Serenity: Full Movie Reaction
Added 2025-11-18 15:00:14 +0000 UTC
Comments
The deaths of Book and Wash were very impactful in the film, but each death also had a real-world reason. Beyond wrapping up season 1, there was a hope that if the film were successful enough, they were going to revive the show to continue the story. The Operative even hints at it at the end of the movie, and I would assume that the dangling thread of Inara and Mal would have been picked up there. Unfortunately, Ron Glass (Book) and Alan Tudyk (Wash) each had prior commitments, and were going to be unable to participate. So their stories needed to conclude during the film. Alas, Serenity didn't perform well enough at the time to follow that through. Also, if you want a good, clear look at a Reaver, look no further than Neil Patrick Harris! He's the Reaver that River punches in the face when it cuts back to her epic fight scene right at the very end. Careful though! Once you see it, you can't un-see it. :D
Tim C
2025-12-08 23:16:20 +0000 UTCloved this! the hype when seeing the reavers was so real 😂 and i agree i wish we got some backstory on Book. Wash dying was so shocking i couldn't even be sad about it because it just came out of nowhere. it was sad seeing Zoe have to go on without him tho. thanks for this, its been fun watching firefly/serenity along with you! excited for whats next! :)
Frelle
2025-11-19 06:31:45 +0000 UTCIt took a few viewings of the show and the movie for me to fully appreciate what was happening to Mal as a character. He started out as having faith (belief) in a "happy-go-lucky" fashion that was destroyed by the events of Serenity Valley. This explains Mal's distaste for prayers by Shepard Book, especially early on in the show. By the time of the end of the show, River read in Mal his thought of "...none of it means a thing..." setting up the deeply wounded Mal of the movie Serenity. I think this played a role in Mal's need to keep moving and flying. I believe that there can be an allegory here in that belief (faith) must be able evolve (if not grow) in order to not collapse which Mal's did. The Operative's did not grow but instead was stagnant. The result was in the Operative stating that "...there is nothing left to see..." My head cannon has the Operative eventually becoming something like a Shepard himself, belief as powerful as what the Operative displayed should have an outlet I guess. Enough with my stream of consciousness for now. Thank you for a most enjoyable reaction.
Michael Labs
2025-11-19 06:01:07 +0000 UTCI believe that The Operative's story was an indirect way of giving us Book's backstory. Not that I think Book was specifically so brutal and ruthless, but certainly aware and part of brutal and ruthless things the Alliance did until he realized he couldn't be a part of it anymore. Much like The Operative finds himself now ("I'm not their man anymore"). Now he has to find something better to believe in. (I also think The Operative might be patterned after Javert in Les Miserables, except that the climactic revelation that he was wrong shocks him into changing sides rather than suicide.) I love that we see that Book's influence doesn't just inspire Mal to believe in something, it actually gets through to Jayne (Jayne!) to do what's right. There's a great moment in the final fight where we see River posed for a second, a weapon in each hand, about to attack. It's exactly like a moment in Buffy Season 3 Episode 1, the one where Buffy is trapped in a hell dimension and fights back. We see Buffy in the exact same pose. Joss Whedon must love that image.
DanielOrme
2025-11-19 04:53:01 +0000 UTCGreat reaction, glad you enjoyed the film. I hope it answered a lot of the questions you had with Firefly, since the show was cut short before it could explore everything they wanted to. I will say that I think the introduction scene with Simon rescuing River was probably put together in the way that it was, to primarily serve as an introduction to River's situation. In the show, what the Alliance did to her wasn't covered until 'Ariel', the fact that she was psychic was hinted at but not confirmed until later in the show. But in the film all that info was there right in the beginning. My headcanon is that they combined info from thrpughot the show and potentially future plotlines (maybe the safe word) into the intro so that they could focus on other stuff in the movie and make it a bit easier for people who saw the movie without seeing the show first.
James Smith
2025-11-19 00:20:35 +0000 UTCOooh yeah, this is The Good Stuff. I mentioned this in the comments for "Objects in Space", but the plotline here is essentially what was supposed to be the plot for season 2 of the series. it would have obviously been spread out more and given us time to focus on individual parts. My favorite bit of trivia to mention about this movie is that after they discover the truth about the Reavers, the original plan was for each member of the crew to say that they're with Mal in broadcasting the signal. But the scene dragged and broke the flow of the story. So they thought that if they just have JAYNE say it, then we'll understand that everybody else is "in" as well. Because if even Jayne has found a worthy cause to believe in, then you KNOW it's worthy. The comic "Serenity: Those Left Behind" is specifically a bridge between the end of the series and this movie. We see the return of a one-shot villain from the series, and we see the Operative get the assignment to hunt down River. it's not NECESSARY to enjoy the movie (I didn't read it until after I saw the movie), but it's good. As others have already pointed out, Book's backstory is also told in one of the comics. Personally, I actually HATE the story that they told, and I think it doesn't make much sense. So I prefer not to think about that.
JBK405
2025-11-18 22:16:48 +0000 UTCIf you're into comic books, there's an official one called "Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale" which goes into Book's backstory. There's also a comic series ("Those Left Behind") which covers events between the show and movie, among others.
PT Gunn
2025-11-18 20:41:17 +0000 UTCHere it is!!! The ending of this film traumatised 7-year-old me when I watched it for the first time lol. It's brilliantly constructed; from the moment Wash dies it feels like all bets are off and the whole crew is in on the chopping block. Want an extra layer of tragedy? The Firefly comics reveal that Zoe was pregnant during the events of this film - a daughter called Emma. I'm glad you picked up on the subtext of her final exchange with Mal, not everyone does. I love the open-ended nature of the ending personally - you summed it up well with your final thoughts :) Thanks for sharing your journey with us! Very excited for whatever comes next ♥️
Jordan McLaren
2025-11-18 18:17:22 +0000 UTCSomething to look forward to, for when I get home from work
James Smith
2025-11-18 16:47:41 +0000 UTCHell yeah i got my night planned after i get home from work tonight. Hope you liked it and you got some of your show questions answered!
Jorgalorg
2025-11-18 15:08:27 +0000 UTC
