Yeah, I can't help feeling somewhat betrayed by Wash's death as well. I mean, separation of fiction and reality, blah blah blah, yes, and it's Joss's thing to do with as he pleases. But it just felt off to me. It felt wrong in a way that most other deaths in the various Jossverses haven't. And I don't feel that it served an important narrative purpose. It was a stunning scene, a beautiful sendoff, and had I believed it necessary to the story, I wouldn't have been quite as distraught. But it felt cruel to me, especially followed by the several other near-death fakeouts just afterwards. I was literally gasping during that part; I felt like I'd been punched, and I didn't know what I'd done to deserve it.

edit: Both Jen and Robin make excellent points, of course, that its very randomness and pointlessness is what makes it all the more affecting, and maybe with a little more distance, I'll come to see it that way as well. Right now, I'm just feeling the unfairness of it too keenly. We'd just gotten him (all of them) back, and then for him to die so suddenly... okay, I'm just repeating myself at this point, but it really, really hurt .

Also, Sean Maher is really quite astonishingly attractive in person! My goodness. That smile... *melts*

I think on your last point Kate, that may be the big reason it hurts/feels like a betrayal. If the series had lasted for 3-5 seasons before the movie, then it would probably be very different in effect.

But I still say that if everyone but Book had survived to the big finish, the tension of everyone getting injured or being in danger would have only had a fraction of the impact. Maybe that's too meta a reason to seem a good one. *shrugs*

I understand where all of you all coming from, but I'm feeling abused at this point. By Wash's death not by what you all are posting here. I feel like I'm being punished for liking a character. The other Jossverse deaths have hurt but they've never felt mean-spirited. This one does for some reason. And I know that's not what Joss intended but it just feels really, really brutal and makes me wish I didn't care.

And as Kate P. said, having it followed up with all the near-death fakeouts made it feel like we were having our chains yanked unneccessarily.

Actually, Frank, I think I would have been more tense had Wash survived at that point because I actually would have been worried for each of the crew as they were wounded but by the end I just felt like I was being emotionally fucked with and stopped caring at all.

Frank, I see your point. Book's death was sad but not crushing, especially since his part in the movie was fairly minimal (fully half of his screentime, I think, was spent dying), so I can somewhat agree that it might have felt cheap afterwards if nobody else had died. On the other hand, I don't think I--personally--needed Wash to die to understand that things could get very, very bad at the end there, and I honestly don't know if other people, i.e. new viewers, will need it either. Actually, I think the near-death scares for the other characters would have had more impact for me at the end there if Wash hadn't just died, because I would have been much more in-the-moment and worried for them, rather than feeling awful and heartsick already, like I'd already had my guts ripped out and scattered all over the floor. It was too much for me to take, to imagine that yet another of my beloved characters might die. edit: or, what Kalshane said.

It would have worked much better for me to have Wash die in a later movie. I'm really hoping that this movie does well enough to warrant making a second and third, and I think I would have been much more satisfied if Book had died in this movie, and Wash or someone else with more movie-screentime died in the second or third. I wonder how Joss would have changed the screenplay if he'd known for sure that there would be two more movies.

Even though I snarked about the LJ campaign, I do wonder if part of the reason for the preview screenings this far in advance was to see what the audience reactions were to OMGWTFWASH!!!! in time to re-shoot if need be. Hasn't that happened with other movies?

I did want to take a moment to say that other than what we've been white-fonting, I absolutely loved the movie. I was literally on the edge of my seat and at full attention for the first hour, enjoying the hell out of it. My only other complaint was the retcon of River's rescue as it invalidates parts of Serenity the episode and doesn't mesh with the character of early Simon, especially his "cunning Master of Disguise" bit in Jaynestown, though I can see it as being neccessary for the new viewers.

I'm just tossing this out, but perhaps the actor in question wasn't interested in sequels, and this made things easier.

It seems to be something that didn't occur to the LJ Whiner, and I wonder why not.

The reactions you are all having are the same reactions that people had to the first screening last December.

I highly doubt Joss will make any changes. He was had feedback from 6 screenings in LA, 2 in London, and one in Australia.

Everyone has the same initial reaction.

Later it becomes easier. Of course I had the chance to discuss it with the actor in question and he is fine with it.