I hate you Joss...

[prisoner_24601]

Okay, I don't really, but you've made me very, very upset.

Ugh... I can't believe that you killed both Wash and Book... I just... I just hate you for that. I love those two characters, and while I love the other characters just as much (except for Inara - who I find boring, pretentious and irritating), I would have rather seen any of them die other than these two guys.

I actually think that killing off some characters would have been a good thing, because it highlights the seriousness of the situation they are in, but I really think that these two characters were the wrong choice.

Why? Because Book and Wash aren't super pretty. They're regular looking guys who aren't superpowerful asskickers but still managed to be extremely interesting characters. I can't help but notice that all of the pretty people are still left. I really feel kind of betrayed by Joss. I mean, he kills off the old guy and the nerdy married guy, and leaves all of the angsty young pretty people.

I can't help but be bitter. Zoe and Wash were my favorite relationship on the show, and one of the reasons that I loved them so much was not only were they married, but that they were also interesting. They showed that married people don't have to be boring, and can have real conflict and dramatic tension but then Joss undoes this by killing Wash off. The fact that the two unresolved romances are left intact (Kylee/Simon & Mal/Inara) sends the message that characters who are married are boring, and that all of the interesting stuff happens before people get married. But honestly, I could care less what happens to both of those couples. I wanted to see Wash/Zoe babies, dammit!

And Book brought a completely different flavor to the show than all of the young and pretty people, especially because he was older and had seen it all. Besides, I really wanted to know what he had done in his past. I felt like his character was completely wasted in this film.

So I guess to sum up... I feel like Joss sold out to the common denominator by killing two "expendable" characters: the old guy and the nerdy married guy.

Did I like the movie? Yes I did. I thought it was good. I especially like the idealistic, super freaky bad guy who I thought was the absolute highlight of the movie, and I really hope that we get to see him again. I really liked the idea that the Reavers were the creation of the government (although I figured that from the moment they appeared on the show). I love the relationship between Simon and River (partially because it's not a romantic one). There were a lot of awesome moments to this film, but I just don't know if I care enough anymore to watch a sequel. My enthusiasm for this series is seriously waning.

Comments

[miakun.livejournal.com]

Book was an opperative.

Or that's my guess from the way he talks and the way they set it up. A little subtle for my liking and I think everything got cut in half because it was a movie and not an extension of the TV series.

And yeah I think I'm really irritated that Zoe/Wash is over (I wanted Zoe/Wash babies, too dammit), because it was nice to see something different for once and Mal and Inara makes me yawn. WTF he has Saffron. Screw Inara.

Alan said that he expected to be killed off if they ever had a second season, simply because Zoe/Wash were happy and happy on Serenity apparently doesn't go well together. I thought it was cool.

And I don't understand the complete need to hook everyone up. Can't it just be a family crew?

Here's hoping Zoe is at least preggers!

[angelan.livejournal.com]

I think it's a fictional law that the death of a male character makes his sperm retroactively super powered.

See Cold Mountain. I'm sure there's other films where that's happened, but I can't think of them.

[siujerkjai.livejournal.com]

This is my frustration with Joss. He LOVES to kill his characters. Brave, yes. But someone needs to remind the man that there is a fine line between bravery and stupidity. It can be bad writing to never kill anyone off except for minor, throwaway, Ensign Cannon Fodder figures because if the audience never really believes the main characters are in jeopardy, then you lose the sense of urgency. However, it can be equally bad writing to kill off main characters FOR NO APPARENT REASON.

I feel like Joss used to get this. Angel died for a reason. Tara died for a reason. Joyce Summers died for several varying and interesting reasons. Buffy died for a reason (well, the first two times). Doyle died for a reason.

But somewhere along the line, you cross into sadism. I am not interested in seeing you beat the crap out of your characters. Watching Fred die horribly on Angel didn't make me sad; it made me sick.

Yes, it is important to show the characters are in genuine danger. You know what, Joss? I kinda got that with Book's death and all the shots of dead kids. And then when they all got stabbed/shot/poisoned/beat-the-crap-out-of while trapped in a weird underground bunker. And frankly, once Wash died, I knew that was it. So instead of believing the characters were in danger in the final sequence, I knew everyone else would make it. Even Joss has his limits.

Killing Wash was all about the shock value. And yes, I was shocked. And then I was pissed. I was not at all sad because it was such a cheap, gimmicky death.

And I totally agree with you, Prisoner. They ruined the only interesting romance on the show. Simon and Kaylee is fun and Mal and Inara is (sometimes) interesting, but we've seen relationships like theirs a hundred times before. Zoe and Wash were different. Wash was different. Joss is slowly eliminating everything that made this show unique and quirky in favor of the bland and pretty.

Maybe he should just change his name to George Lucas and be done with it.

[(Anonymous)]

I loved the movie but was still very, very upset about the Wash killing. It just seemed gratuitous, and the way in which it was done just awful. "Hey, they made it! Whoops, not quite! Okay, he's dead, let's move on." It was so rushed and downright disrespectful of the character and the audience.

I wasn't that disturbed by the Book killing, as I always kind of found his character a little dull and predictable. His speech to Mal pretty much confirmed what I thought his "mysterious past" was, so after that I was done with him.

If they had they killed Kaylee or Jayne? I would have rioted.

[midnight-hawk.livejournal.com]

I read the spoilers cos I'm bad and my initial reaction was: "How can they kill Wash? Who's gonna fly the friggen ship? How can they kill Book? Who's gonna do Wash's funeral?"

I've always had a problem with Joss' character death, because it's such a lame plot device...and if you watch Buffy you'll eventually notice that every main character loses at least one partner (usually to death). And knowing that he's at it again, killing off the characters with the most interesting energy to them, makes me not wanna go see the movie.

Sounds like Joss is trying to make a bid for Firefly by making it more "ordinary", by which I mean: "Oh noes it got canceled for being new and different...lets make it normal and safe by soaping it up!".

Maybe they'll be brought back from the dead in the next movie and then we might get Serenity the musical... *sigh* Wash would have been so good in that.