This is the obligatory mention of FOX and Executive Meddling.

Wasn't nearly enough of Firefly.

Courtesy of xkcd (though Randall Munroe was far from the first to notice), what’s with the lack of Asians in a supposedly China-dominated ‘Verse?

• Not a direct discussion of this inconsistency, but writer Joss Whedon hits on this subject in "Commentary! The Musical," the pseudo-commentary for Dr. Horrible, with the song "Nobody's Asian in the Movies"
• Tam may be an Asian-inspired last name, origins lost due to Memetic Mutation. Plus, we don't get to see much of the civilized worlds, and Outer-rim seems more populated by the Eagleland types for whatever reason.

The Reavers always bothered me. If they are so insanely violent, consumed with killing and torture and beyond all reason, and their ships fly without "containment" (very dangerous, apparently), who flies the ship? Somehow, it seems much too calm and rational. Also- how is it they don't attack each other? They don't seem like the type to think long enough to collaborate.

• Also also: their origin story is a fairly broken and fantastic Aesop on the evils of...uh...conformity, and stuff? The movie managed to be great; the fact that it only pulled this off in spite of space zombies being its central premise, though, was pretty disappointing.

The Big Damn Spoiler ( death of Wash) in the Big Damn Movie. The Mal/Zoe shippers were probably overjoyed, though...

How they never explained what the hell Book's deal was.

Well, they never had time. TV Shows (in America, at least) are meant to last for years. Book's Big Mystery was a story to be told far later in the series than the half-season it was allotted.

Edit from another troper: But then they killed him off!

Edit from yet another troper: I thought it was heavily implied in the movie that book was a former operative

"The Message" has always been frought with Fridge Logic for me. First off, they said that Tracey's own organs were removed to make room for the transplant organs he was smuggling. What happens at the rendevous, when Tracey gives up the smuggled organs and his own guts are halfway across the 'verse from him?

And that doesn't even touch the fact that noone bothered to try to explain the plan to Tracey after he decided they were going to abandon him to the Fed, which would have cleaned the whole thing right up.

Edit from another troper: I always figured the fact his organs were far away to be what tipped him off that the deal was bad and thus that he needed to get away. It was made clear that he doesn't think things through, so it makes sense (for him) to have only realized AFTER that he was basically screwed.

Edit from yet another troper: I always thought they were going to ship Tracy's organs to the rendezvous. Since Tracy's organs were natural, they would have made it past any Alliance inspections. I never figured out what Tracy was going to do for replacements after he double-crossed the people holding his real organs.

There was no Musical Episode. Obviously due to the whole "no-awesome-show-beyond-half-a-season" Executive Meddling.

Not so much a complaint but a curiousity. In the Pilot the Fed says, "I know what you did for your sister, that doesn't make you a killer." Was he spouting off by rote? Surely he if he knew what had happened he would know that it could potentially make ANYONE a killer. And someone pointing a gun at him might actually take it as patronizing. It seemed to be working(Simon was young, accustomed to respecting the law and had a bit of buck fever)but it was a remarkably chancy ploy. Am I the only one who thinks that this was not necessarily the smartest thing to say. Or at least if it was good manipulation it was hardly a logical assumption.