Yeah. I know. Don’t look at the timestamp. But technically I haven’t broken the rules as I haven’t gone to sleep yet. Therefore it’s still yesterday.

Again, don’t look at the timestamp.

The reason I’m awake at this ridiculous hour and not sleeping the night away? Firefly.

I am super-late to the party on Firefly but a selection of Whedonite acquaintances have been bugging me to watch it for ages. One in particular tipped me over the edge and convinced me to grab the DVDs from Amazon. (They were cheap.) So I have. And now I’m hooked, particularly as I’ve spent the last several hours virtually watching Firefly with said person and commenting via IM.

I’ve always loved Joss Whedon’s work (well, Buffy, Angel and Dr Horrible) as he is a masterful character creator. Firefly is no exception. There is not one single person in that cast who is “filler”. They all have a role to play and all are unique, entertaining people who bring a great deal to the series. The tone is kept quite light-hearted throughout, despite the serious scrapes they find themselves in at times, and that, too, is a hallmark of Whedon.

What I wasn’t expecting was the tone and feel of the series in general. Firefly is a Western! In space. And not even a little bit. There are times when it doesn’t even try and hide it. Cattle ranching. Weaponry that looks mysteriously like revolvers, rifles and shotguns. A slightly bastardised form of Wild West American English. And some cracking saloon fights.

There’s also an element of Chinese in there, too, with the “Galactic Language” (which seems to be reserved for swearing) being Chinese, apparently. Quite what that’s all about, I’m not sure yet.

The best thing by far, though, is the writing. Every character gets some magnificent lines and Whedon’s trademark quick-fire exchanges are present, correct and frequent. Nathan Fillion’s wonderful performance as Mal is delivered with such wonderfully deadpan gusto that it immediately makes him a wonderful character. But his supporting cast are incredible too, with tough guy Jayne being a particular highlight.

One of my favourite things about the series, though, is the slang used throughout. It actually brings to mind classic RPG Planescape Torment in that, to begin with, it’s sometimes difficult to work out what these characters are talking about. But after spending a bit of time with them, you soon start getting wise to their idiosyncratic way of speaking. And you too will start using the word “shiny” in conversation.

At this stage (nearly two discs in) I’m wondering why on Earth this show ever got cancelled. It’s magnificent. It’s well-written, tightly-scripted, beautifully acted and tells an excellent story. But someone, somewhere at Fox didn’t like it, it seems, and didn’t feel it was worthy of renewing. Which is a crying shame when you see tripe like The X-Factor gracing our screens for year after year. I know X-Factor isn’t Fox. But it is shit, unlike Firefly.

So, if you (yes, you) have never had the pleasure of watching Firefly, drop everything you’re doing, watching, playing and pick up the series on DVD from Amazon.