the thing that pissed me off the most about Wash's death was that someone spoiled it for me before i saw it and i spent the entire movie trying to figure out when/if it was really going to happen and by the time it finally did i thought he was safe. asshats who spoil movies suck.

Wash's death did not work when spoiled. I noticed that with a lot of people.

That original draft of Serenity I sent out had somebody else on Haven who got killed, Book on Serenity, and no death. It was a lot more with the funneh than the final script, but it really was just noise -- amusingly, Wash even makes a joke about surviving stupid odds. And Book goes blind for some reason I've never figured. (Unless Book's secret was that he masturbated a lot at the abbey).

I was lucky; I remained completely unspoiled.

Aimee was spoiled, so it wasn't as big a shock for her. She just sat back and waited...and then enjoyed the "HOLY FUCKSTICKS, BATMAN!" jaw-hitting-floor reaction I had when "KKKKSSSHHHH!!!" "...gurk..."

I'm normally one of those people who is religious about not talking during a movie (when shown in a theater), but I know I missed the next few lines and violated my own rule by practically shouting "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Then sitting in shocked and embarrassed silence, convinced the rest of the crew was doomed.

It totally worked for me. And part of me loved that Joss was so "Oh, I'll kill my babies, don't mess with me."

Another part of me, of course, will miss Wash. He was one of my favorites.

I think my one beef with Wash's death was that I wanted to see more of the funeral scene. I don't know why, but that scene just felt cut awkwardly short.

Aimee was spoiled, so it wasn't as big a shock for her. She just sat back and waited...and then enjoyed the "HOLY FUCKSTICKS, BATMAN!" jaw-hitting-floor reaction I had when "KKKKSSSHHHH!!!" "...gurk..."

I went with a friend who was spoiled. I had the same reaction (without Batman, but hey), and I think she was watching me more than the screen at that point.

I'm normally one of those people who is religious about not talking during a movie (when shown in a theater), but I know I missed the next few lines and violated my own rule by practically shouting "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Then sitting in shocked and embarrassed silence, convinced the rest of the crew was doomed.

Me too. At least I didn't feel bad about yelling, though, because most the people in the theater had the same reaction. Except the spoiled ones, I guess.

I'm with Frank and Beverly, there were things that didn't work for me and left me feeling cheated and bereft. Wash and Book deserved better by my lights. I was invested in the ansemble and ALL of the characters were dear to me.

I wanted Wash and Zoe to have a family, I wanted to learn more about Book's background.

Yes, I know it's Joss's story to tell.

I wanted Firefly dammit!

I'm with Frank and Beverly

Well, you may be with me on Book and some other issues, but Wash's death, much as I hated to see him go, was just perfect in context for me. Those who note it as Joss killing the character most like him - them I agree with.

I have never understood the concept that Serenity wasn't Firefly. It was completely Firefly to me.

It's Firefly's universe and characters, but it's not the same format as the TV show. The TV show was about them being the underdogs, the people who never got anywhere except shit on and didn't have a hope in hell of changing that any time soon. Reavers were never seen and feared to fuck. Kaylee, River and Inara are all best friends. Serenity, Reavers are everywhere, River's killing them without much fuss, Mal's the hero taking down the Alliance -- all in the space of what would have been 3 episodes of Firefly. Kaylee, River and Inara don't even look at each other during the whole movie. Or speak to each other.

I think, in reality, in Firefly the characters took the forefront. Yes, stories were broken, but they appeared to be broken around the basis of how they'd effect the characters. Serenity seemed more of an attempt to shoe horn the Firefly characters into an action movie plot.

That said? I still love Serenity, despite it's flaws. And I mean, lurve. The core messsages speak to me in many ways (my favourite song of last few years? Joss Stone's Right to Be Wrong). But I keep it in a very different place in my mind to the show.

Hm. I agree with both Tamara and Kevin. Interesting.

A movie is such a different storytelling format and Joss had such a BIG story to tell that some things got short shrift. They may not have been on the screen, but all the little family-like things we saw on TV still happened in the movie (or the version that played in my head).

I realize that only makes sense to me.

I need coffee.