Episode Review: “Serenity” (Firefly pilot)

Life for those who aren’t fortunate enough (or those who love liberty a little too much) to live in the Alliance’s “Core” is rough. The crew of Serenity is barely getting by, relying on money from illegal salvage operations just to keep the ship flying. The border worlds where the crew seems most comfortable have more in common with the setting of Gunsmoke than to Star Trek.

“Serenity”, the pilot episode of Firefly, is everything that a pilot episode should be. During this double-length episode, we’re given a solid introduction to the Firefly universe and the crew of Serenity.

Unfortunately, Fox got a little creative with the release schedule of the Firefly episodes. Rather than airing the introductory pilot episode first, they opted to air it last, after the other episodes (those they chose to air anyway) had already been shown. This was a particularly odd decision because Fox’s (terribly misrepresentative) ad campaign had featured the “girl in a box” scene from this episode. Not only did they ruin the surprise of exactly what Simon was smuggling, they didn’t even air the episode after having done so.

“Serenity” introduces the ship’s core crew as they appropriate some cargo from a derelict ship, only to find that the buyer who’d sent them after it wasn’t buying any longer. Already in bad enough financial shape that they were forced to pick up passengers, the crew now has to find someone else who will buy the cargo.

On top of the problem with the illegal salvage, two of the passengers are revealed to be a federal agent and the fugitive that he’s pursuing. The fugitive, Simon Tam, has smuggled his sister, River, out of an “academy” where she was being treated as a guinea pig.

After initially planning to put Simon and River off the ship at the first planet they come to, Mal eventually reaches the decision that the Tams are better off if they’re on the move, and offers them a place to stay on the ship. (Most likely, this decision is influenced by Mal’s antipathy toward the Alliance.)

“Serenity” isn’t my favorite episode by a long shot, but it’s very good, especially for a pilot episode.