OT: Firefly

I was visiting a coffee shop in Seattle that was decorated with a lot of Firefly themed pictures.

So today's post is entirely about good science fiction and the thing that everyone misses. The trick to good science fiction is to start with characters and writing that would work in a standard movie without any science fiction elements at all. Then the science fiction elements can enhance the story and add to the sense of wonder and possibility.

Star Wars could have been a story of a squire becoming a knight. Star Trek could have been a sailing ship in the age of discovery. Both are enhanced by science fiction elements.

But the series that may have had the best characters was Firefly. The newer Battlestar Galactica is trying to compete but the basic story of Firefly was interesting, rich and filled with characters we liked surprisingly quickly.

It really is a shame that we'll never get to see it end.