# I just saw the first episode of Firefly **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016 "2004-08-28T23:24:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/21 "2004-08-30T16:45:59Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Jayne didn’t sell out Mal, at least he didn’t see it that way. Remember what he said when confronted in the airlock: _"What’re you taking this so personal for? It ain’t like I ratted_ you _out to the feds."_ > > He then begs Mal not to tell the others about his betrayal. (I like to think that Mal was prepared to kill Jayne up to that point.) I think Jayne _is_ loyal to Mal and his crew, he just hadn’t accepted Simon and River as part of the team/family. I agree: Jayne’s request not to tell the rest of the crew was his first demonstration of social behavior in the episode, and it gave Mal the hope that Jayne could be redeemed. It was a great moment, and Jayne’s awkward, stumbling restitution to the crew over the next couple of episodes really built his character up–as did his conversation a little bit later with the doctor. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/22 "2004-08-31T19:51:36Z")
Ok, I am through. Silly, silly girl: Why do you think it’s ok for you to sleep with random strangers, but not for Mal? If you want him, why play _too_ hard to get??? Argh! ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/23 "2004-08-31T20:02:49Z")
Plus, that whole hypocrisy about being openminded about sex–if she’s so openminded, why doesn’t she just _say something?_ Gah. > [@Optihut](#): > > But in most TV shows the regular cast gets away with stuff that normally wouldn’t fly. I would have liked it better if nobody had found out that Jayne tried to sell out the doctor and the kid. Nope. This is the kind of thing that happens in the Trek universe, with so many different people writing the plots. Things get left behind that are really, critically important because we’re not writing about that this week. Stuff happened in the first episode of Firefly that was important in the last one, which is kinda ironic considering the order in which they aired the episodes… ---
**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:** [August 31, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/24 "2004-08-31T20:04:16Z")
You’re hooked. Welcome to the club! **Serenity** has wrapped. On to post-production! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/25 "2004-08-31T20:10:58Z")
Sadly I won’t be seeing the serenity movie for a long time - unless it’s a huge hit in the USA, I doubt they are going to dub it and bring it here. Unfortunately stuff also has to be dubbed before a cinema picks it up to show the original english version. ---
**Author:** ![merrily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/26 "2004-09-04T20:57:40Z")
Well, the **SDMB** has altered my life again. First, you all got me hooked on Buffy. Of course, I had to wait until it was off the air, but DVDs are a good way to watch a series–you pick up the continuity better, and that was one of Buffy’s strong points. So, I finally ordered **Firefly**. I’ve watched two of the disks, and I’m hooked. But why are there only four disks–why not 22 episodes? Drat it all. I’ve liked all the episodes so far–in varying degrees, but all on the positive side. I’ll have them all watched by tomorrow night, probably. Nice long weekend. I loved the first episode. This series is more grown-up than Buffy, especially in the humor. I can hardly believe the captain here was the Reverend, because I really disliked the Reverend on Buffy. He brings a lot of subtlety to this role, it is difficult to believe it is the same person. You all are going to make me buy **Angel**. too, aren’t you. I’ve seen some okay episodes, but it never grabbed me on TV. Maybe I’m a DVD Joss Whedon type. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/27 "2004-09-04T21:10:26Z")
> [@merrily](#): > > So, I finally ordered **Firefly**. I’ve watched two of the disks, and I’m hooked. But why are there only four disks–why not 22 episodes? Drat it all. I’ve liked all the episodes so far–in varying degrees, but all on the positive side. That’s because it was cancelled mid-season. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/28 "2004-09-04T21:27:46Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > That’s because it was cancelled mid-season. It’s still painful for us to talk about. ---
**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 4, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/29 "2004-09-04T21:47:52Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > It’s still painful for us to talk about. _whimper_ ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/30 "2004-09-04T22:25:37Z")
Well… At least there’s going to be the movie. It’s really a shame the show didn’t succeed, it had an interesting level of sex and violence to it, in addition to the traits that make Joss’s shows so good (the man truly is a master of his trade). ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/31 "2004-09-05T00:23:36Z")
Regarding Mal’s forgiveness of Jayne: Remember 2 things: The episode is called Ariel Joss is very smart. I think it is a reference to _The Tempest_–River is Ariel–the strange, sexless, graceful air-spirit who can be very powerful but is inevitably controlled by someone and used for their own purposes. Jayne plays Caliban to River’s Ariel–the strange, almost bestial, earthy, certainly stupid servant who always plots against his master but who knows, deep inside, that he is his master’s man. At the end of _The Tempest_, Prospero accepts Caliban back as his servant after Caliban’s plans to murder him have fallen apart, and says “This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine.” In the same way, Mal recognizes that Jayne is his, part of his crew, and Mal has a responsibility to him that is independent of whatever Jayne has done and might well do in the future. It’s not a rational stance, but Mal is not a rational man–he’s a romantic down to the bone. I don’t mean to imply that “Ariel” is in any way a retelling of _The Tempest_, but I do think the allusion is there. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/32 "2004-09-05T00:26:14Z")
Awesome analysis, **Manda JO**. Makes me wonder where Joss was planning to go with the relationship between Jayne and the Tam siblings. ---
**Author:** ![merrily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/33 "2004-09-05T14:22:15Z")
Watched Disk 3 last night–the best yet by far, and I really liked the first two. Wow. Yes, sad to think of the history. I did watch the little bit at the end of four about the making of Firefly. And I had to shake my head over the execs. But Joss is loose in the world, still young (although burning himself at both ends), and if one thinks about this as another milestone in his path on storytelling excellence, it is easier to take. Like a short story between novels. I’ll be giving Firefly for Christmas this year. (Not my copy!) ---
**Author:** ![merrily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/34 "2004-09-05T18:07:17Z")
I’ve been looking around a bit on the net, and I have a question–probably a newbie one, but I’m hoping for mercy–and a comment. Question: It looks like the DVD for the non-US version had more commentaries. Any idea why we didn’t get them, too? Comment: The interface on the DVD really sucks. The cross-cutting intros or transitions or whatever they are make me motion-sick, and it took me a while to figure out that the entire titles weren’t hot-linked–I was using the tab key to move around until I figured out there were hidden buttons, as it were. Basic user-friendly design principle: hot-link the entire word, you silly people! Whew, rantlet over. Back to wallowing in the excellence. Don’t you envy me, discovering it for the first time? And I just found a site that translates the Chinese. ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/35 "2004-09-05T18:26:13Z")
> [@merrily](#): > > Question: It looks like the DVD for the non-US version had more commentaries. Any idea why we didn’t get them, too? Taking a guess, I’d say that the DVDs were produced for the US market first and after they sold well, they had the time to record some episode commentaries and include them in the next production run for the DVD sales abroad. That reminds me: On the commentary of the pilot Joss said that one of the guys (I didn’t pay too much attention when he said that, so forgive any inaccuracies) on the Dortmunder is the actor who played D’Hoffryn (sp?) on Buffy and some other dude on Angel. The guy identified by **Miller** was referred to as “the second hattrick” as it was the second actor in firefly who was in all three shows. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/36 "2004-09-05T23:29:06Z")
> [@merrily](#): > > Question: It looks like the DVD for the non-US version had more commentaries. Any idea why we didn’t get them, too? Which episodes are the additional commentaries on? The region 1 set has them on seven episodes: **Serenity** Joss Whedon and Nathan Fillion **The Train Job** Joss Whedon and Tim Minear **Bushwacked** **Shindig** Morena Baccarin, Jane Espenson, Shawna Trpcic. **Safe** **Our Mrs. Reynolds** **Jaynestown** **Out Of Gas** Tim Minear and David Solomon **Ariel** **War Stories** Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk **Trash** **The Message** Alan Tudyk and Jewel Staite **Heart Of Gold** **Objects In Space** Joss Whedon If there are more out there I’ll have to find a way to get ahold of them. ---
**Author:** ![merrily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016/37 "2004-09-06T13:14:03Z")
Yes, I finally figured it out last night. You have to go to Language Selection to find the commentaries. :rolleyes: On the other hand, I do enjoy that your choices are English, French, Spanish or Whedon! I listened to Joss’ commentary on the last episode last night. Wow! Cool to find out his philosophical influences, and how he thinks about an episode. What a mind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-saw-the-first-episode-of-firefly/262016.md?page=1)