Firefly was canceled after only 10 episodes had aired, and it was Fox’s ridiculous decision before the premiere that doomed the science fiction series. Created by Joss Whedon, Firefly became a cult classic years after it was taken off the air, making its cancelation a sore spot that will never entirely heal. To make matters worse, the TV show was never given a fair shot since Fox stuck its hands in and ruined its chances of building a solid audience base with the pilot.
The pilot episode of the sci-fi seriesFirefly, “Serenity,” was an hour of world and character-building, perfectly establishing the 500-years-in-the-future universe that the crew of the Serenity call home. Whedon constructed the episode to introduce Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and his past as a rebel before diving into the man’s present as a captain of a ragtag crew aboard the Firefly-class transport ship, Serenity. This intended first episode of Firefly also introduced Simon and River Tam (Sean Maher and Summer Glau), whose story was pivotal to the series. Unfortuantely, Fox didn’t air this important pilot until it was too late.
Despite the importance of Firefly‘s pilot episode in establishing the plot, Fox decided to make it the 11th installment in the airing lineup. Instead, “The Train Job” was the first episode that aired. It was believed that the sci-fi series would appeal more to audiences if the most exciting episodes were seen first. “The Train Job,” which sees the crew pull off a risky train heist, met this criteria and was presented as the introduction to Firefly. From there, Fox prioritized action, with sexier episodes like “Our Mrs. Reynolds” also moving up the line.
The hour-long Firefly pilot didn’t air until 11 episodes in, which was just after Fox decided to pull the plug and leave three episodes unaired in the United States. It wasn’t until the series was released on DVD that audiences got to see the story played out in the correct order, and a cult following developed. It quickly became clear what an injustice Fox had done to Firefly. The company underestimated the public, assuming audiences wouldn’t be interested in the phenomenal world Whedon had constructed. Of course, this miscalculation backfired.
The Firefly pilot was designed to introduce audiences to this sci-fi world, and by putting it off, Fox ensured that no one had any idea what was going on. A great appeal of the series is the moral complexity of its characters. Malcolm Raynolds is a rough-around-the-edges space cowboy whose crew ranges between brutish, lethal, and adorable. However, when placed under a microscope, it’s apparent that Fillion’s character is a lovable softy with a strong sense of justice and morality. The foundation of his character is the rebellion he survived, and his relationships with his crew are the heart of Firefly.
Without all this lore established up front, there isn’t as much to differentiate Firefly from other science fiction series. It seems that Fox didn’t understand Wheden’s creation, leading it to dumb the show down to explosions and gunfights, giving it the worst possible time slot on Friday nights, and waiting for it to fail. The fact that Firefly became so popular after it was released in the correct order on DVD, which is no easy feat, proves that it should have been a massive hit on the air. Unfortuantely, Fox ruined its chances.
Thankfully, when Firefly was released on DVD, the episodes were placed in the proper order, allowing audiences to experience the story as intended. The set also included the three episodes that hadn’t aired in the United States. Unfortunately, the cancelation meant that Firefly‘s written but not filmed episodes never became a reality, so the show ended abruptly and awkwardly. Regardless, the proper episode order remains the standard and is how the series is found on streaming platforms like Hulu.
Oddly enough, Firefly‘s proper order captivated audiences, and the abrupt ending and lack of answers led to the creation of the 2005 movie Serenity, which fitting shares its name with the shafted pilot episode. The film tied up many storylines and provided a more satisfying conclusion overall, but a sense of regret and frustration has loomed over the Firefly fandom regardless. Fox’s ridiculous decision to meddle with the sci-fi show’s episode order has turned it into the enemy in the eyes of Browncoats everywhere, who will forever wonder what might have been if things had gone differently.
