Okeydoke. So, being a devotee of everything Joss, I got the first couple DVDs of Firefly from Netflix today. (I don’t have a TV, so I’ve never seen it before.) I pop disk one into my computer, and I have a choice between three episodes. The layout is a little confusing, so I’m not sure which one comes first. The disk jacket lists them in the following order: The Train Job, Bushwhacked, and Serenity. However, just to be sure, I google up a list of episodes, and come up with this, which lists the first three episodes as The Train Job, Bushwhacked, and Our Mrs. Reynolds. Now, Our Mrs. Reynolds is, if I follow Netflix’s listing, the fifth episode. And according to TV Tome, Serenity is the eleventh episode. I did a search in Cafe Society, and it seems that the Firefly Watching Club started with Serenity.
What. The. Hell? I just want to watch the freaking pilot! Won’t someone tell me what it is?
Serenity Parts 1 & 2
The Train Job
Bushwhacked
Shindig
Safe
Our Mrs. Reynolds
Jaynestown
Out of Gas
Ariel
War Stories
Trash
The Message
Heart of Gold
Objects In Space
Serenity - The Movie!!!
The main problem is that Fox royally screwed up the order, broadcasting the episodes in a way that made no sense whatsoever, and refusing to broadcast the original two hour pilot, so they had to make a second pilot, now known as “The Train Job”.
And feel free to join in the ongoing Firefly film festival going on here at the SDMB. We’re going through the series one episode at a time in the remaining months leading up to the release of “Serenity” (the feature film). The most recent thread covers episode 4, “Shindig,” while the thread that will be started this weekend will be about episode 5, “Safe.”
Here’s an example of the broadcast order not making sense (big, big spoiler):
[spoiler]Did I mention HUGE spoiler? I’m really not kidding.
In “Heart of Gold”, which never aired the first time around , Inara is heartbroken that Mal slept with Nandi, even if she won’t admit it to him. After Nandi gets killed, Inara can’t take being around Mal anymore and tells him she’s leaving. In the later episode “Objects in Space”, which did air, there’s a brief scene with Inara and Mal discussing whether they want to tell the rest of the crew or wait until later. In the deleted scenes on disk 4, there’s an alternate version of this scene that was used in the broadcasted episode in which Inara says, “I don’t know why I haven’t left yet.” No matter which version of the scene you look at, it doesn’t make sense if you haven’t seen “Heart of Gold” first.[/spoiler]
Oh, strum, I thought it made perfect sense when I saw OIS when broadcast. It fit in with the established relationship between them. It just made more sense on the DVD’s.
I’m a huge Buffy fan, and becomming a big fan of Angel (thank God for reruns on TNT right when I get back from work! I got most of season 2, and apparantly missed the worst season (though I might go back and watch it anyways.)) I’m assuming I would like Firefly? Should I try to find a rental palce thast has the DVD’s, or just say to Hell with it and buy them? I’d like to see the movie this fall, so it would be good to see the series before, right?
Just buy them! You need the series to get the most out of the movie, and they are worth it on their own. You will find yourself watching them over and over, getting more and more out of them each time.
I agree – just buy 'em. In the every cloud has a silver lining department, there were few enough episodes that the whole series on DVD is cheap. Amazon’s got the set for 30 bucks.
Not necessarily since it isn’t much like either of those shows. Or at least Buffy, since I never watched Angel. It depends on what you are expecting. If you want and expect “Buffy Goes to Outer Space” you’ll be disappointed. Firefly is skewed a little older and as world-weary Buffy and the Scoobies sometimes try to seem they ain’t got nuthin’ on Mal and the gang, though part of that is that the Firefly cast is made up of (dare I say it?) better actors. MUCH better.
However (THERE’s that big “however” I always need!), if you like Joss’ stuff because of the positively SPARKLING dialog (I’m an old film noir and screwball comedy fan so you know I prefer my dialog extra sparkly) and can understand that horses and other lowest-possible-tech go with planet colonization so the Western aspects aren’t too jarring you very well might fall in love. I know Buffistas who hated it, loved it, and lots who started out hating Firefly but came around to realize that it was one of the most brilliant series ever.
While “Serenity–The Pilot” is not the very best episode (it’s still mighty good) you won’t appreciate fully “Objects in Space” or “War Stories” without a grounding in the characters and relationships. In fact, in proper episode order is best. The series was written with a proper story arc that completes with “Objects in Space” (one of the single best episodes of ANY series and the lead isn’t even a regular!).
Well, thank you everyone for the advice. I’ve watched my first two disks now and am looking forward very much to the next two disks arriving. When I grow up I’m going to marry the captain.
silenus, buying the set is tempting, but I’m going into the Peace Corps in a couple months and something tells me my collected sets of TV shows on DVD won’t be all that useful in BFE, Central Asia.
We’re going through the series one episode at a time in the remaining months leading up to the release of “Serenity” (the feature film).