Firefly: Our Mrs. Reynolds

I really enjoy your Firefly reviews, so keep them coming :). Our Mrs. Reynolds is one of my favourite episodes as well, along with Objects In Space; The philosophical body hunter "Jubal Early" just has the most hilarious dialogue in that one. Great character...

To respond to doc.

I am a Firefly fan who tuned in for every episode, encouraged freinds to sample and tried to get the ratings up. I tried my best to get it to make it through the first season and hopefully beyond. And I purchased my set the day it came out--in fact, I pre-booked on Amazon the day it was listed and helped it sell out the first wave. There are some of us who were fans from the beginning and have supported it since it left the airwaves...

Just a comment to doc, who wonders where the browncoats were when Firefly was on: I was a massive Buffy fan, so when a new Joss series premiered, I was right there. I watched the first episode to air (which we now know was the second episode of the season) and I just couldn't keep my focus. I couldn't figure out who was who or what was going on and none of the lines seemed to fire for me. So I stopped watching midway through the episode and never started again.

Flash forward to the release of "Serenity," which I had no intention of seeing, until my best friend said, "What do you mean? It's Joss Whedon! You love Joss Whedon!" so we went on opening night--and I was utterly captivated. And completely confused as to why I hadn't taken to these characters earlier.

So I came home, and I bought the DVDs, and I watched the [real] pilot, and thought, "How could I not have liked this? This kicks ASS!" until I found out that that's not the episode I had actually watched.

So, how much of this is my fault, and how much is the network's? I honestly don't know. Maybe I was having an off day the evening "Firefly" premiered--maybe I was distracted. Yes, I now know that this was one of the funniest and cleverest series ever to air--oops. My bad.

Could the network have done something different to grab me? I dunno. I think they should have aired the episodes in their correct order. I think they could have promoted it better--more of the clever lines in the promos, maybe. The real Joss-isms.

But, like "Arrested Development"--which I *did* discover in time--the show didn't manage to find its audience in enough time to save it. Yeah, I think FOX should have decided to keep a little low-rated quality on tap just to balance the horror of the rest of their lineup, but then I don't have to pay the FOX headquarters' electrical bill.

Sometimes you just have to let go--and be happy that the DVDs are out there. Think of the poor stranded "Everwood" fans!

FOX are idiots for canceling this show. +100!

From the 'two sides of the coin' department...

How many great shows being cancelled for low ratings will it take before viewers get their act together and start watching things like Firefly?

Not to pick on thetvaddict, but there is your problem. How many times do you have to hear people say they 'just discovered Firefly on DVD and it's great' before you get the picture? Firefly was just as great when it was originally being broadcast, and if all of those browncoats would have bothered to watch it then, it just might have stayed on the air.

I know the browncoats love to wax poetic about how FOX were stupid for cancelling Firefly and spread misinformation about why they did it, but in the end it all comes back to ratings. I'm not crazy about taking the side of FOX, but what is it that you expect them to do? If they kept every low rated show that a small group of viewers love, the network would go out of business. It's really not that complicated. It might suck, but we all know the rules to the game. Should they have kept John Doe because a few people really wanted to know where that story was going? Then maybe they should have kept Dark Angel because Max's butt had a pretty good little following. I know quite a few people that loved Brisco County Jr., so they should have kept that? Of course, there are a ton of people here at TVSquad that are crazy for the Arrested Development. Here's the problem with this reasoning. If the networks keep all of these underperforming programs, there is no room on the schedule for anything new. So, FOX has chosen, rightly I think, that they would be better off with a lineup that includes House, 24, and Idol over Firefly, Arrested Development, and Brisco County Jr.

Now, personally, I would much rather have Firefly, Arrested Development, and Brisco over anything on FOX right now, but until the viewing public at large changes their ways, I can't fault FOX for making sound business decisions. To attack the networks for doing that is akin to pissing in the wind. You have to change the behaviour of viewers.

Now, back to this episode...I agree with Keith that this is the best episode of the series so far. It has a great mix of action and comedy. Mal as Jayne's wife is hilarious, as is the scene where the whole crew is ribbing Mal as he gets more and more frustrated. I would agree with Akbar that the best Jayne moment of the episode is the Vera scene.

Christina Hendricks, as Saffron, is great. I like to think that had the series continued we would have seen her turn up periodically to help or hinder the crew in new and interesting ways, much like Badger.

And hey, she was also on Beggars and Choosers, another great show that nobody bothered to watch. It's supposed to be coming out on DVD though, so you can always catch it there...You even get to see her boobs, if that helps sway you. :D

How many people will it take to proclaim their love for FireFly before a network gets their act together and gets Joss to start the show back up!!! FOX are idiots for canceling this show.

I have started watching FIREFLY as a 'summer project' and let me say, I too am loving it. I just finished watching 'Ariel'... what a kick butt episode. I love how Mal confronted Jayne in the end.... can't wait to finish the series and get to SERENITY!

I love that you keep covering Firefly! Greatest show ever!

Jayne: You got a wife? All I got was that dumb-ass stick sounds like it's rainin'. How'd you get a wife?

More quotes:

Jayne: That's why I never kiss 'em on the mouth.

Mal: But she was naked! and all... articulate.

Mal: Good bible.

I prefer Jaynes description/history of "Vera" as the better Jayne-ism for the episode.

But all in all a great episode.

Inara: "I fell and hit my head..like Wash"