I’m very sad that “Objects in Space” is the last episode of Firefly. As someone who was on the fence about Joss Whedon after experiencing Buffy and Angel, I was pleased to see he redeemed himself with Firefly. The last episode is truly enjoyable which makes it that much sadder that it’s the last one. While the trippy camera angles and plot line are fun to watch, the best part is the humor. I feel like the dry humor is a constant theme throughout Whedon’s shows. The one-liners and character banter always seem to cut the tension on the ship. “Objects in Space” would be far too intense if it wasn’t for the comedic undertone. Early threatens the crew and wants to kidnap River, but his humor makes him much more likeable than the average bad guy. It’s weird when viewers aren’t totally against the bad guy in the show. After the “Am I a lion? I don't think of myself as a lion.” comment, I found myself not wanting him to be defeated. The way the doctor reacts to Early makes it even better. he is completely calm and makes Early feel less harmful and threatening. Perhaps it makes me seem a little messed up but when characters, even bad guys, are funny it makes me feel more comfortable with them. Maybe that is why Whedon made Early funny. Maybe he didn’t want to end the show on a bad note or make the last episode too ominous, either way, I this he did an excellent job with the last episode.
2 comments:
I agree with your point about humor in this episode. It is, on the whole, such a very dark episode, but those moments of humor seem earned and real to me. The first time I saw the episode, I thought, "how can Simon be making these jokes? Isn't he terrified?" But now I think, yeah, he probably is terrified, but what else is he going to do in this situation? In the face of his circumstances, what is there to do but laugh a bit (and keep trying to protect his sister)?
In this way, I suppose I am arguing that Simon is a bit of an existentialist in this episode, too.
Ooooh Simon as existentialist, I'm all about that!
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