“Serenity” is the first episode in chronological order and this is the one episode which is perfect as a pilot episode, certainly not “the Train Job” which is the first episode according to IMdB. We learn that a companion (Inara Sera, Morena Baccarin) travels with the crew, Mal definitely has a thing for her and says he respects her but he does call her profession ‘whoring’. We see the crew is trying to get passengers, for instance Shepherd Book and a seemingly wealthy doctor named Simon. But also an alliance mole. We later learn that Simon Tam, the doctor, has smuggled his sister (River Tam) on board in a sealed crate. He has been hiding her from the alliance after he broke out his sister as she was being experimented on. Still, because of the danger they bring, Mal rather does not have them onboard but ultimately lets them stay on board, after Simon saves Kaylee after she is being shot by that lawman, the mole. Jayne is the most vocal against that. Jayne is also not very respectful towards his captain. When they episode ends, Serentiy has a complete crew: Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), Zoë Washburne (Gina Torres), Wash (Alan Tudyk, Zoë’s husband, Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin), Kaylee (Jewel Staite), Inara Sera (Morena Baccarin), Simon Tam (Sean Maher), River Tam (Summer Glau) and Shepherd Book (Ron Glass, RIP). After scavenging the remains of a cargo ship, the crew is found by the Alliance but they manage to escape. They go to the buyer, a criminal named Badger, but he no longer wants the goods because the Alliance involvement.

In “The Train Job” Mal has taken job, he works for a man named Niska, he is a creepy guy, not one you want to double cross. The job almost fails but they manage steal the goods under the nose of a squadron from the Alliance. But when Mal learns that the goods he stole were much needed medicine, he decides to return it to the people it belonged to, who need it very much. It does mean that he double crosses Niska, which will later come and bite them in the ass! River is remembering the men with the blue hands: Two by Two, Hands of Blue. River hears everything, she also hears what Jayne is saying about her, that Mal will give them up at some point, for the reward. Note - Fun moment when Jayne thinks he is in charge when Mal and Zoe are gone, the Doctor had given him something which immobilizes Jayne. Obvious that Mal and Inara have feelings for one another. Book is surprised that Mal let the doctor and River stay onboard.

In “Bushwacked” Serenity is pulled in by an Alliance cruiser while investigating a spaceship that was attacked by Reavers. The Alliance is looking for the Tams and the Captain knew he could not hide them in one of the nooks, so instead he hides them outside the ship, attached on the ship but not visible to the Alliance ship. They picked up a survivor after their ship has been raided by the Reavers. This man was forced to watch what they did with his crew. Because he could not handle it he became a Reaver himself. Note – Really good episode, Reavers are back already, and the captain saves commandant Harken and that’s why they can go. Jayne really is asshole, the way he treats Simon.

“Shindig” is a fun episode where Mal arrives on a planet with his crew and Badger offers a smuggling job for him. Mal goes with Kaylee to a ball to meet the client Sir Warwick Harrow while Inara attends the same ball with her noble and wealthy client Atherton Wing. When Atherton makes a rude comment about Inara, Mal punches Atherton in the face and is challenged by him to a sword duel. How will Mal defeat his opponent that is a skilled fencer? Note - So much fun, Mal on the party, Kaylee all shiny, the rest of the crew trying to come up with a plan to overtake Badger’s men. Mal and Inara definitely have a thing for each other, at least care very much for each other, results in wonderful scenes.

In “Safe” Simon and River are being kidnapped by a group people who need a doctor, after Simon again bogged his chances with Kaylee. Meanwhile Shepherd Book is shot after a gunfight with two men who just purchased their cargo. Mal finds an Alliance vessel and ask for help since Simon has been kidnapped. They are not to keen to help until they see Shepherd Book’s ID card. Jayne is happy the Tams are gone and takes their stuff, When River is being accused of being a witch, she is about to be burned, Simon stands with her. Mal and the crew come and rescue them. Note – Nice folk dance scene where River seems really happy. Also fun scene when Jayne puts back all the stuff he stole from the Tams. Simon joining his sister when she is about to be set on fire, shows how much he loves her and how much of a hero he is, especially to River.

In “Mrs. Reynolds” Mal suddenly is married after a party with some locals. Her name is Saffron and she sneaks onto the ship. While everyone is having fun with the captain, he really is flabbergasted. But when he finally does break down to her feminine whiles, they kiss and he falls down unconscious. While she plays innocent, she has other plans, she tricks Wash but Inara sees through her but she escapes and the ship and crew is almost caught by an electric net, which would have fried the crew. Note – Shepherd is concerned for her and talks about Mal’s special little hell if he does something with her.

“Jaynestown” is an hilarious episode! Jayne disguises himself when they go to Canton, he had some dealings there in the past and didn’t go well. However the people of Canton see him as a hero, a Robin Hood of sorts. Jayne accidentally dropped money over the town as he was trying to escape. The people think he did it on purpose but of course this wasn’t the case. River, Shepherd and Zoe stay behind on the ship. River ‘corrects’ the bible and is scared shitless when she sees Shepherd with his hair loose. Booze gives Simon loose lips and tells Kaylee she is very pretty. Note - So much fun, the worship, the song, the baffled crew, Shepherd’s hair, River’s reaction to it, hilarious!

Perfect episode “Out of Gas” Mal and the Serenity crew are celebrating Simon's birthday when there is a fire in the engine room. Soon Kaylee learns that the life support system is not working since they need a new converter. Mal orders his crew to leave Serenity in the two shuttles and Wash releases a distress signal. While breathing with difficulty, Mal recalls how most of the members of his crew joined him in the Serenity while waits for a miracle. Meanwhile, we see the origin story of how Mal buys the ship Serenity, how he hires the crew and how he meets Jayne, who holds Zoe and him at gunpoint with his mates. Mal convinces him to switch sides so he get more payment and his own room and such. Hilarious scene! Finally Mal is able to get the device he needs but he almost dies when the men who are ‘trading’ it, shoot him and want to take over the ship. Note - Belongs in my top 3 favorite Firefly stories, great to see how Jayne came to join them, how Mal is in love with Serenity!

“Ariel” is perhaps the best episode of all, anyway my favorite one! Crew of Serenity arrives at the heavily populated Alliance core world of Ariel. Inara has a medical check up and Mal wants everybody remain on the ship. When River cuts Jayne severely, the captain warns Simon and he (Simon) realizes he is on thin ice so he has a job for the crew and he is the client. He proposes to steal valuable medicine supplies and in the meantime Simon can make a scan of River’s brain to help her. Jayne however has notified the Alliance and he reckons to get a reward! When they have been captured, Jayne is arrested also. They escape and Simon is very grateful to Jayne. Meanwhile the Hands of Blue have arrived. Mal and Zoe help them escape just before the Hands of Blue can get to them. Note – Golden moment: Mal knows what Jayne did and punishes him for it. Jayne is such an obnoxious asshole, but still, he remains somewhat likable! 😊

In “War Stories”, also a perfect episode by the way, Niska is back! Wash is jealous of Zoë’s relationship with Mal and decides that he should go on the next mission with Mal instead of her. Well, he'll never make that mistake again! Wash demands to go with Mal to trade the cargo of medical supplies with locals. However Niska's men capture and bring them on board. Niska tortures them both while Zoe collects money from the crew to pay a ransom for them, however Niska releases only Wash and takes Mal's ear to give to Zoe. But the Serenity crew all decide to fight for their captain, to get him back. Kaylee gets into trouble, River helps her with shooting 3 guys without seeing them. This creeps Kaylee out. Note – You got to love Jayne: Inara has a female client, which makes the crew curious, Jayne each time has an appointment with his bunk when he’d seen them! Damn near perfect episode. All the crew participating in getting Mal back, even Shepherd. Final scene where Mal and Zoë pretend to kiss and fondle each other is hilarous, even Jayne is grossed out!

Saffron is back in “Trash”, Mal reluctantly decides to work together with her to make money. The crew is strongly against it. It turns out Saffran wants to steal from her first (!) husband. Of course, She again double crosses Mal, makes him undress himself and drops him off in the desert. However Saffron did not take into account that Inara was also part of the plan, if anything would go wrong, which it did, she captures Saffron and leaves her for the authorities. Note – Another fun episode, nice scene between the doc and Jayne about his betrayal on Ariel. Mal, a proud nude walker! 😊

“The Message” is my least favorite, but still a 7.5/10, Mal and Zoe have mail…a big crate with a dead human in it. It is a war buddy of theirs, Tracey. He left a recording behind asking them to bring him home. However, men are after him because he is an organ smuggler and he betrayed his contractor. Meanwhile when Doc is about to cut into him, he wakes up, he had taken a drug. When these men, that are after him almost destroy them, Mal is forced to let them in, Tracey turns on the Serenity crew with fatal consequences. Kaylee has the hots for this Tracey character, after doc again was clumsy with her. Note - Jayne getting a wool cap from his mum, he looks ridiculously funny in it.

In “Heart of Gold” A Companion-trained friend of Inara's, Nandi, who runs a brothel on a remote planet calls for help from Serenity when a local reveals his intentions to take the baby from a woman he impregnated. Reluctantly Mal decides to stay and help instead of fleeing with brothel personnel. Mal and Inara’s friend have sex, Inara sees him come out of her room, she acts cool and uninterested but in her own room she cries her heart out. Inara helps doc deliver the baby, River intriguingly watching. Nandi is killed, back on Serenity Inara tells Mal she is glad they had their night together, but she also lets him know she is leaving. Note - Intense episode, heartbreaking seeing Inara crying her heart out. Jayne having a great time with the ladies and his weapons!

The series finale, “Objects in Space”, is also one of the best episodes, There is an incident on Serenity when River takes up a gun when in fact she sees a branch. While they are discussing River and such, a bounty hunter is entering Serenity. He is there for the bounty on the Tams. He locks up almost everybody their room, and ties up Kaylee while incapacitating Shepherd, and threatens Kaylee to rape her. While he threatens her Brother Simon, River got on his ship talking as if she is no longer corporeal. Meanwhile, she has come up with a plan to take him out. Note - Great episode, The bounty hunter, Jubal Early (Richard Brooks) was kind of a bastard perhaps, but I have to say, I really enjoyed the character! His catchphrase: "Does that seem right to you?" 😊

Final Word:

There you have it, one of my all time favorite TV shows but I am sure I am not the only one in this. Such a shame it was cut too short, it has all the ingredients to become a massive hit. Fox suits again didn’t realize they had a hit on its hands. In any other organization they would be fired right away for such incompetence. At least they did gave us the Serenity movie but I much rather would have had 5, 6 or even 7 seasons of Firefly with this amazing cast. As I said somewhere, rarely a SCI-FI show delivers such a perfect first season, again, yes, I know it’s 2/3rds of a season but still, remarkable. I have not yet touched upon Firefly’s intro song, nothing other than perfection. Same for the Blu-ray release’s menu, one of the best menu’s I’ve ever seen! Wait for the final moments where Mal is laughing with other crew members after he played a sick joke on the Doctor from episode one. Him laughing like that, so genuine, I had to watch it every time I watched an episode. Firefly is BRILLIANT!

See also “Firefly’s” 2022 20th Anniversary Blog!

Serenity (2005):

Serenity is one of my all time favorite movies, I love it, seen it about 15 times I think. While I finished the series a few months ago, I recently watched the movie, on Christmas day. First of all it is fun to see those characters again, where the stakes are higher where we learn what the Reavers are, how they have become Reavers. We also learn that this is the secret River Tam is in danger, the Alliance is afraid she has learned of an experiment which killed everyone on the planet, where the Reavers were ‘born’.

Although Serenity still has the same kind of humor as the TV show Firefly, overall the tone of the movie is much more serious, which perhaps is obvious given the stakes. Although from the movie it would have been entirely possible to jumpstart it into a new series, this however never happened unfortunately. I believe the movie did more than okay, but it would have needed to be a bigger success in order for the crew on the Serenity to have had any future. Still the ending of the movie is quite satisfactory, give or take a death.

The movie shocked me a few times, things happen which is too much for a fan of the tv series Firefly. Still I thoroughly enjoyed the movie again and in a few years time I will watch it again and again. The big baddie is actor Chiwetel Ejiofor and he does a splendid job, being a strong adversary for our heroes.

With help from IMdB, screencaps taken from cap-that.com