If they crashed and Wash got killed in the impact, or if he got killed in the big fight afterwards, it would have made sense. Those are situations in which people are in mortal danger. But not after landing and breathing a sigh of relief. Doing it that way is kind of an unfair emotional bitchslap.
But after they landed, the Reavers were still coming after them. Wasn't the thing that killed Wash something that was fired at Serenity by the Reavers? That's what I thought and it made perfect sense. Somebody had to die in that fight. Wash biting it the way that he did was awesome because in most movies, you'd expect the death to be during a great battle scene. This was unexpected but totally believable in the storyline. This is what Joss is fucking fantastic at - doing the unexpected but having it be a believable part of the story he's telling.
I liked Wash's death because it wasn't noble and heroic. There was no sacrifice. It was just a shitty thing that happened, the same way shitty things happen every day. It made it a lot more real to me than Book's hanging-on-to-life-to-give-inspiring-speech type death.
I liked -- but didn't love -- the movie. Maybe love will come on seeing it again. As for Book's and Wash's deaths -- if I didn't love the TV series I wouldn't have cared much if at all. They were too minor in the movie for me to have had any connection to them without the prior connection in the series. Book in particular. I thought that either Simon or River or even Kaylee would die, because there had been some time spent with their characters in the movie. As it was, it felt like Wash's death was just the loss of a pilot. Gina Torres did a great job of conveying Zoe's reaction to Wash's death. I know her character cared. (So did Kaylee.) But the movie didn't tell me why the audience should.
While skimming, I saw that a few folks mentioned that Wash's death was pointless. In the context of BDM1, it is a little pointless. Where we will really see the point of it is in BDM2 and BDM3 (if we are so lucky). This is when we will see a different Zoe. Wash's death was necessary for Zoe to change; and that's something that Joss does. He changes his characters over time. Joss is likely going to tell us the major stories that he wanted to tell with the series through the movies. People were going to die - people were going to change. You don't give Joss 9 characters and expect them all to come out at the end smiling, happy, and ready to go get some ice cream together.
AAAAaaaaarrrrghhhh! Arhghgh! Argh.
I can't believe they killed Wash.
I loved the movie. Let's start by saying that. I loved it and although I wouldn't say "enjoyed" precisely, I was entertained.
Then all the way home I nitpicked and complained and whined. But that's just the fandom in me. I wouldn't be a fan if I couldn't complain.
But I can't believe they killed Wash. And Book, too, I suppose, but I kinda saw that coming for narrative and real world reasons.
And also? Tim woulda killed 'em better.
One thing I couldn't figure out was that Mal broke The Operative's back during the fight, correct? Am I to assume that medical science is so advanced they were able to fix him so he could have the speech with Mal at the end? Joss didn't really provide any explanation such as a robotic exoskeleton or somesuch as to why he's able to walk again.
In the context of BDM1, it is a little pointless. Where we will really see the point of it is in BDM2 and BDM3 (if we are so lucky).
Wash was such an accessible character for me (in the series) that I don't even care about BDMs 2 and 3, with him dead. I know there's meta-spec that AT mightn't have been available for future BDMs, but still...
Wash was such an accessible character for me (in the series) that I don't even care about BDMs 2 and 3, with him dead.
We are mourning Wash just like the characters are mourning Wash. Part of the reason of seeing BDM2 and BDM3 is seeing how the characters move on and deal with his loss. Just like we are. Don't you want to see this?
We went last night with about, 10 maybe, people after Mr. H got off work. 2 others were hard core series fan, 1 who likes the series a lot and 7 who'd never seen nor heard of it. A good time was had by all.
My friend sitting next to me was a little distracted during the battle scene because I put my hands over my eyes and plugged my ears near the end. She knows I'm not squeamish about stuff, so she knew something bad was coming.
Eddie, shooting script says Mal broke both the Big O's arms. They could fix that pretty quick, I expect.
It also explains why he couldn't get loose by just taking his belt off.
