Actually, I was thinking of the last panel. Maybe it's because I know what happens, but it hit me like when I saw a screening for the second time and there were the lines about what makes a hero, with the camera happening to be on Wash.

At the Q & A on Monday, Joss was asked if there was any chance of Book and Wash making an appearance in a sequel, and, whilst I can't remember the exact words, he seemed to respond in a positive, yet non-patronising, manner.

I liked that Books death was prefaced by a conversation with Mal, along the lines of Mal saying that Book was going to have to tell his life story at some point, and Book responding that he really wouldn't. And now he won't.

And regarding Wash's death, my friend said that he had just reached the point where he was thinking that there was no way that all the crew should have survived that battle, and then Wash bought it, so it really worked for him. Joss did say that the whole crew (including Book, I think) survived in the original script, but it just didn't seem to work, and I think that I agree with that. Sure, it might have been nice to have a moment to absorb the suddeness of it, but I think that it served to underline the fact that they just had to get on with the situation.

The other point that Joss made was that it then had the effect of making the rest of the cast fair game. I'll admit that at that point I was wondering if all that talk of a sequel was just a smokescreen, and that they were all going to die.

Oh, and they really are so very pretty in real life. Very, very pretty. 200th in the queue and still in the front row, a mere ten feet away from all that prettiness? That's almost enough to make a man do the dance of joy... ;-)

I think his words were along the lines of "I wouldn't be entirely lying if I said that Wash and Book would be back in a sequel."

And yeah, killing off Wash really did make the rest of the crew fair game. I was really worried they were all going to do a Butch and Sundance.

My old theory was Serenity I: River and then Serenity II and III: Book and Inara in one order or the other. I said this on the way to the screening to smonster & amyth & the others attending with us, and then afterwards was all, "Oops, guess I'm wrong." Nice to see I might not be.

I do think there was value in both deaths, but it doesn't mean they made me happy. Good storytelling often conflicts with my happiness, especially in the world of Whedon.

If you want to rank the Big Secrets of those three characters in order of importance, that seems to be the reverse order. River's secret is clearly the biggest, so doing sequels that way after is tapering off. Book's secret past might affect a few people, but I doubt it's on par with Miranda. And I'd lay good odds Inara's reasons for being on Serenity are even more personal, the sort of thing you'd deal with in a semi-big (sweeps but not May) television episode.

Of course, that's all moot now. In addition to severely reducing any chance we'll know the truth about Book, the fact that Inara goes and becomes the head of her own Companion house suggests that her Secret Past story may have dead-ended as well.

I thought it was set up to reveal that Book was a former Operative, then I thought if that was the case it might make nice symmetry at the end when the Operative showed up to announce he was becoming a shepherd.

Good review. The reviewer hadn't seen Firefly, or hardly any Buffy or Angel, so this review bodes well. It's a bit spoilery, which is why I haven't posted it in the other thread. Ends nicely though:

If you thought that the new “Star Wars” trilogy was bogged down by joyless, dull dialogue and a general lack of excitement, you may find that “Serenity” is just what you’re looking for. Joss Whedon has the same sort of determined ambition as the young George Lucas. “Serenity” cares about its characters and puts them in exciting and imaginative situations. It’s a lot of fun.

Damn, that's a very nice review!

I'm so ready for massive reviews to kick in. I want to watch the Metacritic score with satisfaction or exasperation. It's a hobby of mine.

Wanting to address the Simon retcon-or-not question:

My mom bought me the novelization (I have no job and she loves me, and will borrow it after she's seen the movie). It includes much material supplemental to the movie, including scenes from the ep "Serenity" and also "Safe." It deals very well with making sense of the "But I thought Simon said someone else took care of everything?" question, and I hereby announce that I am accepting it as canon. If this is a retconnish thing that bugs you as much as it bugs me, and you'd like an official fanwank to make it all make sense, you really ought to at least borrow the book or go sit in a bookstore and read the first few chapters.

What is the title and who wrote it? There is this big shelf called the San Francisco Public Library that lets me order stuff online.