James at 2008-10-07 17:47:00:
I actually just watched all 14 episodes back to back last Sunday on Hulu.
It was very well done. And doesn't reek of the problems that current prime time television does.
I did find one thing kind of interesting. It is very easy to tell which episodes Joss wrote. His dialogue stands apart from the others -- but in a good way. I actually want the other episodes to sound more like his. And his dialogue is also very specific to the characters.
Of the 14 episodes there is 1 that is a real stinker. I find it neat, to see where this episode goes wrong. Why it is such a stinker compared to the high quality of the rest of series. I have my theories, but I'm more curious if anyone else feels the same way about it.
The other thing is -- I saw the movie SERENTIY first. Thought it was okay. Not great. Not bad. Just decent.
When I watched FIREFLY, I realized that the movie was really more or less for the fans of the TV show. The movie is basically the TV pilot, except it wraps up all the loose ends that the pilot establishes to keep the TV series moving forward. The Reavers and Rivers abilities are present in the first season, but their whole backstory and how it all fits together was saved for later episodes (and seasons). The movie basically just said, "Hey, this is what we were planning to do."