My understanding/ interpretation is that Companions are a mix of French Courtesans & Asian Geishas. While they don't exist inside the social hierarchy & thus do not have any actual authority, they frequently "service"/ socialize with people who are highly ranks & DO have authority! Thus, they are respected, not only for being the highly trained "elites" of the sex worker trade, but also for the contacts/ connections they can probably call upon.
13:30 and that's why we love this show. Great dialogue and roguish strong lovable characters. Yes, I very much include Jayne as a great character. He grows on you, ya know?
Have no idea where the hell that intro came from, it's the first time I've ever seen it. Must have been another brilliant idea by those geniuses at Fox.
This is a GREAT series that mixes cyberpunk and westerns. Don't worry about the series being "unfinished"- the world building is slowly established and amazing and YES, the big questions are wrapped up by the end of the MOVIE Serenity which happens after the TV series is done. You'll be surprised at some of the callbacks- be certain to pay attention to the little things às they pay off later.
The second major role playing game in the 70s, and first major sci fi game, was "Traveller". Traveller built on sci-fi literature from the 1950-1970s. A typical Traveller campaign involves a party of player characters who get generated with a past 'service history' in the military or other service, where they develop a background and skills (say they used to be in the army, or started out as a doctor), then enter the game as adventurers, often aged between 22-48 years old. They travel through space together, moving from planet to planet, having adventures. Often, they engage in shady dealings as mercenaries our scoundrels, though you could make a game about exploring strange new worlds in a space navy, or being a space mercenary, fighting battles. A classic Traveller campaign involves the PCs owning their a run down merchant or scout ship, picking up cargos and passengers, trying to keep their "bucket of bolts" flying while paying the bills. Firefly completely fits the bill as a classic Traveller campaign, and it possibly was very loosely based off of Josh Whedon's college Traveller game. Firefly is a really special show. It mixes classic sci fi with westerns, but is really an ensemble, character driven show in the vein of The Sopranos, ER or other high quality TV drama. Fox just wanted a cheesy throwaway sci fi adventure show--a mid-season replacement to fill up the schedule. Instead they got a top-notch genre show with great writing, directing, and especially acting, as good as any of the prestige dramas the networks would invest in to win Emmy Awards. A fun fact: They built the interior of the Firefly in a sound stage, with mostly interconnecting corridors, rooms and gantries, so the cast was actually moving around a "ship" while filming. This was to help the actors develop as an ensemble cast and improve their performances by feeling like they were actually on a real space ship. Many small touches were made on the ship to make it feel like a lived-in environment--for example, the crew galley area is decorated with painted on flowers. These were actually painted by the actress playing the engineer, because her character did it on the show.
Ah, *_Traveller._* Best little black books in the verse. Have you seen what the folks at *2nd Dynasty* have been making? If not, check out their TH-cam channel of the same name. Look into their Scout and Free Trader for 28mm figs (1:69 scale). It will blow your mind!
West End Games Star Wars RPG from the 90s and early 00s. At it's most popular it had a player base 2nd to D&D. Firefly is a Tramp Freighters campaign. I was in a gaming group full of NROTC kids years ago. They loved the RPG. They never saw firefly, but we went to see Serenity in the theater. They instantly fell in love with the movie because it reminded them of their Star Wars games.
@@dirus3142 Great pull. _Traveller_ was always my go-to for a sci-fi rpg. Before I discovered there was an official Star Wars rpg, I introduced my daughter to role-playing games using _Traveller_ rules in a Star Wars universe. Then, in the mid-90's I came across that very same Star Wars RPG by West End Games. It even has a few elements I _still_ really enjoy. If I recall there was a process wherein you could attempt something truly heroic (something normally beyond ones means). I also quite liked having to come up with a quote that sort of says something about your character.¹ Trivial, but fun, IMO. Btw, I was in my Marine JROTC as a freshman back in high school (81/82). Sadly, kidney issues kept me from continuing on that trajectory. 😕 But I learned a lot. ··•●✺●•·· *¹ ─* My favorite quote for my primary character having been, _"I wouldn't mind doing it again, now that I know that you can live through it!"_ 😄 from *Duck Tales: The Movie.*
My brother showed me this show after a few episodes were out and I was like it's all right, with the big dude giving his menacing speech, I was like , oh this guy is going to be trouble. Then when Mal put him through the engine and lined up the next guy, that pretty much got me into watching more. Yeah, this was the first episode aired in the US. The characters are a bit lighter in tone. Mal isn't so dark. But I don't know if you picked up on River and her "Two by Two, Hands of Blue" lines showing us the two dudes with hands of blue... I thought that was some nice freaky set up.
Companions are extremely well educated and are highly regarded throughout the Federation (not empire lol). Their clients are usually rich and powerful. Nathan Fillion is a natural comic as you'll one-day see in the blooper reel. One thing I loved about this show was how much humor it had to counterbalance its more serious plot line.
@@matthewjessick773 No need for religion. The way they show companions, religion is a personal choice. Inara seems more Buddhist, but the whores from 'Heart of Gold' seem more christian. There doesn't seem to be a religion forced on them. So if they believe, cool, if not, it's whatever. I personally wish we could be more like that.
Noticed on some other reaction videos mention of the 'previously' segment at the beginning of episodes. I think that was added for streaming, don't recall it on the broadcast. The DVD starts in the bar. The first episode 'Serenity' is listed as a 2 parter on the DVD, which might explain the idea it was slow with low action. When Serenity' was rejected, Whedon had to write the script for The Train Job over a weekend and submit to the studio.
Yeah, I never saw those intro pieces until people started reacting to them. All my watching was VHS of the original broadcasts, and later the DVD; So, I never saw the stream version 'till reactors used it. The first is kinda neat as a way to get people up to speed. The later ones get a bit spoilery in some cases.
@@michaelcartmell7428 Those intros were at the start of one of my DVD sets.¹ I don't recall if they were on _all_ of the episodes. I do remember I saw enough to remark several had a different main character explain the verse at the start. ··•●✺●•·· ¹ ─ I'm in the US, btw. I eventually ended up with 2 different sets of discs with slightly different packaging (over and above the blu-rays).
@@artboymoy I saw them aa they they were originally aired and also seem to recall the intro, but I have to admit that DVD and streaming views since could have muddied my memory.
Regarding the intros, they are not included on the first DVD release, which is what I have. I don't recall if they were on the original network airings, as I only actually saw one episode during it's run. ("Ariel'...the least space-Westerny one of all.) But I do recall hearing the intro when it was rerun on cable several years later and it's on the streaming version.
It's an unusual circumstance for a Companion to be where Inara has chosen to do her business. Normally, Companions "entertain" very influential people like politicians and the super wealthy. Being a part of that network of power places a Companion at a very high tier of society. The Bar's Hologram Window tells us that fights happen often. It was worth it for the bar owner to spring for a Hologram Window rather than having to replace a glass window all the time.
First of all, I enjoyed your reactions. Originally this was the first episode aired. Fox executives didn't like the pilot. This episode was written over a weekend. The Alliance armor is the same armor as Starship Troopers. They used the costumes to save money. I loved your reaction when he was kicked into the jet engine. It is the same from most reactors.
"Fox executives didn't like the pilot". That says everything we need to know about the story sensibilities of those execs. I wonder how many are still working in show business... Actually, no, I don't care. They should be working in insurance or something like that.
Episode 1 was supposed to be the series opening but the studio wanted a more action packed opening so Joss had to come up with a new pilot episode almost overnight and the Train Job was it
Roleplaying Games: This might already be mentioned in the comments, but there have actually been two different RPGs set in the Firefly universe, both by Margaret Weis Productions (of TSR/Dragonlance fame). The first came out a little after the Serenity movie released and was called the Serenity Roleplaying Game and uses the Cortex (now Cortex Classic) rules system. Since there are different license holders of the movie and the TV series, the Serenity RPG focuses on the movie. Later MWP released the Firefly Roleplaying Game which uses the Cortex Plus game system and focuses on the TV series and possibly the comics/books (I'd need to verify that). Anyway...just thought I'd point that out. I've got all the books for both the Serenity and Firefly RPGs and were a great addition to the Cortex/Cortex Plus library of games. As for Episode 2 in particular, one of my favorite lines is still Jane: "Do you know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I get and beat you with until you know who's in command!" =)
You mentioned it was like an RPG and it's rumored among the Traveller RPG circles that Josh Weadon based in on a Traveller campaign he ran as a Game Master in college. Traveller has a similar vibe with firearms and starship as well as traveling between worlds. The Third Imperium of Traveller is a lot different from Firefly, but many Traveller players say that Firefly is Traveller with the serial numbers filed off.
I believe one of the notes the studio gave was that Mal should be less broody and less of a jerk. I think they didn't like him faking Simon out about Kaylee being dead, and then laughing about it, for example.
That was classic, " I'm a bad,bad man." That was a hazing scene where the new guy gets run through the wringer before becoming part of the team, partly to see if he can stand up under pressure, but also partly for the sadistic pleasure of it.
When Gene Roddenberry wrote and pitched the pilot for the original Star Trek series, it was supposed to be a "western in space", however I think that back in the 60s they tried to spice it up with more sci-fi technology. This series (Firefly) is exactly that, a western in space!
Roddenberry referenced a specific western on TV at the time: Wagon Train. The schtick of Wagon Train was that each episode was a story about a family/characters traveling in the wagon train, but there were always the same, familiar characters in charge of the wagon train. His pitch was that the starship Enterprise substituted for the wagon train & the crew/main characters substituted for the people running the wagon train; but the stories would take place *because* of the starship! This was the explanation in a Making Of published around the early 1970s.
In case it hasn't been said and you aren't aware. There is a ROLE-PLAYING game for this show. Further, it a rumor, that the show is based a campaign using the ttrpg Traveller.
Never seen that exposition before and I saw the series on UK television in the same order you're watching and it's the same order on DVD. There's a similar exposition at the start of the movie Serenity, for the benfit of people who haven't seen the series, and Serenity also neatly starts before the first episode to give us a sort of prologue to the series, and then jumps over the whole series with a "[N] MONTHS LATER..." caption to pick up where it left off. I suppose The Man Trap should never have been the first episode of Star Trek, but there it is... starting every rerun on TV and on retail media until the end of time...
Great reaction again. The first episode you said a was a tad too long. You both liked this episode. By the end of the season you'll be like, MORE. We need MORE!
Back in the day when they aired this as the pilot, I didn’t get into it right away as there was no real introduction to the characters.. the. They aired the real pilot last. It’s good that you are watching it in the correct order 👍
The assignment: 5th car, 2 boxes Alliance goods,, you don't mind stealing from alliance, from your reputation. ...Anything goes wrong, things between us not so solid. Personally, I'd have to call taking all six boxes "something going wrong." Like Mal taking all six boxes? And getting pinched by the local law? (Not to mention his conscience.)
What I loved about these first two episodes in a nutshell is that in number one, all I heard was "OMFG! NOT Joss Whedon! I don't know if I can watch this!!" And by the second episode, all you could do was heap praise on Joss's great writing! (Even if you couldn't name him directly)
That wierd expo dump at the beginning intrigues me, because it's absent from the DVD release version on the epsode, which is how I first saw the series.
An RPG where people fly a small freighter and engage in criminal/legal misadventures? Traveller. More than fits the bill of a Firefly like setting. It was an RPG by Marc Miller and published by GDW, although Steve Jackson published as set of rules for GURPS. Arguably the best sci-fi RPG setting ever created for pen and paper.
Dude, West End Games Star Wars RPG in the 90s. Galaxy Guide 6, Tramp Freighters is exactly what Fire Fly is. This is a Star Wars D6 campaign. Just with out the Buck Rogers element.
Speaking of shows that got cut short... There was a supernatural TV series that got cut after half a season but they let the writers know the series was not going to continue so they actually wrote an episode where the forces of evil won they killed every character in spectacular ways!
You’ll notice that the profession of Companion was partially inspired by something hinted at (but never really pursued) in Battlestar Galactica. As were a couple other aspects of Firefly, in broad outline.
The "Battlestar Galactica" reboot came out in 2004... "Firefly" premiered in 2002. So no, unless you mean the original BG show from the 70s. And geishas/heterae/courtesans aren't really a new idea anyway.
It's from the 70s version. The character of Cassiopeia is described with disgust by another woman as being similar to a prostitute, but being the 70s it's done indirectly. I don't think she's in the 04 reboot.
As someone else said, it is much like the *_Traveller_** RPG.* Best rpg in the verse, IMO. Apparently Joss was not unfamiliar. But he has long said his prime inspiration was a Pulitzer Prize-winning book, _The Killer Angels_ by Michael Shaara. The story is set during the American Civil War.
Putting the episodes into tiers (come fight me): *Top Episodes* Serenity Out of Gas Objects in Space *Upper Middling* The Train Job Our Mrs. Reynolds Ariel Trash *Lower Middling* Safe Jaynestown War Stories *Bottom Episodes* Bushwhacked Shindig The Message Heart of Gold
Liked the reaction, but I think you missed something and that's why you failed to get that the 2 guys (agents) at the end were both wearing blue gloves (River: "2 by 2, hands of blue").
They had to throw in the huge exposition dump at the beginning of this episode... because the network didn't want to show the introductory episode that introduced all of the characters and their motivation first (in fact, I think episode one didn't get aired until like 5 or six weeks into the season). They wanted a punchy action episode first and just hope you'd figure out who everyone was and care about them.
The network told Joss on Friday that the pilot was not going to be shown and they would expect a new pilot on Monday morning for Table Read. This was when he was running Angel, Buffy AND Firefly simultaneously. The scheduled time commitment (after the production was canceled) was filled by showing the original pilot. Other episodes were pre-empted by other network commitments for sports, other shows, even A MOVIE.
This was the first released but not the pilot . They had to add all the exposition because the idiot network didn't like the pilot. So you had a show that drops you in it and has a supervillain , and was written on a weekend to fit their prejudices about what a TV show should be. Still very fun episode.
Where is that voiceover coming from? They weren't on the episodes when they screened in Oz, they're not on any DVD/Bluray set I've ever come across, yet you are the second reactor I've seen with it included. Where are you sourcing your episodes?
I believe it was part of the original airings, which was necessary for a network show at that time in a dead-end slot, but was cut for DVD release and added back on to streaming episodes.
I was just telling some other commenters that I had a DVD set that included those.¹ A different member of the crew would start off the show with an intro like that. I don't know if it went through all the episodes. But enough of them that I recall several of the actors getting a chance to do it. ··•●✺●•·· ¹ ─ also had a set packaged slightly differently that didn't include them. 🤔
While I do not begrudge an honest critique, a throwaway judgement like "too long" is arbitrary unless you can justify that by suggesting what could be cut. This is a pretty tight script. Every scene adds something and you did note that every character got an arc. While the "second" episode was a second pilot, while entertaining, it is not nearly as complete an experience as this story.
They had to give the Sheppard Book exposition for this episode because FOX didn't like the two episode pilot. Mal was too mean. So they released The Train Job first with a funnier happier Mal(space monkey Mal?) and also with a super villainous opponent, Nishka and his bodyguard . According to the DVD commentary Joss and Tim Minear wrote this on a weekend to replace the pilot they had submitted ( and filmed?) Tons of exposition in the two part pilot, completely missing from this episode. Josh gives you a quick short hand but yeah who are these people and why are they on the ship? Establishes Wash as pilot Malcolm as Captain, Kailee as mechanic, the Doctor and his sister as people in trouble, Jayne as trouble, Zoe as second in command, but a lot of short hand going on. You have very little feel for these people and are dumped into their world with this Fox faux pilot. Is Inarra established at all? She does get to come in like nobility and rescue them. No wonder this show took a while to build a following, though the resolution of this episode sold me immediately. I'm right there with you buddy. Best thing for everyone.
Bad luck on having to watch '78 Battlestar Galactica: that show really sucked. In a boring way. That's boring for '78, even with the slower than modern sensibility of the time. Don't be afraid to quietly cancel your watch through after a few episodes and you see how it's going. The 2004 re-boot rocked though.
You're about to enter what I consider the weakest stretch of episodes in the show's short run. They're still good, but things get much better after that. The next episode, in particular, is my least favorite.
"Was he a browncoat?" they asked while watching Mal wearing a brown coat. ;-)
"He's Han Solo."
I think Whedon has said that Mal is Han Solo -- five years after the Empire won.
"I hope they don't forget these villains..." Be careful what you wish for.
You'll want to watch the movie, Serenity, after you finish the series, to wrap it up.
Absolutely!
My understanding/ interpretation is that Companions are a mix of French Courtesans & Asian Geishas.
While they don't exist inside the social hierarchy & thus do not have any actual authority, they frequently "service"/ socialize with people who are highly ranks & DO have authority!
Thus, they are respected, not only for being the highly trained "elites" of the sex worker trade, but also for the contacts/ connections they can probably call upon.
13:30 and that's why we love this show. Great dialogue and roguish strong lovable characters. Yes, I very much include Jayne as a great character. He grows on you, ya know?
Have no idea where the hell that intro came from, it's the first time I've ever seen it. Must have been another brilliant idea by those geniuses at Fox.
This is a GREAT series that mixes cyberpunk and westerns.
Don't worry about the series being "unfinished"- the world building is slowly established and amazing and YES, the big questions are wrapped up by the end of the MOVIE Serenity which happens after the TV series is done.
You'll be surprised at some of the callbacks- be certain to pay attention to the little things às they pay off later.
The second major role playing game in the 70s, and first major sci fi game, was "Traveller". Traveller built on sci-fi literature from the 1950-1970s. A typical Traveller campaign involves a party of player characters who get generated with a past 'service history' in the military or other service, where they develop a background and skills (say they used to be in the army, or started out as a doctor), then enter the game as adventurers, often aged between 22-48 years old. They travel through space together, moving from planet to planet, having adventures. Often, they engage in shady dealings as mercenaries our scoundrels, though you could make a game about exploring strange new worlds in a space navy, or being a space mercenary, fighting battles. A classic Traveller campaign involves the PCs owning their a run down merchant or scout ship, picking up cargos and passengers, trying to keep their "bucket of bolts" flying while paying the bills.
Firefly completely fits the bill as a classic Traveller campaign, and it possibly was very loosely based off of Josh Whedon's college Traveller game.
Firefly is a really special show. It mixes classic sci fi with westerns, but is really an ensemble, character driven show in the vein of The Sopranos, ER or other high quality TV drama. Fox just wanted a cheesy throwaway sci fi adventure show--a mid-season replacement to fill up the schedule. Instead they got a top-notch genre show with great writing, directing, and especially acting, as good as any of the prestige dramas the networks would invest in to win Emmy Awards.
A fun fact: They built the interior of the Firefly in a sound stage, with mostly interconnecting corridors, rooms and gantries, so the cast was actually moving around a "ship" while filming. This was to help the actors develop as an ensemble cast and improve their performances by feeling like they were actually on a real space ship. Many small touches were made on the ship to make it feel like a lived-in environment--for example, the crew galley area is decorated with painted on flowers. These were actually painted by the actress playing the engineer, because her character did it on the show.
Ah, *_Traveller._* Best little black books in the verse.
Have you seen what the folks at *2nd Dynasty* have been making? If not, check out their TH-cam channel of the same name. Look into their Scout and Free Trader for 28mm figs (1:69 scale). It will blow your mind!
West End Games Star Wars RPG from the 90s and early 00s. At it's most popular it had a player base 2nd to D&D. Firefly is a Tramp Freighters campaign.
I was in a gaming group full of NROTC kids years ago. They loved the RPG. They never saw firefly, but we went to see Serenity in the theater. They instantly fell in love with the movie because it reminded them of their Star Wars games.
@@dirus3142 Great pull. _Traveller_ was always my go-to for a sci-fi rpg. Before I discovered there was an official Star Wars rpg, I introduced my daughter to role-playing games using _Traveller_ rules in a Star Wars universe. Then, in the mid-90's I came across that very same Star Wars RPG by West End Games. It even has a few elements I _still_ really enjoy. If I recall there was a process wherein you could attempt something truly heroic (something normally beyond ones means). I also quite liked having to come up with a quote that sort of says something about your character.¹ Trivial, but fun, IMO.
Btw, I was in my Marine JROTC as a freshman back in high school (81/82). Sadly, kidney issues kept me from continuing on that trajectory. 😕 But I learned a lot.
··•●✺●•··
*¹ ─* My favorite quote for my primary character having been, _"I wouldn't mind doing it again, now that I know that you can live through it!"_ 😄 from *Duck Tales: The Movie.*
My brother showed me this show after a few episodes were out and I was like it's all right, with the big dude giving his menacing speech, I was like , oh this guy is going to be trouble. Then when Mal put him through the engine and lined up the next guy, that pretty much got me into watching more. Yeah, this was the first episode aired in the US. The characters are a bit lighter in tone. Mal isn't so dark. But I don't know if you picked up on River and her "Two by Two, Hands of Blue" lines showing us the two dudes with hands of blue... I thought that was some nice freaky set up.
Companions are extremely well educated and are highly regarded throughout the Federation (not empire lol). Their clients are usually rich and powerful. Nathan Fillion is a natural comic as you'll one-day see in the blooper reel. One thing I loved about this show was how much humor it had to counterbalance its more serious plot line.
Yes! They're space courtesans with autonomy!! I wish this was how we treated sex work.
@@matthewjessick773 No need for religion. The way they show companions, religion is a personal choice. Inara seems more Buddhist, but the whores from 'Heart of Gold' seem more christian. There doesn't seem to be a religion forced on them. So if they believe, cool, if not, it's whatever.
I personally wish we could be more like that.
Noticed on some other reaction videos mention of the 'previously' segment at the beginning of episodes. I think that was added for streaming, don't recall it on the broadcast. The DVD starts in the bar.
The first episode 'Serenity' is listed as a 2 parter on the DVD, which might explain the idea it was slow with low action.
When Serenity' was rejected, Whedon had to write the script for The Train Job over a weekend and submit to the studio.
Yeah, I never saw those intro pieces until people started reacting to them. All my watching was VHS of the original broadcasts, and later the DVD; So, I never saw the stream version 'till reactors used it. The first is kinda neat as a way to get people up to speed. The later ones get a bit spoilery in some cases.
@@michaelcartmell7428 Those intros were at the start of one of my DVD sets.¹ I don't recall if they were on _all_ of the episodes. I do remember I saw enough to remark several had a different main character explain the verse at the start.
··•●✺●•··
¹ ─ I'm in the US, btw. I eventually ended up with 2 different sets of discs with slightly different packaging (over and above the blu-rays).
I think the intro was played on tv when it aired. I recalled seeing them but I could be wrong as it's been a while.
@@artboymoy I saw them aa they they were originally aired and also seem to recall the intro, but I have to admit that DVD and streaming views since could have muddied my memory.
Regarding the intros, they are not included on the first DVD release, which is what I have. I don't recall if they were on the original network airings, as I only actually saw one episode during it's run. ("Ariel'...the least space-Westerny one of all.) But I do recall hearing the intro when it was rerun on cable several years later and it's on the streaming version.
It's an unusual circumstance for a Companion to be where Inara has chosen to do her business. Normally, Companions "entertain" very influential people like politicians and the super wealthy. Being a part of that network of power places a Companion at a very high tier of society.
The Bar's Hologram Window tells us that fights happen often. It was worth it for the bar owner to spring for a Hologram Window rather than having to replace a glass window all the time.
I think you missed it but Jayne didn't mean to shoot the guy in the leg. When Mal said "nice shot" Jayne said "I was aiming for his head." 🙂
There’s a Serenity role playing game. It’s pretty fun. This show is a “space western.” Star Trek is “Wagon Train to the stars.”
Not sure if you caught Jaynes reply after he shot that guy in the leg- he said 'I was aiming for his head!'
Hello there, Josh, hello there Alex. This is Ian and I too am part of the Target Audience. Hope your Labor Day is stellar!
First of all, I enjoyed your reactions. Originally this was the first episode aired. Fox executives didn't like the pilot. This episode was written over a weekend.
The Alliance armor is the same armor as Starship Troopers. They used the costumes to save money.
I loved your reaction when he was kicked into the jet engine. It is the same from most reactors.
"Fox executives didn't like the pilot". That says everything we need to know about the story sensibilities of those execs. I wonder how many are still working in show business... Actually, no, I don't care. They should be working in insurance or something like that.
Im Right there with you buddy.
Episode 1 was supposed to be the series opening but the studio wanted a more action packed opening so Joss had to come up with a new pilot episode almost overnight and the Train Job was it
I always thought Summer absolutely nailed her character every time and that had to be the most difficult to play.
Roleplaying Games: This might already be mentioned in the comments, but there have actually been two different RPGs set in the Firefly universe, both by Margaret Weis Productions (of TSR/Dragonlance fame). The first came out a little after the Serenity movie released and was called the Serenity Roleplaying Game and uses the Cortex (now Cortex Classic) rules system. Since there are different license holders of the movie and the TV series, the Serenity RPG focuses on the movie. Later MWP released the Firefly Roleplaying Game which uses the Cortex Plus game system and focuses on the TV series and possibly the comics/books (I'd need to verify that). Anyway...just thought I'd point that out. I've got all the books for both the Serenity and Firefly RPGs and were a great addition to the Cortex/Cortex Plus library of games. As for Episode 2 in particular, one of my favorite lines is still Jane: "Do you know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I get and beat you with until you know who's in command!" =)
You mentioned it was like an RPG and it's rumored among the Traveller RPG circles that Josh Weadon based in on a Traveller campaign he ran as a Game Master in college. Traveller has a similar vibe with firearms and starship as well as traveling between worlds. The Third Imperium of Traveller is a lot different from Firefly, but many Traveller players say that Firefly is Traveller with the serial numbers filed off.
Like the leftover soldier outfits from Starship Troopers on the train guards
Jayne's "I was aiming for his head" line may be a "The Magnificent Seven" reference.
I believe one of the notes the studio gave was that Mal should be less broody and less of a jerk. I think they didn't like him faking Simon out about Kaylee being dead, and then laughing about it, for example.
That was classic, " I'm a bad,bad man." That was a hazing scene where the new guy gets run through the wringer before becoming part of the team, partly to see if he can stand up under pressure, but also partly for the sadistic pleasure of it.
When Gene Roddenberry wrote and pitched the pilot for the original Star Trek series, it was supposed to be a "western in space", however I think that back in the 60s they tried to spice it up with more sci-fi technology. This series (Firefly) is exactly that, a western in space!
Roddenberry referenced a specific western on TV at the time: Wagon Train. The schtick of Wagon Train was that each episode was a story about a family/characters traveling in the wagon train, but there were always the same, familiar characters in charge of the wagon train. His pitch was that the starship Enterprise substituted for the wagon train & the crew/main characters substituted for the people running the wagon train; but the stories would take place *because* of the starship!
This was the explanation in a Making Of published around the early 1970s.
In case it hasn't been said and you aren't aware.
There is a ROLE-PLAYING game for this show.
Further, it a rumor, that the show is based a campaign using the ttrpg Traveller.
Joss Whedon actually wrote the theme song before he wrote the first episode
Margaret Weiss Productions produced a Firefly RPG (and one based on the follow-up movie Serenity)
Writer of Dragon Lance?
@@dirus3142 I believe so, although I only discovered this a few weeks ago!
Never seen that exposition before and I saw the series on UK television in the same order you're watching and it's the same order on DVD. There's a similar exposition at the start of the movie Serenity, for the benfit of people who haven't seen the series, and Serenity also neatly starts before the first episode to give us a sort of prologue to the series, and then jumps over the whole series with a "[N] MONTHS LATER..." caption to pick up where it left off. I suppose The Man Trap should never have been the first episode of Star Trek, but there it is... starting every rerun on TV and on retail media until the end of time...
In 2005 there was a SERENITY RPG.
Great reaction again. The first episode you said a was a tad too long. You both liked this episode. By the end of the season you'll be like, MORE. We need MORE!
Back in the day when they aired this as the pilot, I didn’t get into it right away as there was no real introduction to the characters.. the. They aired the real pilot last. It’s good that you are watching it in the correct order 👍
As I recall, there WAS an official Firefly role playing game made, a tabletop game I believe.
And a board game.
There are two versions of the RPG. They are titled Firefly and Serenity respectively.
The assignment: 5th car, 2 boxes Alliance goods,, you don't mind stealing from alliance, from your reputation. ...Anything goes wrong, things between us not so solid.
Personally, I'd have to call taking all six boxes "something going wrong." Like Mal taking all six boxes? And getting pinched by the local law? (Not to mention his conscience.)
Hey, details, you have a bit or redundancy happening.
What I loved about these first two episodes in a nutshell is that in number one, all I heard was "OMFG! NOT Joss Whedon! I don't know if I can watch this!!" And by the second episode, all you could do was heap praise on Joss's great writing! (Even if you couldn't name him directly)
That wierd expo dump at the beginning intrigues me, because it's absent from the DVD release version on the epsode, which is how I first saw the series.
Probably because the true pilot is in its proper place in viewing order, which makes Book's narration redundant.
An RPG where people fly a small freighter and engage in criminal/legal misadventures? Traveller. More than fits the bill of a Firefly like setting. It was an RPG by Marc Miller and published by GDW, although Steve Jackson published as set of rules for GURPS. Arguably the best sci-fi RPG setting ever created for pen and paper.
Dude, West End Games Star Wars RPG in the 90s. Galaxy Guide 6, Tramp Freighters is exactly what Fire Fly is.
This is a Star Wars D6 campaign. Just with out the Buck Rogers element.
Speaking of shows that got cut short... There was a supernatural TV series that got cut after half a season but they let the writers know the series was not going to continue so they actually wrote an episode where the forces of evil won they killed every character in spectacular ways!
What's the name of that show?
Oooooooh mysterious! Guess we'll never know the name of the show!!
You’ll notice that the profession of Companion was partially inspired by something hinted at (but never really pursued) in Battlestar Galactica. As were a couple other aspects of Firefly, in broad outline.
The "Battlestar Galactica" reboot came out in 2004... "Firefly" premiered in 2002. So no, unless you mean the original BG show from the 70s. And geishas/heterae/courtesans aren't really a new idea anyway.
Can you explain in more detail? I think BSG is one of the best shows, but I don't remember anything in there that points toward Companions.
It's from the 70s version. The character of Cassiopeia is described with disgust by another woman as being similar to a prostitute, but being the 70s it's done indirectly. I don't think she's in the 04 reboot.
I did say "partially," and yes, obviously I meant the original.
Classic Galactica. Cassiopeia was a "socialator," a call girl/geisha. Til the network nixed that, & she became a med tech in the second episode!
Did you see the hands of blue? Two by two, hands of blue.
I love Niska!
Really nice villain!
I really like the villains in this show ;)
As someone else said, it is much like the *_Traveller_** RPG.* Best rpg in the verse, IMO. Apparently Joss was not unfamiliar. But he has long said his prime inspiration was a Pulitzer Prize-winning book, _The Killer Angels_ by Michael Shaara. The story is set during the American Civil War.
You should react to the movie, Slither, with Nathan Fillion and the guy who played the sheriff in this episode, directed by James Gunn!
Great reaction guys! More good episodes to come, so strap in and enjoy it!
Love it
A great show. Great to see your reactions to it!
Firefly - the closest we'll get to a live action Bravestarr show, stylewise.
Putting the episodes into tiers (come fight me):
*Top Episodes*
Serenity
Out of Gas
Objects in Space
*Upper Middling*
The Train Job
Our Mrs. Reynolds
Ariel
Trash
*Lower Middling*
Safe
Jaynestown
War Stories
*Bottom Episodes*
Bushwhacked
Shindig
The Message
Heart of Gold
Actually, don't fight me, because that would probably contain spoilers. Just call me an idiot and move on with your day.
Liked the reaction, but I think you missed something and that's why you failed to get that the 2 guys (agents) at the end were both wearing blue gloves (River: "2 by 2, hands of blue").
They had to throw in the huge exposition dump at the beginning of this episode... because the network didn't want to show the introductory episode that introduced all of the characters and their motivation first (in fact, I think episode one didn't get aired until like 5 or six weeks into the season). They wanted a punchy action episode first and just hope you'd figure out who everyone was and care about them.
The network told Joss on Friday that the pilot was not going to be shown and they would expect a new pilot on Monday morning for Table Read. This was when he was running Angel, Buffy AND Firefly simultaneously. The scheduled time commitment (after the production was canceled) was filled by showing the original pilot. Other episodes were pre-empted by other network commitments for sports, other shows, even A MOVIE.
This was the first released but not the pilot . They had to add all the exposition because the idiot network didn't like the pilot. So you had a show that drops you in it and has a supervillain , and was written on a weekend to fit their prejudices about what a TV show should be.
Still very fun episode.
This world is like Traveller the RPG. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveller_(role-playing_game)
Mal is so much like Han Solo - there is a mini Han in Cabonite in almost every episode. Look it up.
Where is that voiceover coming from? They weren't on the episodes when they screened in Oz, they're not on any DVD/Bluray set I've ever come across, yet you are the second reactor I've seen with it included. Where are you sourcing your episodes?
2 by 2 hands of blue.
Animal Mother couldn't shoot straight in this one.
Where did that exposition narrative thing come from at the beginning? I’ve never seen that before. It was AWFUL! 😝
I believe it was part of the original airings, which was necessary for a network show at that time in a dead-end slot, but was cut for DVD release and added back on to streaming episodes.
I was just telling some other commenters that I had a DVD set that included those.¹ A different member of the crew would start off the show with an intro like that. I don't know if it went through all the episodes. But enough of them that I recall several of the actors getting a chance to do it.
··•●✺●•··
¹ ─ also had a set packaged slightly differently that didn't include them. 🤔
@@JoeMama410 - thanks for that. As a TV viewer in the UK and DVD boxset owner, it was the first time I'd ever seen that exposition on the episode.
Hee hee hee hee hee hee! If only you knew.
While I do not begrudge an honest critique, a throwaway judgement like "too long" is arbitrary unless you can justify that by suggesting what could be cut. This is a pretty tight script. Every scene adds something and you did note that every character got an arc. While the "second" episode was a second pilot, while entertaining, it is not nearly as complete an experience as this story.
They had to give the Sheppard Book exposition for this episode because FOX didn't like the two episode pilot. Mal was too mean. So they released The Train Job first with a funnier happier Mal(space monkey Mal?) and also with a super villainous opponent, Nishka and his bodyguard . According to the DVD commentary Joss and Tim Minear wrote this on a weekend to replace the pilot they had submitted ( and filmed?)
Tons of exposition in the two part pilot, completely missing from this episode.
Josh gives you a quick short hand but yeah who are these people and why are they on the ship? Establishes Wash as pilot Malcolm as Captain, Kailee as mechanic, the Doctor and his sister as people in trouble, Jayne as trouble, Zoe as second in command, but a lot of short hand going on. You have very little feel for these people and are dumped into their world with this Fox faux pilot. Is Inarra established at all? She does get to come in like nobility and rescue them.
No wonder this show took a while to build a following, though the resolution of this episode sold me immediately.
I'm right there with you buddy. Best thing for everyone.
Some people dont deserve nice things. Two examples right here. Brains made of cheese.
Bad luck on having to watch '78 Battlestar Galactica: that show really sucked. In a boring way. That's boring for '78, even with the slower than modern sensibility of the time. Don't be afraid to quietly cancel your watch through after a few episodes and you see how it's going. The 2004 re-boot rocked though.
Also, don't worry. Niska will be back.
Spoilers
But sadly, not Crow. 😄😆
You're about to enter what I consider the weakest stretch of episodes in the show's short run. They're still good, but things get much better after that. The next episode, in particular, is my least favorite.
And THIS was the weakest of episodes... Great, but all the rest are Greater!! (IMO)