SPOILER ALERT! Saving Hoban Washburne
I don't know if you can tell from my layout, or the multitude of times I've mentioned this before, but Wash was my very very favourite Firefly character. All the characters had great moments and great lines and great traits which is obviously what made it a great show but Wash is just my kinda guy. He's the one I'd be friends with if I were to meet the characters. Despite Wash ticking many many boxes in the My Type list personality and looks-wise the Zoe/Wash relationship is just far too awesome and convincing for me to want either of them to be with anyone else which has lead to absolutely zero crush being involved in my love of his character. I just never looked at him that way. And strangely even though Jayne ticks minimal boxes (tall being the absolutely only box and he's not that tall) he's one of my Exceptions To My Type. So my connection to the character of Wash is purely a friend/companionable thing. In fact Wash may be my favourite single character from anything ever, so it follows that I did not take his death well. Not to say I chucked a tantrum or raged at anyone because that's generally not my style. I was just plain devastated. I hardly took in any details from the rest of the movie the first time I saw it, and two out of the three times I've seen it since I could not bring myself to watch that scene. For a long time I lived in denial, striking the movie from my personal Firefly cannon so that Wash would never be gone. I couldn't accept that he'd never be coming back. Ever. It was worse for me than the cancelling of the show both because it was a shock (I came into Firefly knowing it was going to be a short experience) and because while the cancelling takes Firefly away it isn't entirely final/definite. There's a small outside chance that the Firefly story will continue in one form or another. Most likely more comics or another movie (though yes yes, the chances of this happening are like 0.005% but that's better than the 0.0000000000000001% of any of these things featuring reborn Wash - perhaps in zombie or cyborg form or the 0.00000001% chance of these things including Wash because they are set before his death like a back story of some kind (since Wash already has one of those it's not highly likely they'll release more with other characters to back-story).
So this post is about discussing this character death and what I've come to understand about it in relation to the cannon.
Along with pretending it doesn't exist and closing my eyes in that scene I generally avoid watching the movie all together. I don't really like it that much compared to the series because I just believe the story so better suites the tv medium than that of the Hollywood movie. So the last time I saw the movie was because Mark was going to watch it for Mark Watches Firefly, and I wanted to refresh my memory on it. During this viewing I actually forced myself to watch that particular scene in an attempt to accept it. It didn't work. Something else that definitely didn't help was when a friend told me that they were planning to kill the character of Wash off in the series if it had continued anyway which gave me the opposite of comfort because then I felt the devastation of Wash's death seeping into my beloved tv show too.
But recently I got thinking on a train of thought which tried to rationalise Wash's death. Why him? If it was always meant to be that he was killed then why? Every writer has reasons for this - real reasons. And I'm not saying I can read Joss Whedon's mind and this is definitely his reasons for killing Wash, I'm just saying this is a possible line of reason.
This all started when I began to make a list of all the characters I'd prefer to die rather than Wash.
Mal, Simon, River
Inara, River, Simon, Zoe
Inara, Jayne, Simon
Simon, River, Mal, Zoe
These are the character death combinations which I would sacrifice to have Wash alive if the decision was in my hands (from most ideal to least ideal but I would do any if necessary). Please don't take this as an attack on your favourite character or tell me why Wash dying made more sense. This part is not about making sense. I have my favourite character and you have yours, I am not suggesting Wash is ultimately and totally better than all these characters, or more worthy to live. I am simply saying that I would have been less devastated over these collective deaths than I was Wash's. Please don't be mistaken - this post is all about me and my feelings and my opinions. I don't mean to give the impression otherwise.
It was coming up with this list that lead me to discover that Wash's lone death actually makes the most sense to the cannon and it's story. It makes complete and perfect sense and that doesn't give me any comfort whatsoever. Let's face it - Wash was never anywhere near the centre of the main story line. Sure his character development would have spanned longer and been an important part of the show if it had continued but nothing to do with him was ever supposed to be the main point. The main point is River's journey and story and to a lesser extent Mal's and the whole Alliance/Independents conflict. So let me explain to you how Wash's death is actually vital to this (in my opinion - though like I said this doesn't make it hurt any less).
The (original) (as in pre-Serenity pilot when the passengers were obtained) crew of Serenity is made up of 6 characters - each with it's own role/purpose not only on the ship but also in the overall scheme of the show and story. One overarching theme to the series and the movie was River and Simon trying to fit into this crew and have a purpose on the ship. Simon actually fills a vital role for the crew as doctor and surgeon and is very important. But role-wise throughout the series River is a victim and passenger and a recipient of most of the crew's compassion and help but doesn't contribute to the ship in any way. Mal tries to remedy this at the start of the movie by using her skills on a job. This and other parts of the series and movie prove that her unreliable/unpredictable nature, Simon's protectiveness of her, her lack of social skills a lot of the time, and the risk she will be recognised make her role being tied to combat or jobs problematic. Plus I don't get the feeling she wants to take up that kind of role either when she doesn't have to. So, going over the other character's roles on the ship and show we can see that if you examine all of them there is only one which River can really come close to fulfilling. Kaylee? River could probably pick up a lot about mechanical things being a genius but it wouldn't be as natural to her as it is to Kaylee, and it doesn't really fit her. I don't think it's even something they'd suggest if Kaylee died - that River take over - and I don't think she'd be interested either. Jayne, Zoe or Mal? How about Captain River? Not so much. And as I said River + combat (or negotiating with clients) = problematic to say the least. Inara? That plain doesn't work - nothing about her could be used to get them into certain ports, she's not quite the same kind of friend/sister to Kaylee and I am most certainly not a fan of the Mal/River ship. So. That leads us to believe that if you look at it in the sense of giving River a purpose on Serenity which I agree is an important part of her progression in the story (she can't go on being just a passenger indefinitely - for her sake in feeling she has something to do and contribute and for Mal to finally fully accept her as one of his crew) then Wash's role is the only place for her. He had to go. I mean Wash doesn't need a co-pilot but between Mal and River they may just make half as good a pilot as Wash. They could certainly do no better in his absence. Mal isn't really an exceptional pilot and there would be times where the ship would need to be flown without him. This is something River can do - something she would be more than good at - and something she is clearly interested in doing. Plus making her and Mal co-pilots provides an opportunity for them to form a (non romantic) bond which will help more for Mal to see her as part of his crew and family and help her see them as family and friends and to feel part of that.
So, if we agree that the River's role loose end needed to be tied up, and we agree that Wash is the only crew member who's role she can realistically replace then we also agree his death was not just necessary - but vital to her story. Now we can all feel wonderful about it - right?
WRONG.
See - here's the thing. There is another single death which would easily tie up this loose end and save Wash. That's right - I'm going there.
JUST KILL RIVER TAM.
Just do it - seriously. Problem solved. I know a lot of people like River, and think she's uber awesome (she is pretty awesome, but I've never really cared about her that much as a character. Not so say I've not cared about her, I care about all of them, River's just not in my top 5). I know it would be a kind of anti-climax to the story that's been building around her and enrage quite a few Firefly fans if she were to die. I don't want to piss anyone off (especially not River - she can kill me with her brain after all) or insist that cannon should have been this way. I don't even want to read this changed version of events in a fan fiction or construct it myself. Deep down I know it's not right. Deep down I know if they'd done that in the cannon I'd have thought that was all a bit anti-climatic, did River a huge disservice, and didn't make much sense at all. I wouldn't have liked the movie nearly as much as now. But if the alternative is accepting Wash's death. Then this is all I have to say:
DIE RIVER TAM, DIE.
DIE DIE DIE DIE.
I'm sorry, but killing a complete BAMF in totally plausibly fatal but epic-ly awesome battle scene to save every other member of the crew among other purposes which I just can't think of right now is preferable to me than discarding WASH in a horrible, devastating, shocking scene so that someone else can have his seat. Only because Wash is my favourite character, so this obviously means your mileage may vary on this whole theory. This is how I am dealing with my favourite character's death, how do you deal?
--edit-- Look, every time I see this post or remember it I wince a little bit because there's something about it I need to acknowledge. In a vacuum, I don't see anything fundamentally wrong with what it says, in a societal way. But the fact is that this post exists in the real world, not a vacuum, and in that context calling for the death of a female character, especially one like River, to spare a male character is hugely problematic. I own that. At the same time the fact that River is female has nothing whatsoever to do with why I am saying this. That doesn't matter though, because intention is not magical. It doesn't stop me wanting to sacrifice River along with almost all the others to save Wash. I suppose the important distinction is I don't want this desire to become cannon or even fannon or anything else that makes it at all legitimate or official. It's just how I feel when I think about it.
Also, logistically I understand that my reasoning as to why River couldn't replace Kaylee is weak. While Kaylee's death and River subsequently filling in as Mechanic doesn't make as much sense as River filling in for Wash, it does make more sense than River just up and dying since she was supposed to be a main part of the plot for the whole series. Doesn't matter though, I will never call for Kaylee's death. Even if she's my fourth favorite character, and if she'd died in cannon instead of Wash I'd be less devastated right now, there's just something wrong, in my opinion, with wanting Kaylee to die.