Space Western.

These two words summarize the amazing story of the Serenity and her crew. Now the adventures of Captain Mal Reynolds and the gang are available to own in glorious high definition because Firefly: The Complete Series (one of the best Sci-Fi series ever) is available on Blu-ray! This thrilling series comes to us from the mind of Joss Whedon, best known for his work on Buffy: The Vampire Slayer the TV Series, and most recently, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

In the future the people of Earth have left and traveled out into the universe (or The Verse) in search of opportunity, growth, and profit. Colonies have popped up everywhere and everyone has needs. Luckily the crew of the Serenity is here to provide for those needs.

Cast
Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds (Nathan Fillion – Dr. Horrible) Captain of the Serenity, former member of the rebel faction known as the Browncoats

Zoe Alleyne Washburne (Gina Torres – Angel, Hercules) Second in command, married to Wash

Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin – Chuck) – Essentially he is the hired help / strong-guy

Kaylee Frye (Jewel Staite – Stargate Atlantis) – Ship’s mechanic. Interested in Simon Tam

Hoban “Wash” Washburne (Alan Tudyk – Dodgeball) Pilot and Resident funny guy, Married to Zoe

Inara Serra (Morena Baccarin – Stargate SG-1) Companion (see the show for more details) and has an interesting relationship with Reynolds

Dr. Simon Tam (Sean Maher – CSI: Miami)- Trauma Surgeon on the run with his sister River after having rescued her from a medical experiment

River Tam (Summer Glau – Terminator: TSCC) – After being experimented on, River begins to exhibit strange new abilities and behaviors.

Derrial Book (Ron Glass – Lakeview Terrace) – Shepherd / Preacher. Little is known about Book or his past but we do learn that he is no ordinary Shepard and that he has a dark past that he keeps hidden from the crew.

Highlights
-“Serenity” – Pilot Episode. The two episode premiere introduces us to the world of Firefly, and to the tragic story of Simon and River Tam. We learn that space is a harsh place and that you have to do what you can to survive.

-“Our Mrs. Reynolds” – After a night of celebrating, Mal learns that during his drunken fun he accidentally accepted a cute girl as his wife. But as we have already learned, looks can be deceiving…and also Book points out that there is a special kind of hell.

-“Jaynestown” – By far one of the funniest episodes of the series. The gang lands on a planet that manufactures mud and distributes it throughout the universe. While in a bar Mal, Jayne and Zoe overhear a song, “The Man Called Jayne” in which he robbed from the rich and gave to the people of Canton…Ill let Jayne explain this one.

-“Out of Gas” – Through a process of flashbacks we learn how each member of Serenity’s crew came to join Mal. We get a decent amount of backstory on Wash and Kaylee and a bit more about Jayne as well.

Blu-ray Special Features

-This new release features a brand new Firefly Cast Roundtable. Included are Joss, Nathan, Alan and Ron

-3 Never Before Aired Episodes (these are the same as on the DVD Release)

-Audio Commentary

-3 Behind the Scenes Featurettes

-4 Deleted Scenes

-Gag Reel (great feature)

-Audition tapes

Overall
This is one of those series that rarely come around. Unfortunately it was ahead of its time and also had some major obstacles to get past with the network it ran on…but thanks to the massive fanbase the story of Serenity was not ended with the TV series, but eventually allowed for a major Motion Picture release of Serenity which tied up many of the loose ends and gave closure to this amazing series. Everyone I have shown this series to has become hooked. Give it a few episodes and I guarantee you will be too. This Blu-ray set really is beautiful. Watching every shot in high definition is truly a different experience. If you own the DVD you should go buy a Blu-ray player just for this set. It’s well worth it.

ComicsOnline gives Firefly: The Complete Series 5 out of 5 Space Western adventures!