How Firefly Secretly Got Revenge For The TV Show's Most Controversial Scene
Content Warning: contains mentions of rape, sexual assault.
Firefly secretly fixed one of its most controversial scenes, giving one member of Serenity’s crew the perfect chance for revenge. The short-lived Firefly television show was a magnet for controversy, mainly over how quickly it was canceled. Yet one scene from the show’s finale has courted debate since 2002, and in Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #3, the franchise finally addressed it in the coolest way possible.
Boom Studios currently holds the rights to produce Firefly/Serenity comics.
Serenity: Leaves on the Wind #3 was written by Zack Whedon and drawn by Georges Jeanty. Jubal Early has returned to menace the crew of Serenity again, and he has successfully managed to subdue several, tying them up. As he taunts his captives, Kaylee Frye hits him from behind, knocking him out. Jubal awakens to find Kaylee has tied him up to a chair. She dumps a bag of tools in front of Jubal, threatening to torture him. In the end, however, Kaylee is not content to merely scare Jubal into messing in his pants.
Firefly Only Got a Handful of Episodes, But Made the Most of Them
DVD Sales and Word of Mouth Helped Make Keep Firefly Alive
Created by the now-disgraced Joss Whedon, who also brought the world Buffy the Vampire Slayer, FIrefly was a unique type of science fiction show when it premiered on the Fox Network in the Fall of 2002. While set in outer space, there were no aliens, no faster-than-light travel nor phasers. Set hundreds of years after humanity leaves Earth for another star system, Firefly took the concept of a “space western” to another level. The show was unceremoniously canceled after only a handful of episodes, with some still unaired at the time.
Yet like Star Trek, another “space western,” Firefly refused to die.
Yet like Star Trek, another “space western,” Firefly refused to die. After the show ended, it was issued in a DVD box set, and sales were so good for it that it persuaded Universal Pictures to greenlight a Firefly movie. Titled Serenity for legal reasons, the film was intended to launch some sort of revival. Despite good reviews, the movie underperformed at the box office, killing any chances of a return for Malcolm Reynolds or the crew of Serenity. Fortunately, Dark Horse Comics, and later Boom Studios, would publish a number of Firefly/Serenity comics that helped expand the universe.
Firefly's Mechanic Kaylee Frye Was at the Center of a Big Controversy
Jubal Early Underestimated Kaylee, To His Own Detriment
Firefly’s premature cancelation was controversial at its time, but it was far from the only one surrounding the show, not counting Whedon’s latter-day scandals. The show’s final episode, “Objects in Space,” especially drew ire from fans and critics. In one scene, Jubal Early, who appears in Serenity: Leaves on the Wind as well, came aboard the ship and threatened the crew, much like he did in this issue. In one disturbing scene, Early threatened Kaylee with rape. While Early did not assault her, and he was eventually defeated, it remains a dark spot on the show.
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Kaylee Frye, played by actress Jewel Staite, was the engineer aboard Serenity. On the surface, Kaylee was kind and caring, and willing to speak her mind. At times, Kaylee had an innocent, child-like quality about her, but it hid a highly competent mechanic. Kaylee’s childlike demeanor leads people to continually underestimate her or look past her, much like Jubal did in Leaves on the Wind. Kaylee was not Malcom’s first choice for engineer, but she proved to be the right one, as her mechanical prowess kept Serenity flying.
Kaylee Frye Got Her Revenge in a Spectacular Fashion
Jubal Early Will Think Twice Before Threatening Kaylee Again
And now, years after Jubal Early threatened Kaylee with sexual assault, she gets revenge on him in the most spectacular way possible. The arrogant Jubal thought he had every member of the crew accounted for, but he apparently forgot Kaylee. She turned the tables on Jubal, threatening him the same way he did her in “Objects in Space,” only she did not intend to rape him. Kaylee’s revenge on Jubal Early not only reaffirms she is Firefly’s most underrated crew member, but also fixed a highly problematic scene.
