Serenity spoiler thread

[Sairon]

Thought that I would watch the serie before the movie, since this stuff seems to be fairly highly regarded. However, after watching the first 4 episodes I'm strugeling to continue. Sci-fi meets the wild west gets a bit silly. It also seems to be the kind of series where nothing really happen, at the end of every episode they're back to square one so it doesn't really matter if you miss a truckload of episodes.  There's no real plot to follow, or questions you're waiting for answers to. The characters seems about as deep as the ones in Buffy the vampire slayer. So, does the serie take of at some point? I watched Battlestar Galactica just before Firefly, which I found to be superb.

[HaemishM]

If the Wild West sci-fi thing turns you off, you probably won't like much of the series, and may only marginally like the movie. It's kind of central to being able to stand the characters and the setting that you buy into that premise.

[Bunk]

Ultimately the plot is the characters. They cover a bit of a running story about Simon and River and the people they are running from (which leads in to the plot of the movie), but mainly its about the characters and the relationships between them. If you don't get in to the characters, you probably won't get in to the show.

I'm having a bit of a problem with Deadwood myself right now, because I'm just not interested in quite a few of the characters. Once you get past Swearigen (sp?) and the Canadian, the rest of the cast just hasn't fleshed out enough for me yet to get interested in. I'm still hoping for something out of Molly Parker. Or it could be that I'm just really annoyed by Calamity Jane. The last episode I watched was the one wear she sits in the woods and drinks with a dead guy, and I just haven't had the urge to put the next DVD in. Hopefully things pick up.

Sorry for the derail, but this thread was just stagnating mostly anyways.

[Sairon]

Finnished all the episodes, the order seemed scrambled though, what seemed to be the pilot was episode 11. Got fairly enjoyable after the first bunch of episodes.

[Abagadro]

I'm still hoping for something out of Molly Parker. Or it could be that I'm just really annoyed by Calamity Jane

Her progression into a lesbian is fun to watch.

[Samwise]

Finnished all the episodes, the order seemed scrambled though, what seemed to be the pilot was episode 11. Got fairly enjoyable after the first bunch of episodes.

You have to watch them in the order they're on the DVD, not the order in which they were originally aired.  One of the major complains that fans have about Fox's handling of the show is that they showed everything out of order.

[Merusk]

Thought that I would watch the serie before the movie, since this stuff seems to be fairly highly regarded. However, after watching the first 4 episodes I'm strugeling to continue. Sci-fi meets the wild west gets a bit silly.

I never got to watch this when it was on Fox, always had something else to be doing.  However, this is the criticism I've heard most often, and it makes no sense to me.  Wild West meets Sci-Fi seems far, far, FAR more reasonable and logical than Sci-Fi meets Fantasy a'la Star Wars, yet people can't wrap their heads around it.   At least in the wild west they had guns, so you avoid the whole magic sword and ranged weapons that move slower than bullets problem.

[Furiously]

The one thing that threw me on the whole movie vs show.

Was I missing something during the show that they were in one solar system the whole time? Because it really seemed like they were traveling system to system. Yet the movie made it seem like, no inter-stellar travel happened.

[HaemishM]

I think there is only 1 system.

EDIT: The word Either didn't make sense when I put it where it was. Writing is hard.

[Sairon]

However, this is the criticism I've heard most often, and it makes no sense to me.  Wild West meets Sci-Fi seems far, far, FAR more reasonable and logical than Sci-Fi meets Fantasy a'la Star Wars, yet people can't wrap their heads around it.   At least in the wild west they had guns, so you avoid the whole magic sword and ranged weapons that move slower than bullets problem.

I think of Star Wars more like fantasy in a sci-fi setting.  Sci-fi meets the wild west seems silly to me in the same way a serie set in present time, with our technology, mixed with the middle ages weapons and outfits would be.

[Roac]

I think of Star Wars more like fantasy in a sci-fi setting.  Sci-fi meets the wild west seems silly to me in the same way a serie set in present time, with our technology, mixed with the middle ages weapons and outfits would be.

What's confusing or silly about it?  "Western" in Serenity has more to do with the tone than anything else; dress, speech, etc.  The main character uses a revolver, but hell, revolvers are still manufactured and in use today.  It seems that the little 'old tech' that is in use has a fair amount to do with limitation of production or availability.  It's convenient to fit into the story of course, but plausible.  There's also the situation that many of the colony planets have extremely limited access to any means of production or trade - this being one of the primary gripes that these planets held against the government.  Other things, like how Serenity's engine looks like a steamboat's paddlewheel, are just aesthetic.

[Furiously]

However, this is the criticism I've heard most often, and it makes no sense to me.  Wild West meets Sci-Fi seems far, far, FAR more reasonable and logical than Sci-Fi meets Fantasy a'la Star Wars, yet people can't wrap their heads around it.   At least in the wild west they had guns, so you avoid the whole magic sword and ranged weapons that move slower than bullets problem.

I think of Star Wars more like fantasy in a sci-fi setting.  Sci-fi meets the wild west seems silly to me in the same way a serie set in present time, with our technology, mixed with the middle ages weapons and outfits would be.

Highlander was a great movie!

[Yegolev]

I seem to remember that the guns do not actually use powder, they just look like they do.  Then there's Jayne's favorite gun.  One shot blowing up another ship... that wasn't a regular old bullet.

[bhodi]

The one thing that threw me on the whole movie vs show.

Was I missing something during the show that they were in one solar system the whole time? Because it really seemed like they were traveling system to system. Yet the movie made it seem like, no inter-stellar travel happened.

It's clarified in the first few minutes of the movie that they all immigrated to a star system with many planets, some more habitable than others. The inner planets formed the "core planets" and the farther out you go the rougher it gets.

[Samwise]

Actually a pretty damn clever idea.  It saves them from having to worry about "warp drives" and time dilation and "hyperspace" and all of the other theoretical complications of interstellar travel.

[Fargull]

I seem to remember that the guns do not actually use powder, they just look like they do.  Then there's Jayne's favorite gun.  One shot blowing up another ship... that wasn't a regular old bullet.

I think they use caseless ammo, basically just feeding slugs into the chamber; which would also explain why Mal could shoot x gazillion times before reloading.

[Furiously]

The one thing that threw me on the whole movie vs show.

Was I missing something during the show that they were in one solar system the whole time? Because it really seemed like they were traveling system to system. Yet the movie made it seem like, no inter-stellar travel happened.

It's clarified in the first few minutes of the movie that they all immigrated to a star system with many planets, some more habitable than others. The inner planets formed the "core planets" and the farther out you go the rougher it gets.

RIGHT. They just never showed it that way during the tv series. It just doesnt jibe with their whole "We're in the middle of nowhere, no one will receive our distress signal." episode.