Will Someone Explain the Episodes?

The Ferg

Scooby
Joined
Apr 7, 2008
Messages
1,366
Location
Omaha, NE
Ok, I was thinking about buying a single episode in iTunes just to check it out, but then I heard all this stuff about the episodes being in the wrong order and stuff... and well... Will someone explain it to me?
 
When Firefly first aired, it was shown all out of order. Obviously, you want to watch them in chronological order rather than air date order. So here it is:
Pilot
The Train Job
Bushwacked
Shindig
Safe
Our Mrs Reynolds
Jaynestown
Out of Gas
Ariel
War Stories
Trash
The Message
Heart of Gold
Objects in Space

Hope that helps!
 
Obviously, you want to watch them in chronological order rather than air date order.
"Obviously" might be too strong of a word.

You "might" want to watch them as a 1st run Firefly fan (pre-DVD) to get the full impact of just how screwed up they scheduled it.
Reminds me more than a bit of Star Trek's 1st season.
As a 1st run Firefly fan, I occasionally watch them in airdate order for nostalgia.

The Train Job
Bushwacked
Our Mrs. Reynolds
Jaynestown
Out of Gas
Shindig
Safe
Ariel
War Stories
Objects in Space
Serenity pilot
Trash
The Message
Heart of Gold
Serenity movie

When you watch Heart of Gold, check out the original scene with Inara and Mal and her leaving.
 
^ That might be something to do after you've seen it all the way through once, but I think watching it that way to begin with would confuse a new Firefly viewer.
 
Firefly order

^ That might be something to do after you've seen it all the way through once, but I think watching it that way to begin with would confuse a new Firefly viewer.
I stated that "obviously" was perhaps too strong of a word.
As some have pointed out that they didn't start getting into it until disc 2.
By this, what they mean (I think) is that the 2 part pilot (Serenity), second pilot (Train Job) and Bushwacked which comprise the 1st disc are a bit slow as there is a lot of exposition to set-up.

The airdate order:
The Train Job - disc 1
Bushwacked - disc 1
Our Mrs. Reynolds - disc 2
Jaynestown - disc 2
Out of Gas - disc 3
Shindig - disc 2
Safe - disc 2
Ariel - disc 3
War Stories - disc 3
Objects in Space - disc 4
Serenity pilot - disc 1
Trash - disc 3
The Message - disc 4
Heart of Gold - disc 4
Serenity movie

Forgive me, but I'm actually going to defend the airdate order a bit.
Yes, I know - heathen.
Airdate order front-loads some of the better episodes and why they were shown out of order this way.

Train Job services to give enough exposition for the characters and explain that these aren't necessarily the bright and shiny good-guys you would normally expect.

Bushwacked I would personally put off till later (after Out of Gas maybe) since it is backstory on Reavers mainly.

Our Mrs Reynolds is a nice light-hearted romp and some excellent characterization.

Jaynestown at this point has enough on Jayne's background from the previous 2 episodes (or 3 if you did watch Bushwacked) to give the viewers a nice perspective on the machiavellian mercenary.

Out of Gas at this point tells a lot of backstory and shows the love Mal has for his ship along with the interactions of her crew toward each other.
In DVD order this does not come until much later.

From this point on you have enough information to understand the characters for the remaining episodes.

Yes, the order is screwed up. Yes, not all of the plotlines unfold in proper order. But, this is also the way the 1st generation of fans fell in love with this series as well.
 
1. I just bought Serenity (the pilot) on iTunes and it was AWESOME!!! I'm downloading "The Train Job" right now.
2. Why were the episodes released all f'd up? I know, they were, but no one has answered why? Does anyone know?
 
S
Superstar
Missed my post eh?
The TV station said that a certain episode had to start the series whereas Joss wanted another to start the series, I think he wanted footage of the battle. It's all explained on the DVD.
 
Back
Top Bottom