Firefly

The TV show Firefly is unique: whatever you can say about it, and why it was canceled halfway through its first season, you certainly cannot deny that fact. Unlike other science fiction shows, Firefly has no aliens, no worm holes, no black holes, no time travel, and no light speed travel. In fact, despite the oddness of the match, Firefly is a marriage of two genres: science fiction and western. From the twangy guitar theme song to the vast plains of certain planets, to the horses and guns that still exist 500 years in the future, the western influence is not something easily missed. And yet, it is well integrated, with the plot line being that when humans “outgrew” Earth, they formed other planets, but did not provide the settlers with much more than the bare necessities to start life with, giving the “Core” planets a more futuristic and modern look, while leaving the “Outer Rim” planets with a more historical Western feel.

Another area where Firefly is different from other shows is its focus. Though the plot seems fairly simple and action-centered, a crew of mercenaries dealing with various jobs that always seem to go wrong in some way, action is not the point of each episode. Instead, the focus of Firefly is love. The love of spouses towards each other, the love of a captain for his crew, the love of a crew for their ship, the love of siblings for each other, and even the love of one man for his collection of guns. Character and relationships are key, and though each of the various elements may or may not be unique by itself, when put together they make Firefly very special indeed.

The first of these elements is one of the main characters, a man of God, a “Shepherd”. Religious characters are not new to media, of course, but rarely are they so palatable to a Christian as is Shepherd Book. Here is a man who is a strong believer in the Lord and his Word, who is always the voice of peace-making and love, and yet who is neither weak nor with religious doubts. He can fight when lives must be saved, but does not wish for the death of any, even those who seek to kill him. Not only this, but his character is treated with respect by the others, even though none of them seem to be anything but atheists (and one is bitterly against religion), and he is beloved by all. Perhaps he does not bring a true influence of religion to the whole show, but for a piece of modern media, made by non-believers, the positive portrayal of Shepherd Book is a deep breath of fresh air.

Another element rarely seen, a healthy happy marriage that stays together through the whole show. As is shown many times throughout the show, Wash and Zoe are bound to each other by more than affection, though that isn’t lacking, but a commitment to each other that is able to stand all disagreements and spats. There is no talk of divorce between them; this marriage is firm and solid, something that would be nice to see more often.

And lastly of the elements that I will mention, one of the main focuses of Firefly is on the loving relationship between a brother and sister. Loving siblings have been portrayed in books and movies before, though certainly less than siblings who irritate each other, several examples being Sense and Sensibility, Little Women, and, more recently, The Series of Unfortunate Events. However, these stories almost always focus on the effects of outside events on the relationships, not on the relationships themselves alone. In Firefly, however, we are given a rare treat.

Simon and River Tam have always been close to each other, as is shown in flashbacks, but the test of their relationship comes when River begins sending her brother coded letters from the special government school where she is at, letters that say “they are hurting me". On his way to the medical elite, Simon drops everything and spends years and his entire fortune to rescue his sister, to find only after he has done so that scientists have been playing with her unique brain for reasons unknown to him. Apparently their reasons were important, though, because now both brother and sister are on the “most wanted” list, and Simon must take River, who is left with extensive mental damage from their experiments, with him on the run. And so we meet them in Firefly: River, a genius who is mentally ill, and her brother Simon who, it seems, will do anything to keep her safe from those who tortured her. Throughout the series Simon shows an incredible selflessness in his relationship with his sister, who is left so unstable that she needs constant attention and care, and though things are hardly perfect for them, their relationship (to someone who has a deep bond with her siblings) feels more "normal" than the easier but more dysfunctional relationships usually shown among siblings. This is love as the gospels show it, the truest form that moves a person to give up all selfish desires, all personal goals, simply to serve and even lay down a life for another. We see this love sometimes between friends or lovers, but Firefly shows us that media has forgotten that siblings can show it as well. And for those who don’t fall into the sibling rivalry that is portrayed as normal, Simon and River Tam will warm your heart and maybe move you to tears.

Moving from the more meaningful to the merely entertaining elements, there is more to Firefly than the characters. The show abounds in witty writing—even the most dramatic episodes have more than a few quotable lines, and a listing of all our favorites would take several pages, and many of them would not be half as good out of context or I would offer some choice gems here. Another interesting aspect, though small, is the fact that Firefly seems to be the only science fiction show or movie that recognizes that there is no sound in space.

But as much as there are positive elements to this show (and its sequel movie, Serenity), it is unfortunately the product of popular culture, and is not without unnecessary parts. There is a great deal of bad language (though thankfully due to the show’s nature much of it is in untranslated Chinese) and fairly often innuendos or uncomfortable scenes of a steamy or violent nature, though nothing that is very difficult to edit. On the broader scheme, there is an element of law-breaking on a similar scale to the piracy in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. For our family, though, the editing was a price we were willing to pay, and we very much enjoyed this series, and are quite astounded that it was canceled.