Firefly: It's the Characters that Matter
Joss Whedon, creator of the short-lived FOX drama Firefly, often used the “Stagecoach in space” analogy when describing the series back in 2002. The 1939 film, directed by John Ford and featuring John Wayne, follows a group of strangers as they make their way through lawless and dangerous Apache territory. Five hundred years into the future on Firefly, meanwhile, a similar rag-tag group of strangers struggle to make a living on the outreaches of occupied space. While Stagecoach consisted of seedy and damaged characters, including a prostitute, an alcoholic doctor and a bank embezzler, Firefly is likewise populated by the underbelly of society searching for a way to escape their past in an uncertain present.
“I wanted to do a show about the future that’s very personal, that’s about people,” Whedon explained at the time. “That deals with the idea that five hundred years from now we’re going to have the same problems and we’re still just going to be a small part of history. I want to take a look at what people are going through. To look at life for people where it’s always complicated, and morally, ethically and just physically, you have to figure out, ‘How do I make life work? How do I get through the day?’ At the end of it, in the face of the black space, ‘How do I stay myself?’”
Unfortunately, Joss Whedon was only able to tell a limited number of stories before FOX pulled the plug on Firefly after only eleven episodes in December 2002. Amazingly enough, the subsequent DVD release—which includes four unaired episodes in addition to the originally aired installments—was ranked on Amazon.com as the twelfth biggest selling DVD of 2005, despite being released in late 2003. The large and loyal contingent of fans the cult drama has attracted through the years is a testament to the meticulously crafted characters that Whedon created for Firefly. Although limited, their subsequent struggles on the outskirts of civilization likewise resonate with a Twenty First Century audience despite taking place centuries into the future.
First and foremost amongst the group of rag-tag characters is Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), captain of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity. Years earlier, Mal had fought on the side of the Independents during the War for Unification, in which the Alliance government successfully sought to extend its control to the border planets of the universe. The subsequent defeat changed Mal from a religious believer who wore a cross around his neck to cynical non-believer intent on sliding under the radar of the Alliance and living a life free from government control, no matter how difficult of a struggle that might be. It also turned Mal into a hardened individual despite a deep and understanding sympathy for the common man underdog, a trait that still leaks to the surface no matter how hard Mal may try to hide it.
The polar opposite of Malcolm Reynolds is Shepherd Derrial Book (Ron Glass), a preacher who has found his way onto Serenity. Although he spouts such lines as “I believe there’s a power greater than men, a power that heals” and “you don’t fix faith, faith fixes you” in numerous episodes, Book is not necessarily looking to bring religion to Malcolm Reynolds and the other characters of Firefly but acts more as a moral compass to the situations they find themselves in. Not that he is always successful in this endeavor—he has learned that the “way of things are not always so plain as on the central planets, rules can be a mite fuzzier.” Shepherd Book also harbors some sort of mysterious past as he continuously displays knowledge on a wide variety of criminal-type activities, making him a source of counsel even for a man like Malcolm Reynolds.
In between these two polar opposites are the rest of the cast of Firefly. Inara Serra (Morena Baccarin) is a professional “companion,” i.e., prostitute, who adds an air of “respectability” to the crew of Serenity. Despite their conflicting natures, there is an undeniable sexual tension between Inara and Mal that is never outright acknowledged, not only because of Inara’s chosen profession but because Mal’s closed persona keeps him from forming any kind of social attachments. Zoe (Gina Torres), meanwhile, is Malcolm Reynolds’ right hand (wo)man, dating back to their days fighting for Independence. Her loyalty and commitment to the captain of Serenity is often the cause of conflict and subsequent arguments with husband Wash (Alan Tudyk), who pilots their ship. Kaylee Frye (Jewel Staite) is the adorable mechanic while Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin) is... well, Jayne’s role is a little harder to define. An expert tracker, weapons connoisseur and all around muscle, Jayne is also the least intelligent of the group and the one who strays the furthest from a moral standpoint.
Regardless of such transgressions, Jayne is not above privately worrying about the fate of Kaylee when she is shot in the pilot episode or joining in on what he considers to be a suicide mission to rescue Mal in “War Stories.” In the episode “Jaynestown,” meanwhile, these conflicting natures manifest themselves side-by-side when Jayne inadvertently endears himself to the constricted servants of a “mud” plantation and develops genuine compassion towards them, only to have it later discovered that he purposely deserted—or, more appropriately, discarded from a low flying ship and left for dead—his partner in a foiled robbery attempt.
The two remaining passengers on Serenity are Simon Tam (Sean Maher) and his younger sister River (Summer Glau). A brilliant doctor from a top hospital on the core planets, Simon is now a fugitive on the run after rescuing his even more brilliant sibling from a government facility where they performed secret experiments on her. River is thus psychologically “damaged” and spouts nonsensical run-on sentences while demonstrating the occasional temper tantrum of tossing objects around the room. Although there inevitably is more to River than meets the eye, the relationship of Simon to his sister and the extent to which he went to rescue her, losing everything else in his life in the process, is a touching affirmation of the bonds of family.
And “family” is ultimately what Firefly is all about. While Simon and River are of the blood-type variety, in reality the entire crew of Serenity is a self-formed family unit. Much like he did with his other television creations—Buffy the Vampire Slayer, its spin-off Angel and even Dollhouse—Joss Whedon has crafted a narrative with Firefly that demonstrates that it’s not necessarily the relationships one is born into that matter but the ones that are developed through the natural course of life. Although his tough exterior prevents him from admitting it, Malcolm Reynolds needs the crew of his ship just as much as they need him. Life can be a long and hard road for most people, just as it is for the cast of Firefly, but no one can travel that road alone. Everyone needs “family,” even if it consists of a rag-tag group of space scavengers simply trying to eek out a meager existence.
Despite its truncated production of only fifteen episodes, Firefly may actually be Joss Whedon’s defining creation. All the elements of great storytelling are evident, for instance, and the still growing number of faithful followers it has amassed through the years is proof of its classic nature. In addition, the television series has spawned a subsequent big-screen rendition in 2005 and continues to live on through a series of limited comic book releases by publisher Dark Horse.
In the world of Firefly, there are still an infinite number of stories to be told and a fanbase hungry for those narratives. Ultimately, though, it’s the characters of the series that matter—and for that Joss Whedon should be commended.
Anthony Letizia (December 1, 2010)
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