It was not the series--Mal was back to the darker, more bitter Mal that Joss originally wanted and Fox made lighten up. He basically ended up in the same emotional space at the end of the film that he was in the beginning of the series, but that didn't bother me.

I wonder how much of the changes in character we could handwave as "six months passed." Simon's greater assertiveness, I can definitely buy with that. Mal's reversal of his notion that Simon and River are very much a part of his crew takes a little more. But maybe things happened in those six months that hardened Mal up again. And I know Joss has said he doesn't want a prequel, but a movie set in that time would have Wash. But it wouldn't allow Mal to learn Book's secret.

It might allow us to learn Book's secret though, so I'm all for it regardless of Mal being left in the dark. ;-)

Hee. Yeah, that's what I thought too, Matt.

He basically ended up in the same emotional space at the end of the film that he was in the beginning of the series, but that didn't bother me.

Yeah, it did bother me a little--I felt like I'd already seen this story, or something. Like the characters had all been smacked backwards, without me getting to see how. And I was able to get around that by separating off the series and the movie in my head--the different Simon-and-River backstories helped there--but it was a little disorienting.

I think that in some ways, that arc might've worked better for me if I hadn't watched the show. (Though I think I still would've bounced off of everyone else going along on Mal's suicide mission a little bit. Didn't believe that for a moment.)

I bet River knows Book's secret. Whether she knows she knows it is another matter.

Serenity III: The Search for Book, anyone?

I'm afraid I don't understand why people are announcing that they'll never watch the sequel, will "never trust Joss again", and that sort of thing.

I can't believe they trusted him in the first place.

The box office looks miserable to me, overall, for everything. I've heard box office receipts have been in decline, but is this a miserable time of year on top of it?

I KNOW, Allyson. The Cronenberg film got rave reviews, has lots of stars in it and was made by an established director with a devoted following and barely did any business.

Serenity II: The Wrath of Tim.

I didn't think of that.

Tim would make a great criminal mastermind -- only with a beagle instead of a fluffy white cat.

It'll be interesting to see if Serenity builds its audience (they are platforming it on release, no?) or if it just has an early burst and tails off.

Robin, I was very curious to see your response to the movie. Because for all the gripes I've heard about the plot or character changes - I was just very conscious about how incredibly difficult this movie was as a screenwriting exercise.