I aim to misbehave

Okay, so anyone who has talked to me in the last two weeks knows that I'm completely obsessed with the TV series Firefly, a gem of Joss Whedon's fantastical imagination that I've discovered a few years too late. I've been trying to determine what it is about the show that has me so completely enamored. It's very comparable to a year or so ago when I experienced my first Chuck "sandwich," the final two episodes of Season 1 courtesy of Kelly. Or five years ago when I watched the Season 2 finale of Alias. Or my immediate head-over-heels fascination with Women's Murder Club. What is it about these fictional worlds that causes me to ignore sleep, give less than my best at work, opt against exercise or edifying behaviors, and become so immersed in TV?

Part of it is the escape. That's a no-brainer. I love having a world to escape to that is so different from my own-- the world of spies and intrique and suspense and heroism, and most recently, space cowboys. It's just enough of a fantasy to take my mind off the stress of real life.

Part of it is the novelty. With Firefly, it's there in abundance. New slang: shiny!, gorram, corpsified, etc. Cussing in Chinese (which is hysterical). New technology and cultural norms. New characters to champion or crush on or laugh at.

Part of it is Joss Whedon brilliance. In a small way, it reminds me of the first couple seasons of Buffy. The humor is so quick, written so that it requires perfect delivery, but when the actors get it right, they hit it out of the park. "Oh, it's grotesque! Oh, look, something in a jar." "Why, is there someone you are good at talking to?" "'They were cynical, not responding, and we couldn't bring them back'...'No, they were cyanotic, unresponsive, and we were unable to resuscitate them.'" I love how he's able to make it sound like they have developed a whole new language, 500 years in the future, and yet it feels so fresh and current.

Part of it is the character development. And how much they can get me to care about these browncoat rebels after only 14 episodes. Well, really I was hooked after the first two, but who's counting. Part of it is the action. I am my father's daughter after all. Because of the creativity of blending Western and Sci-Fi, we get sword fights, lasers, revolvers, machine guns. It's not that I like violence. More that I like vicariously-experienced adrenaline rushes. I could probably do without the Reavers, but every hero needs a creepy villain, right?

I can't explain it beyond that. But y'all should go watch it. And then we can talk about our favorite moments, quotes, characters, heists, Jayne's awesome hat, Simon's "cryo" way with the ladies, and on and on. You call, we'll chat.