Emergency Audio Drama Sunday Post
So if you’re a nerd of a certain age, you might have heard about this Firefly reboot that Nathan Fillion’s trying to get off the ground. You might even be excited about it—after all, Firefly was like nothing else on TV at the time, and despite its many (many) flaws, many of us still have a soft spot for it.
I am here to rescue us all from false hopes and a rather misogynistic and orientalist series from twenty-five years ago that, frankly, will not hold up to scrutiny. Guys. You deserve better than this. We all do.
Please, please, be kind to yourself. Listen to The Strange Case of Starship Iris.
TSCoSI is an audio drama podcast, a scifi-story about a group of smugglers with hearts of gold who end having to be big damn heroes. Yeah, we’re already in familiar territory, right? Fantastic, welcome in.
The series starts with Violet Liu, trapped and free-floating in space in a wrecked ship and desperate for a rescue. Luckily, one contacts her just in time with a thin chance. Very thin.
Hey did you catch that her name is Violet Liu? That’s right, this one uses Asian cultures as worldbuilding because it contains real Asians. Unlike certain twenty-five year old TV series I can name. Of the five main characters (later there are more), three are Asian women.
Other selling points of The Strange Case of Starship Iris:
Alien peoples treated like…well, people, with distinct languages and cultures. (The showrunner’s a linguist and built entire language systems for their aliens!)
Diagetic music, both folk music (shout out to Whiskey in the Jar, always a banger) and original songs. The theme song starting in season two makes me weep like Firefly’s theme used to.
Great will-they-won’t-they dynamic, and make it gay!
Action! Adventure! Heists! Stakes! Revolution!
COMPLETE, IT’S COMPLETE GUYS, THERE IS NO WONDERING IF THE SERIES WILL BE CONTINUED BECAUSE THE STORY IS COMPLETE
Folks, if you remember liking Firefly, please give yourself the gift of listening to The Strange Case of Starship Iris. You will not regret it.
