# Firefly/Serenity Question. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994 "2009-09-29T16:16:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/21 "2009-09-29T20:42:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The scene with the engine? I don’t think I remember that particular scene. Mal trying to give the money back to Crow, and Crow threatening him. The engine comes after that. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/22 "2009-09-29T20:42:32Z")
Oh, wait, you mean the jet engine, not the main engine. Of course. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/23 "2009-09-29T20:53:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Oh, wait, you mean the jet engine, not the main engine. Of course. If it helps, I was momentarily confused as well, **Chronos**. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/24 "2009-09-29T21:32:05Z")
If you can get [HULU.COM](http://HULU.COM), you can watch the first five episodes of _Firefly_ free. Then, you can watch\* Serenity\*–also free. Until September 25th, the whole series was available; alas, no more. Of course I own the DVD’s–they’re definitely worth the money. But I enjoyed watching an episode without having to handle the plastic–the keystrokes are so much quicker. Yes, I want to have my cake & eat it, too. With ice cream on top! ---
**Author:** ![strqwert44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@strqwert44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/strqwert44)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/25 "2009-09-29T22:15:29Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > If you can get [HULU.COM](http://HULU.COM), you can watch the first five episodes of _Firefly_ free. Then, you can watch\* Serenity\*–also free. > > Until September 25th, the whole series was available; alas, no more. Of course I own the DVD’s–they’re definitely worth the money. But I enjoyed watching an episode without having to handle the plastic–the keystrokes are so much quicker. > > Yes, I want to have my cake & eat it, too. With ice cream on top! Eps: 1-5 are on [hulu.com](http://hulu.com). 8-12 are on [theWB.com](http://theWB.com) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/26 "2009-09-29T23:14:01Z")
However you watch it, you must make sure to watch the out-takes on the _Serenity_ DVD. Some are great, and one extended spoof by Nathan Fillion is down-right paralyzing! ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/27 "2009-09-29T23:38:04Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I watched the movie first, in the theatre, and it was good, though there was a lot I didn’t get. Who was this crazy girl? What was the deal with her? Why was the relationhsip between Inara and Mal so strained? > > Then, much later, I watched the series and then the movie again. Ah! All became clear. I agree, some characters are introduced pretty bluntly in the movie if you’ve never watched the series before. Inara and Book spring to mind - mostly Inara. The following dialogue : - Did you see us get into an argument ? - No. - Trap. makes little sense when you’re not aware of their history. Nor would a casual viewer figure out why a bunch of space pirates would know what seems to be a nun in a secluded Buddhist temple, or how she could possibly help them. For that matter, the whole Simon/Kaylee thing is absolutely bland too, if you haven’t seen them dance around each other for 14 episodes… Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good movie despite these flaws, but it only becomes a great one if you’ve seen the show, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/28 "2009-09-30T00:06:00Z")
I saw the movie having seen none of the series. It was pretty obvious to me that Mal and Inara had some unresolved feelings for each other. The only thing that was unclear to me was that Book had been a major character in the show. He seemed to be more like Mr. Universe; a new addition for the movie. That said, I wasn’t confused by any of it, and there was plenty of emotional impact when… well, when certain bad things happened. Not as much impact as when I went home, watched the series over the course of the weekend, then went back to the theater and watched it again, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/29 "2009-09-30T01:26:52Z")
The movie can be seen before the series, but considering the ending, I really wouldn’t recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/30 "2009-09-30T02:00:29Z")
Not sure why there’s all that hate for the movie. I think it’s one of the best sci-fi movies out there, both by itself and as an ending to the Firefly series. You can watch it by itself - a lot of clever writing went into making it make sense without having seen the series. But after you see it you’re gonna want to see Firefly anyway. So you might as well go watch Firefly first. It’s only half the size of a normal season so it’s cheap and doesn’t take too long to get through. And as others have pointed out, there’s a bit of an extra emotional punch to seeing the character arcs from the series resolved. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/31 "2009-09-30T02:01:56Z")
There is no worst episode in Firefly. Seriously, it was too short to have one, and they’re all too good. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/32 "2009-09-30T03:08:10Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > when certain bad things happened. I hated those bad things. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/33 "2009-09-30T04:45:36Z")
I saw the movie first. I was my first taste of Joss. I didn’t think it was spectacular, but it was definitely above average. Then I watched the TV series and the movie became about ten times better on second viewing. Then of course I had to go and watch everything Joss has ever done. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/34 "2009-09-30T04:59:23Z")
You’re all wrong. The worst episode is…I forget the title, but the one where River almost gets burned as a witch. It does have a few excellently quotable lines, though, especially Jayne pretending to read Simon’s diary: “Dear diary, today I was pompous and my sister was crazy. Then we were kidnapped by hill folk, never to be seen again. It was the best day ever!” ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/35 "2009-09-30T05:20:13Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > You’re all wrong. The worst episode is…I forget the title, but the one where River almost gets burned as a witch. It does have a few excellently quotable lines, though, especially Jayne pretending to read Simon’s diary: > > “Dear diary, today I was pompous and my sister was crazy. Then we were kidnapped by hill folk, never to be seen again. It was the best day ever!” _Safe_. Yeah, if I had to pick a worst episode, I’d waffle between that, _Heart of Gold_, and _The Message_. I played the episodes all the time on Hulu while I was at work, and _Safe_ was the one I least picked. Even then, they all have their good parts. The worst episode of Firefly is better than the best episode of a lot of shows. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/36 "2009-09-30T06:16:08Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > You’re all wrong. The worst episode is…I forget the title, but the one where River almost gets burned as a witch. It does have a few excellently quotable lines, though, especially Jayne pretending to read Simon’s diary: But - but - “Big damn heroes” and “Yeah, but she’s _our_ witch.” ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/37 "2009-09-30T09:27:39Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Not sure why there’s all that hate for the movie. I think it’s one of the best sci-fi movies out there, both by itself and as an ending to the Firefly series. > > You can watch it by itself - a lot of clever writing went into making it make sense without having seen the series. But after you see it you’re gonna want to see Firefly anyway. So you might as well go watch Firefly first. It’s only half the size of a normal season so it’s cheap and doesn’t take too long to get through. And as others have pointed out, there’s a bit of an extra emotional punch to seeing the character arcs from the series resolved. I totally agree, I have watched Fireflya couple of times and like it a lot, but the movie has become one of my personal favs which I watch regularly when I have extra time at hand and don’t know what I really want to do (together with pulp fiction and the big Lebowski). It just too bad we didn’t get the story being told a t a slower pace over an episode of 7 or 8. ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/38 "2009-09-30T09:28:42Z")
double post. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/39 "2009-09-30T10:01:48Z")
But can we all agree that “Out of Gas” is the best episode? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994/40 "2009-09-30T10:15:37Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > But can we all agree that “Out of Gas” is the best episode? It’s definitely in the top three. I still find it very hard to rate Firefly episodes because they are all so good, unlike other series where there are just a few stand out episodes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-serenity-question/511994.md?page=3)