Firefly 1.01: Serenity

Here are some lengthy notes on a rewatch of the first episode of Joss Whedon's Firefly. Here be spoilers, though they are generally for smaller moments or thematic ties to the series as a whole, rather than the big twists, but in any case: forewarned, forearmed. Also, I can't help but comment on the way the show treats race, class, and gender. I should note I'm Filipina, first-generation born-and-raised in North America, so any observations WRT culture come from my own experiences. I can't speak to how true the show is to Chinese culture, as represented by the theoretical Sino-American alliance.

• It's been long enough that I can watch these episodes with nigh-fresh eyes, and this really does work as a pilot. It's dense, yes, but Joss isn't the most opaque of directors. (And really, it's not like the show gets less dense as time goes on.) The cues are right there, if you're looking. A cut of Inara's pensive face, her cheerful voice sliding over it as she talks about her homeworld. The utter hopelessness of the soldiers surrounding Mal in the teaser, foreshadowing masked as shellshock and young men's fear. The distance between the lens and Zoe and Wash as tendrils of discontent wrap around their fantasies of a weekend vacation. The way Kaylee twirls her spiral-pattern umbrella as she convinces Book to travel on their ship--someone, somewhere, was thinking of The Penguin. And that's just in the first twenty-two minutes! Joss is good with silence underneath voiceovers, and the way sound intrudes into conversations. Or Joss's sound editor is good with that. Either way. And the quick blurs of out-of-focus shots, the contrasting images during exposition, are used effectively as well.
• I know later we're supposed to see Inara as a geisha-equivalent, but that first encounter doesn't show it at all. She's a well-mannered, high-class prostitute, yes, but her first customer is all desperation and prickly defensiveness. Definitely not somebody she should have accepted, were she what we're told she's supposed to be. Handwave: Perhaps Inara's continued selection of jerkwaddy clients is supposed to be a signifier of her discomfort with a) being a Companion, and/or b) the secret and evil mission of the Dollhouse the Companions' Guild, which is what drove her away from the core planets in the first place. (A shipper handwave could be something about how Inara is clearly attracted to jerkwads, such as Mal, so that's why she keeps picking these losers, OR that it's an outgrowth of her self-hatred or something, but I feel either of those explanations is a disservice to the character.) In other news, it really bothers me that Inara set a porcelain teacup on a table, unsecured and possibly still full, immediately before flying off-planet.
• In one brief scene, our first glimpse of Book, we have the dichotomy of offensive Asian stereotypes and a glimmer of understanding. There's the horrific "Fresh Dogs" sign by the grill, which I'm sure somebody thought was funny, but it comes as a punch in the gut to those of us who have had to suffer through dog-eating jokes. Then, a breath afterwards, a (young white) man addresses Book as "Grandpa." I suppose it comes off as a bit disrespectful, but it actually seems natural to me, to address an elder that way. My younger siblings call me "Ate" (AH-teh), which is Tagalog for older sister. We call grandparent-aged people Lolo or Lola, and parent-aged people Auntie or Uncle, regardless of whether they're related, or sometimes even whether we actually know them. It's supposed to be a sign of respect. The actor (and the direction and the script) don't reflect the deference, of course, but it seems like a natural outgrowth to me.
• "Earth-That-Was." I love that phrase. I love the cadence of this show. I love the way people speak, part slang and part storytelling. Out of everything else, that might be what keeps me coming back.
• Simon, in his very first appearance, looks like a comic book version of himself.
• This is a cast of superb actors, but you really have to tip your hat to Nathan Fillion and Gina Torres especially. They do great work, spoken, unspoken, or laconic--though Fillion has a few ungood lines. (His non-non-reaction to Book's line of work and his aggressive passive-aggressiveness about Inara's are the worst, but I'm inclined to blame those on writing/directing, rather than acting.)
• That scene with Inara and Book talking about their fascination with Mal is totally unnecessary, and the annoying factor was already primed by the gratuitous sponge bath. How much would I have preferred their making-up to be done while, I don't know, clearing the table? THIS MUCH. (I know this is supposed to create a mirror, as Inara washes Book's wound at the end of the episode, but COME ON.)
• Jayne crouched outside the infirmary, hugging his knees while watching Kaylee's surgery, is possibly the best character moment he had in the entire series. (I could be persuaded otherwise, I suppose, but this is definitely up in the top ten.) He really is a great character--all belligerence and greed and gigantic sharp knives, but one stare-down from Mal cows him, and he was hugging his knees. It's a great exercise in power dynamics, because when the fed (Lawrence?) tries to bribe him with the possibility of his own ship, we're not yet sure if Jayne's mercenary and/or resentful enough to go for it. By the end of the series, I think it's pretty clear--there's no way Jayne would want a ship of his own, because then he'd have to run the damn thing. Jayne's most happy as part of a pack, but he hates having to admit it. Jayne's only comfortable with small betrayals, and they're never ones that would directly injure his alpha.
• I really want to know from what kind of society Wash comes. He identifies his work as being criminal, but doesn't show any other discomfort about it, aside from natural concern for Zoe's safety. Further, he finds the idea that a (former) superior officer would command obedience, as well as the whole "the captain makes the rules" concept, completely alien. Voting? Really?
• Y'know, as scary as Reavers are, they really didn't scare me much in this first episode. The build-up just didn't do it. The music cue as they first sighted the ship was more action-y than eerie, and they did the reaction shots too soon. IMHO, they should have come back from the break with Simon and Zoe's conversation, then showed everybody's reactions in silence, without Mal's VO.
• I love the way Mal quickly susses out the lay of the land on Whitefall. It's not because he's a genius criminal, but because he has tactical experience. Another note on military experience--he later instructs Inara to take the "civilians" to her shuttle.
• I like Patience. She's mean and backstabby, but she's tough. I suspect the backstabbiness comes from necessity. Or desperation--she sees herself responsible for a planet, and Mal only has a crew of four, after all. And, given she shot him once before, she's not overly fond of him anyway. Seriously, though--the crew was prepared for her to turn on them, but they didn't seem to expect it. Whatever she shot Mal for before, it probably wasn't for underhanded reasons. For the most part this show is okay WRT gender, and the explorations of class are interesting, if muddled, but it's just horrible with race.