Five centuries from now, humanity has spread to a new star system ruled by the authoritarian Alliance, which crushed a rebellion of border worlds in a brutal civil war. Malcolm Reynolds, a wry, disillusioned veteran of the losing side, captains the freighter Serenity and its mismatched crew, scraping by on smuggling jobs and odd cargo on the lawless outer rim. When they take on a fugitive doctor and his damaged, mysterious sister, the ship draws the attention of the Alliance and worse. Fusing the frontier grit of a Western with space-opera adventure, Joss Whedon's cult series prizes sharp banter, hard-luck loyalty, and the ragged found-family bond that keeps its outlaws flying.