Firefly Flashback: Objects in Space

Objects in Space is the final (sniff) episode of Firefly. Many fans regard it as one of the best episodes, and I certainly felt that way the first time around. The first several, actually. But watching it recently, it didn't quite do it for me as well as before.

Make no mistake, I'm not saying it was a bad episode. Nor am I even saying it was "bad for Firefly." In fact, I'll go ahead and give the game away and tell you I'd rate it an A-. So what is it that I'm bagging on?

The very thing that once made me lovelovelove this episode, actually: the character of Early, the bounty hunter. Oh, he'll still entertaining. Still a worthy opponent for the crew of Serenity -- clever, chilling, comical, and menacing all in turns. My problem is that I now find him to be just a little too eccentric.

Joss Whedon wrote and directed this episode himself, and has a lot to say about it in the commentary he recorded for the DVD. Basically, he was playing around with a lot of existentialist philosophy in this episode, exploring the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre. "Is the room still her room when she's not in it?" kind of stuff. And it is at times funny and thought-provoking. Even at the same time, occasionally.

But at other times, it's also just plain weird, and feels like it would be better suited to a stage than a TV show. For example, the whole exchange: "Are you Alliance?" "Am I a lion?" Or the simple fact that Early is so open-minded that for a split second, he seems to actually believe that River turned into the ship. It strikes me as just a little too weird, weird for weird's sake.

Still, there's no denying the effectiveness of most of this episode. It includes some of the most profound moments of the series. There's River's anguish at feeling unwanted, and joy at the end to find acceptance. There's the horrifying moment when Early calmly threatens to rape Kaylee. There's Simon's heroic confrontation of Early (even if it does mess up River's plan).

So, like I said, an A- overall. Not at all a bad note to end the series on, if it had to be that way. But fortunately, there was another chapter a few years later -- the movie Serenity.

Firefly is certainly the best "only one season" TV show I've ever seen. It's one of my favorite series, period. Watching all the episodes again offered as many thrills as watching them the first time around, and I'm sure in years to come, and watch them all again many times more.