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Firefly - The Complete Series Customer Reviews (64 - 66 of 83 Reviews)

1. The combination of genres was surprisingly effective. Honestly, I cringed the first time I heard about the then soon-to-premeier "science fiction western." But I watched it anyway, and it worked.

2. The inclusion of a main character who is a prostitute is adventurous. But even more, this is a society in which prostitutes are held in the highest esteem and treated like honored dignitaries. That's daring and thought provoking.

3. Most impressive (to me) was the fact that the show mixed Mandarin Chinese words and phrases in with the dialogue, smoothly, and without subtitled translation. The Mandarin was always included in such a way that you could figure out what the essential meaning was from the context (a guy walks up to a bar, says something in Mandarin, and then gets handed a drink, for example).

Mandarin provided a unique flavor to the show and a bit of socio-political background: clearly, in this future, Chinese culture has remained powerful, so much so that the language pervades the society and is spoken by pretty much everyone. Chinese culture, too, keeps subtly appearing. The prostitute does Chinese caligraphy in her spare time.

Too bad the show didn't last long enough for us to uncover much of the backstory of this future vision. It was certainly an intriguing one.

Firefly was the best thing Fox never knew it had
Fox has had its share of failed shows in the past years. This is to say nothing of their chronic ability to underadvertise and pre-empt their best programming in lieu of sporting events and mindless programming.

How Joss Whedon's Firefly managed to get a prime-time Friday night slot on Fox is beyond me. It was smartly written, well directed, extremely well cast and for its short-run had enough sub plots to keep you watching week after week. Firefly is, hands down, one of the best shows that Fox has ever aired. Why they relentlessly under-promoted this well-viewed show may never be known.

It is my sincere hope that now that Buffy is gone, Whedon manages to find another network that will pick up Firefly. It is too good to die.

See what all the fuss is about
There's a reason that over eight hundred people have taken the time to write glowing reviews about this show. Firefly is that good. The characters are three-dimensional, the acting is strong and the special effects are amazing.

The only downside to the series is that it was cancelled before we got to see how many of the story lines would play out (i.e. what did the Blue Sun corporation do to River and what did Shepherd Book do before he joined the Church). With "Serenity" set to hit theaters next year, we may get answers to a few of these questions, and who knows? A strong showing at the box office may lead to a revival of the series on a better network than Fox.

I would strongly urge those of you hesitant to watch a "space western" to give Firefly a chance. You'll be glad you did, and you just might join the growing population of Firefly fanatics.