Why did they.....SPOILERS..

[Stargate Atlantis Girl]

Spoiler:

So why did they kill off Wash in the movie? I don't get it, I mean it's not like he was going to leave the show because it was ending anyway, I just thought it was a bad way to end it. I guess I kind of get why they killed off Shepherded Book, for action and stuff (Mind you, I hated that part too ). I'm curious though, why Wash?

Just curious about your opinions/thoughts

[DigiFluid]

Because it's what Joss Whedon does. He kills off characters for shock value.


And for spoiler tags, they need to be in the square brackets and both spelt the same (ie: both are "spoiler" or "spoilers", you can't have it as one of each )

[Stargate Atlantis Girl]

Because it's what Joss Whedon does. He kills off characters for shock value.


And for spoiler tags, they need to be in the square brackets and both spelt the same (ie: both are "spoiler" or "spoilers", you can't have it as one of each )

Well that's too bad....and thank you

[P-90_177]

Keep in mind of course that Serenity was also meant as being a movie for a new audience to the firefly Universe. Shepard Book's death was a story driven catalyst for Mal's final decision. However, a new audience will not have fully felt the impact of Book's death. They would not have known him like firefly fans did.
On the other hand, Wash, a character written from the start as a light hearted comical character from the new viewers point of view was one that everyone was designed to like. Therefore by killing him, in such a shocking way, it showed exactly how much danger the crew were in.

In essence, it helped highlight to the new audience Whedon was trying to attract that this was not a story where everything turns out all nice and happy in the end. Firefly afterall is partially built on this idea. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. All that's important is that you keep on going. This is true for Mal as we are led to understand throughout the series and throughout the film, and by the end of the film we are led to understand that this counts for the entire crew.

[Lunaeclipse]

It was explained in the commentary of the version I watched. I can not remember exactly what the reasons were, but I found the commentary interesting...

[DigiFluid]

It was explained in the commentary of the version I watched. I can not remember exactly what the reasons were, but I found the commentary interesting...

How extraordinarily enlightening

[Lunaeclipse]

How extraordinarily enlightening

*rotfl*... I know... I'll watch it again and come back with something more enlightening...

[DustyBadger]

The commentary was quite painful as there were many times Joss would say things like ...this scen would have been half a season on TV... or ...here we had to cut a lot of character stuff to increase the pace of the action... just makes me so sad that we didnt get to se it as two more seasons.

[Starsaber]

I showed my parents the series over Christmas week a couple years ago and when the crew was holding off the Reavers, my mother thought everyone would die but hold the line long enough for Mal to get his transmission out. That's why they killed off Wash. In most movies, you know the good guys are going to survive and win. Killing Wash put that into question and made people believe there was real peril.

[Captainjerky]

You know, I'm as big a Joss Whedon fanboy as anyone here, but I do take issue with the way he randomly kills off characters. Just look at Paul Ballard in Dollhouse, Wash in Serenity, and most of the cast of Angel. I get why he does it, because just like in real life, nothing is sacred any anything can happen to anyone, which makes for realistic drama and tension. I just wish Wash had lived, too!

[Cat Amelia Duet]

According to Joss Whedon Experience Panel Comic-Con 2010 Part 3 (youtube), Joss says at 3:59 if I'm interpreting him right that Alan couldn't commit to potential sequels. I haven't seen the Serenity Bluray commentary, but Wikipedia's article cites it as a reason why Book was killed too, though Book's death was of course vital to the story as written.

Of course everyone who cared about Firefly hoped for sequels, but if they'd known now that that'd be the last great hurrah for Firefly, I wonder if Joss would've written it differently. I know I was gutted that Book died after a single scene in the movie, and his and Wash's death reduced the rewatch enjoyment for me. I love the movie, but am really, really saddened at the same time.

[Brother Freyr]

You know, I'm as big a Joss Whedon fanboy as anyone here, but I do take issue with the way he randomly kills off characters. Just look at Paul Ballard in Dollhouse, Wash in Serenity, and most of the cast of Angel. I get why he does it, because just like in real life, nothing is sacred any anything can happen to anyone, which makes for realistic drama and tension.

Well, you yourself have justified the deaths with a sound dramatic rationale. I admire Whedon for making beloved characters suffer and die. It's part of what makes George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones powerful, too. I wish more books, movies, and TV series did it.

[Cat Amelia Duet]

Well, you yourself have justified the deaths with a sound dramatic rationale. I admire Whedon for making beloved characters suffer and die. It's part of what makes George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones powerful, too. I wish more books, movies, and TV series did it.

True. Dealing with death is a part of life. Joss kills them not because he doesn't like the character but because their death affects their friends and the audience (though their inability to commit to a sequel was an out-of-universe reason).

Did Book have more scenes in an earlier draft or deleted scenes? I know if I hadn't watched the series, I would feel I didn't get to know the character in his short scene with Mal. I would've understood it intellectually but I don't know if it would have hit home emotionally. Whereas at least Wash got the entire film, and then, BOOM.