The Earth has been rendered inhabitable, so humanity terraformed and colonised planets in another galaxy. The Union of Allied Planets (The Alliance) was formed to rule this new galaxy, but their authority is challenged by the Independents, also known as 'Browncoats'. There was a civil war, but the Browncoats lost. Since then, many of them drifted to the outer planets where the Alliance has less control and people survive with the most basic technology.
We follow Nathan Fillion as former Browncoat Malcolm Reynolds, the captain and owner of the Firefly-class transport Serenity. Unable to fight the Alliance but unwilling to live under them, Mal travels around the frontier in Serenity, and makes his living outside the law as an amoral Jack-of-all-trades. He's seldom fussy about who hires him, but he is humane and follows his own code.
The rest of Serenity's crew is comprised of an excellent cast: Gina Torres as Zoe, another Browncoat who serves as Mal's unconditionally loyal second-in command; Zoe's husband Wash, played by Alan Tudyk, the lovable and goofy ship's pilot; Adam Baldwin as Jayne Cobb, a thuggish and crude mercenary who provides security; Jewel Staite as Kaylee Frye, the laid-back and optimistic mechanic; Inara Serra, played by Morena Baccarin, a high-class escort who gives the crew a degree of legitimacy and respectability; Dr Simon Tam, played by Sean Maher, a socially-awkward trauma surgeon on the run for theft of Alliance property; Simon's sister River, played by Summer Glau, a mentally unstable teenage prodigy; and Shepherd Book, a devout preacher with a questionable past, played by the late Ron Glass.
The characters all work off each other brilliantly, and the dialogue is full of memorable quotes. I also love the imagination behind the melding of Eastern and Western culture. But I think my favourite aspect is the fact that all the characters seem realistic. They don't want to save the Galaxy or boldly go where no man has gone before. They just want to get by.
It's such a shame that the show was cancelled before its time by some corporate tools. But it was great to see the cast bite back and reunite for the feature-length film, Serenity.
They did the impossible, and that makes them mighty.
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