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May 14, 2007

Like Firefly in an RV

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Misunderestimated, Outland is best remembered for its one-line pitch, viz "High Noon in space." Simple, elegant and just what cautious production companies want to hear. But it can be all to easy to mistake a gimmick for an underlying art. Take Firefly, for example. The trick to Firefly is not that it is a Western set in space but an adventure with capers as a narrative core. We know the protagonists are rascals but we feel compelled to side with them against the Verse. Perhaps it is the old Christian message that despite our imperfections and despite our failings we might find Grace in spite of ourselves.

There is something precisely analogous at work in The Riches. The show shares Firefly's tendency to haunting fiddle and the cast inspires the same unbridled affection. I don't think I have ever loved a fictional character as much as I have loved MInnie Driver as Dahlia Malloy.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at May 14, 2007 07:04 AM