Overview
Firefly is a sci-fi western created by Joss Whedon, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel fame. Sadly, the show lasted for less than one season on the Fox network, but its devoted fan base and excellent DVD sales have helped to bring a feature film set in the Firefly universe to life.
Book: After the Earth was used up, we found a new solar system and hundreds of new Earths were terra formed and colonized. The central planets formed the Alliance and decided all the planets had to join under their rule. There was some disagreement on that point. After the War, many of the Independents who had fought and lost drifted to the edges of the system, far from Alliance control. Out here, people struggled to get by with the most basic technologies; a ship would bring you work, a gun would help you keep it. A captain's goal was simple: find a crew, find a job, keep flying.
Serenity and her Crew
Serenity is a Firefly class vessel. She's out of date, usually running low on fuel, and on more than one occasion she's been adrift. The Firefly class is a favorite of smugglers because they feature a lot of hard-to-find nooks and crannies that are perfect for hiding things from the Alliance. Fireflies may be out of date, but parts aren't too hard to track down, and there are certainly worse boats to ride in.
Kaylee: That's my girl. That's my good girl.
Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds - Nathan Fillion
Mal is the captain and owner of Serenity. He was a Browncoat soldier, ranked sergeant, in the war against the Alliance. He was particularly heroic in the battle of Serenity Valley, from which Serenity gets her name. Mal is an honest man when it matters. He has no love for the Alliance, but he's not going to steal from the sick either. He's been around the block a few times, and if you try to fool him, you're likely to get shot. Mal does the job, and then he gets paid.
Mal: You can't open the book of my life and jump in the middle. Like woman, I'm a mystery.
Zoë (Alleyne) Washburn¹ - Gina Torres
Zoë is Mal's first mate and his old war buddy. They fought together in Serenity Valley. Mal trusts Zoë unconditionally, and with good reason. She brings a fresh perspective to the crew's problems, and she keeps her calm extremely well. Zoë is married to Wash, and although they don't seem the best match, they're both very happy. Zoë's weapon of choice bears a resemblance to a shotgun, and on at least one occasion she is known to be wearing body armor.
Zoë: You paid money for this, sir? On purpose?
Hoban "Wash" Washburn - Alan Tudyk
Wash is Serenity's pilot and Zoë's husband. He holds onto his childhood through his humor and toys (he has plastic dinosaurs), and he's a capable pilot, but he's not of much use with a firearm. Wash's strength lies in his quick wit and piloting abilities. He is often used as comic relief because it is believable for his character to make a joke regardless of the situation.
Wash (providing the voice to a plastic dinosaur toy): Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
Jayne Cobb - Adam Baldwin
Jayne is dirty, crass, vulgar, mean, and a whole lot of fun. He is a stereotypical jock. He likes money, guns, knives, women, food, and not much else. He's quick to change sides in a fight if it's to his advantage, and he looks out for himself before any others. He cares about the crew of Serenity, but he's not prone to let them (or anybody else) know it.
Mal: You've only got to scare him.
Jayne: Pain is scary.
Kaywinnit Lee "Kaylee" Frye - Jewel Staite
Kaylee is innocent, sweet, and a child at heart. A teddy bear can be seen on her mechanic's coveralls, and she is known to have a crush on Dr. Tam. She is very interested in both machines and their workings and Inara's aristocratic and fancy life as a Companion. Despite having no official training in the field, she is an extremely capable mechanic, and Serenity and her crew wouldn't be around without her.
Mal: Kaylee, what the hell's going on in the engine room? Were there monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys maybe got loose?
Inara Serra - Morena Baccarin
Inara is Serenity's resident Companion. Mal refers to her as "Ambassador" which isn't too far from the truth. Traveling with a Companion opens doors for Serenity that might otherwise remain closed. Inara is close to Kaylee, and she obviously cares for Mal, who at least in some capacity reciprocates. Inara is her own woman, and she won't be pushed around by anyone. Her quarters are a shuttle rented from Mal, and she's been known to help on a caper or two, as well.
Jayne: Hey, do you have any funny whorin' stories?
Inara: Oh, do I ever. Funny and sexy. You have no idea. And you never will.
Dr. Simon Tam - Sean Maher
Simon isn't like the others. He grew up wealthy and privileged. He attended the best schools and studied to become a doctor. He finished his internship early and took a position as a trauma surgeon in an Alliance hospital. It is because of his sister, River, that he encounters Serenity and her crew, and it is his talents as a medic that keep him aboard. Simon is uncomfortable much of the time, but his need to help River keeps him going.
Simon: I'm trying to think of a way for you to be cruder. I just... It's not coming.
River Tam - Summer Glau
River is Simon's sister. She is (or was) incredibly intelligent. Everything came naturally to River, regardless of subject or complexity. She was good at physics and chemistry as well as dance. She wanted to attend an Alliance-sponsored academy for gifted children. Her parents agreed and she went. Then she changed. Her correspondence to Simon quit making sense, and he chose to give up his life to get her out. River and Simon are currently wanted fugitives, and nobody is quite certain what the Alliance was doing to the students.
Wash: Little River just gets more colorful by the moment. What'll she do next?
Zoë: Either blow us all up or rub soup in her hair. It's a toss-up.
Wash: I hope she does the soup thing. It's always a hoot, and we don't all die from it.
Shepherd Book - Ron Glass
Book is something of a mystery. He's the only character not given a full name, and his past is hidden from the other characters. He claims to be a man of God from an abbey on Persephone, but the respect given to him by the Alliance suggests he is more than a simple preacher. Book vocalizes his morals to the crew, he isn't afraid to hold the least popular opinion, and he is a remarkably versatile member of the crew.
Kaylee: How come you don't care where you're going?
Book: 'Cause how you get there is the worthier part.
Folks our "Big Damn Heroes" Run Into
Reavers - Firefly features no aliens whatsoever, but Reavers are pretty close. They're space crazies, for lack of a better term. Reavers started out as men isolated from civilization and laws. They gradually lost their sanity and began to cut on themselves. Then they started to cut on everybody else they could find. Reavers rape, pillage, kill, and steal. They have neither friends nor enemies, only prey. Stay away if you can.
Zoë: They'll rape us to death, eat our flesh and sew our skin to their clothes. And if we're very, very lucky, they'll do it in that order.
Badger - Badger is a lowlife crime lord living on Persephone. He is top dog in his self-described "den of thieves," and despite offering Mal and his crew work he is none too fond of them. He describes himself as an upstanding businessman with roots in the community, but Jayne's opinion, that he's a "puddle of piss," is closer to the truth. Badger won't hesitate to do whatever it takes to save his skin or make a profit.
Sir Warrick Harrow: I know [Badger]. And I think he's a psychotic lowlife.
Mal: And I think calling him that is an insult to the psychotic lowlife community.
Patience - Patience and Mal go back a ways. The implication is that Patience used to be in much the same position as Mal, a captain barely getting by. Now she owns nearly half of Whitefall, a terra formed moon. Mal's got something to sell her, and she'd like to have it, but she's not looking to buy. Patience is a skilled negotiator and she's not prone to walk into a situation she's not in control of.
Zoë: Sir, we don't want to deal with Patience again.
Mal: Why not?
Zoë: She shot you.
Mal: Well, yeah, she did a bit.
Adelei Niska - Niska is, to simplify, not a nice man. He is very interested in reputations and either proving them true or killing the parties attached to them. Niska's sidekick is Claw, so named for his weapon of choice. Neither is pleasant. They are even less so when things don't work out as planned.
Mal: [Niska]'s not the first psycho to hire us nor the last. You think that's a commentary on us?
The Anglo-Sino Alliance - The Alliance is the governing body of the Firefly universe. Nobody aboard Serenity is terribly fond of them. Mal and Zoë fought them in Serenity Valley. Simon and River are running from them. Book seems both to have Alliance ties and to be running from his past. The Alliance is large, bloated, and uncaring. This is especially apparent in "The Train Job."
Mal: [The Alliance] couldn't let us profit...wouldn't be civilized.
Firefly, ultimately, is more about the people and their troubles than the science-fiction and western themes. You'll grow to love the characters, and you'll notice new details about their world in each episode (for example, when the camera is in space, there is no sound and the turret Mal uses in "Serenity, Part 1" was made by Weyland Yutani of the Alien movie franchise). Joss Whedon creates complex characters who inhabit a huge and detailed world. Their stories are compelling, and it's a crime to storytellers everywhere that it lasted only a fraction of one season.
Sources:
http://www.imdb.com
http://www.fireflyfans.net
The DVD box set
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Zoë's name is something of a sticky situation. According to materials and literature distributed while Firefly ran, Zoë's maiden name is Warren. According to the Serenity visual companion (penned by Joss Whedon), her maiden name is Alleyne. I'm inclined to believe Mr. Whedon. They are his characters, after all.