The
series is set in the year 2517. Long before the events in the story, a large population emigrated from the Earth to a new
star system in multi-generational ships that travelled much faster than today's ships, but nowhere near light speed (unlike
many science-fiction shows). The emigrants established themselves in a new star system, with dozens of planets and hundreds
of moons, many of which had been "terraformed," a process in which a planet or moon is altered to resemble the Earth. The
terraforming process is imperfect, and the outlying settlements are typically set in forbidding, dry environments, well suited
to the western genre.
Characters
in the story occasionally refer to "Earth that was" suggesting that the original home planet has been somehow destroyed, or
is so far out of reach that for them, it is mythical (it is cryptically stated in the opening narration that Earth "got used
up", and the humans left).
The
show takes its name from the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity that the central characters call home. Somewhat resembling an
insect in general arrangement, the ship's tail section (analogous to an insectoid abdomen) lights up during acceleration,
causing it to resemble a firefly (and hence the ship class' name).
Captain
Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds and his first mate Zoë are veteran "Browncoats" of the Unification War in which they attempted to resist
the Alliance.
The Alliance is an organization of "core" planets that succeeded in forcibly unifying
all of the colonies under a single government. Although the central planets are well under Alliance
control, the outlying planets and moons resemble the 19th-century American West, with little government authority. Settlers
and refugees on the outlying worlds enjoy relative freedom from the central government, but lack the amenities of the high-tech
civilization on the "core" worlds. After the loss of the war, Mal bought the spaceship Serenity to scrape together a way of
life for himself and his crew by making cargo runs and performing other tasks, legal or otherwise.
Featuring
a blend of elements from the space opera and western genres with a bit of Robin Hood and his Merry Men, the show depicts mankind's
future in a way that is uncharacteristic of many contemporary science fiction programs. Unlike most traditional space operas,
there are no alien creatures or space battles. Firefly takes place in a multi-cultural future, where the divide between the
rich and poor is great. Chinese is a common second language for many people; it is used in advertisements, and characters
in the show frequently use Chinese words and curses (pronounced with a varying degree of accuracy). According to the DVD commentary
on the episode Serenity, this is explained as being the result of China
and the United States becoming the two superpowers that expand
into space. This Sino-American allegiance is supported by close examination of labels on the crates from the episode "The
Train Job", where crates of Alliance goods are marked with a Chinese flag superimposed
over a United States flag. An interesting intrusion of Japanese
is noted in the form of katakana script throughout the television series and the film.
For
fans, the dialogue and interplay between characters is central to the charm of the show, resulting in stories that are alternately
serious and humorous. The show's visual style also differs from contemporary shows in that camera shots are often handheld,
with deliberately mis-framed or out-of-focus subjects, in an attempt to give scenes an immersive and immediate feeling; computer-generated
scenes mimic the motion of a handheld camera. Exterior shots of action taking place in the vacuum of outer space realistically
lack sound effects, an approach that stands in contrast to many science fiction films and television series.
