You can't take the sky from me...

Take my love, take my land, take me where I cannot stand.
I don't care, I'm still free; you can't take the sky from me.

The title song from the show Firefly is one of my favorite themes ever, not just because it is a catchy tune, but because it encapsulates everything that the show is about.

On the surface, Firefly is one of the hardest shows to categorize. On the one hand, it is definitely science fiction, with its interplanetary travel and spaceships. On the other hand, it's a western, with its showdowns at high noon, quickdraw sharpshooters, and prostitutes with hearts of gold. And on yet another hand, it's film noir, with mysteries sparked by mysterious girls, and bad guys luring in every meticulously placed shadow. It is a horror show, with reavers instead of vampires. It is a comedy. It is a study on faith. It is a love story.

In other words...

It's life.

Life, realism, lies at the core of this decidedly fantastic show. As Joss Whedon himself put it, Firefly is not about an anticeptic future where laser rays and transporter beams get our heroes out of trouble. It is, in his words, a story about surviving in a world that, while set hundreds of years in the future, contain the same problems we face today.

Captain Mal Reynolds, actor Nathan Fillion, is a man haunted by his past... as most of Joss whedon's heroes tend to be. A survivor of a vicious civil war, he is a man who has seen everything he has ever believed in taken away from him. Now, 5 years later, he is captain of a little ship called Serenity... and he is on the wrong side of the law.

But he is never on the wrong side of right.

The common theme found early in the series is one everyone faces: survival. Mal is a businessman in te Han Solo mode, a rakish rogue concerned only with fulfilling his contracts so that he can find another job. His second in command is Zoe, an old war buddy of his. Together, they collected a crew with the know-how and skills to undertake and complete almost any job, be it legal or not so much: Jayne, the loveable merc whose loyalty always lies on with the money; Kaylee, genius ship's mechanic extraordinaire who is the happy heart of the ship; and Wash, Zoe's husband who also happens to be the best pilot in the galaxy. Alos joining them are Inara, a "companion" who seems to have... feelings for the captain; Shepherd Book, a preacher who latched onto them who is not what he seems; and the fugitive siblings Simon and River Tam.

The series was short lived but found new life in the feature film "Serenity", which answered a lot of questions I am not gonna give away here.

It is too bad that the series ended because, in my opinion, it was the best written series out there. You can take Lost, Alias, 24, and even CSI. I would give them all up for one more season of Firefly.

In the end, what I like most about Firefly is summed up in its theme song. You can take everything else away from someone... but as long as they can see the sky, as long as they have something to believe in and reach for...

They will never stop flying.