You can’t take the sky from me…
June 22, 2007 |
Earth that was could no longer sustain our numbers, we were so many. We found a new solar system, dozens of planets and hundreds of moons. Each one terraformed, a process taking decades, to support human life, to be new Earths. The Central Planets formed the Alliance. Ruled by an interplanetary parliament, the Alliance was a beacon of civilization. The savage outer planets were not so enlightened and refused Alliance control. The war was devastating, but the Alliance’s victory over the Independents ensured a safer universe. And now everyone can enjoy the comfort and enlightenment of our civilization.
Firefly is a show about a group of former Independents living on the fringe of the universe, avoiding the Alliance and attempting to make a living for themselves freighting mostly illegal cargo in their Firefly class spaceship, the Serenity. Aboard Serenity lives Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his crew, which consist of his former war buddy Zoe, pilot Wash, gun-for-hire Jane (who of course is a high strung man), gear-head Kaylee, spiritual advisor Shepherd Book, surgeon Simon, his sister River and “Registered Companion” Inara.
Each episode involves a different caper of sorts which usually results with the crew in a bit of a pickle. While they are criminals, they are the kind of criminal that you just have to root for. In one episode they are hired to rob a train and realize that the “loot” is actually medical supplies heading to a outlying planet. Mal and co return the cargo to face the wrath of the insane man who hired them — who they end up killing in a later episode after Mal and Wash are tortured by him. Jane is constantly threatening to take over the ship and Inara is always asking to go to nicer, Alliance controlled planets so she can service a nicer, quality clientele. Despite all the thievery and contention, the crew genuinely love each other and are united through Serenity.
In the first episode you learn that Simon and River are wanted by the Alliance due to Simon liberating River from an Alliance facility. The few details you learn about River in the fourteen episode run lead you to believe that she is someone very special — part psychic, part assassin, part 17 year old girl — but very unstable at the same time. Unfortunately the show was canceled before all of River’s secrets, or the secrets of the rest of the crew, can be reveled.
The show was canceled after fourteen episodes, though it could be said that the network didn’t really give the show a fighting chance from the beginning. After the final episode, a rather humorous one which River “melts and becomes Serenity” to avoid a insecure bounty hunter, plot-lines are left hanging in deep space. Inara wants to leave Serenity, Shepherd Book has a seemingly interesting but albeit unknown past, Kaylee and Simon seem to want to get it on, and the Alliance seem to dearly want River back even-though it’s unclear why. Fortunately, two years after the shows cancelation, Serenity was brought to the big-screen.
The movie picks up a few months after the final episode of Firefly ends. Inara is no longer with the crew and is living at a Companion Training House and Book is living in a camp called Haven. In the very first scene we see just how Simon broke River out and why the government wants her back so badly — some idiot in charge of whatever program it was that trained River brought some high-level Parliament officials by to see how she was doing. Well, that idiot forgot that River can read minds and needless to say they are worried she might know a bit about the Alliance’s dirty laundry. Other plot-lines are cleared up in the movie as well; Inara rejoins the crew after realizing what she was missing and Kaylee and Simon get it on. Unfortunately Book’s secrets remain hidden as he’s killed by an Alliance warship looking for River and Serenity.
The movie also tackles a group of characters, Reevers, who are introduced in Firefly’s first episode, but never again seen due to cancelation. The Reevers are the boogymen who live in deep space and feed on humans after raping them for hours on end. Serenity’s crew discover that what River knows, what the Alliance is so afraid she knows, is that the Reevers are actually a result of a failed Alliance experiment. There’s your dirty laundry.
The crew makes a last stand against a group of Reevers and Alliance feds while trying to broadcast the proof across the verse. In a sad sequence that mirrors Firefly’s fate, Serenity crash lands and is all but destroyed in the process. Despite Wash being a leaf on the wind, he is killed in the crash. In the end, Mal gets the message out and the remaining crew members put Serenity back together. The film ends in a sweet scene where River actually takes over Serenity’s helm as it returns again to space.
The first time I saw Serenity I didn’t know about the Firefly series. As a stand alone film, Serenity was an alright scifi piece with an interesting story and some comical characters. However, seeing the film again after having watched Firefly, the movie is more of a tribute to fans of the series and a final goodbye that was robbed when the show was canceled. While the Serenity’s flight might have been short lived, it was a fun and exciting one that is well worth checking out.
Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don’t care, I’m still free
You can’t take the sky from me
Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain’t comin’ back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can’t take the sky from me
There’s no place I can be
Since I found Serenity
But you can’t take the sky from me…