The Firefly and Serenity Database
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The following is an episode list for the television series Firefly. The series first aired in 2002 on FOX, although the episodes were aired out of the intended order. Three of the fourteen episodes went unaired in the original broadcasts by FOX. A sequel movie was also made, called Serenity.

The entire series and the movie are available on all DVD regions.

Episodes[]

The fourteen episodes of the series are listed below. An additional episode entitled "Dead or Alive" was scripted but never filmed.

Screenshot Title Airdate Code #
Ep serenity sc387
Serenity December 20, 2002 1AGE79 1
Malcolm Reynolds is a veteran and the captain of Serenity. He and his crew are smuggling goods, but they need to pick up some passengers for extra money. However, not all the passengers are what they seem.
Ep thetrainjob sc280
The Train Job September 20, 2002 1AGE01 2
The crew of Serenity take on a train heist commissioned by a crime lord. They steal the goods, only to find it is medicine that's desperately needed by the town.
Ep bushwhacked sc086
Bushwhacked September 27, 2002 1AGE02 3
Serenity is pulled in by a Tohoku-class cruiser while investigating a spaceship that was attacked by Reavers. Simon and River must hide to prevent capture, while something is wrong with the lone survivor of the attacked spaceship.
Ep shindig sc147
Shindig November 1, 2002 1AGE03 4
Inara attends a formal society dance, only to find Malcolm there as well, attempting to set up a smuggling job. Mal comes to blows with Inara's conceited date and finds himself facing a duel with a renowned swordsman, and only one night to learn how to fence.
Ep safe sc214
Safe November 8, 2002 1AGE04 5
Mal must choose which crew members to save when one is gravely wounded and two others are kidnapped. Simon finds an uneasy haven in a remote village, but River's uncanny perceptions jeopardize the Tams' temporary safety.
Ep ourmrsreynolds sc422
Our Mrs. Reynolds October 4, 2002 1AGE05 6
As an unexpected reward for an unpaid job, Mal finds himself married to a naïve, subservient young woman named Saffron. The crew are amused at his discomfort and Book lectures him on propriety, but things aren't as smoothly straightforward as they thought them to be.
Ep jaynestown sc110
Jaynestown October 18, 2002 1AGE06 7
Returning to a planet where he ran into some serious trouble years ago, Jayne discovers that he's become a local folk legend. Mal decides to use this entertaining distraction to complete a job, but some unfinished business may derail his plans.
Ep outofgas sc009
Out of Gas October 25, 2002 1AGE07 8
After Serenity suffers a catastrophe that leaves her crew with only hours of oxygen, flashbacks show how Mal and Zoë acquired Serenity and assembled their motley band.
Ep ariel sc297
Ariel November 15, 2002 1AGE08 9
Hard up for cash, Serenity takes on a job from Simon: help him get a thorough diagnostic of River in return for the opportunity to loot the vast medical stores of an Alliance hospital on central world Ariel. But River's pursuers are hot on their trail, and they receive some unexpected inside help.
Ep warstories sc260
War Stories December 6, 2002 1AGE09 10
Angered at Zoë's unshakable war connection to Mal, Wash demands a shot at a field assignment. Unfortunately, crime lord Niska chooses this moment to exact a brutal vengeance for Mal's failure to complete an earlier job.
Ep trash sc471
Trash June 28, 2003 1AGE12 11
Saffron returns to plague Serenity with a scheme to steal a rare antique weapon from a wealthy landowner. Unfortunately for Mal, she neglects to mention just how she came across the information needed to break into the landowner's home.
Ep themessage sc105
The Message July 15, 2003 1AGE13 12
A former Independence soldier who had served with Mal and Zoë returns in a dramatic manner, with a vicious Alliance officer chasing after him for some unusual smuggled goods.
Ep heartofgold sc042
Heart of Gold August 19, 2003 1AGE10 13
A Companion-trained friend of Inara's who runs a brothel calls for help from Serenity when a local bigwig reveals his intentions to take "his" baby from the girl he impregnated.
Ep objectsinspace sc078
Objects in Space December 13, 2002 1AGE11 14
Serenity encounters a ruthlessly professional bounty hunter, Jubal Early, who will stop at nothing to retrieve River. But River, feeling unwelcome on the ship, takes a novel approach to escaping from the long arm of the Alliance.

Unproduced episodes[]

Since the series' cancellation, various cast and crew members have revealed details they had planned for the show's future:[1][2]

  • Alan Tudyk had the idea for an episode about a planet that is always day on one side, and night on the other. On the night side, Jayne accidentally spills a type of pheromone on himself and the crew, which attracts a species of dogs. The crew are then chased back to the ship by these dogs. Once there, River uses her mind powers to domesticate the dogs.
  • Adam Baldwin wanted to make an episode in which Jayne goes up against Mal as captain of his own ship.
  • Tim Minear revealed the secret of Inara's syringe, as seen in the pilot episode. Companions have those syringes for protection. There would have been an episode where she is gang-raped by Reavers. Because she injected herself with the syringe, all of the Reavers on the ship die.
  • According to Nathan Fillion, there was an episode in which the crew land on a dying planet. The inhabitants try to steal Serenity, after they explain to the crew about their need to get off planet. The problem is that unless they were to run into another ship along the way, with the extra passengers, Serenity wouldn't have enough fuel and oxygen to make it to the closest destination. While everyone else is asleep, Mal takes the ship himself and discovers that help never would have arrived.

Broadcast[]

North America[]

Although the show had a loyal following during its original broadcast, it was canceled by FOX in December 2002 after only 11 episodes aired in the United States and Canada due to low ratings. Worried about the low ratings, fans formed the Firefly Immediate Assistance campaign whose goal was to support the production of the show by sending in postcards to FOX. After it was canceled, the campaign worked on getting another network such as UPN to pick up the canceled show. The campaign was unsuccessful in securing the show's continuation.

Fans attributed the low ratings in part to actions of the FOX Network — most notably the fact that FOX had aired the episodes out of chronological order, making the plot much more difficult to follow. For instance, the two-hour episode "Serenity" was intended to be the series' premiere episode, and therefore contained most of the character introductions and back-story. However, FOX decided that "Serenity" was unsuitable to open the series, and so the second episode, "The Train Job", was created to become the new pilot. In addition, Firefly was promoted as an action-comedy rather than the more serious character study it was intended to be. Episodes were occasionally preempted for sporting events.

The sequence in which the episodes originally aired varied by locality. In the United States and Canada, starting on September 20, 2002, FOX (and Global in Canada) broadcast the episodes on Fridays at 8:00 p.m. (except for the second hour of the pilot which was shown at 9:00 p.m.). The order was the following:

With "Trash", "The Message", and "Heart of Gold" unaired in the United States during the series original run (these episodes remained unaired in the United States until they were broadcast on the Sci Fi Channel in late 2005 shortly before Serenity premiered in cinemas). In addition, Canada's Space has been regularly airing the series in the originally intended order since September 8, 2003, including a marathon of the entire series on September 5, 2003. In a lead up to the Serenity movie release, starting on July 22, 2005, the Sci Fi Channel (United States) aired the show on Fridays at 7:00 p.m. Eastern/Pacific in their originally intended order. Following a marathon on January 6, 2006, Firefly was removed from the Sci Fi Channel line-up. Universal HD began airing the episodes in the intended order on September 24, 2006.

International[]

Mexico and South America[]

In South America and Mexico, starting on April 19, 2003, MundoFOX broadcast the episodes on Saturdays at 6:00 p.m.. The order was the following:

Israel[]

In Israel, HOT (cable television) aired the show chronologically starting on October 25, 2005.

South Africa[]

In South Africa, starting on April 15, 2003, the SABC3 broadcast the episodes on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. The episode order was:

The series was rebroadcast from October 20, 2003 on Mondays at 1:00 a.m. On June 7, 2006, actionX started showing the series on Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m., rebroadcasting them on Sundays at 4:00 p.m. and Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m. in their originally intended order.

United Kingdom[]

In the United Kingdom, starting on May 12, 2003, Sci Fi Channel (United Kingdom) broadcast the episodes on Mondays at 9:00 p.m. (except for the first hour of the pilot which was shown at 8:00 p.m.). The altered episodes of the first season were shown in the originally intended order. In addition, The Sci Fi channel (United Kingdom)|Sci-Fi channel aired the episodes as a marathon run over the first weekend of October 2005. This was timed to celebrate the release of the film Serenity. The channel also aired a marathon of the first eight episodes (in chronological order) on March 10, 2006, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., EST.

Sweden[]

In Sweden, TV400 aired the show chronologically starting on January 14, 2005.

Switzerland[]

In Switzerland, TSR1 (Swiss French channel) aired the entire series in a three week time period, beginning on July 25, 2005, with one episode per weekday. Each episode was dubbed in French on one sound channel, and the original English on the other.

Portugal[]

In Portugal, SIC Radical aired the show starting on January 12, 2006 until April 20, 2006. A new episode was broadcasted on Thursdays at 11:00 p.m., GMT, and then again broadcasted on Sundays at 6:30 p.m., GMT. The episode order of broadcast was the following:

Italy[]

In Italy, Canal Jimmy (satellite television) aired the show chronologically starting on February 17, 2006 every Friday night at 9:00 p.m., with several repeats during the week. The show was aired in 4:3 format with a very bad adaptation and dubbing in Italian.

Australia[]

In Australia, starting on November 10, 2004, the Seven Network broadcast the episodes on Wednesdays at 12:30 a.m. The order was the following:

New Zealand[]

In New Zealand, starting on December 21, 2004, the show was aired on TV3 on Tuesdays at 11:00 p.m. in the following order:

Germany[]

In Germany, starting on September 12, 2009, the show is being aired on Super RTL.

Notes and references[]

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