confusing beginning in 'Serenity'?

POSTED BY: Jerry111
UPDATED: Thursday, January 6, 2005 15:44
VIEWED: 14324
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MANWITHPEZ

Thursday, July 15, 2004 11:02 PM

Is it just me, or does Simon's encyclopedia remind you of that book Penny used to carry around on Inspector Gadget? Weird.

Kaylee: "What's so damn important about being proper? It don't mean nothing out here in the black."
Simon: "It means more out here. It's all I have..."

SINGULARITY

Saturday, July 17, 2004 6:32 AM

To me the pilot is/was/will be a fine way to start anything. It gives action, it gives background, it sets the tone of the setting, and it intros our Captain Tightpants. I found it compelling, fun, tastefull, and love it so much I think I burned a extra line in the DVD. But I see how some people can be lead to it being confusing. I showed my mother this episode and she just didnt get it. She said that the pauses in the show where distracting.....I didnt have the heart to say "insert commercial here". Sometimes I think that a show like Firefly works a little like the movie The Usual Suspects. You can watch it once and see something one way...then you watch it again and see something else. That's one of my favorite things about this show....its always interesting and entertaining to me and those I call my friends.

And to the question of what to call Serenity the pilot and Serenity the movie.....Serenity stays the pilot title....The movie will always be BDM....thought that be a simple one....

Nothing can escape the event horizon. Light, matter, and especially Twinkies.

THELION

Saturday, July 17, 2004 3:31 PM

When I am trying to get others hooked on Firefly, I really try to avoid Serenity. Some of the people I show it to will think "Oh, it's a war show" and then stop watching completely. Serenity isn't really the episode one can enjoy until after they watch a few more episodes, and you understand more about everything that's going on. Even though I have to say Serenity was the episode that got me hooked on the series, right when I saw

Select to view spoiler:

the scene where Kaylee "died".

TALLGRRL

Sunday, July 18, 2004 3:21 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by example:
I fail to see what's so confusing about the battle scene?

Is it the fact that there is a time jump; or what's going on? Because if you pay close attention you can tell what is going on via dialogue from Mal, Zoe, and the private.

I watched the beginning and wasn't the least bit confused...because I kept watching and listening.
It was all pretty obvious to me.
And once the battle was over and we cut to the next scene, well it DID say "5 years later".
Confusion?
Not in the least.
It's too bad the weasles at Fox didn't have the sense to air the pilot first. (And all other episodes in proper order as well.)
Sure made their ad campaign for the show not quite work.
"A girl in a box!"
Um...didn't see no boxed girl in "Train Job".
What the hell were they even thinking?
Doesn't matter. Universal is bringing us the BDM and I'm sure glad.

"Take me, sir. Take me hard."

ARNIEVG

Wednesday, August 11, 2004 4:45 PM

Ok, I am one of those people who was very confused with the opening scene, but I have also read all of these posts and can see other peoples opinions. I think it was confusing for me because I was expecting Sci-Fi and it opened with a war. It also made me feel like I had missed some of the beginning the way that it opened. I can however see that there are some things that would be misunderstood if that scene were shown later in the show such as Mal's distaste for the Alliance and his issue with religion. I found watching it all the way through, confused a bit and all, and then going back to watch that first scene again helped me to understand what I had just watched. The show just got better with every episode after that.

Annie

DBLADE

Tuesday, August 17, 2004 8:56 PM

I thought the beginning of Serenity was an excellent way to start the series. It had action, it had heart, and you see the start of Mal's sad transition from optimistic Browncoat with a just cause into the cynical opportunistic captain of the present. The scene where he watches in despair as the Alliance ships rain destruction down on the valley is very powerful and very telling of his loss. I felt if there was any underlying theme to the show it was Mal's journey to recapture that spark he had lost in Serenity Valley. Perhaps he never would succeed but as long as he kept flying there was always the possibility. For this reason I can't imagine starting the pilot episode any other way. It sets the theme of the whole story of Mal and Serenity.

BROWNCOAT1

Wednesday, August 18, 2004 2:22 PM

Agreed DBlade.

I think Joss's use of the Battle of Serenity Valley was very fitting. It gives us a glance into Mal's past, partially explaining why he & Zoe are together, her loyalty to him, Mal's feelings toward the Alliance, his deep seated desire to be free, and his dedication to his crew/family. It also gives us some insight into the choice of names for the ship.

It had to start out near the end of the battle, because to show the entire battle or anything further back in the war would take several episodes on its own and would most likely start losing viewers. It was merely used to set the stage for the series and give us some insight into the principal character.

The action sequence insures that viewers tuning in will have their attention grabbed and held onto long enough to get to the story itself. I thought it was masterfully done by Joss. Too bad go se Fox did not have the imagination to see that themselves.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

RHYMEPHILE

Wednesday, August 18, 2004 4:22 PM

One of the things I wish we could have gotten more of was backstory into the war. We gets bits of it in the opening to "Serenity" and "War Stories," but I for one always wanted to hear more about how the war essentially reshaped and broke Mal. And I always wanted to know more about his history and comraderie with Zoe, and why they are so dedicated to each other aside from him being her superior. In fact, I would have loved a complete flashback episode just on the war.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All of me is beautiful and valuable, even the ugly, stupid, and disgusting parts.

MOJOMAN360

Sunday, August 22, 2004 8:34 PM

^when Mal lost the war he changed, not during the war.

MISGUIDED BY VOICES

Sunday, August 22, 2004 9:33 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Forrestwolf:
I guess it's meant to be, but one alternative Joss could have done would be a flashback to the battle later in the episode. I think many writers prefer chronological order, because flashbacks can get rather stale, but in this case, I wonder if the history and the jump to the show was just too much to grasp.

Point of fact, this wasn't a flashback really as we start in the past then move to the future - unlike Out of Gas or Safe for example.

"I threw up on your bed"

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