Few know it, but he was the stability of Serenity. Not only did he pilot her brilliantly on a hundred different missions, but he held the crew together too. It was his trusting innocence, of that I'm sure. He softened Zoe quicker than anyone. She who is an always was hard as a rock for everyone else. He certainly softened Mal. Mal used to be much coarser. But he opened up a great bit under Wash's influence. He took the Tams under his protection. I don’t think he would have done that before Wash came along. I not sure exactly how Wash was able to do it. He always had ways to make people laugh and feel at ease, but he was decidedly serious when it came to doing what needed to be done. It's true he was the best pilot I've ever seen. And everyone could trust him simply because he himself chose to be so trusting. He believed in the good of all people and of the preservation of that good. He even brought some good out of Jayne. Actually, it really isn’t all that hard. Others did it too. But Wash did certainly have a knack to cheer anybody up and find the best in every situation. He was fiercely loyal to his wife.

Anyhow, what I'm trying to say is that he was the backbone of the crew. He was serenity. The center point. His lightheartedness was calming. It allowed everyone to work together for so long. That is all but gone now…