Firefly Fans Will Like The Expanse

For science fiction fans, there are a lot more options now than there used to be. Sometimes I start watching a series on streaming channels and lose interest, but sometimes a great one comes along that doesn’t fit into the usual worlds of Star Trek or Star Wars.

Such was the case with the SciFi Network series Firefly, which aired for one season (14 episodes) in 2002-2003, but was inexplicably dropped after its first season, to the disappointment of many. The creator of Firefly, Joss Whedon, was able to rally support and funding to produce a movie afterwards, Serenity, in 2005. The movie got mixed reviews, but I thought they did a good job of tying up some loose ends.

Firefly is what is known as a space opera, a sub-genre of science fiction that focuses on space warfare and adventure with some highlighted chivalric qualities in its main characters, as well as a splash of romance. So, if like me, you were enamored with the charismatic captain of the Serenity in Firefly, you might be equally enamored with the intensely devoted captain of the Rocinante in another series called The Expanse, currently streaming on Amazon. The two shows are written and produced by different people, but have similar themes, including allusions to the Wild West. In Firefly, people on some planets rode horses and got their pleasures in saloons. While much more subdued, The Expanse does have a few Wild West allusions, including the name of the ship, Rocinante, which means “Work Horse”.

The similarities do not stop there.

A captain of salvage ship whose core values are loyalty to his crew and what he perceives to be right in the name of chivalry? In Firefly, Mal is a war veteran who lost faith in service to his country and now operates on the fringes of space as a salvage captain. His work is generally illegal, but he is not a man without morals. His personal ethos is simple; he demands loyalty of his crew, no exceptions, but in return he will never leave a crew member behind. In The Expanse, Captain Holden is equally the moral glue that keeps his crew together, fighting for what is right and just, even if that means becoming a traitor to your planet.

A young woman whose very being holds the keys to the changes in the universe? In Firefly, River Tam, played by Summer Glau, is a young woman who has been inhumanely and illegally experimented on, effectively turning her into a weapon. In the first season of The Expanse, Julie Mao, played by Florence Favre, experiences a similar fate.

At first, I just pursued this because I liked the series, Firefly, and I liked The Expanse. Then, I noticed the myriad ways in which the shows parallel each other. Not only is the environment similar––humanity’s less than honorable urges on the fringes of known space––but the characters were familiar too, whether intentional or coincidental.

For example, all the crew women in Firefly seemed to be combined into one character in The Expanse. Naomi Nagata on The Expanse, (played by Dominique Tipper) has the combined qualities of Zoe (played by Gina Torres), Kaylee (played Jewel Staite), and Inara (played by Morenna Baccarin) in the Firefly crew. That is, she has closest loyalty to the captain (Zoe), knowledge of the ship as engineer (Kaylee), and is his desire (Inara).

Each series even has a funny, rebellious pilot. Holden’s pilot, Alex, is from Mars which is arguably the new Western Frontier that was heavily emphasized in Firefly. Alex is from a place that feels the same statesmanship as the Texans of the early United States. Alex is, perhaps, the only part of the series that retains the western folklore. He has a Texan accent and, if you watch a few seasons in, you will be rewarded with a Texan-style bar and neon lassos.

Then there is the similarities between Jayne (Mal's security man) and Amos (the brawn on the Rocinante and the man willing to do what needs to be done). Both are gun polishing commandos of few words and marksman who will follow orders, and money, but who sees his existence tied closely to that of his crew and his captain. In my opinion, Jayne’s character in Firefly becomes more complex in the character of Amos in The Expanse. In fact, Amos has quickly become a fan favorite.

The Expanse is about the exploitation of labor, which Firefly also addresses. It is also about the abuse of human power to experiment and use its subjects for advancement or for nefarious purposes.

All of these similarities could be due to archetypal roles and events that might be applied to any space opera (Star Wars, Star Trek) or any epic, for that matter. I can only speculate. Maybe a comparison between Battlestar Gallactica and either of these two series will produce similar results. What I do know is that both shows, at least for me, satisfy the requirement for entertaining and inspiring science fiction fans.

The Expanse appears to have a lot of support behind it, so I don’t think there is any need to worry that it will come to Firefly’s fate; that is, being canceled and disappointing a bunch of fans by leaving a lot of unanswered questions. There are currently five seasons of The Expanse, with at least a sixth season confirmed, albeit the announcement was caveated in November of 2020 with the creators, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, wishing to take a “pause”, whatever that means.

If, after the next and, perhaps, final season of The Expanse, you still feel unsatisfied with the ending, you might consider checking out the books that inspired the series, also created by Abraham and Franck, under the pseudonym, James S. A. Corey.