I watched "Firefly" last week

That's right. All of it. And "Serenity," the movie based on the pre-maturely cancelled TV show, too.

I'd heard about "Firefly" from a ton of people. People swear by Joss Whedon's vision of the future, it seems. So I figured I'd check it out to see what all the buzz was about. The show, cancelled by FOX after 11 episodes, was enormously popular in 2002 and still has an huge cult following across the globe. People were, apparently, really, really mad when the show got discontinued back in the day, but I wouldn't really know about any of this because I never cared until just recently. "Firefly" ended up airing a total of 14 episodes and then made a movie based on the series three years later in 2005. The question remains: What is "Firefly" and is it really all people made it out to be? Let me share my thoughts.

What is "Firefly"?:
Joss Whedon's "Firefly" is the story of nine intergalactic rebels on a run from a corrupt government. Led by captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds, this renegade group of outlaws travels from planet to planet on their Firefly-class ship, Serenity, doing "jobs." Pirating, basically. Heists. (Anything about outer-space pirate/cowboys can't be that bad, can it?) Two of the shipmates in particular are wanted in an incredibly pressing investigation - in the sense that there are entire teams dedicated to bringing them down. Mal reluctantly harbors the two fugitives on the ship, which leads to some friction amongst Serenity's crew. As the series draws to an abrupt close, the focus centers largely around one of the fugitives, River Tam, a troubled girl with incredible mental prowess, and her mysterious past.

Crazy chick.

Is it any good?:
I mentioned on Facebook that I had started the series and I was met with two general responses: 1) People pretty much bowing down to it as the greatest TV show of all time and 2) An assortment of the most random quotes imaginable. Is "Firefly" any good? Yeah, I liked it. I liked the whole space-western concept and I thought the cast was both likable and intriguing. I'm not totally sure what the show was like back in 2002, but it seemed like a pretty good show to me and I'm sure that if I had been watching at the time I would have been upset at it being cancelled half-way through its first season. But would I consider any of those characters iconic? Was there any one character that completely defined American television? Eh.. Another thing - All these quotes that people were posting on my wall just seemed so random. Yes, there was some good stuff in the dialogue, but was there anything that stuck out to me as an instant classic? Anything that I'd consider a line worth quoting? I don't really know. That was just weird to me. It's like somebody made a giant wheel with every single notable quote from the series and everyone took a turn spinning to see which line they got to quote. Weird. I thought "Serenity" was a good movie. It's not a good stand-alone movie, though, so I'm glad I had watched the series first. But yeah, after having watched the entire series, "Serenity" was a fun ride.

Cool guy.

Surprises:
There were a couple things that were surprising to me. It seems like a lot of Mormons really loved "Firefly." I don't know. Is that a thing? Because it seemed to me that so many of my Mormon friends loved the show, some of the content was surprising to me. Disclaimer: I'm not mentioning this to come off all high-and-mighty. It's just an observation. The fact that one of the main characters is, essentially, a hired concubine, was surprising to me. Prostitution (let's call it what it is, people) plays a large role in the series and one episode even takes a dip into bi-sexuality, which was I wasn't anticipating. Some of the dialogue is a bit more sexual than I had been expecting, featuring lots of talk about sex and even a couple scenes about rape, one of which (in the final episode) made me noticeably uncomfortable. One episode featured two glimpses of rear male nudity and a couple side shots. I'm a man. It's not like I've never seen a man's buttocks before. But that's just not something I actively seek out, you know? It was also exciting when my mother asked, "Aaron, are you watching a show with a naked man?" "Yeah..." I responded. "He's definitely not wearing any clothes..." Awkward. Obviously, there is much worse stuff on TV these days - and I'm definitely guilty of having watched some of it - but it was just surprising to me that everyone was almost condescending to me for not having seen the show like it was some kind of family-friendly Disney movie or something. Maybe that's why people tell you to look before you leap. I really just had no idea what to expect and a couple things surprised little old ignorant me.

Awesome dude.

The Verdict:
I liked "Firefly." I liked "Serenity." Overall, I thought it was very good. Very well made. Great. I liked the cast. I thought Nathan Fillion was funny and made for a memorable character. I loved Adam Baldwin (or, as I know him, "John Casey") as Jayne. I have the biggest crush on Morena Baccarin, who I truly believe to be one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. (Too bad she's a whore.) I thought the script got increasingly more witty and funny as the series went on. "Serenity" did a great job of wrapping up the series, even though many a "Firefly" fan take major issue with the eventual fates of some of the characters. Was it worth my time to watch? Well, with a couple big Comic Con events coming up in Salt Lake City this year, yeah, I think it was an important part of the Nerd Canon to have watched. Did it live up to all the hype? Mmmm... Good question! Don't get me wrong - I liked it! I really did. But it reminds me of the time I was working at a movie theater and people were telling me that they had seen "Napoleon Dynamite" eight or nine times in the theater! I hated "Napoleon Dynamite." "Firefly" was good... but some people are just a little too worked up about it, I think. Maybe I just need to watch the series four more times and then write another blog.

Total hottie.

What do you think? Have you seen "Firefly" or "Serenity"? Did you like it? Did you hate it? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.


P.S. I just found out that Morena Baccarin was the chick in that stupid show, "V." Ugh. I hate you, IMDb. Why did you have to ruin that for me? :-(