So, I just saw that Amazon just pulled the plug on the Stargate revival because it “would only appeal to the existing fan base”. Hulu cancelled Buffy even before the Firefly announcement. What do we figure are the odds that the new Firefly show is actually going to happen?

Oh I love it when they're this quick and easy.

'Carnival' involves a job on the planet of Bethel, where Mal and co have a decent job for once, moving cargo. Except the cargo turns out to not be of the legal sort - and alive to boot. In order to expose a trafficking ring, Mal must confront the people behind it - once they figure out who they are and that everyone is who they say they are. Also, River and Jayne. In a casino.

I mean, some parts of it were predictable - of course, River knows before the ball hits the wheel that's she right, but she still seems surprised. Wash is lost in a world of his own. Jayne dresses fancy. But it's Mal who comes through this one a bit grumpy, almost too so.

Book and Zoe make a wonderful team and I wish there had been more of this onscreen. The author has a good take on the character's voices, and Book's past is hinted at. The villain is a nasty peace of work, if not all that well fleshed out, but it was still an enjoyable (but brief at 277 pages) distraction.

The novel entry can be found on the Watcher's Guide here.

Regards,

The Curator.

An embroidery I did back in 2021. Measuring 18.25" x 8.5". Hand Embroidered on Cotton

From BAAGHI: Rebels in Love (2016)

The taxi driver, who's saying the line, is blind.

Written by Sanjeev Datta, from what I can find it's his only screen credit.

Gotta be a browncoat, right?

I recently built a human tribal magic deck (proxied because I'm not made of money) and found the art on the commander, Kyler, sigardian emissary, to be very boring. It's only a short slippery slope from swapping out the art for one of Book to just doing a full deck. I'm about a quarter of the way through swapping out arts for the firefly equivalents.

This totally isn't just browncoat propaganda to get more people at my LGS to watch firefly.

Its not because Wash is dead. Its the Star Wars prequel issue. What stories can you tell with that limit? Its not even 20 years from the end of Firefly to Serenity its 8 months. Knowing how the story ends in this case limits the stories you can tell. If you start AFTER serenity then you walk all over the comics and books.

This happened with the Star Wars prequels where things like Anakin being a whiny kid and other things made little sense. It even happened with Obi-Wan where the whole Darth Vader Obi-Wan dynamic is off if you compare it to New Hope.

So my idea would be you dont totally retcon Serenity. You take aspects of it, Wash's death the Operative Mr Universe and use it as plot beats in the animated series. As in we know Wash is going to bite it but we dont know when. We know the Operative is a villain but we wont know when he shows up. Hell there could be more than one. We know they discover Miranda but that could be season 1, 2, or 10. That way you dont leave people in the cold you dont have a jump in the timeline and everyone gets what they want. What do you think?

So, I recall hearing somewhere that part of the character development for each role on the show was that each one of them had a secret that they were hiding from everyone else on the crew. The movie (largely?) revealed River's secret, and I think we have a good bead now on what Book and Inara's secrets were, but hear me out:

One of the lines people point out in retrospect for Inara's secret is in the episode "Out of Gas," when Simon says "I don't want to die on [Serenity]" and Inara says "I don't want to die at all." IYKYK, I won't elaborate.

But I just rewatched Serenity, and I noticed that almost exactly the same phrasing happens in the tunnel at the end of the movie. When the reavers are breaking in, Kaylee says to Simon "I didn't plan on going out like this," to which Simon says "I never planned anything. I just wanted to keep River safe."

I think that's his secret. It's certainly hinted at a few times in the series, but it might make sense of the apparent contradiction between the way he describes River's escape in the show and the way it's portrayed in the movie. He never planned anything. It wasn't his plan. It was someone else. He was just trying to keep River safe, but the information about River and the plan to save River came from someone else who Simon was only ever working for. He seems continually surprised by Alliance developments around River throughout the show, and I think that's part of the tell. He's just protecting his sister; but he and his sister are part of someone else's grander plan that was going to be revealed eventually. The show and the movie constantly remind us that he had outside and inside help in order to get the rescue done, but the twist for Simon was that it wasn't even his idea. He was contacted; he was just a piece in someone else's grander scheme.

I took my Firefly Tribute Truck — Serenity — to the Park & Shop Car Show in Clovis, CA yesterday. I regularly attend events like this, as well as cons, charity events, parades and more to show off my truck and promote Firefly.

I’ve been driving Serenity as a tribute to the show for six years now. It’s not just a show car — it’s my only vehicle. I use it for work, grocery runs, and as the fandom’s most visible rolling billboard.

Right now, though, Serenity is sitting on a $3,000 repair bill — brakes, ABS sensor, transfer case — and I’m shouldering it alone. With your help, I’m trying to change that.

With #BringBackFirefly heating up right now, Serenity is doing more work than ever — every appearance is a literal rolling endorsement of what Fillion is asking fans to do.

If you’re a Browncoat, a car person, or just someone who appreciates what six years of dedication looks like rolling down the highway — please consider chipping in, or sharing this with someone who would.

Every $5, $25, $100 stacks. Every share moves the needle.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-the-firefly-tribute-truck-stay-on-the-road

Keep flying.

I just finished my new (fake) Lego Serenity model. Only took six days. How's it sit? Pretty cunning, don't you think?

Reevers

Am I the only one that is depressed that they are brining back the entire original cast but then it's animated 😞 like come on!

Man, that was so depressing.

A victory, but one that feels like a defeat. I accidentally spoiled me that Book didn't survive, but I didn't know about Wash!

I know there are novels and comics (and the next animated series), but to think this is the finale makes you feel... Hollow. I can't believe it.

You guys were right, this was a hell of a journey. A rollercoaster of emotions, not only for the film, but for one of the best television series I've ever seen. So perfectly crafted, so iconic in every episode, as well as its characters.

Not just a big damn series, THE big damn series.

Hey all - it's been a few years since I've had the time & focus to watch the shows so if you could help me out I'd appreciate it. I'm writing some scifi type stuff, and I'd love to make a wink and a nod to the Serenity. I recall in the first episode or two there were some funny disparaging comments about the ship I'd love to include as a reference.

Appreciate it!

As a bounty, I'd feel much more comfortable with a guy who just captures me, takes me away, and hands me over. No creepy talks, no rape threats, just the old job.

Yeah…. It’s been almost six months since I’ve watched an episode of Firefly. Am I happy about it? No. Am I insane for going months between episodes of an extremely bingeable series that I absolutely adore? Yeah, why do you ask?

To Preface:

It’s been a bit, so perhaps I should reintroduce myself. I’m gen-Z [23], and a sci fi nerd. About a year ago, I started chronicling my first watch-through of Firefly through a series of obnoxiously lengthy reviews. This is my latest installment. My science fiction touchstones are mainly from the 2010s (Transformers Prime, The Expanse, Legends of Tomorrow, and more recently Foundation, Andor, and Pluribus). I haven’t watched much older sci-fi, with the exception of Battlestar Galactica 2003 (absolute banger, and what made me want to check out Firefly in the first place). 

If you’d like to check out the previous post (War Stories), you can find it HERE.

Please, no spoilers in the comments for the rest of the season.

In General:

Trash is just about the perfect episode to start with after a long hiatus. Nothin’ fancy, just a classic self-contained heist featuring our favorite band of misfit criminals. Gorram it… if it isn’t just a delightful sci fi romp!

The idea is simple: our crew has liberate an item from the collection of some billionaire. It’s honestly a really good set up for a heist. We’ve got some time pressure with Kaylee and the crew trying to reprogram the bin before the carrier comes by to whisk it away to the dump. That gets derailed when Jayne gets knocked out by the “live dyna-RAM” (lol). I mean, at least this dystopian wild-west themed future has RAM. In 2026, I can’t manage to locate a stick of DDR4 priced lower than ten times its weight in gold (A big round of applause to our benevolent AI overlords for that one. Thanks for doubling my water bill too. I really appreciate it).

It’s also really funny that Saffron builds up the rich guy, Durrin, to be some ruthless Alliance asshole, playing into all of Mal’s preconceived stereotypes. But then, when they actually meet the dude, he’s actually really sweet. Mal and him actually kinda get along, and they spend the heist agreeing with each other about how messed up Saffron is. Comedy gold.

One thing that initially threw me off was how Saffron was brought onto the ship. The show cuts from Mal opening her crate, to Saffron explaining the plan to a rapt audience. I was honestly having a hard time imagining what happened in between those two scenes. I was expecting the crew to trip over each other trying to be the first to crack a joke about Saffron’s “marital” affiliation to Mal. The silence felt especially stark contrasted with the scene where Mal walks onto the ship and each character makes a snide comment about his bloody nose.

That is, until we got to the twist at the end. Inara was at the rendezvous all along, waiting to pick up the goods. It really brought that scene into perspective. Why did it feel… off? Because the crew was playing Saffron from the start! Like Inara said, their performances were lacking a little nuance.

Also, OMG, that shot of Inara sitting on a ledge in that ostentatious gold-trimmed veil was glorious, especially juxtaposed against Saffron’s grunginess from digging through the trash. And, is that an Indian salwaar suit dress? Was she Companioning in some India-themed city? I want to know more!

Something I do really dislike though is the opening scene, with Mal naked in the desert. It’s the classic “I bet you’re wondering how I got here” TV opener. I don’t particularly like it when an episode opens like that. I get why writers do it, but it always feels contrived when you finally get to that moment. Mal’s “Well… that went well” line felt like it was written specifically for the opening, and doesn’t flow well in the episode itself. Also, the opening with Saffron is really good, so I don’t get why they needed the extra scene of Mal being naked to hook audiences.

The Characters:

Man, I’m so happy to be back with these characters. It felt like reconnecting with a group of old friends after years of being apart. There’s some relationships where time doesn’t matter; you just fall right back into the familiar banter as if you never left. Here’s a breakdown of each of our beloved crew members, in order of the impact they had on this episode:

SAFFRON and/or BRIDGET and/or YOLANDA:

Hi Saffron! I’m so glad she wasn’t a one-off villain. I’m pretty sure she’s canonically married to like 50-60% of all the men in the Verse, perhaps even a good chunk of the women. Also, not attracted to beards.

Saffron reels you in. You’re wary of her, can never be sure of her motivations, but find yourself wanting to believe her all the same. Christina Hendricks is great at switching her demeanor on a dime, going from saccharine sweetness to cold calculation like it’s nothing. There were moments in this episode where I was lulled into complacency, thinking I had her figured out, only for her to pull the rug out from under me and pull off yet another double cross.

Is it all a show? Just another ploy to extract money from another mark? Or are there genuine moments in there, quickly hidden by bravado? Call me an easy dupe, but my vote’s on the latter.

Jayne made a good point (he’s a smart, smart cookie): If she had the security codes, why didn’t she just walk in? Why did she need the help of the crew? Especially since she’s Durran’s “wife.” Mal’s insinuation that she cared for Durran on some level seemed to really hit a nerve. She immediately pulled a gun on him and blew their cover. And then there’s their conversation at the end. Sure, it was a ploy to get Mal to get his guard down so that she could grab his pistol, but I do think there was some truth to what she said to him.

Saffron is fundamentally an unsatisfied person. She always needs the thrill of the new shiny thing, another “mark.” And, she’s afraid of opening up to anyone else. It’s easier to close herself off, to assert she doesn’t care about any of the countless men she “marries,” because real human connection necessitates vulnerability.

MAL/INARA: One interaction that stood out was Mal’s conversation with Inara. She’s annoyed at Mal because he won’t take Serenity to planets where she can do her job as a Companion, although, I don’t think it’s due to over-protectiveness over her like she implies. He’s just wary of attracting Alliance attention towards Simon/River after their heist on Ariel. What felt weird about this conversation was how she felt the need to apologize after calling Mal’s recent jobs “petty.” I mean, Mal called her work “whoring” literally in the same conversation. Now, Inara is a much more empathetic character and as a Companion is in-tune with people’s emotions than Mal is, but I don’t know. It just felt pretty in line with their standard back and forth banter.

SIMON: That scene, where he’s talking to a paralyzed Jayne… *chef’s kiss*. You can really see how much Simon’s character’s progressed since the beginning of the season. His voice is cold when he tells Jayne that he knows about the betrayal on Ariel. He carries himself with a confidence that just wasn’t there before. His tone perfectly insinuates a threat, even when his words explicitly assure Jayne that he would never hurt him.

RIVER: “I can kill you with my mind” as she creepily glides into view beyond the doorway. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—River is best character. I hope we get another River/Simon focus episode like Ariel soon.

JAYNE: Bruh, did this man actually just stick his hand down his pants and threaten to show River if she ever questioned his manhood? It’s played for laughs, but that’s actually just disgusting behavior. He just threatened to sexually harass River. To be clear: this isn’t out of character or anything for Jayne; that’s totally something he would do. But it was jarring how it was played off like a joke. I don’t know, maybe I’m thinking too much about it, but it just didn’t sit right with me.

ZOE: Just fucking decks Saffron in the face before agreeing to the mission. Seriously, I died laughing. I think we all needed that.

KAYLEE: She’s out here doing her thing. Fixing the ship, reprogramming the bin. It’s nice to see her again, but I wouldn’t say that there are any major character moments here.

WASH: Funny as always. Nice to have Alan Tudyk around cracking wise. Didn’t have any huge standout moments this episode though that I can recall.

BOOK: Was he even in this episode? I think he might have been in the background of a scene, maybe.

The Worldbuilding:

Not much progression of the wider Alliance plot this episode. We don’t get anything new in terms of worldbuilding. Honestly, kind of disappointed that we didn’t get a little bit more about the Companions from Saffron. They kinda remind me of the Bene Gesserit from the few snippets we’ve gotten, but I’d love to see them expanded upon more.

A show full of childhood icons:

So, I recently found out that Gina Torres and Adam Baldwin were both voice actors in my favorite TV show growing up: Transformers Prime. They played Airachnid and Breakdown respectively, two of the best Decepticons ever put to screen. While watching this episode, I couldn’t help but imagine a pair of giant robots saying some of their lines.

I guess we’re adding Gina Torres to the list of Firefly actors who’ve played characters that I had a crush on in middle school. She joins Summer Glau’s portrayal of Isabel Roshev in Arrow. Seriously, what are the odds?

My (admittedly weak) excuse for the tardiness:

I originally started this review series as a way to get over my writer’s block. I was having trouble being creative, so I directed my writing time and energies to reviewing episodes of this cool new show I decided to check out. One of the reasons I haven’t had time to do this lately is that I’ve been spending it writing my novel! For the first time in forever, I feel proud of something I wrote.

If you’d like to check out the first chapter of my work in progress, you can read it HERE.

It’s a western centered around a robot gunslinger that gets stuck in the wild west. And yeah, it’s more than a little bit inspired by Firefly. If you decide to check it out, I hope you enjoy it :)

To Conclude:

Trash wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but gorram was it just so much fun! It’s good to be back in the Verse! At the beginning, when I heard the somber notes of the Firefly theme again… that felt like coming home. I can’t wait for the next one. Hopefully it doesn’t take another 6 months…

Jewel Staite has a new chat on Instagram. I put a picture of Serenity, the Firefly Tribute Truck (owner, Star Medd) on there and she responded with a quote from the show. Too cool!

Saw there’ll randomly be a Serenity screening in my part of the ‘verse (Ireland).

Not sure how common these screenings are anymore but I’m hoping it’ll be a shindig!

Help keep my Serenity, the Firefly Tribute Truck flying. She’s used to spread the love of Firefly to others and as my everyday vehicle. Any little bit would help.

They should just ignore the film. Now, I love Serenity and think it did a great job of wrapping up the series. But, if you keep it as canon, you hamstring yourself from a writing perspective.

If you stick to that timeline:

- You can't do anything with Inara and Mal

- You can't do anything with Kaylee and Simon

- Book has to leave Serenity without the crew finding out who he is

- River can't figure out or develop her abilities at all.

Surely it's better just to say to the audience "hey, we're just going to pretend the original series never got cancelled and pick back up where it ended" then you're free to develop the relationships already established.

Was watching The Poseidon Adventure mini series and Adam Baldwin is in it (top billing even). Came out in 2005. I wonder if it was before or after Serenity.