Firefly: midway review

Last night, Rachel and I finished the 8th episode, Out of Gas. So, here are some thoughts.

My Top Five Favorite Things about Firefly

1. Adam Baldwin
2. Adam Baldwin
3. Adam Baldwin
4. Jewel Staite and Morena Baccarin
5. Adam Baldwin

Seriously, Adam Baldwin is awesome. The episode "Jaynestown" was particularly good because of the hilarious emphasis on his character, Jayne Cobb. Baldwin plays pretty much the exact same character on the NBC series Chuck, so I was familiar with his work before watching Firefly.

Some other things I like. Gina Torres was fairly awful on season three of 24. I really, really disliked her. But she's great here. And, of course, Alan Tudyk is good in everything. Out of Gas was good, probably the best episode so far and I know that it's been compared in quality to the Doctor Who episode, Blink. Sorry, it was good, but not even close to Blink.

What I don't like. The Western setting. Annoying. The western accents. Really annoying. I don't like the lame Alliance who, in their big poofy hats, come across more as an empire of evil hairdressers than storm troopers. I hate, hate, hate the theme song.

I also dislike the Reavers. This isn't Joss Whedon's fault (shouldn't it be Hoss Whedon in this context?). Star Trek has done hundreds of different villains of various stripes (Klingons, Romulans, Ferengi, Breen, Vidiians, Species 8472, Xindi, Dominion, Borg) so it's very difficult to come up with a new, interesting villain that isn't some sort of retread. So far, we've only seen the Reavers' handiwork in one episode and the "Oooh, they're scary" dialogue isn't working for me. Don't tell me they're scary, SHOW ME.

All that being said, I'm enjoying the show. But it's not a classic SF show worthy of resurrection in my book just yet.