Should I Watch The Episodes In Chronological Production Order Or By Air Date Order? by FilmCritic3000

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Should I Watch The Episodes In Chronological Production Order Or By Air Date Order?

POSTED BY: FILMCRITIC3000
UPDATED: Friday, March 28, 2003 12:34
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Monday, March 24, 2003 5:31 PM

Well, I'm off for the next two days and I'm finally going to get around to watching the episodes I haven't seen. I've seen half of "Shindig" and I have the rest to watch. I know some of you must envy me for being able to watch these for the first time. I guess I'm in for one hell of a ride, huh? ;) I haven't posted since early January, I believe. So my question to the rest of you is, would it be better to watch these episodes by production order or by air date? Or does it not even matter? I hope that, with Buffy ending, Joss can spend some time to bring Firefly back to the television screen. Thanks for your time and I'll let you know what I think when I arrive at the end of my Firefly marathon. :)

FilmCritic3000

In Kansas this week, over a hundred fish were found dead in the Baker Wetlands and local environmentalists fear that someone may have deliberately killed them. In response, President Bush says that we have no choice but to go to war with Iraq.

-"Weekend Update", Saturday Night Live

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Monday, March 24, 2003 5:38 PM

LERXST

IMHO it doesn't matter that much, as long as you watch "Serenity" first.

_________________________________________________
Cap'n, can I have money for a slinky dress?

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Monday, March 24, 2003 5:38 PM

TALLGUY

I might get beaten with a chain of command for this, but I'd say either or. (Except watch Serenity first, of course!).

The only thing that makes a real difference is Simon and the crew getting more comfortable with each other. Otherwise the really concrete plot threads are preserved in both versions. 'Cepting showing Serenity last of course.

Have fun! Then you'll have seen them all and be just like the rest of us poor rutters.

Bill
"We all know I'm the funny one."
"You ain't all that funny."

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Monday, March 24, 2003 5:55 PM

KAYTHRYN

I don't know what to say, I’ve haven't watched all of the episodes in their original order so I don't know what difference it makes. What I do know, to mirror everyone else's post, it that you should defiantly watch the pilot first, other wise everything is off. On the same note, when Firefly first aired I missed the first two or three minutes of The Train Job. Then, (until I found out that The Train Job wasn’t supposed to be the first ep, and that they were airing the pilot last) I thought I had missed the whole bit of how Simon came on board, how River was discovered, and how all that came together. All in those two or three minutes I missed. That drove me crazy for months! Damn Fox to a special hell for condemning Firefly from the start.

-------------------------------------
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Aristotle

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Tuesday, March 25, 2003 4:19 AM

OUTLANDER

This is the true order. Why would you want to watch Firefly in any other order?

01 Serenity pt. 1
02 Serenity pt. 2
03 The Train Job
04 Bushwhacked
05 Shindig
06 Safe
07 Our Mrs. Reynolds
08 Jaynestown
09 Out of Gas
10 Ariel
11 War Stories
12 Heart of Gold (unaired)
13 Objects in Space
14 Trash (unaired)
15 The Message (unaired)

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Tuesday, March 25, 2003 5:28 AM

ONEDERS03

[delurk]

I agree with watching "serenity" first. You should also watch "shindig" and "safe" back to back. IMO, the true order makes more sense from the standpoint of the "mental health" of river, but having to wait for episode number 7 to watch "out of gas" would be tough! OoG does stand on its own, so you could watch that one whenever.

[/delurk]

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Tuesday, March 25, 2003 6:17 AM

LJC

I'd say DEFINITELY go with the prod. order, otherwise the character arcs don't make a heck of a lot of sense--particularly Simon's.

--
Some take the high road. Some take the low road.
And some just go screaming down the highway, dropping flaming bits of wreckage.

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Tuesday, March 25, 2003 8:15 AM

HJERMSTED

Watch Firefly as the man himself (Joss Whedon, of course) intended you to see it had his production not been so egregiously molested by Fox.

Afterall, if you watch Firefly in the order aired, then the terrorists (ie Fox network heads) have won. Can't have that!

Watching the episodes in the above listed order is a recipe for pure viewing satisfaction. Now you can even stop and read the script for 'Heart of Gold' before continuing on to 'Objects in Space'.

Have a blast!!

mattro

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Tuesday, March 25, 2003 9:38 AM

INVISIBLEGREEN

Okay, here are the various orders you could watch the episodes in:

Production Order
Serenity - Original Pilot (1AGE79)
The Train Job - 1AGE01
Bushwhacked - 1AGE02
Shindig - 1AGE03
Safe - 1AGE04
Our Mrs. Reynolds - 1AGE05
Jaynestown - 1AGE06
Out of Gas - 1AGE07
Ariel - 1AGE08
War Stories - 1AGE09
Heart of Gold - 1AGE10
Objects in Space - 1AGE11
Trash - 1AGE12
The Message - 1AGE13

Fox's Airing Order
1.The Train Job - 09/20/02
2.Bushwhacked - 09/27/02
3.Our Mrs. Reynolds - 10/04/02
4.Jaynestown - 10/18/02
5.Out of Gas - 10/25/02
6.Shindig - 11/01/02
7.Safe - 11/08/02
8.Ariel - 11/15/02
9.War Stories - 12/06/02
10.Objects in Space - 12/13/02
11.Serenity, Part 1 - 12/20/02
12.Serenity, Part 2 - 12/20/02
Heart of Gold; Trash; The Message - Currently Unaired

Intended Viewing Order/Chronological Order
1.Serenity, Part 1
2.Serenity, Part 2
3.The Train Job
4.Bushwhacked
5.Our Mrs. Reynolds
6.Jaynestown
7.Out of Gas
8.Shindig
9.Safe
10.Ariel
11.War Stories
12.Objects in Space
+ Unaired episodes

================================================

Many fans fail to recognize that the postponing of "Serenity" was the only time FOX switched the order of the episodes. The other changes were made by Tim Minear, and I support his decisions fully. All the episodes which were shown later than they would in their original order were edited after the episodes were produced, often incorporating new scenes of material.
My main arguments for viewing the episodes this way:
1. The "Previously" segment on "Safe" contained a scene of "Our Mrs. Reynolds." Why would this be included, if not to imply that "Safe" takes place after OMR, even if Safe was filmed first, and was originally supposed to come first. Saying "Safe" comes first is like saying stuff that was in preliminary drafts of the scripts but were never filmed actually happened.
2. "Safe" flows beatifully into "Ariel," which makes me assume that "Ariel" was written to take place directly following "Safe." The themes and characterizations are similar, and I could go on but this post is already long enough and I have to leave soon...
#################################################
Anyways, I think you can guess what order I think you should view the eps in.

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Tuesday, March 25, 2003 9:54 AM

PHYSICSCHICK

I had thought the "Previously on..." segments were put together by Fox to remind everyone what they had shown, since they left such large gaps between some shows (ruttin' baseball).

Where did you see that Tim Minear had changed the order? I would love to see a reference on that claim...

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Tuesday, March 25, 2003 11:24 AM

HJERMSTED

I believe the production order listed IS the intended viewing order. Whedon shows tend to be linear in character development. Whedon's other shows are presented in the production order and I don't see why Firefly would be any different.

If Firefly is watched in the order of the third list (identified by you as the 'intended' order), the character development and narrative flow of the show becomes very choppy.

I wish I still had the link, but I remember reading that the early order of Firefly's presentation was switched around (possibly by Fury) at the behest of the network. Fox wanted more sci fi and less western. You'll notice the production order (which I maintain is the intended order) is heavily western early on.

And, yes, Fox itself is the creator of the "previously on..." and "on the next Firefly..." bumpers at the beginning and end of each episode. Why do you think they make the episodes look so cheesy?

Believe me, and I'm sure it'll come out in the DVD set whenever we see that... Fox did more to the sequence of Firefly than show 'Serenity' last.

mattro

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Friday, March 28, 2003 10:21 AM

INVISIBLEGREEN

Quote:
Originally posted by PhysicsChick:
I had thought the "Previously on..." segments were put together by Fox to remind everyone what they had shown, since they left such large gaps between some shows (ruttin' baseball).

No, the "previously" clips are done by ME (specifically, Lisa Lassek, the editor), and are technically considered part of the episodes. FOX has nothing to do with them. However, you are right that FOX does do the promotional advertising for "Firefly," but I guess that part's pretty obvious.

Quote:
Originally posted by PhysicsChick:
Where did you see that Tim Minear had changed the order? I would love to see a reference on that claim...

What you want to check out is Tim Minear's Cult Times interview from December. He spends most of the time talking about "Angel," though. The reason he pushed back "Shindig," was because it was such an offbeat episode (from the Godess of Comedy, Jane Espenson), and to air it third while trying to build up a following might have and been so good. And "Safe" was pushed back because it takes place directly afterwards.
And I'm assuming that "Objects in Space" aired instead of "Heart of Gold" because it was a Joss episode, and it was thought that it could get better ratings than a non-Joss episode. At this point, the ratings would have been a crucial thing. (This part is all my speculation, because the interview took place before all this.)

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Friday, March 28, 2003 10:39 AM

INVISIBLEGREEN

Quote:
Originally posted by Hjermsted:
If Firefly is watched in the order of the third list (identified by you as the 'intended' order), the character development and narrative flow of the show becomes very choppy.

As I said earlier, I believe the opposite is true. "Ariel" seems to take place directly after "Safe."

I believe what you are directly referring to is the Kaylee/Simon moments in "Jaynestown" and "Safe." These could really happen in either order, though, and pretty much the same thing happens in both:
1.Kaylee shows a sign of affection towards Simon. (In "Jaynestown," the reverse also happens.)
2.Simon says/does something to piss Kaylee off.
3.Their relationship is temporarily broken.

Quote:
Originally posted by Hjermsted:
I wish I still had the link, but I remember reading that the early order of Firefly's presentation was switched around (possibly by Fury) at the behest of the network. Fox wanted more sci fi and less western. You'll notice the production order (which I maintain is the intended order) is heavily western early on.

Umm...David Fury never worked on "Firefly." I suppose the episode switching could have been influenced by FOX, but it wasn't done by FOX. Another point of interest is that "Jaynestown" was a very Western episode, yet its position wasn't changed.

Quote:
Originally posted by Hjermsted:
And, yes, Fox itself is the creator of the "previously on..." and "on the next Firefly..." bumpers at the beginning and end of each episode. Why do you think they make the episodes look so cheesy?

Umm...no; well, yeah.
Cheesy? I really like the "previously" montages...Joss uses them for all his shows.

Proof that FOX doesn't make the "previously" segments (which are part of the episodes):
Have you ever watched a syndicated episode of "Buffy", or any other show with a complex storyline...Did you notice that the "previously" segment was the exact same as in the original airing?...You didn't think some affiliate station produced it, did you?

Quote:
Originally posted by Hjermsted:
Believe me, and I'm sure it'll come out in the DVD set whenever we see that... Fox did more to the sequence of Firefly than show 'Serenity' last.

I suppose the only way to settle this is to see what order the episodes come out in when released on DVD, and even that won't necessarily give a definitive answer.

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Friday, March 28, 2003 12:34 PM

HJERMSTED

Quote:
Umm...David Fury never worked on "Firefly." I suppose the episode switching could have been influenced by FOX, but it wasn't done by FOX. Another point of interest is that "Jaynestown" was a very Western episode, yet its position wasn't changed.

My bad. I meant Tim Minear, of course...

I'm guessing the reason 'Jaynestown' (a heavily western episode) was moved up in the order was because it featured Adam Baldwin, the only member of the ensemble who could be described as "a known quantity"... other than Ron Glass.

mattro

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