Finishing up Firefly.

Originally Posted by LeHah

The law of diminishing returns can only apply to things that last. See, it's easy to say Frefly was greater than Item X, because Item X had a chance to suck. Firefly did not. People say the same thing about shows like Freaks And Geeks, Miracles, My So-Called Life, The Prisoner, Murder One, Wonderland, Freakazoid! and tons of other shows I can't think of. Shit, I bet you someone on the internet could convince people here that My Mother, The Car was a genius peice of television for it's "Hume-like qualities".

I have mixed feelings about Firefly myself. On one hand, it's cute and entertaining. I love the characters Jayne and Kaylee. There are a lot of elements that don't mesh, but thats bound to happen on a show that takes it's genre mix too literally (as opposed to the original Star Trek, which was literally pitched as Wagontrain To The Stars)

On the other hand, its fucking frustrating. The internet has attempted to tell me that this show was important and revolutionary when it's really nothing new except being a "horse opera in space" - quite literally. The things discussed in Firefly are no more important or relevant than those talked about in Battlestar Galactica - which is no more important or relevant than 90210, Dawson's Creek or Felicity. Abortion is no longer a tricky topic - but it is if it's in space!

Yes, Firefly has some cute dialouge but anyone who's seen Have Gun, Will Travel, The Rifleman or Maverick have seen these plots a couple times 40+ years ago.

I also find the character of River Tam to be insultingly awful. You could not ask for a worse thing in a show than unnessessary exposition - and she was a literal embodiment of exposition. Instead of making a subtle or complex reason for the Alliance to chase Mal and company - they had to give a badly reasoned McGuffin in the form of an attractive female. Come on, you expect me to swallow that? Poor insane hot girl!, the internet cries. And given how badly written she was set-up as - once you find out what she's carrying in her head in the movie, it's just complete bullshit.

I have problems with Serenity - mostly because of the changes between TV to film. The doctor goes from being this nice, meek guy to this angry jerk and 3 seasons worth of TV plot points are jammed down our throats in the span of 2 hours time. Sloppy, lazy bounds in logic in terms of writing (though I *loved* the villian in the movie) and some of the "shocking moments" (you know what I mean) were cheap - namely that of Book.

I have to say, this is the best post I've ever seen from you, LeHah. You took the words right out of my mouth.

But my fondness for Firefly runs a bit deeper than yours, I think. I loved the dialogue, and I didn't have much of a problem looking past some of the poorer choices to enjoy what was mostly fantastic interplay. It's just frustrating to see the show center around such an uninteresting and uninspired trope character.

Jam it back in, in the dark.