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Firefly: Serenity [Ep 1] ✦ Watchalong Reaction & Review (Patreon)

Published:
2024-12-04 15:45:01
Edited:
2025-05-21 17:06:44
Imported:
2026-08
Tags:

Content

Hello there! This reaction is available as part of my "Try Before You Buy" reaction videos here on Patreon. For the TV series that I react to at the Insiders tiers, I give the first episode out for free so you can experience it with me and see if you're up for joining us to continue! You must have your own copy of the episodes to watchalong as I do blur the episodes and have the audio muted. I leave around 15 seconds of it up at the start of each episode for syncing purposes. I am not allowed to distribute the entire episodes in my videos as this is illegal. Thank you for watching along with me!

- - -

Hello everyone! It is time for FIREFLY! This was the #1 voted option in the Mini-Series poll that I did for folks in the Insiders tiers. I committed to watching the top-two voted series and the other one was Chernobyl, which will come after Firefly.

Thank you so much for watching along with me! I'm so looking forward to your comments and thoughts! [Direct link here.]

✦ KL

Files

Firefly: Serenity [Ep 1] Full-Length Watchalong Reaction

Comments

Brian Leonard

There are three series I get excited about for reaction videos and they all begin with the letter F. Firefly Fallout For All Mankind

William

Many years ago, I remember entering my (then new) commanding officer's cabin one evening at sea to deliver the nightly position report and spotting the DVD box sets for Battlestar Galactica and Firefly on her desk. I knew then and there that we were gonna be friends. Shiney!

Richard Flores

100% support "space western", those are the words I use to describe this show to people. Like, verbatim. Good call.

Nathan Jasper

Mal and Zoe have some of the best non-romantic chemistry of any show I can think of. They have mutual respect, friendship, care, loyalty, but never excelled beyond that. Which is good as we found out because Zoe and Wash are the polar opposite couple we all need. Great acting on Jewel Staite's part. When the Fed points the gun at her, her recoil upsets me so much. It's like threatening a child almost. Kaylee's such a kind, gentle soul and the glue of the troop. River Tam is by far my favorite character. Her story is so fascinating and I'm excited for you to uncover the mystery! Funny story about Summer Glau behind the scenes, she often forgot her lines to the point that any time any of the rest of the cast forgot their lines or flubbed up, they'd shout "Summer!" instead of a swear 😆 I love the rapport the crew had. Nathan took care of his friends, even had Adam Baldwin and Summer Glau come on Castle for an episode or two. Pretty sure Gina was in Castle too and Alan Tudyk was in a Rookie episode. All that to say they remained close for years after the show was over. Looking forward to next ep!

Nathan Jasper

Speaking of Castle, there's an episode where Castle speaks Chinese and Kate asks where he learned it to which Castle replies "TV show I used to love". Even dresses as Mal in a Halloween episode. Speaks volumes about the level of love and respect Nathan held for Firefly.

Phalanx

It is very much a space western and borrows a lot of the usual traditional western tropes down to having an embittered Civil War Confederate (equivalent) veteran as the main protagonist. It helps that they could lean into the 'western' aesthetic as much as the sci-fi aesthetic since, even for the time, it was a modestly budgeted show and 'western' props/wardrobe are a lot easier/cheaper to source. The Chinese isn't meant to be translated. No one at the time had the benefit of the translations either, FWIW. It's just a bit of world building texture... and a great way to slip a some swearing past the network TV censors. The pilot is actually a bit rough by the standards of the rest of the show. You can definitely see cast and character chemistry develop a lot as the show goes on, which is really one of the biggest parts of the show's charm. Also, not a mini-series, really. It was intended to be a full series, but got cancelled mid-way through the first season (Fox did not know or particularly care how to handle the series and started the show off by airing it on a notoriously bad time slot and out of order in a series where episode order very much does matter). Not nitpicking the mini-series definition, it arguably is... just making the distinction as a reminder for if/when you're sad there's not more (and it explains some of the pacing).

Tesh

i was awake cos i couldn't sleep (sick) and saw this pop up, exactly what i needed, great reaction as always and im glad you seem to be enjoying it, and yea Space western is definitely the best way to describe it haha. i love all the characters (even Jayne, even if he makes me angry often haha) but i like that they are all layered. i think this episode does a great job of setting up the world of the show, both the threats (alliance, reapers and outlaws) and the interesting things that make it unique, (speaking Mandarin Chinese for example, which while a clever way to get around swearing at the time, also added a cool flavour to the world where its not so americanised despite being a western) OH and you dont need to worry about subtitles for the other languages, usually its swearing or the meaning/tone is fairly self explanatory Fun fact, Fox decided this wasnt a good pilot episode, so they aired the next episode first, which unfortunately just made people even more confused. anywho, thanks for reaction, cant wait to see the rest i hope you enjoy the ride!

Steve Mercier

Absolutely one of my all-time favorite shows! Even though it's incomplete...and cancelled...and, depending on who you ask, entangled with the whole Joss-Whedon's-a-dickhead thing. Whatever...fuck it. Still love it. Watching this one right now!

Phalanx

Tudyk and Fillion also did the meta web series 'Con Man' together, too.

Paul Howard

One of the things that always amuses me is the fact that Jewel Staite actually hates strawberries, but is still able to look like she loves them when needed. As for saying the mess room looked cosy, apparently it really was leading to the cast preferring it over the green room between shoots. One other thing to remember which this is that when filming, it was planned to be a full series (with more seasons to come). They got cancelled while still filming the tail end of it. Despite that short run, the cast became really good friends, a friendship they've maintained to this day.

Paul Howard

Oh, as for the music, especially the theme, you're not the first to find it odd, but I suspect you'll be singing along like the rest of us Browncoats by the end :)

Dan

I'm so excited you're starting this series! And I hope this is as far as people go as far as giving hints as to what to specifically expect/feel -_- Fun fact: They called that flip maneuver a "Crazy Ivan", an old naval term for sharp turns a Russian submarine might pull to catch and discover any potential trailing submarines (ours had a tendency to spot theirs and tail them). It was dangerous, as it could cause the submarines to collide with each other, although probably more disastrous for them than us -- our metallurgy was far superior and other collisions we had would tear their boats apart while ours would go home with a bent sail. If you're a reader, you can pick up a book called "Blind Man's Bluff" that talks about submarine espionage stories from the Cold War. Since the first episode is over, I can say that if you want to differentiate the credits song from Breaking Bad, just pay attention to the lyrics. Joss wrote them for the show :)

Onno Smits

The other commenters already covered what I wanted to say, but just wanted to chime in with a "Glad you're watching this!". It's funny, with you starting S03 of Agents of SHIELD now you're watching two Whedon-shows at the same time! 😂

Movies with KL

I guess I'll have to check out For All Mankind at some point!

Movies with KL

I really like Mal and Zoe's dynamic as well. It's always great when there are good platonic relationships in media, since that's common in the real world. Kaylee is definitely the most child-like in the group, but she just seems so innocent and kind and friendly. I hope she is protected at all costs. I'm excited about River too! I'm glad the crew all had a great time, it has me excited for future episodes.

Movies with KL

Great point about the lower budget and what clothing would be easier to wear because of it! Good to know about their use of the Chinese language as well, I'm enjoying that part of it. You're right, it does add to the overall world-building. I'm looking forward to continuing! I had no idea this was a show intended to go on with more seasons. But I'm glad to know that actually.

Movies with KL

I don't mind being told that it was planned to be a full series but that it got cut short, as that will definitely help prevent any sort of disappointment. I actually thought Firefly was truly just a one-and-done with what we got. Thanks for the fun fact!

Tesh

haha thanks, i am already doing better today, i was finally able to sleep almost right after this comment haha

Brad Roberts

There's some overlap of writers for Firefly and Castle as well, which further explains why there's so many references to Firefly with quite a few Castle episodes.

nouvelle_vague

Not surprised that anything I was going to mention has been well-covered already. But I did want to say – as one of the apparently five people who voted for Sharp Objects – that I hope the result of the poll doesn’t discourage you too much. I understand why it won’t be a priority for the channel, but it’s really an excellent series. I think there are a few series each year that are kind of the hot thing with a lot of buzz for a few weeks while they’re new and then everyone is on to something new. And a few every year endure, but there are a lot that seem to either get missed in that small window or don’t endure the same way despite seeming to dominate the ‘water cooler talk’ while they’re first out. Sharp Objects is a little deliberate in its pacing (it’s certainly not a cliffhanger every 30 minutes type show) and it’s a very female-centered show – so I don’t know if that has anything to do with its enduring appeal – but it also has some incredible performances.

Sean Ellingham

Couldn't watch when this dropped as I was on a cruise ship at the time! Seems a lot has already been covered by other comments, so I won't add much. One thing that's immediately striking about Serenity is how rich the 'world' is right from the get go - it's very clear that Joss & Tim Minear knew exactly what they were intending to do with the show, and to a much deeper level than is typical for most pilots. One fun fact I will mention - the Firefly and Serenity DVDs are on the International Space Station for the crews to enjoy! Not sure when they were taken up, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a decade ago now!

Movies with KL

Aww that's amazing! I love that. And yes, the world is very good so far.

John Burns

I love Firefly. Saw the reaction. I saw some of the episodes on TV when they were aired, in the wrong order. I met Nathan, Alan, Jewel (Kayley) at the Calgary Expo. Asked Adam a question at his panel. If you like a Sci-fi show with a Captain played by an actor born in Canada, no, not Star Trek, Yes, we all know William Shatner, consider Dark Matter (2015 I think) Six people wake up on a Spaceship with no idea who they are. Shot in Canada. Some of those who made this series came from the Stargate series including the Showrunner Joseph Mallozzi.

BubblyRainbows

I am so excited that you're doing "Firefly" reactions. I was going to wait until you had them all posted so that I could binge the whole series, since I have horrible willpower, and I knew I would want to just watch the whole show once I started. But then the episodes weren't accumulating fast enough, and that whole lack of willpower thing prodded me into watching the reactions you have right away. Which is now leading me to stay up way past my bedtime watching reactions when I should be asleep. I blame you! ✌️🤓