Quad Blogs

Like I did during LOST’s run, I’ve read countless interviews with Joss or listened to his commentary tracks or any other interview he’s done. Surprisingly, I was unaware of Firefly’s existence until I read the chapter in an unofficial Joss Whedon biography. The concept sounded intriguing but I neither understood nor appreciated Firefly until I watched the show. The show began re-running on SciFi a few years ago (maybe 2005) so I began watching it. I watched one episode and disliked the quality of the episode’s look. I enjoyed the Pilot. There are moments in the pilot that will simply hook a new viewer to the show. Sudden emotion; very powerful and very direct. I’m thinking of the trick Mal plays on Simon, the doctor who is new to the ship and on the run from the Alliance after rescuing his sister from the Academy, regarding Kaylee’s death. She was hit by a bullet shot from an undercover Alliance agent’s gun, treated by Simon and she does live which is something we discover when there’s a sensational tracking shot of an anguished Simon running to the infirmary to check on her. When Simon arrives, he finds Kaylee up and talking with a ton of life in her. I also think of the moment when we meet River and we find out the contents of the package aren’t a what but a who. Lacking a credit card, I quickly persuaded persons who do to order me the DVD stat on amazon.com. The DVDs came in the mail. I watched the entire series. Following “Objects In Space,” I said to myself, “Joss did it again.”

Firefly, as I mentioned briefly yesterday, is a gem of a series. Anyone who watched Serenity, the movie, received a brief glimpse into the world of Firefly but Serenity is no Firefly. Serenity can’t take us to the many planets or give a certain character a centric story besides Mal. Serenity is a great movie but if you want the story of these people, you’ve gotta watch Firefly.

The entire series is worth watching numerous times. I also enjoy reading the shooting scripts which are available on FireflyWikki; however, it would be a cop-out to rank all fourteen episodes of the series. The goal of the rankings is to name the five very best episodes of the series, to single out the episodes that capture the spirit and execute the show’s unique vision and stories best. With that said, let me end the preamble and enter into the world of episodic television rankings:

THE FIVE ABSOLUTE BEST 44 MINUTES OF FIREFLY

5. EPISODE 107–JAYNESTOWN (WRITTEN BY BED EDLUND; DIRECTED BY MARITA GRABIAK)

FireflyWikki.org

Jayne is the antagonist on Serenity. He exists to create conflict. He’s a man entirely out for himself. In this episode, some cargo needs to be transported from Canton. Jayne is worried because he’s not well liked by the Magistrate because of something that happened a few years ago. Jayne and his crew stole money but, while leaving, the flying craft was hit and quickly losing fuel. Jayne had to drop the money and the Mudders viewed Jayne Cobb as a hero. The Magistrate tried to take the money from them but they rioted and were able to keep the money. Canton is a place that sells mud and the working class refer to themselves as The Mudders. It is a place that stinks and another reminder to Simon of how far from civilized life he is and he thinks he’s going mad when he sees a mud statue of Jayne because, after all, he described Jayne as a man-ape thing but admitted an ape is more trained than Jayne.

Jayne resists the idea that he’s a hero because he knows he is not a hero; however, he slowly embraces the idea until the truth comes out about how he threw a man out before the money. One Mudder, Meadows, doesn’t waver in his admiration for Jayne and takes the bullet for him. Jayne doesn’t understand why Meadows would do that. Mal tells him that it’s not about Jayne, that it’s about what the Mudders needed. Jayne still doesn’t understand.

The heart of the story involves that idea of what people need. Book needs the bible and its teachings even though he admits that the bible is broken. The important thing to him is that the bible fixed him. This is what he tells River. Simon tells Kaylee that he needs to continue being proper because being proper is the only thread he has, besides his sister, from the life he left behind for her.

Jaynestown is a meditation on the idea of heroism and the importance of faith. It’s also a very, very funny episode.

4. EPISODE 109–ARIEL (WRITTEN BY JOSE MOLINA; DIRECTED BY ALLAN KROEKER)

FireflyWikki.org

The episode in which Jayne betrays Simon and River. The Hands of Blue cause some chaos. And, yes, this is episode with the infamous airlock scene.

After struggling to appear as a buyer of mud because the Foreman couldn’t know the true intentions of Mal and his crew in “Jaynestown,” Simon becomes a criminal mastermind of sorts. Serenity travels to the central planet Ariel. The central planets are booming with Alliance folk. Simon’s actual plan involves running tests on his sister to find out exactly what’s going on with her and to determine what the Academy did to her. The plan is tricky because they need to be kind of dead to access the area where they need to go. Also, Jayne is with them and responsible for them while Mal, Zoe, Wash and Kaylee steal some pricey medicine.

The central focus of the story becomes Jayne’s betrayal. The betrayal caught me by surprise when I first watched it because I did not expect it. The previous episodes made it clear that Jayne had no use for the Tams but, still…damn. Jayne doesn’t hold the same principles that Mal does. When Mal saves River and Simon from being burned at the stake, he simply explains it with this: “you’re on my crew.” Jayne is not that man. Any way in which he can help himself, he will help himself. The Tams have a large sum attached to their capture. Jayne creates a whole mess of chaos because crazy Hands of Blue will kill whoever they meet on their path to getting River back. As for River, she’s a mystery at this point in the show but this episode clearly shows that her head was being messed with. River is a genius. River also terrifies Jayne. The situation Jayne creates is eventually resolved. The Alliance looking for them is not, of course, but the crew makes it out of Ariel safely.

“Ariel” is an excellent Simon episode. He tells Jayne, after Jayne is hurt, that he’ll never hurt Jayne while he is a patient under his care, and he cares so much for River. The episode also showcases Mal’s enormous loyalty. Rather than write about it, watch it.

3. EPISODE 106-OUR MRS. REYNOLDS (WRITTEN BY JOSS WHEDON; DIRECTED BY VONDIE CURTIS HALL

still-flying.net

The funniest episode of the series. The episode introduces Saffron, portrayed by the awesome Christina Hendricks (of Mad Men fame now). This is a good Mal episode because we learn a lot about him through Saffron. He ends up married to her after saving a town from bandits; however, by episode’s end, the marriage was just a way for Saffron to put them in harm’s way. Mal is the opposite of Jayne because Jayne just wants to have his way with her. Mal refuses to take advantage of Saffron. He feels uncomfortable by how subserviant she is. It’s all an act, of course, but Mal doesn’t know it until he’s passed out after one hell of a seduction by Saffron and she begins her true plan. We learn about Mal’s life before the Browncoats and before Serenity. Saffron opens him up in ways no one else can besides maybe Inara and, later, River. For an anti-hero, Mal has many virtues and they are on display.

The episode is the funniest episode Joss Whedon has ever written. The scene between Saffron and Wash, when she has to knock him out and begins a seduction attempt, is brilliant.

2. EPISODE 108–OUT OF GAS (WRITTEN BY TIM MINEAR; DIRECTED BY DAVID SOLOMON)

still-flying.net

“Out Of Gas” is an origin story. Using the words ‘origin story’ is odd considering Firefly is not a comic book and the words are usually reserved for the comic book world. The words work to sum up “Out Of Gas.” We learn how the crew came together on Serenity and we learn how important these people are to Mal. Every single one of them. We also see just how much he loves Serenity. The final scene of the episode features Mal being wowed by Serenity even though the dealer thinks Serenity is a piece of trash.

The story is non-linear and the A story and the episode opens with a wounded Mal, near death, in a ship with no oxygen and no crew (because he sent them to safety) ready to die and go down with his ship. ‘Out of Gas’ emphasizes one of the most consistent theme throughout every Whedon story: family doesn’t have to be just blood. The crew is Mal’s family and Serenity is home. Serenity saved him from a very dark place.

“Out Of Gas” is one of Minear’s finest hours and the same goes for David Solomon who has been with Joss through every series as a director and producer.

1. EPISODE 114–OBJECTS IN SPACE (WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY JOSS WHEDON)

still-flying.net

My absolute favorite episode of Firefly. I love the character River and this is her episode. I love the commentary for this episode as well. Joss convinced me to read Sartre after I finished listening to him speak about the episode. “Objects In Space” is a very philosophical episode that deals exclusively with existentialist philosophy. The conversations between Jubal Early and River Tam highlight this.

A bounty hunter comes aboard Serenity for River. He takes Simon hostage but River saves the crew and her own brother from Jubal Early. She also sends him out, alone, into space. Before Jubal Early arrives, River has another violent episode which brings up the debate of whether or not to kick her and Simon off of the ship because of the problem River has been. River is just very damaged because what the Academy did and she’s psychic so her thoughts have been scrambled because she’s been scrambled. Serenity, the movie, will heal River. This episode is the one in which everyone accepts her. Most importantly, Mal accepts her. There’s a great piece of info at the end of the Serenity commentary (the love discussion) when Nathan Fillion wondered how to play the scene and, later, he told Joss that all he did was look into Summer Glau’s eyes and he know how to play the scene. To clarify: there is no romantic relationship between the two. It’s platonic.

This episode begins the removal of the many layers that make up River Tam and it is an outstanding, outstanding episode.

ON MONDAY: The Best Directed-By-Joss Whedon Episodes!

THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK

Welcome to the Week of Whedon + 2 days, friends and well-wishers.

The week will be grand fun. So fun that you will want to Charleston.

It is no secret that I’m a Joss Whedon fan. I began watching Buffy in the early aughts and then I began watching ANGEL. I had a fairly unorthodox approach to both shows. I bought season three of Buffy on DVD before seeing any other season. I watched ANGEL out of order. During its original run on theWB, I’d tune in every Halloween because I thought Buffy was the perfect show for one to embrace the Halloween spirit. I believe the only Halloween episode I caught was season four’s “Fear, Itself,” a favorite of mine. I also watched “Hush” when it originally aired but that’s about it. The series ended and I would catch the odd repeat Saturday afternoons on FOX or some insane hour like 3AM on FOX. I enjoyed what I saw immensely. I researched the show and saw that season three is considered the best season of Buffy. I nearly purchased season six first. Thank the Smoke Monster that I didn’t (that is just an expression–LOST was 2 years away from existing).

I loved season three and eventually bought every season but the first. Meanwhile, I became a huge ANGEL fan after seeing “Orpheus” repeat on TheWB combined with how much I enjoyed the odd rerun I saw on FOX.

The ANGEL journey is much more out of order than Buffy. Season five began on TheWB so I began watching it while catching repeats every day on TNT after I returned from Carroll. I had the experience of knowing major plot points but unaware of how the show arrived at those plot points so it was fun, believe it or not. ANGEL quickly vaulted over Buffy as my favorite Joss Whedon show. Of course, much of ANGEL’s credit goes to David Greenwalt, Tim Minear, Jeff Bell and Steven S. DeKnight. Whedon has said that he was involved with ANGEL as much as he was with Buffy, that he read every single script. I believe that but I think it’s wrong to throw praise at Joss for a show whose vision and identity was largely shaped by David Greenwalt, Tim Minear, Jeff Bell, Mere Smith, Steven S. DeKnight, Shawn Ryan and David Fury. Joss deserves his due praise and credit for ANGEL because he co-created the show with Greenwalt but Greenwalt ran the show on a day-to-day basis.

ANGEL always seemed like the stepchild show for Joss. He’ll never love a show as much as he loves Buffy though he loved Firefly so much that he made it into a movie with the help of some friends at Universal. There are groups of fans who think Joss didn’t understand or, rather, know how to write for ANGEL which is a bold statement in and of itself to suggest Joss didn’t understand one of his own shows. His episodes had a different tone than most of ANGEL. He usually wrote stand-alone episodes like “Spin The Bottle” and “Waiting In The Wings.”

Joss directing Amy Acker and the late Andy Hallett

The big episodes of ANGEL were always reserved for Greenwalt before he left or for Minear or Bell or DeKnight. Joss did write the season five premiere, an episode that set the stage for the Wolfram & Hart era and he wrote a key season five episode when Fred dies but even “A Hole In The World” gets criticized for the Buffy-ness in the dialogue and the Buffy tone of the episode.

The quality of ANGEL never declined like the quality of Buffy did during the UPN years (seasons six and seven). Many, many fans blame Marti Noxon for destroying the seasons. Many fans point to Joss’ focus on Firefly combined with Marti Noxon running the show with a less-involved Joss. The truth is hard to find because Joss and Marti refuse to agree with the opinion of many fans and no fans were in the writer’s room on a day-to-day basis to figure out what the heck happened to the show. The duo defend many of the questionable things in both seasons passionately particularly the Spike/Buffy relationship and all of the nonsense that brought us. The same essential group of writers remained until the end, the same group that are responsible for the best Buffy season in season three and two strong seasons in four and five. Marti hired one of the most popular and best writers in the Whedon world–Drew Goddard–for season seven but he was a lone figure in a ship that had sunk and, somehow, managed to sink even further. It was like they were trapped in the box in the ocean that Connor trapped Angel in at the end of season three. Drew Goddard was not their Wesley, who pulled Angel from the depths and saved his unlife. The final two seasons of Buffy are a mystery that will remain unresolved.

In the commentary for “Chosen,” the series finale of Buffy, Joss talks about exhaustion and how he’s not beaming about the work he did for the finale. A few days ago, Marti basically said the Buffy writers were tired and, possibly, ran out of stories to tell. No matter how bad the last two seasons of the show are, they do not diminish the first five seasons of the show. Joss did some amazing work during the first five years of Buffy and he did some great work in season six like the musical but those seasons are, largely, trainwrecks. Buffy did change television and the thought behind what television could accomplish. In a commentary for Reptile Boy, Greenwalt talks about the days when hour-dramas could only be serious but Joss changed that. He not only broke genre conventions but he broke the rules. He mixed drama, comedy, horror. He helped secure the credibility of TheWB network. The most defining part of the first five seasons are the stories, the weekly episodes. The season long arcs are great too but young, aspiring screenwriters can learn a ton by watching the episodes and listening to commentary tracks. The one thing you’ll always hear is the importance of the story with Joss. He doesn’t care for a lot of cool things happening in an episode if there’s no story. “Innocence” is one of the best examples. The story is simple: a girl sleeps with her boyfriend for the first time and he’s a bad guy the morning after. Of course, in Joss’ show, the boyfriend becomes a soulless vampire.

The same structure and focus existed in ANGEL and, certainly, in Firefly. Firefly is a gem of a show. The fourteen episodes are a joy to watch with the exception being “Heart Of Gold.” If Buffy had to suffer in quality because of Firefly then the trade-off is worth it. Joss attributes the quality of the show to the circumstances surrounding the production of the show. They were in constant threat of cancellation so they put everything on the table. Joss’ devotion to Firefly is admirable. The man created nine distinct characters, characters who were fully developed with plenty of depth. Whedon said he had five years of the show planned and I believe him. Firefly is a show about the people in between the heroes. Normal folks like us. Joss took his love for the movie to the big screen after FOX cancelled it. He assembled one of the greatest casts ever with the help of his casting director. He was wise and let Tim Minear run the show with him. He had the eye to cast the lovely Christina Hendricks as Saffron. Some of Joss’ best work is, no doubt, on Firefly.

He returned to ANGEL after the end of Firefly and Buffy. Jordan Levin would cancel ANGEL and Joss disappeared from television for a few years. During the writer’s strike in 2008, he came up with Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. It won an emmy and starred NPH, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day. He co-wrote it with his sister-in-law and two brothers. He wrote the music and directed it. The web short won an emmy. He also brainstormed Dollhouse during this period of time, while eating lunch with Eliza Dusku. Dollhouse is a different show though it features many familiar Whedon elements. It is a story about people, identity. The first season is fairly uneven but the second season is one heck of a story. Like Firefly, the show didn’t stand much of a chance at getting a third so Joss and his group of writers that included Tim Minear left everything on the table for season two. The season had a slow start but kicked into full gear by episode four, a brilliant Sierra episode and the show doesn’t slow down until the last credit is shown.

Of course, during these projects, Joss began writing the season eight Buffy comic and overseeing the ANGEL: After The Fall comics.

He wrote a few x-men comics too, but years earlier. The season eight Buffy comics are wrapping up right now. I have not kept up with the comics because I’ve never been a comic guy. But Joss delivered a moving story, in issue five, about an unknown slayer who dies. The story for ANGEL was also riveting as we were told that Fred wasn’t absolutely gone and that ANGEL became human. Also, speaking of comics, he wrote the Fray comics about a slayer in the future and he oversaw a few Firefly comics.

His next project is supposed to be Cabin In The Woods but no one is sure whether or not MGM will ever release it. He co-wrote the movie with writer/director Drew Goddard.

will this ever be released?

He’s signed on to direct The Avengers.

Before I discovered Joss Whedon’s shows, I wanted to be a feature film screenwriter and I wanted to write horror because Kevin Williamson did. Whedon, and all of the writers he hired, showed me the possibilities of television writing and made me want to become a television writer.

The time is right spend a week and a two days compiling lists for the best of Joss Whedon. Tomorrow, the top five Firefly episodes will be counted down in numerical order from five to one. A list of Dollhouse episodes will not be done because The Foot hasn’t rewatched the show nearly as many times as Buffy, ANGEL and Firefly have been re-watched. In fact, I’ve seen the second season just once because it’s not out on DVD and I haven’t re-watched season one entirely. Yes.

TOMORROW: The Best Episodes of Firefly!

THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK

Joss Whedon as Numfar:

The greatest characters of all-time. Who are they? Why are they considered among the greats? There are many, friends and well-wishers of Quad Blogs. The landscape of great characters is so vast that it is impossible to rank them in numerical order. The public loves lists and The Foot loves lists. There are pros and cons to lists. I specifically remember, in my days as overlord of the Entertainment Section before I earned a college degree and left the school, making lists quite a bit if there was any leftover space in the section. Just don’t rank the Disney movies, folks, because that is dangerous minefield.

People will bicker at each other and at the overlord of the list/rankings. People will show zero appreciation for classic animated films and would rather celebrate an average animated Pixar film like Cars. In the middle of the night, or more like a Saturday after when the humble rankings creator is home for a home-cooked meal and a decent nights sleep in his own bed, will conspirators tamper with the rankings and insert CARS over classic animated Disney films from a bygone era. THAT is the danger of lists; however, rankings and lists can be blissful. Example: the great LOST rankings that was a staple of my LOST experience for years.

But ranking the greatest characters in numerical order for the sake of a list is not the best way to approach the greatest characters. What The Foot will do is simply state whom these characters are and why over a period of two months of TWENTY TWO YEARS. All characters are welcome! It is the exact motto of goody USA Network. The Foot will mostly focus on characters from television though characters from movies and books will be included every now and then. In fact, without further ado, the first character I will highlight comes from a feature film..

THE GREATEST CHARACTERS OF ALL-TIME

SHORTY FROM SCARY MOVIE, WELCOME TO THE FOOT’S GREATEST CHARACTERS OF ALL TIME!

Joblo.com

I abused caps lock above. I apologize. Shorty, portrayed by Marlon Wayans, is barely discussed when people talk great characters. What isn’t great about Shorty? The only class that matters to him is lunch. He’s able to bond with the psycho killer when every other character fails to. His final line is: “Wanna hit this bleep?” as his bullet wound will actually allow those to smoke marijuana. He’s not exactly Falstaff but he’s a moron and makes people laugh.

And now, to quote Jermaine Jackson’s hit song “Let’s Get Serious,” let’s get serious:

CAPTAIN MALCOLM REYNOLDS from the TV series Firefly

browncoats.com

Created by Joss Whedon, Mal fought against the Alliance with the Browncoats. The Battle of Serenity Valley changed his world. His side lost and he decided to live as far away from the Alliance as he could. He bought an old transport ship that many people considered junk but it wasn’t junk to him. She is Serenity. He lost his faith in God after the Battle of Serenity Valley. He steals from the rich, sells to the poor but has a tremendous amount of loyalty. If you’re on his crew, he’ll always have your back. Indeed, his crew became a family. It is here where I turn it over to Joss Whedon himself.

This quote comes from the good folks at FireflyWikki.com as well as The Browncoats Website:

Why do you think that Mal’s blend of harshness and undying loyalty to his crew make him such an appealing character to fans of the show?

Mal’s a leader. People respond to a leader because, quite frankly, they want to be led. A leader is somebody who does not always do what’s likeable and has to make decisions nobody else wants to make, and that’s the kind of character Mal is. He’s also clearly somebody who’s in pain – which people, I think, both respect and want to protect him from – and he’s somebody who is not cut and dried and noble – he has a good quirk to him, a sense of whimsy, which is something that people also look for. The other thing about being a leader is loyalty to the crew is your first command; it’s your first priority. Mal could not be a leader if his crew didn’t know that what he was trying to do was keep them alive and whole and that he would never abandon them. He’s not just out for himself no matter how many times he’s going to tell you that he is.

Here are some essential Mal episodes to watch, even though the entire series is essential Mal.

Out Of Gas: the ship is abandoned and running out of oxygen. Mal refuses to leave his ship. The audience gets flashbacks of when and where, and how, Mal assembled his crew. It’s all about Mal and his love for his crew and his love for Serenity.

Serenity (The Pilot AND The Movie): The movie is a story that is mostly Mal’s and River’s. River will get her time in the sun sooner or later as a great character of all-time. The pilot, as a pilot is supposed to do, is a microcosm of the series and the pilot showcases the essential qualities and characteristics of all nine regulars but the episode deals a whole lot with the central character. It’s one hell of a pilot. By far, Joss’ best.

RECOMMENDATIONS THURSDAYS!

Recommendations Thursdays. How does that roll off of the tongue? Meet a new weekly feature here in The Foot. It’s a spinoff of the beloved feature that used to be a staple of my fake online radio show, on the old websit. Recommendations made a cameo in The Foot two weeks ago only because there was no decent segue for promoting FX’s Louie. Consider this the triumphant premiere of what will soon take the internet and its bandwith by storm.

I will list three recommendations each and every week, I think. This depends on whether or not the debut is a trainwreck. It certainly won’t be long-winded.

1.) First and foremost, read and experience Dinosaur Wednesday right here at Quad Blogs. Where else will you find the cast of the old and beloved sitcom, Dinosaurs, battling with vicious dinosaurs? In fact, read PCA every day because there is new content each and every day.

2.) Last night while perusing the joblo.com message boards, I happened upon a thread about how Variety’s senior TV critic attacked joblo.com because one of the reviewers liked The Last Airbender. Variety’s critic couldn’t believe a studio would stoop so low for positive reviews; however, he did not anticipate Joblo himself commenting on the article. Joblo stood up for his website, stated the facts about the success, popularity and respect of the site. Variety’s critic, being a massive so and so, refused to concede and looked like a fool.

Visit joblo.com for all of your movie news. They’ve done great work keeping me updated on the happenings of Scream 4. The Scream franchise is my favorite horror franchise and the reason. Additionally, they provided the news that Michael Giacchino would score the remake of the Swedish vampire film Let The Right One In. The remake is entitled Let Me In.

3.) I think everyone should eat smoked blue marlin before dining on authentic Jamaican Jerk Chicken. Why? It’s absolute bliss. I only suggest the smoked blue marlin because one will appreciate the amazing quality of the authentic jerk chicken much more. Of course, this recommendation requires people to travel into Jamaica. It simply will not work if you aren’t in the country of Jamaica.

I’m leaning towards describing this as a trainwreck.

THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK