Should I Watch The Episodes In Chronological Production Order Or By Air Date Order?

POSTED BY: FilmCritic3000
UPDATED: Friday, March 28, 2003 22:34
VIEWED: 5921
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FILMCRITIC3000

Tuesday, March 25, 2003 3:31 AM

Well, I'm off for the next two days and I'm finally going to get around to watching the episodes I haven't seen. I've seen half of "Shindig" and I have the rest to watch. I know some of you must envy me for being able to watch these for the first time. I guess I'm in for one hell of a ride, huh? ;) I haven't posted since early January, I believe. So my question to the rest of you is, would it be better to watch these episodes by production order or by air date? Or does it not even matter? I hope that, with Buffy ending, Joss can spend some time to bring Firefly back to the television screen. Thanks for your time and I'll let you know what I think when I arrive at the end of my Firefly marathon. :)

FilmCritic3000

In Kansas this week, over a hundred fish were found dead in the Baker Wetlands and local environmentalists fear that someone may have deliberately killed them. In response, President Bush says that we have no choice but to go to war with Iraq.

-"Weekend Update", Saturday Night Live

LERXST

Tuesday, March 25, 2003 3:38 AM

IMHO it doesn't matter that much, as long as you watch "Serenity" first.

_________________________________________________
Cap'n, can I have money for a slinky dress?

TALLGUY

Tuesday, March 25, 2003 3:38 AM

I might get beaten with a chain of command for this, but I'd say either or. (Except watch Serenity first, of course!).

The only thing that makes a real difference is Simon and the crew getting more comfortable with each other. Otherwise the really concrete plot threads are preserved in both versions. 'Cepting showing Serenity last of course.

Have fun! Then you'll have seen them all and be just like the rest of us poor rutters.

Bill
"We all know I'm the funny one."
"You ain't all that funny."

KAYTHRYN

Tuesday, March 25, 2003 3:55 AM

I don't know what to say, I’ve haven't watched all of the episodes in their original order so I don't know what difference it makes. What I do know, to mirror everyone else's post, it that you should defiantly watch the pilot first, other wise everything is off. On the same note, when Firefly first aired I missed the first two or three minutes of The Train Job. Then, (until I found out that The Train Job wasn’t supposed to be the first ep, and that they were airing the pilot last) I thought I had missed the whole bit of how Simon came on board, how River was discovered, and how all that came together. All in those two or three minutes I missed. That drove me crazy for months! Damn Fox to a special hell for condemning Firefly from the start.

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It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle

OUTLANDER

Tuesday, March 25, 2003 2:19 PM

This is the true order. Why would you want to watch Firefly in any other order?

01 Serenity pt. 1
02 Serenity pt. 2
03 The Train Job
04 Bushwhacked
05 Shindig
06 Safe
07 Our Mrs. Reynolds
08 Jaynestown
09 Out of Gas
10 Ariel
11 War Stories
12 Heart of Gold (unaired)
13 Objects in Space
14 Trash (unaired)
15 The Message (unaired)

ONEDERS03

Tuesday, March 25, 2003 3:28 PM

[delurk]

I agree with watching "serenity" first. You should also watch "shindig" and "safe" back to back. IMO, the true order makes more sense from the standpoint of the "mental health" of river, but having to wait for episode number 7 to watch "out of gas" would be tough! OoG does stand on its own, so you could watch that one whenever.

[/delurk]

LJC

Tuesday, March 25, 2003 4:17 PM

I'd say DEFINITELY go with the prod. order, otherwise the character arcs don't make a heck of a lot of sense--particularly Simon's.

--
Some take the high road. Some take the low road.
And some just go screaming down the highway, dropping flaming bits of wreckage.

HJERMSTED

Tuesday, March 25, 2003 6:15 PM

Watch Firefly as the man himself (Joss Whedon, of course) intended you to see it had his production not been so egregiously molested by Fox.

Afterall, if you watch Firefly in the order aired, then the terrorists (ie Fox network heads) have won. Can't have that!

Watching the episodes in the above listed order is a recipe for pure viewing satisfaction. Now you can even stop and read the script for 'Heart of Gold' before continuing on to 'Objects in Space'.

Have a blast!!

mattro

INVISIBLEGREEN

Tuesday, March 25, 2003 7:38 PM

Okay, here are the various orders you could watch the episodes in:

Production Order
Serenity - Original Pilot (1AGE79)
The Train Job - 1AGE01
Bushwhacked - 1AGE02
Shindig - 1AGE03
Safe - 1AGE04
Our Mrs. Reynolds - 1AGE05
Jaynestown - 1AGE06
Out of Gas - 1AGE07
Ariel - 1AGE08
War Stories - 1AGE09
Heart of Gold - 1AGE10
Objects in Space - 1AGE11
Trash - 1AGE12
The Message - 1AGE13

Fox's Airing Order
1.The Train Job - 09/20/02
2.Bushwhacked - 09/27/02
3.Our Mrs. Reynolds - 10/04/02
4.Jaynestown - 10/18/02
5.Out of Gas - 10/25/02
6.Shindig - 11/01/02
7.Safe - 11/08/02
8.Ariel - 11/15/02
9.War Stories - 12/06/02
10.Objects in Space - 12/13/02
11.Serenity, Part 1 - 12/20/02
12.Serenity, Part 2 - 12/20/02
Heart of Gold; Trash; The Message - Currently Unaired

Intended Viewing Order/Chronological Order
1.Serenity, Part 1
2.Serenity, Part 2
3.The Train Job
4.Bushwhacked
5.Our Mrs. Reynolds
6.Jaynestown
7.Out of Gas
8.Shindig
9.Safe
10.Ariel
11.War Stories
12.Objects in Space
+ Unaired episodes

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Many fans fail to recognize that the postponing of "Serenity" was the only time FOX switched the order of the episodes. The other changes were made by Tim Minear, and I support his decisions fully. All the episodes which were shown later than they would in their original order were edited after the episodes were produced, often incorporating new scenes of material.
My main arguments for viewing the episodes this way:
1. The "Previously" segment on "Safe" contained a scene of "Our Mrs. Reynolds." Why would this be included, if not to imply that "Safe" takes place after OMR, even if Safe was filmed first, and was originally supposed to come first. Saying "Safe" comes first is like saying stuff that was in preliminary drafts of the scripts but were never filmed actually happened.
2. "Safe" flows beatifully into "Ariel," which makes me assume that "Ariel" was written to take place directly following "Safe." The themes and characterizations are similar, and I could go on but this post is already long enough and I have to leave soon...
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Anyways, I think you can guess what order I think you should view the eps in.

PHYSICSCHICK

Tuesday, March 25, 2003 7:54 PM

I had thought the "Previously on..." segments were put together by Fox to remind everyone what they had shown, since they left such large gaps between some shows (ruttin' baseball).

Where did you see that Tim Minear had changed the order? I would love to see a reference on that claim...

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