and due to a leak, it showed up on P2P networks.

People enjoyed the pirated pilot so much, they're clamoring for more. Now the TV execs are being forced to reconsider, since there's a growing fan base for a show that never aired.

I think that the value of P2P networks in this area should not be underestimated. Imagine being able to download, free of charge, any and all pilot episodes from existing (or potential) TV shows. Then imagine that instead of waiting for TV execs to OK it, production houses could simply run and release the series on DVD (based on feedback from the viewers).

Could you imagine, a time when the quality of the show mattered more than the ego of some Fat Cat?

Ah technology, I love ya.

Posted by: Ratatosk, Squirrel of Discord at June 29, 2005 08:08 AM

Is anyone else here grinding their teeth waiting for the Sci-Fi channel to go hi-def?

Posted by: TallDave at June 29, 2005 08:55 AM

I sent a copy of the series to my friend in Afghanistan. Many soldiers claimed to hate sci fi, but my friend practically forced it on a few people, and the DVD was very popular.

Posted by: BigDog at June 29, 2005 09:06 AM

Ahhhh. Firefly. I only recently caved to friends' recommendations and watched the whole all-too-short run (thank you, Netflix). Excellent show. The dialogue, the characters, the whole feel, just excellent.

It's definitely a sci-fi post-Civil-War western. Anybody else see parallels between the Alliance and the Union? And Mal Reynolds had a battered antebellum gentility, especially in his interactions with women.

Posted by: Achillea at June 29, 2005 09:34 AM

Firefly: yeah. I'm actually kind of dreading the movie, because I've probably build up the show so much in my head. I'll go see it though, and I didn't go see Star Wars, because I won't give George F**ing Lucas the satisfaction of f**ing me over again, that f**ing Ewok-c**cksucking f**cksh*t. God I hate him.

Sorry about that.

Anyway, Serenity, yeah. I'm there. Whedon can have my $10 and even if the movie blows, I still won't feel ripped off because I liked the DVDs of the series so much. I'll feel disappointed, like when you meet a really attractive person and they open their mouth and turn out to have the brains of a retarded chipmunk or the personality of a syphilitic pit viper. But not ripped off.

"Ever hear of the chain of command? It's the chain I'm gonna get to beat you with if you don't obey my command."

Posted by: Seb at June 29, 2005 09:43 AM

It's worse than you know

It usually is..

I've been a Buffy fan for a while (our teenagers were so embarrassed to have parents who like Buffy). Although the concept wasn't all that appealing, the brilliant writing/dialogue dragged me in. Some of the Firefly cast appeared in Buffy and Angel episodes (playing genuinely bad guys).

I've watched the Firefly DVD set once, and seeing the trailer makes me want to watch it again. The show also has my current favorite theme song. Can't wait for the movie.

Posted by: mary at June 29, 2005 11:00 AM

OK, you guys sold me (well, you guys and the hi-def trailer for Serenity). I ordered the DVD today.

I really really hope it's in hi-def too (though I know it probably won't be). Since I got my DLP TV, I can barely stand to watch low-def.

Posted by: TallDave at June 29, 2005 12:59 PM

Whoa. That's cool. I was/am a huge Buffy & Angel fan. Another good line (near as I can remember):

Xander: Stop looking at me like that.
Angel: Like what?
Xander: Like you haven't had lunch yet.

I'd heard of Firefly, but missed its short life. Now I know I'll have to find the DVDs.

I also have to recommend the new Battlestar Galactica pilot and series. Also, on Sci-Fi channel, Farscape. Which was cancelled. Of course.

Posted by: BeckyJ at June 29, 2005 01:14 PM

I thought my wife was going to go crazy watching that show with me. We NetFlixed them and at the start of every episode, I would sing along with the theme song. Sometimes even rewinding to sing it again. Eventually I was allowed one sing-a-long per disk. :(

Man I can't wait for Serentiy.

Posted by: Court at June 29, 2005 01:36 PM

I'll play the Buffy quote game:

Demon Ken: You’ve ruined…you…
Buffy: Hey Ken, wanna see my impression of Gandhi? (crushes his skull with a club)
Lily: Gandhi?
Buffy: Well, you know, if he was really pissed off.

Posted by: vanya at June 29, 2005 02:19 PM

OK, two Buffy quotes:

(Giles stacking books into Buffy's arms one by one as he lists off various monsters and demons.)
Giles: Like zombies, werewolves, incubi, succubi, everything you've ever dreaded was under your bed, but told yourself couldn't be by the light of day. They're all real!
Buffy: What? You, like, sent away for the Time-Life series?
Giles: Ah, w-w-w-yes.
Buffy: Did you get the free phone?
Giles: Um, the calendar.

and

Giles: Here. (hands Buffy her scores) I suspect your mother will want to, uh, put it on the refrigerator.
Buffy: (puts the report away) Yeah. She saw these scores, and her head spun around and exploded.
Giles: (unsure what she meant) I-I've been on the Hellmouth too long. That was metaphorical, yes?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are two of the best television series ever produced, not only for their acting, writing, and direction (plus production quality, after Buffy's first two years), but they also tell some of the most profoundly moral stories ever put on film... without resorting to religion. The Buffyverse establishes its own mythology, and stays faithful to it throughout.

HOLDEN: Oh, well, you know, not my God, because I defy him and all of his works, but—Does he exist? Is there word on that, by the way?
BUFFY: Nothing solid.

As already mentioned, Buffy season 1 is a bit light, but still has excellent dialog, and sets the necessary framework for all the superb stories that follow.

Posted by: Diane Wilson at June 29, 2005 02:45 PM

Oh, I should also mention the online comic strip (sorry, no link) that said it all.

Darth Vader: It's too late for me. Joss Whedon is my master now.

Posted by: Diane Wilson at June 29, 2005 02:53 PM

For me Buffy was strike one (90210, beutiful people fighting demons and vampires).
Angel was strike two.
Firfly was HOME RUN, 3rd times a charm thing.
After Bablyon 5 ended I wanted a new future sci-fi and found it in Firefly, with its convincing and connectable charactors, a solid plot and nice style of humor. It made me mad to see it canceled, but it didn't suprise much since Hollywood and the Networks seem to think all we want is more Star Trek and more Star Wars. Fan-fanatics, Trekies and Jedi's alike deserve some of the blame to. Its a wonder that Bablyon 5, Stargate SG-1 and Farscape even got as far as they did (Andromada doesn't count because it has the Rodenberry name on it, and for me the jury's still out on the new Galactica).
Good science fiction is hard to come by, perticularly in books (go to the scifi-fantasy section of a bookstore you'll that scifi books are out numbered by fantasy 3 to 1, though there are plenty of trekkie and star wars books, go figure).

Firefly is an indicater that creative talent is still out there.

Thank you Joss Whedon

Posted by: Bryan at June 29, 2005 05:04 PM

Firefly was a better show than Buffy, particularly the later seasons, but Buffy had more hot nekkid teenage lezbeen witches, and that has to count for something.

Pity about the whiny blonde who kept getting in the way, though.

Posted by: richard mcenroe at June 29, 2005 05:51 PM

Buffy also has the disctinction of being mentioned in an article by Anthony Cordesman.
The Chinese on Firefly was Mandarin -- Wheedon wanted Cantonese but they got the wrong person to do the translating, so they stayed with Mandarin.
I do not know if there is still a Firefly site up for Fox -- it had a lot of good info. Slow if you have dail up though.
Buffy should be watched from begining to end -- the same for Angel. For one thing, it builds -- you will notice things over time that were not obvious at first and go: "Oh, yes!" Also, you will have trouble understanding the banter of the later years, especially in "Buffy, the Musical!" (Yes, they did a musical episode. Two of the producers were among the singers.) Also the episode of Angel where Angel is turned into a Muppet (Wheedon only had half a season to prepare the Angel ending and it shows, but it still comes off.)

Posted by: John Costello at June 29, 2005 06:20 PM

Sorry Mike -- you've fallen for "Legend in his own mind" Joss Whedon, a marginally talented guy who has turned out some of the worst drivel I've ever had the misfortune to watch: Alien Resurrection, Titan AE, the last few years of Buffy and Angel, and Fireflop.

The last two years of Buffy and Angel were all about pushing a marginal character (Spike); the central plot I kid you not was having this character rape Buffy and having her fall in love with him. Both shows pushed moral relativism to the max, something Firefly embraces completely.

Functionally, in ALL of Whedon's shows there is NO difference between the heroes and the villains, except the heroes look cooler and espouse a tired 60's moral relativism.

As far as Fireflop the Series goes, I gave it a shot. It was less interesting or original than Space: Above and Beyond or Babylon 5 or The Invisible Man or the Chronicle or even Babylon: Crusade. Way too many characters, an unlikeable A-hole of a lead character who played favorites with his crew, and was a Confederate secessionist who stood basically for nothing. Train robberies in space, cap and ball revolvers, Winchester Lever guns all strained credulity. Sci-Fi requires at least SOME attention to detail and in this series there was only stupid set design, and ripping off "the Outlaw Josey Wales." Without the talent of Clint Eastwood. That was basically the series. A whole lotta set design.

Once again with the Fireflop movie, Whedon's up to his old tricks. Rape a rama? Check. Baby-talk-mouth-breathing voice from the waif that's skinnier than Paris Hilton, and kicks ass but has no discernable human personality and might as well be a blow up sex doll? Check. Meaningless stuff where the heroes show how "cool" they are by murdering people and how they're not constrained by morality, decency, or compassion? Check. But hey, Joss Whedon is a genius, just ask him. Or his Kool-aide drinking fans.

Non-fans who saw a preview of the movie called it a combination of Pluto Nash's sci-fi elements, the dialogue of Paycheck, the acting of Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, the plot of Chronicles of Riddick; and the believability of Steel. That sounds about right. The studio yanked it to September, cause exhibitors didn't want the turkey. Moreover there's almost NO marketing for it; the trailer won't even give you a thumbnail sketch of the plot or characters, it's preaching to the converted of which there are a few but then Howard Dean has his fans. I SAW five (miserable) episodes of the series, judging from the trailer alone I couldn't say anything about the movie (which had no humor in it or even a plot).

Whedonites remind of the Dean faithful. Lunatic and fervently believing beyond any reason that their Dear Leader has a plan instead of just one massive ego. Like for example Whedon winning an Emmy (he never has, never even been NOMINATED). Critics like Hush but so what? They liked the Spike-rapes-Buffy storyline and the public sex scenes by a dumpster too. What can I say? Whedon can write some dialogue, but loves his nihilism and can't for his life write sympathetic characters now. Captain Mal is just a stand-in for Whedon "fighting the man" and it shows. Remember, this is the guy who killed the Aliens series. THAT movie was written in crayon. Patch Adams was a better movie.

I mean, who can forget the immortal dialogue where Spike blamed Buffy for her own rape, or Buffy told everyone that they sucked unless they went out and killed people, or were scared, and of course they still sucked:

Buffy: Anyone want to say a few words about Chloe? (silence) Let me. Chloe was an idiot. Chloe was stupid. She was weak. And anyone in a rush to be the next dead body I bury, it's easy. Just...think of Chloe, and do what she did. And I'll find room for you next to her and Annabelle. I'm the slayer. The one with the power. And the First has me using that power to dig our graves. (throws down the shovel angrily) I've been carrying you?all of you?too far, too long. Ride's over.

Buffy: You're new here, and you're wrong. Because I use the power that I have. The rest of you are just waiting for me.

Sorry Mike, Whedon HAD talent once, but only when he worked with other guys who'd been around longer and had actually DONE something on their own. Once he believed the legend in his own mind, well he's the Hollywood equivalent of Teddy Kennedy.

On a sad but related note, two of the "UFO" stars recently died; if you didn't see it on Sci-Fi buy the DVDs. Unlike Whedon's characters the lead in UFO (made in the late sixties, offers a hilariously dated projection of 1980, including smoking and sexist attitudes) offers a completely different leader. A guy so ruthless and determined he'll make tremendous sacrifices, fighting aliens about whom he knows almost nothing. But does very ruthless things with a very clear goal: protect the Earth and stop the Alien raids. Very "Battle of Britain" type vibe which isn't surprising. Tech Central Station had a nice writeup on the series, it really is amazing. From the same folks who did Thunderbirds and Space:1999

Posted by: Jim Rockford at June 30, 2005 12:05 AM

Rockford, you are so wrong.

Whedon's Hollywood screenwriting credits suck because it's Hollywood. The plots are designed by committees, and they often don't know how to use Whedon's ingenious dialogue. Whedon hated Alien Resurrection as much as anyone. He basically said, "Look what they did to my movie, Ma!" That's why so far he prefers to work in television -- he has more creative control.

Also, your characterization of Buffy is completely misguided. Buffy and the Scoobies are NOT moral relativists. Joss is NOT a nihilist.

The grand theme of the Buffyverse is that there is GOOD and there is EVIL, and that good people have a responsibility to fight evil, even if it's hard and dangerous work and sometimes people die. And that sometimes it's difficult to know what is really the right thing to do, but you can't foist off the hard decisions onto someone else, or just sit on your hands and hope for the best. It's about responsibility. Basically, the heroes are liberal hawks. Who fight demons.

Buffy was never raped by Spike. Never happened. Spike did attempt to rape Buffy once, and she kicked his ass. But this was no means a romanticization of rape. (Spike, after all, is evil.) And Buffy does eventually fall in love with Spike, but only after he demonstrates that he is no longer evil -- that is, after he reforms -- and this happens only AFTER after she stops her sick sexual relationship with him.

This is also not to say that I don't think the whole sixth season Spike/Buffy sex-against-dumpster thing was icky, but that was also the year that Joss turned the series over to Marti Noxon so he could concentrate on Firefly. So I blame Marti.

But, in any case, the point of this plot line was that the relationship WAS icky. You weren't supposed to look at it and say, "Ooh, sex against a dumpster. That's hot!" It was about how Buffy was not a shiny, happy person -- and how even heroes can have ugly secret private lives. It was about the fight against interior "demons."

When Buffy makes that speech about Chloe, she is not espousing the philosophy of the show. It's Buffy in a moment of weakness, a moral crisis. She is demoralized by Chloe's demon-inspired suicide, and as their leader she feels responsible for her death, and out of this pain, she claims the opposite in an outburst. She lashes out at the rest of her team because she doesn't feel like she can protect them either. The MORAL of that story comes later, and it's this: Buffy can't hold herself responsible for the deaths of her comrades in a fight against evil, that they all make their own moral choices to put themselves at risk in the fight, and she can't win the war by herself, so she has to trust their decision to risk their lives by her side.

So. D- for viewing comprehension there, Bub.

For what it's worth, Firefly's Mal is also frequently dislikable, but this is because he's a complicated character. He's three-dimensional. But he's by no means a nihilist. Much of the show turns around the moral choices he makes. He's an outlaw with a conscience.

Posted by: Browning at June 30, 2005 06:31 AM

Browing,

Well said. Just wanted to add that anyone who can trash Buffy Season 6 without acknowledging the incredible achievement that is "Once More with Feeling" is not being fair.

And Angel nihilistic? It did end with an existentialist non-Christian message that we must fight for Good because it is the right thing to do, not because we will be rewarded by a higher power. But that hardly qualifies as "moral relativism." People generally have to live with the consequences of their actions in the Whedonverse - which is not the case in most scifi/fantasy. I agree with Rockford that the over-the-top praise that Whedon gets from his more fanatical fans cannot be a good influence over the long term, but I don't think we've seen the drop off yet.

Posted by: vanya at June 30, 2005 08:56 AM

Actually, I'd forgotten that when I first saw Buffy's say 'I've been carrying you all for far too long. Ride's over." I was convinced that that one line was an allegory of the US and its relationship to pacifist Europe. It was Joss saying, "Wake up, people. There's a war on." That still seems like a fair reading to me. In that sense, the moral of the story is something like, "The superpower can't win this without her allies, but the other side of that is that the allies need to butch up and get into this fight." Like I said: liberal hawk.

I also think it's worth mentioning that I think Mal and the Browncoats were not a confederates in the US Civil War sense. There is nothing to suggest that they seceded from the Union to preserve something evil like slavery. I get the impression instead that they resisted "unification" because they were basically rustic libertarians who lost a war of resistance against a huge fascist state, a hybrid of big bureaucratic government and big corporate business. (This was suggested but never fully realized is the trucated first season. Watch for the Blue Sun logos.) I figure they were resisting eminent domain on some planetary scale. They are basically Kelo in space. With ray guns. What's not to love?

But I agree that Joss has his good days and bad days. The later seasons in the Buffy/Angel oevre had their moments, but the shows definitely trailed off in quality as they went on. That's always the danger in TV though isn't it?

Posted by: Browning at June 30, 2005 09:28 AM

There are many of us Buffy and Angel fans who believe that the later seasons were among the best. The shows certainly changed over time, but change is part of life--something that Whedon's shows never shy away from.

For Buffy in particular, season six was a revolution. Buffy faced a hell god in season five, and gave everything to defeat her. What was left at that point? Season six is about the enemy within, about the loss of will to fight, and about losing one's way. What could possibly be more relevant to America's situation post-WWII and post-cold-war? Season seven went a step further with an external enemy who used the gang's own weaknesses as its primary weapon against them. Whether the analogy with assymetric warfare was intentional or not, it's there, and the analogy works very well.

There were some key characteristics behind the scene that helped produce consistent quality. One, Whedon never lost his edge, never became satisfied with his work. Second, he built an organization that encouraged greatness and collaboration in everyone. (Contrast with The West Wing, which collapsed without Aaron Sorkin.) Buffy, Angel, and Firefly were team efforts, and many of the writers, directors, and producers have gone on to do great work on other shows.

The teamwork and edginess are right there at the surface in all three shows. All of them are about outsiders who come together to form a family. All of them focus on the need to struggle continuously... against evil, against our own complacency, against the chaos of the universe.

Great stuff, and the makings of great literature.

Posted by: Diane Wilson at June 30, 2005 12:12 PM

Very few shows have made it past 5 seasons without a clear dropoff in quality. Simpsons? No. X-Files? Definitely not. Even Sopranos has gotten weaker. The second and third years are often the best. But Angel could have been an exception if they'd given it another year. I agree that Buffy was getting a little tired by the end but I prefer the later seasons of Angel -Season 1 of Angel to me is the weakest single season of any Whedonverse show.

Posted by: vanya at June 30, 2005 12:15 PM

Great critique of Buffy's impact and deeper meanings here:

http://www.reason.com/0308/cr.vp.why.shtml

Posted by: Andy at June 30, 2005 01:45 PM

small note about browning's comment about Mal - I took him to be a complete Confederate, fighting against federalism and all that..slavery just didn't enter into the equation. If you ignore the slavery part of the Civil War (which was extremely difficult for me to do in the beginning of the show) it seems to me that the Independents and the Confederates fit quite well.

Yay! Another Browncoat! And I agree with whoever said "I blame Marti."

Posted by: Eunice at June 30, 2005 01:53 PM

Jim Rockford — I agree that Whedon can't structure for beans, and I always thought Buffy went off the rails when Whedon ran off the end of his personal high school/college worldmap; he's a Hollywood brat with all the insularity and limited world-view that implies.

But he writes brilliant dialogue and great characters, and in Firefly he is working off one of the classic tropes: "Stagecoach", which keeps him on track. I'm definitely looking forward to the movie.

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Posted by: Moonbat_One at July 1, 2005 12:04 AM

I believe this is the comic Diane refers to above.

Posted by: Independent George at July 1, 2005 10:49 AM

"The last two years of Buffy and Angel were all about pushing a marginal character (Spike); the central plot I kid you not was having this character rape Buffy and having her fall in love with him. Both shows pushed moral relativism to the max, something Firefly embraces completely."

Joss was much less involved in the last few seasons. The show should have ended with season 5 imo. Even though season 5 sucked mostly as well. He left the show in the care of someone else on the show and he shouldn't have trusted that person because she was an idiot hack who can't write her way outside a box.

Posted by: lindenen at July 1, 2005 05:41 PM

Rockford,

Tell the truth, you are the guy who decides what shows the networks carry and what shows they cancel aren't you?

Geo.

Posted by: Geo. at July 2, 2005 04:05 PM

"Joss Whedon, as you may already know...."

Good lord, Michael. Ya think? Lots of us have been following Whedon's work since at least 1992, and writing about it online since then (I only started said writing circa 1995-7, myself). Welcome to the party, but, um, well, uh, a few of us have mentioned him before.

A few thousand times.

Welcome, though. It's not too late to catch up on Buffy and Angel, to be sure.

I might not suggest writing about them as if people needed informing, but, hey, there will always be people who need such informing, however many years later.

It would have been nice if some of you had actually been watching Firefly in time to keep the original series going, though. You couldhave linked to zillions of posts from those of us who did, then. But did you listen? Noooooo....

;-)

Posted by: Gary Farber at July 4, 2005 09:50 PM

"The characters in the show swear in Chinese. It's never explained why this is, but it's pretty funny and it implies a huge historic backstory that is never revealed."

Well, of course it is, in typical sf fashion. Good sf doesn't use exposition, but simply shows. Obviously China is a huge part of world history, our present world, and the future world. The Alliance, oh, heck, I'll just quote what everyone knows:

The Alliance's full title is the "Anglo-Sino Alliance". Joss Whedon intended the Alliance to be the merger of the USA and China, the last of the world's superpowers. (This is why many characters on the show sometimes speak Chinese.) The Alliance flag, seen in the original pilot episode, is a blending of the US and Chinese flags.

I just tried to count the number of posts on my blog alone I've made on Firefly alone, but gave up after 20.

"My wife understands little bits of it, but it's all - um - Chinese to me."

Re the Chinese, try this. Useful, eh?

You could have paid attention from at least here, about three years ago. :-) (Yes, I'm a bit frustrated, given that the point of blogging is more or less to tell other people things, so if they don't listen....)

Incidentally, as I've said many times, don't miss the Whedon commentary tracks on the Firefly DVD. Hilarious as Whedon always is. (Those he doesn't participate in are skippable, unless you're fascinated by the costuming or such.)

Posted by: Gary Farber at July 4, 2005 10:02 PM

I am so seriously thinking about making a post about how often threads shut down after I post, and how incredibly boring that is.

It's also somewhat weird. Like, immensely.

Posted by: Gary Farber at July 5, 2005 11:07 PM

I've already seen the movie and I talk about it on my own blog:

http://eyesofchaos.net/v-web/b2/index.php

It's spoiler free, as it should be.

If you don't want to go there, I will say that if all you've seen is the trailer, you haven't seen anything.

Posted by: Jason at July 6, 2005 01:30 PM

I think the lady doth protest too much! Jim Rockford knows quite a lot about Whedon's work for someone who doesn't feverishly tune in.

Besides, Rockford, you're just wrong. :D Moral relativism is no reason to despise a story! That, coupled with the Dean comparisons, leads this psychoanalyst to conclude you are PROJECTING.

Posted by: heather at July 6, 2005 02:12 PM

Re: the Firefly DVDs and "hi-def": the entire series was shot 16×9 and the DVDs are fully anamorphic (IIRC Fox aired it pan-and-scan, which is just another of their crimes). So it's as "hi-def" as you're gonna get from current DVDs, assuming you run progressive-scan :-)

Posted by: Ian S. at July 6, 2005 02:25 PM

"Jim Rockford" sounds an awful lot like a well known Firefly/serenity/Joss Whedon hater who spends a huge portion of his life attempting to convince fans of the aforementioned that they are fools, by posting on the IMDb.

Posted by: msdamselfly at July 6, 2005 08:02 PM

I've seen the movie as well. And, without giving anything away, it's not a finale for the series. It's the start of something else.

Posted by: Stephanie at July 7, 2005 06:23 AM

Buffy is a television show. Sure it has moral lessons and some plain lessons, but you can take them or leave them. It doesn't have to be a show giving you advice if you don't want it to be. Just take it as entertainment.

About Firefly, I enjoyed it. I felt that it was getting better with every episode, with the last episode being the strongest. Sure, I'm upset that it didn't last on TV, but hey, at least it didn't have a chance to go 'downhill', as some believe Buffy and Angel did. Plus, the movie, so I'm happy.

"I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away." Xander, Season One, Episode Three "Witch" (I'm pretty sure)

Posted by: Nora at July 8, 2005 11:25 AM

I just rewatched Angel 5 on DVD. Buffy did slide in season 7, but Angel did not go downhill. Season 5 has some of the strongest shows in the history of the series. I realize that for some Angel purists the addition of Spike tainted things but Smile-Time is a classic episode, and Underneath and Hole in the World were both fantastic.

Posted by: vanya at July 8, 2005 11:42 AM

Great, thorough piece there, Mr. Totten. And thanks for the plug!

Posted by: M.E. Russell at July 8, 2005 05:20 PM

Heather says: Moral relativism is no reason to despise a story!

This may be true. A narrative with a protagonist who is a moral relativist may be a good piece of fiction, nonetheless. The protagonist of Lolita is a child molester, but it's still a great novel. (And one with an underlying moral message as well.)

However:

1. Moral relativism is at best misguided, and at worst stupid, or evil, or both.
2. Joss's most sympathetic protagonists are not moral relativists (unless perhaps they flirt with that philosophy in a moment of crisis.)

In "The Train Job," the local sheriff says to Mal, about a moral decision he has made: "A man has a choice." And Mal replies, "I don't believe that he does."

I believe that line is emblematic of the whole show. And it's the opposite of moral relativism.

Posted by: Browning at July 10, 2005 07:41 AM

Oh my, a bunch of TV addicted intellectuals. How sweet!

Posted by: Fentriss at August 8, 2005 04:28 PM

Buffy did noticeably decline in Seasons six and seven and it wasn't just the loss of Joss Whedon, it was the rise of the unholy trinity: Marti Noxon, Jane Espenson, and David Fury. However seasons Two through Four were some of the best TV that have ever been produced, and season one does have one of the best scenes in the series in Prophecy Girl:Buffy overhears Angel and Giles discussing her prophesized death and reacts:
Buffy: They say how he's gonna kill me? Do you think it'll hurt? Don't touch me! Were you even gonna tell me?
Giles: I was hoping that I wouldn't have to. That there was... some way around it. I...
Buffy: I've got a way around it. I quit!
Angel: It's not that simple.
Buffy: I'm making it that simple! I quit! I resign, I-I'm fired, you can find someone else to stop the Master from taking over!
Giles: I'm not sure that anyone else can. All the... the signs indicate...
Buffy: The signs? READ ME THE SIGNS! TELL ME MY FORTUNE! YOU'RE SO USEFUL SITTING HERE WITH ALL YOUR BOOKS! YOU'RE REALLY A LOTTA HELP!
Giles: No, I don't suppose I am.
Angel: I know this is hard.
Buffy: What do you know about this? You're never gonna die!
Angel: You think I want anything to happen to you? Do you think I could stand it? We just gotta figure out a way...
Buffy: I already did. I quit, remember? Pay attention!
Giles: Buffy, if the Master rises...
Buffy: I don't care! I don't care. Giles, I'm sixteen years old. I don't wanna die.

Posted by: Robert Modean at August 8, 2005 10:23 PM

I haven't read every comment here, so the answer may be there, but...

Was Whedon reading der Spiegel when he came up with all this?

http://tinyurl.com/aavm9

Anyway - Firefly and Serenity look fascinating (the HD trailers are pretty awesome). In return for the tip, may I also second (or maybe it's fifth) the recommendation to check out Battlestar Galactica!

Posted by: goy at August 9, 2005 06:50 AM

Jim Rockford wrote, "Like for example Whedon winning an Emmy (he never has, never even been NOMINATED)."

Fact checking (e.g. Google "Joss Whedon""Emmy") indicates that Whedon has been nominated.

Posted by: Brent Buckner at August 9, 2005 07:18 AM

I'm surprised so many folks think that Seasons 5-7 of Buffy were week. Frankly, you people are insane. Those who think Season 4 was great are just stupid.

Best seasons, in order:

5,3,2,7,6,1,4

Season 1 wasn't super-strong, but it was clever and fresh. As any first season must be, it was the "setup" phase, and it did just well enough to secure a second season.

Season 2 was brilliant, and established Buffy as a serious moral character. She's not the "classic" hero who always knows what's right and does it without blinking. She's also not the "modern" hero who only does the right thing sometimes, if she feels like it. Buffy doesn't always know what's right, but she works it out--and she always DOES what's right once she sorts it out. Buffy's execution of her one, true love in order to save the world evidences this in spades. Her subsequent running away from Sunnydale illustrates that she isn't unaffected when she has to make the hard choices.

Season 3 was brilliant for its villains. The pairing of the mayor with Faith was brilliant. It was hard not to like the mayor just a bit. He was a sweet character with a huge heart for those he cared about, in spite of the fact that his overriding motivations were clearly evil. It was here, too, that Buffy really got her first taste of being a "leader", both with Faith and with the other students she lead in the fight against the mayor. Moreover, we get to see how Buffy agonizes when she even knows about a wrong or evil someone has done, when Faith murders the mayor's assistant and hides the body, saying she doesn't care if she murders people.

Season 4, while I understand the point (the scoobies drifting a bit apart as their lives go in new and different directions) was very, very weak. Easily the weakest out of both Buffyverse series' and also weaker than Firefly's truncated season, Buffy's 4th doesn't hold together a coherrent storyline effectively. There are a lot of very good standalone episodes, but that unfortunately places Buffy in the company of shows like Star Trek, where they don't bother with story arcs, opting for standalone adventures. Boring!

Season 5 was extraordinary, and easily the greatest of all the seasons. Season 5 deals at once with the real-life pain and difficulty of her mother's illness, the mystery of her sister's origin, the growing chasm between and eventual loss of Riley, and the realization that she's in a conflict that she cannot win. For all her great strength, Buffy is no match for Glory. Spike becomes more important to the scoobies and falls for Buffy, and moreover ends up discovering the value of being a "good guy" when he protects dawn's secret from Glory even as he's brutally tortured. At the same time, Buffy's terrified of having to make the same sacrifice of Dawn as she did with Angel, and she's not prepared to do that again. So determined not to sacrifice another person she loves, Buffy eventually sacrifices herself to save the world and the person she feared she would have to kill. Yes, this would have been a magnificent ending to the series.

Season 6 was about losing your way and finding it again (or finding a new way, in some cases). Buffy loses some measure of her moral clarity, her sense that her fight has meaning and value. Willow loses pretty much all sense as she alienates the one she loves most (Tara) and heads into dangerous addiction. Even Spike loses his way as his torrid affair with Buffy drives both to the edge of obsession and madness. Giles loses his place, too, as Buffy's 5-years-running Watcher and trainer, and must leave to find a new path and a new way. In the end there is resolution, and everyone finds their way again. Xander finally gets to save the day and his best friend, Giles returns because he finds he's needed after all, and Buffy regains the clarity that her fight is worth while. Moreover, Spike, a traditionally evil character, takes the lessons from season 5 and the pain from season 6 and finds a new way altogether when he goes on a quest to reclaim his very soul. IMHO, this act alone makes Spike a far greater hero than Angel would ever be. While Angel had a soul forced upon him, Spike, as a creature of evil, willingly sought to become good, an act which Angelus would never do.

Season 7 is about devotion to the cause and to those who fight it. It's about struggling against and overcoming inner fears, about breaking the mold, discarding tradition and walking boldly into the unknown. In season 7 Buffy learns the true depth of what being a leader and a strategist is. She overcomes her fears and she and willow form a plan to help others overcome their fears, their weaknesses, their inability to overcome.

In the end, Buffy the Vampire Slayer really is a series about heroes. It's about doing what's right, even when that's very, very hard and will cost you dearly. Whoever said Buffy was all about moral relativism is clearly a nitwit without a clue what that concept means. Buffy is, I'm not at all sad to say, the most profoundly MORAL character to have ever appeared in a television series.

Jason

Posted by: Jason at August 9, 2005 09:30 AM

I'll try watching Firefly some more. I'm not into it yet. Not hearing any witty dialouge. nothing special about the Sci-fi aspects. But if you all say it'll get better...well great. Hopefully it will.

As far as some other stuff from above.

I don't think Buffy ever "fell in love" with Spike. She learned to love him, yes, but she isn't in love. Even Spike knows that.

SPIKE
Gotta move, lamb. I think it's fair to say school's out for bloody summer.

BUFFY
(worried) Spike!

SPIKE
I mean it! I gotta do this. (holds out his hand to stop her)

Buffy laces her fingers through Spike's, and they burst into flame together.

BUFFY
(softly, looks into his eyes) I love you.

SPIKE
No, you don't. But thanks for saying it. (another earthquake; Buffy lets go of his hand) Now go! (Buffy runs up the stairs) I wanna see how it ends.

And Jim Rockford...Spike is an awesome character.

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