ow that more than a year has passed since Fox canceled Firefly, Joss Whedon's excellent sci-fi western adventure series, it seems like the perfect time to release Firefly—The Complete Series, a four-disc DVD set that finally allows Whedon to tell the tale of the crew of the Serenity the way he meant it to be told. With the episodes rearranged in the order in which they were designed to be seen and the three unaired episodes included, the story comes together in a way it never could have with Fox's inconsistent and jumbled airing of the series.
The Firefly DVD starts off with "Serenity, Part 1 and 2," the two-hour pilot that Whedon wrote for the series (but that Fox aired as a finale), which offers a terrific introduction to the characters and the world. "The Train Job," the episode that Fox aired as the pilot, follows, and it works wonderfully as a second episode. With those two episodes alone, both those new to the series and fans alike will find themselves steeped in Firefly's fascinating and complex world as the episodes continue, showing a world filled with rich and imperfect characters.
As the story goes—500 years in the future after a universal civil war, the crew of a small transport ship called Serenity try to survive as best they can. Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds (Fillion), a disillusioned soldier who ended up on the losing side against the totalitarian-governed Alliance, now takes any job necessary, legal or not, to feed his crew and to keep his ship running. Filled with a complex mix of crew and passengers, many with secrets to hide, the Serenity operates just outside the Alliance's radar on the fringes of the universe.
The three unaired episodes fill in some of the gaps, and there's a development that will offer both delight and despair. Delight because it brings forth so many possibilities as to what might have happened if the series had continued, and despair for exactly the same reason. In "Heart of
Gold," the gang defend a whorehouse from a vicious gunslinger; in "Trash," Mal ends up in his birthday suit after a run-in with his former "wife," Saffron; and in "The Message," Mal and Zoë attempt to take the body of an old war comrade home.
The DVD also has commentary from the cast and crew and some very special extras.
Continuing to blaze after cancellation
During its brief but brilliant life, Firefly gave us a glimpse of what might have been. With the Fox series, which was canceled after only 12 hours aired and 15 were produced, Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon took on the world of sci-fi and created something special. Even with the possibility of a movie in the works, fans have found the loss of this series hard to take.
Still, they could not be better served by this DVD, which reorders the series envisioned by Whedon. When the episodes are played in the right order, there are many nuances that evolve the characters and the story that were lost in the original airing. The unaired episodes add to that evolution, and they are highly entertaining tales as well.
Commentaries have been added to half the episodes, which provide behind-the-scenes understanding about the making of the series. Of special note are Whedon and Fillion's commentary on "Serenity" and Whedon and fellow executive producer Tim Minear's commentary on "The Train Job." Also jumping in for episode commentary are Morena Baccarin (Inara), Alan Tudyk (Wash), Jewel Staite (Kaylee) and director David Solomon.
The DVD extras include a "making of" documentary with cast and crew interviews, deleted scenes and Alan Tudyk's audition tape. And other delights await, not the least of which is Whedon's stirring rendition of the Firefly theme song, a short but sweet gag reel and a very funny easter egg with Adam Baldwin singing "Hero of Canton."
The only real complaints involve Whedon's rambling single commentary on "Objects in Space" and his tour of the Firefly set, which is way too short and seems tossed in. His commentary is much more focused, funny and interesting when he has someone to chat with. However, those are minor complaints considering how much great stuff there is here.
