Firefly Flashback: The Message

Firefly has a notoriously mixed up chronology. There's the intended viewing order (as presented on the DVDs). There's the mixed up order in which FOX aired them (which didn't even include the episode I'm talking about here). And then there's the order in which they were actually filmed.

According to DVD commentaries, The Message was actually the last Firefly episode to be filmed. And before filming was completed on it, the whole cast and crew got the word that the axe had fallen and the show had been canceled. These extenuating circumstances add a major emotional weight to the end of the episode -- the funeral scene in which the crew of Serenity brings home the body of Tracey (Mal and Zoe's old war friend). The real funeral was for Firefly itself, and you can tell when you watch this episode. The cast is incredibly solemn -- perhaps too much so for what their characters would be feeling for this person in this situation. But I know it chokes me up when I watch it, so I'm not about to complain. And the music! Composer Greg Edmonson serves up a requiem for the show in that scene, taking the already high emotion to an even loftier place. It's all a fitting tribute, and a beautiful scene.

The rest of the episode is good too, but not quite as great. This is another "ripples in the pond" episode, like when Saffron came on the ship for the first time, and everyone had a unique perspective on it. The problem here is that this character of Tracey doesn't cause as many ripples. He means a lot to Mal and Zoe, who already have a past with him. He ends up meaning something to Kaylee, as the two nurse a bit of a crush for one another. Stretch things a bit, and you can say he means something to Book, as proper treatment of and respect for the dead falls squarely in his wheelhouse. But the ripples don't really reach any farther than that, and we haven't even covered half the main characters. Wash, Simon, River, Jayne, and Inara just don't have much to do in this story.

But it's hard to complain too much when what is there is strong. You do get caught up in Tracey's story (and so you can accept that the characters placed on the periphery this episode get caught up in it too). The "Fed" chasing him is a reasonably intimidating and persistent villain; one can imagine he might have become another recurring Firefly character if the show had continued. But most of all, you feel for Mal and Zoe, who are confronted with drak memories of the war, try to do the right thing here, and get nothing but trouble for it.

I rate this episode an A-. I don't think I would even put it in the top half of Firefly episodes, were I to rank them, but it's still an A-.