No, I'm not crazy and what I've been smoking is none of your business. This the
damn craziest thing ever. Okay... that's actually still Star Trek hooking up with Knight Rider.
But this is a close dang second!
Technically speaking this is an in joke that shouldn't maybe technically count as a true crossover
but... dammit I'm counting it! Here's the deal...
Firefly was a sci-fi show set in Earth's far flung future. It was not a sci-fi show about aliens
and other galaxies. It was about our end of space populated entirely by humans. Following a
great war, Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his friend Zoe, who were on the losing side of the war,
gather a motley crew around them to, well, crew a Firefly class ship named Serenity. They are
essentially a ship for hire in a future with an old west "frontier" vibe. The ship type is named
Firefly because, duh, it resembles a firefly in appearance. Take a look...
I normally avoid putting up graphics so as to avoid anyone getting all legal on my arse but in
this case the look of the ship is actually important. Hi Mr. Whedon! I love you! Please don't
sue me. If you do, please be suing me softly with your love, suing me softly... with your... I AM
NOT SMOKING ANYTHING ILLEGAL HERE!!!
Anyway, it would seem impossible for Firefly to have any connection to the revamped Battlestar
Galactica. While Firefly is set around Earth in Earth's distant future, Battlestar Galactica is
set God knows where and God knows when but definitely no where near Earth. The whole point of
Battlestar is that twelve planets inhabited by mankind are blown to pieces by evil robots named
Cylons and then the remains of humanity flee the Cylons in SEARCH of Earth. So clearly a
connection isn't possible.
Wanna bet? In the early part of the Battlestar Galactica mini-series, before everything gets
blown to hell, there is a scene with Laura Roslin at her doctor's office. It's about 14 minutes into
the first episode if you don't count commercial time. The office has a huge slanting wall of windows.
The scene starts with the camera hooting out these windows at passing spaceships before
dropping down on Laura Roslin. Now take a look at this shot of one of the ships passing by
overhead (I love you Sci Fi Channel. XXXOOO).
Does that silhouette look at all familiar? Well it should. That's a Firefly class ship baby!
What is it doing there? Well it seems the folks who did the effects for Firefly went onto work on
Battlestar Galactica. As a little joke they dropped a Firefly ship into the mix for one brief
moment. Happens all the time. For instance there are little Star Wars nods all over the Indy
Jones movies.
But it's just a joke. A little wink wink, nudge nudge. That's all. It isn't meant to show a
real connection between the shows. But, as I thought about it... the thing is, a connection is
actually not entirely implausible.
The very thing that would seem to make a connection impossible - the shows being set in different
times and places - is actually the key. We don't know when or where Galactica is set. But we do
know they're coming to Earth. Assuming the time Galactica is set in is in fact well before that
of Firefly, I propose the following scenario. We have seen on Galactica that there were
apparently Firefly class ships in the Twelve Colonies. There isn't any proof the ship outside
Roslin's window is Serenity after all. It could be any Firefly model of ship.
After those colonies are destroyed the Battlestar Galactica leads a fleet of ships to Earth. All
the ships in the fleet feature faster than light engines. Firefly class ships do not in fact have
FTL engines but could likely be carried by a larger ship. Or even more simply the plans for that
class of ship could be carried by a ship in the fleet. Eventually Galactica reaches Earth
bringing with it all its tech. Viola! You now have Earth folk enjoying "Galactica" tech
including the use of their ship designs. And by the time of the Firefly series, the Firefly model
of ship was an older "used car" model of ship. Not only that, the introduction of such tech to an
Earth that, maybe, didn't have as advanced tech yet, might lead to sudden outward expansion into
the galaxy such as seen on Firefly and the both advance/primitive state of culture and technology.
Now as I recall, on Firefly no ships had FTL drives or warp drives or any sort of fantastically
fast drives. Maybe by the time period in which Firefly takes place that tech was lost. Heck,
maybe purposely so. Maybe they lost the Cylons without defeating them. Keeping humanity
traveling within a limited area of space might serve to make humanity more of a needle in the
haystack of space in terms of being found by the Cylons. So maybe FTL tech was purposely
abandoned. And that is that. The shows connected and the continuity concerns addressed.
Now I'm not saying this is the case, just saying its possible. And given the evidence of a
Firefly ship flying over the planet of Caprica, pretty damn likely.
Other Battlestar Galactica (2003) Crossover Links
Battlestar Galactica (2003) and Battlestar Galactica
Click here to return to main Crossover List
Buy these shows on Amazon.com and support this site at the same time! Check out Battlestar Galactica and Firefly on DVD and HD DVD! The scene discussed in this article can be found in the Battlestar Galactica mini-series include in the Battlestar Season 1 DVD!
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