10 Amazing First Episodes Of Brilliant TV Series

This one is a bit of a controversial entry, it is the pilot for the series and the episode most people associate as the first episode, it is however not the first episode ever aired on tv. Fox had no idea what they had with Firefly and actively tried to kill the show, they demanded constant changes, put it in the Friday night death slot, and even aired episodes out of order. The first episode, which is required to actually understand the rest of the series, was one of the last aired. This is a tremendous shame because it is the best tv pilot ever produced.

The Firefly universe is extremely complicated and there are so many threads and characters to follow in order to make full sense of it. Joss Whedon brilliantly gives you exactly as much as you need to know without overloading you, so you can pick up details as the show goes on.

You see the Battle Of Serenity Valley, to show you the current government is not popularly accepted, you see the crew complete an illegal salvage operation, showing they are living on the fringes. Each character is then given exactly as much screen time as to establish their character, Mal will do anything to protect his crew, Simon will do anything for River, Jeyne is the tough merc with a hidden soft side, and Shepherd Book is the soft preacher with a hidden tough side.

You finish the episode with exactly enough knowledge to proceed with the more directly themed episodes and explore the wider universe. It seems likely had Fox actually shown this episode as the pilot, instead of insisting upon the more action oriented Train Job, the series would have gained enough fans to satisfy Fox's absurd expectations for the show. After all who opens a book and starts in the middle?