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.

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

Oooh. So envious. Can you talk at all about the conversation, or was it all private and off the record?

I can't stop thinking about all the babies Wash and Zoe aren't going to have. sniff

With Wash and Book dead, the mystery of River mostly solved, Mal and Simon and River no longer special targets for the Alliance, doesn't it take a lot of the steam our of a sequel. Of course you could deal with problems in Simon+Kaylee relationship and the much more serious problems in the developing Mal+Inara relationship, but thats more "As the Serenity Turns" than the Firefly we love. Of course in all fairness the Firefly universe is big enough to hold tons of stories. But if there is a Firefly sequel, it feels to me like it will a work set in the same universe, possibly with some of the same characters, not a sequel in the sense of continuing an on-going story. Come to think of it that may be the point; movies are supposed to be standalone; if there is a Firefly II, it can't depend on people having seen Firefly I.

Mal and Simon and River no longer special targets for the Alliance

We don't know this for sure. The Operative said he didn't know if the gov't folks would still be after them.

Oh, I'm sure they will never get off the kill list. But I'll bet they are now off the "spend buku bucks to track down and kill" list.