Firefly

The other day I bought all fourteen episodes of Firefly from the Apple iTunes store. I've heard a lot of good things about Fireful, but so far I've not watched any of the series, nor seen the movie Serenity. So far, I've watched the first four episodes.

I am convinced that the network executives who canceled it should be fired.

Firefly is damn good. The basic premise is that the Earth got "used up," so another star system was settled, after many of its planets and moons were terraformed. After settlement, some of the core worlds in the form of "The Alliance" wanted to create a centralized government ruling the entire system. Not everyone agreed, so there was a civil war, but The Alliance prevailed. The show is set six years after the end of the war.

One very interesting thing about the show is the western motif, with a mix of high-tech next to people riding horses, and many of the costumes look like they'd fit in at the OK Corral. (This was a theme Robert Heinlein used in Time Enough for Love, by the way.) The soundtrack sounds like a western rather than SF.

A western wouldn't be complete without gunplay. There's in interesting mix of firearms. In one episode I saw side by side shotguns, a Sako TRG sniper rifle (I think that's what it was), wheelguns, and pump shotguns.

What really makes the show work, of course, are the strong characters and interesting plotlines. Technology -- whether 19th C. or 26th C. -- provides a backdrop to the story. It isn't the story itself.

I also find it interesting that the heroes of the show are those who opposed the strong central government. Coming out of Hollywood, a bastion of leftist groupthink, that's quite refreshing.

After I watch all of Firefly's episodes I will be buying Serenity.