Yes, Joss Whedon is problematic. But damn, I loved Firefly. Yes, he created it, but like Buffy and Angel, he’s not the only one who brought it to life. So with all that Nathan Fillion and the cast have done of late to bring about a continuation, in an animated format, I’ve decided to dig into the novels, and the series that spawned so much love.

Everyone knows that Fox didn’t broadcast the episodes in order, and effectively killed the show with its scheduling and broadcasting things out of order. So airdates may not be mentioned in these posts, but you better believe I was there from the first, which was The Train Job.

But Serenity was the original series opener (which Fox aired much later). A two-hour opener, Serenity, written and directed by Whedon, introduced us to the ‘Verse. You can tell it’s produced on a television budget, but gorram if it doesn’t look great.

We’re introduced to Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) a war vet, who was on the losing side, but not the wrong side. At his side was Zoe (Gina Torres). They were known as browncoats, for obvious reasons.

When they lost the war, Mal and Zoe looked for a way to get by in the ‘Verse. So they bought a Firefly-class vessel, christened her Serenity and filled her out with a crew and took odd jobs to get by. They have a pilot, Hoban Washburne (Alan Tudyk), who is married to Zoe. They have a young, and beautiful engineer, Kaylee Frye (Jewel Staite).

They let a Companion, Inara Serra (Morena Baccarin), rent one of their shuttles. Her profession opens many a door. There’s Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin), the hired muscle, who isn’t always the brightest, or the most trustworthy.

And then there’s the new additions. A Shepard looking to see some of the “Verse, Derrial Book (Ron Glass), whose religious beliefs don’t sit well with Mal, and a brother and sister duo, Simon (Sean Maher) and River Tam (Summer Glau).

This pair add a true mystery to the ship. Simon is a doctor, and he is intent on protecting his sister, whom he’s spirited away from the Alliance. It seems they’ve done something to her brain, and they want her back. Book has some secrets as well.

But they’re paying their way, and that keeps Serenitty flying.

A futuristic tale, but with Western genre sensibilities, the series created a look, a manner of speaking, and a completely realized universe that people still long to visit. And Whedon and the creatives on this series had it all figured out by the show’s opening.

There’s crackling dialogue, action beats, character moments, and it just captures viewers from the start.

We meet some of the characters that are going to cause problems for our heroes, including minor crime lord, Badger (Mark Sheppard). We also see that Mal and his crew are living close to the ragged edge, doing whatever they have to do to survive.

We also get a mention of something called Reavers, and have a run-in with them. Nothing happens, but it’s a tense sequence, as the dialogue implies they are incredibly dangerous. And we see how each of the crew react to being this close to them. It’s a sharply done sequence.

In the opener, not only do the Tams, and Book come aboard, they also bring on Dobson (Carlos Jacott), who is going to be the baddie for the episode, among some other villains. Dobson works for the Alliance, and he’s here for the Tams. And speaking of the Tams, River has a great entrance.

Damn, I forgot how much I missed this show. And the writing is solid. We see how the characters relate to one another, and how they feel for one another, and it’s done through some grand storytelling.

I can’t wait to see how much I enjoy this rewatch.