Firefly

With the final voyage of the Enterprise in 2005, it seems that sci-fi on the small screen has hit a dry patch. Babylon 5 fizzled out a few years ago (despite an impressive storyline that, like that of Deep Space Nine, ensured the show improved with age) and there now seems little in the way of outer space small screen adventure. Some Star Wars spin off TV serials are in the works, but given that previous attempts included Droids and Ewoks, I'm not hugely optimistic. In any event, I wonder whether the public are rather happy the 'saga is now complete' and move onto fantasy epics new.
One film that many critics hailed as having the kind of spirit the recent Star Wars films sorely lacked was Serenity, a terrific spin off from the very short lived television series, Firefly. Of fourteen episodes made, only eleven where aired (which seems a bit daft, but I guess they figured it would be cheaper to release them on DVD). Having taken the plunge to buy the entire series, its demise is hugely disappointing and surprising as this was clearly a show going somewhere and, unlike Star Trek sequels, features snappy dialogue, interesting characters, sharply defined and better developed, even during its brief run. Of course, now its transferred to the big screen, it may get a sequel, although if it ever came back to TV, I rather think creator Joss Whedon played too many of his cards in the film for the level of intrigue on any reprisal of the TV series to be quite the same.

The main title song is composed by Whedon and performed by Sonny Rhodes and mixes perfectly into the show's wild west sound world and with lyrics that, naturally, underpin its major themes. This is no Where My Heart Will Take Me soppy ballad. Reaction to David Newman's score for Serenity was luke warm and one of the only aspects of the film to be a minor disappointment. Fans of the TV shows seem rabid in their appreciation for Greg Edmonson's scoring for the original series, a selection of which Varese have thoughtfully made available. The show's (rather strange) wild west trappings on the outer edge planets means that Edmonson leans on guitar and fiddle led licks, with a small ensemble, occasionally backed up by synths when something a bit beefier is required. The bouncing string and guitar passages are undoubtedly the highlight and tracks such as Spaceball are great fun. A little Thomas Newman-lite in Book's Hair is another delightful touch.

Edmonson also makes fine use of the fiddle in more doleful mood, notably the final minute of River Tricks Early, which is quite gorgeous. To reflect the Chinese influence on the series, a few more oriental passages manifest themselves, most memorable in the simple, but effective, Inara's Suite. Some of the synth based action descends into less interesting territory (a similar affliction that spoiled Newman's film score), but they are short lived and infrequent. At the risk of damnation through faint praise, for TV scoring, Firefly is a fine effort with plenty of thoroughly enjoyable material. There are no strong melodies running throughout and some passages are a little anonymous, particularly when the oriental or wild west influences are eschewed and slightly more generic TV scoring takes over. Still, more than worthy of investigation with enough rewarding moments to be recommended.