Watching firefly
POSTED BY: farscapeman
UPDATED: Thursday, August 27, 2009 12:49
VIEWED: 16504
PAGE 3 of 9
Quote:
Originally posted by farscapeman:
so as a newbie should I watch WS, HoG, OiS, Trash, Message in that order becasue that is best? I will trust you and watch in that order if you think I should.
Honestly, I don't think it really matters. You're gonna love them either way, trust me.
wo men ren ran zai fei xing.
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Welcome to the fan-addicts site, new peoples! I started watching almost a month ago, forced by my better half, and now he says I have a problem. I find this most amusing!
I watch over and over and over again. I find phrases from the show leaking into my normal conversations. It is a blissful insanity, and I'm enjoying the ride.
Glad to see more and more people discovering the show I love!
Day late an'a dollar short...Story of my ruttin' life!
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Hey Farscapeman,
Don't do it. Watch it in the order that was intended by Joss and company. I will explain.
As has been mentioned by others, you will enjoy the series no matter what order but, and this I hope will make sense.
You watched the pilot episode first, correct? Ok, for me the stories just flow better from one episode to the next. There are certain things that are revealed that make sense only viewed in the originally conceived particular order. Joss wrote these stories and gave us these characters with a purpose in mind. Just what these 9 people see and what they mean to each other as time goes on.
I think you will "get it" once you see OoG (Out of Gas). Then you will appreciate what I, and others, are saying about story continuity. It is my firm belief THAT is what doomed Firefly at the outset. Fox aired the episodes out of sequence and butchered the intended continuity and flow of the story. For me, a die-hard sci-fi geek, I will follow almost any sci-fi adventure so long as it is entertaining, as well as, thought-provoking. Firefly has that in spades.
But for the average tv viewer who's looking for something new and interesting, it may take a few eps to get them hooked. So imagine, if you will, you're channel surfing on a Friday night back in 2002 and you come across Firefly. You enjoy the show and come back next week to see if it was really that good, but the show is pre-empted. And then the following week you see an episode that makes no sense because it doesn't pick up from where you left it.
I could just see Homer Simpson commenting, "Stupid show, doesn't make any sense. Why should I watch this crap. I don't get it. What's with this girl walking around barefooted? And since when does a whore get any kind of respect? Hey, the Gilmore Girls are on. I think I'll watch that."
Sorry, I took off on a tangent. But I think that Joss had a particular vision in mind of how this story should be told. Fox, in their infinite wisdom, thought differently. Fox cancels the show because of poor ratings (Quiel surprise!). The fans go ballistic on Fox and demand satisfaction. Fox, to salvage the cost of production and to try to make some cashy-money off this clunker decide to release a DVD box set.
Sales go through the roof. Fox execs gasp in amazement.
Exec wiseman #1: "How could this be? This show sucked big time."
Exec wiseman #2: "Shut up and keep counting."
They can't keep them on the shelves long enough.
Fox later teams up with Universal to create Hulu and put Firefly on the Classic TV section. CLASSIC! Is that rich or what. Fox knows where the money is coming from. Browncoats.
The fans rally and fight to get their heroes back. Along comes a nice and very smart Universal exec who gets it. She sticks her neck out and we get Serenity. Except, of course, we still don't get any respect and it's released in September 2005. Ok, the Revenge of the Sith was released in May of that year, and Batman Begins in June.
But those were the only movies of any consequence during the Summer of 2005. To jog your memory, here are just a couple of others from that summer:
The Longest Yard, Memorial Day; Mr. & Mrs. Smith 6/10; BB, 6/15; Bewitched, 6/24; War of the Worlds, 6/29; Fantastic Four, 7/8; Wedding Crashers, 7/15. Ok, I'll stop here. You get the picture. Why, in heaven's name, didn't they release it during the summer that year? It could have done much better at the box office (Serenity broke even, which, by H-wood standards means it was a flop).
Sorry about the length of this. It just irks me that there's so much crap out there and we can't have our heroes back. Just a shame, is all!
Oh, BTW welcome aboard and enjoy.
SGG
Tawabawho?
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know wonder it was taken off. That makes no sense. I guess if the movie didn't do well we won't get anymore.
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Actually, the reason I heard for the episode order on DVD was that OIS was intended to be the end of one "arc," with The Message being pretty much stand-alone before the next arc kicked up.
Since the "next arc" ended up not happening, Joss himself decreed that OIS worked better as a series finale (since there's a definite sense of the characters having reached a certain equilibrium, moreso than in The Message [it's still there, but it's not the focal point]).
I'd say just watch the DVD order.
Then read "Dead or Alive," the unfilmed script: http://www.fireflyfans.net/feature.asp?f=45
(Uh, may need some formatting, since the HTML is. . . odd.)
(Oh, and see if you can pick up some of the Serenity comics [sorry, "utterly respectable and mature Graphic Novels" 
] before the BDM --they're not necessary, but they do bridge the gap between the series and movie.)
-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.
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hoping watch the train job this week. Is it as well done or better then serenity? What do you all think.
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Quote:The Train Job is perfect as a second episode for me.But perhaps you may get a different perspective if you watch it as if it was the pilot.This is what was aired first and you do get the feeling as if you're missing something.But that was down to Fox.
Originally posted by farscapeman:
hoping watch the train job this week. Is it as well done or better then serenity? What do you all think.
Peacekeeper---keeping order in every verse!!!
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Awesome as a second episode. Knowing mall from the pilot show makes his move at the end that much better. I may be the only one but I really like Jane. HE is a riot. But I don't trust him. THe scene in the bar was great! The humor so well timed. The end when he kicked the guy into the engine and started talking to the next guy cought me off guard. So funny. When Mal finds out the guy is dead and asks if that job is open. Wow I sooooooo dig this show. You guys r so right!! FIREFLY ROCKS!!
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Quote:
Originally posted by Shinygoodguy:
Hey Farscapeman,
Don't do it. Watch it in the order that was intended by Joss and company. I will explain.
As has been mentioned by others, you will enjoy the series no matter what order but, and this I hope will make sense.
Why do you make a statement AGAINST watching the episodes in order, but then make an argument FOR watching the episodes in original order?
Quote:
You watched the pilot episode first, correct? Ok, for me the stories just flow better from one episode to the next. There are certain things that are revealed that make sense only viewed in the originally conceived particular order. Joss wrote these stories and gave us these characters with a purpose in mind. Just what these 9 people see and what they mean to each other as time goes on.
Again, further explanation for watching the episodes in the originally scripted, filmed order, although your statement was to watch them in the re-arranged, re-sequenced, inconsistent order. Not logical.
Quote:
I think you will "get it" once you see OoG (Out of Gas). Then you will appreciate what I, and others, are saying about story continuity. It is my firm belief THAT is what doomed Firefly at the outset. Fox aired the episodes out of sequence and butchered the intended continuity and flow of the story.
Nobody is saying to watch the episodes in the order of airing. The only re-sequenced and rearranged episodes are the last 4, which werre not aired, only OiS was of those 4. Why are you talking about watching the broadcast sequence when nobody is suggesting that? Are you trying to confuse new browncoat recruits?
Quote:
But for the average tv viewer who's looking for something new and interesting, it may take a few eps to get them hooked. So imagine, if you will, you're channel surfing on a Friday night back in 2002 and you come across Firefly. You enjoy the show and come back next week to see if it was really that good, but the show is pre-empted. And then the following week you see an episode that makes no sense because it doesn't pick up from where you left it.
Again with the argument to watch in the original order with the greatest continuity, even tho you stated they should be viewed in rearranged order with the worst continuity and greatest confusion.
Quote:
Sorry, I took off on a tangent. But I think that Joss had a particular vision in mind of how this story should be told.
Again with more argument for watching in the original order, which is the order Joss envisioned, the order Joss wrote the scripts, the order Joss filmed the episodes. But your statement was to not watch in the original order, but to watch in the rearranged order. If Joss had envisioned the show in the rearranged order, he would have written them in that order, and shot them in that order, and that order would have the most consistency instead of the least consistency.
Quote:
Sorry about the length of this. It just irks me that there's so much crap out there and we can't have our heroes back. Just a shame, is all!
Oh, BTW welcome aboard and enjoy.
SGG
Cybersnark mentions that the Message was an episode after OiS, but neglects to mention that both Trash and Message were the episodes after OiS.
Farscapeman: If I could do it over, I would do it the first time in the sequence I mentioned. But I did not know what was the best way of viewing it when i first saw it, and the inconsistencies bothered me - when they didn't need to be.
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JSF, I think you're being a bit harsh. I certainly didn't read into his suggestions anything about the original broadcast order, he's talking about the order of the episodes on the dvd. You remember Joss, the guy who created the show, and the one who picked said dvd order? There is nothing wrong with viewing the episodes that way, even if there are a couple of inconsistencies. "Objects in Space" is the better ending, and a better lead-in to the BDM, imo.
wo men ren ran zai fei xing.
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