Nostalgic Post From The Past- WASH LIVES by KuangZheDe

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Nostalgic Post From The Past- WASH LIVES

POSTED BY: KUANGZHEDE
UPDATED: Saturday, January 23, 2010 12:21
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VIEWED: 5417
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Friday, January 22, 2010 5:49 AM

Remembering all the fun I have had on this sight, I wanted to...probably for the billionith time... reopen the WASH is ALIVE discussion.

Originally posted in March 06

Ok boys and girls, I have got good news and bad news.

The good news

I think Wash may have had a one in a million chance to survive.

The Bad news

He will never dance again

From the attached diagram I have put together, it is feasible (highly unlikely though) that the harpoon (someone said multiheaded and barbed? I think is was shaped like a lance, not sure though)...that the harpoon could have entered right below the heart, in between the major vascular veins, and as it continued in, pushed the heart and lungs up and away with the ever increasing diameter of the harpoon. As mentioned in the bad news, if it was to pull of this miracle, it would have pulverized his spine around the T6 Vertibre.

Thin, but feasible...in fact, this is pretty sad

Please reveiw the following link

Kuang Zhe De

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Friday, January 22, 2010 7:18 AM

PENNAUSAMIKE

From a friend:

"I wrote this because of my friend and fellow PA Browncoat Mike has
held unshakeably onto his belief that if you clap loud and long
enough, the flying pixie will come back to life.

Long Live Wash
(with a nod to Pete Townshend and the Who)

Our boat needed a pilot, Hoban Washburne had some flash,
He lit up our control room in Hawaiian shirt and `stache.
Warrior-woman was bothered, but why she could not say,
Against her captain's orders, Zoe wed him anyway.
Tops in flight class, he coulda had it posh,
Wash is dead, they say,
Long live Wash!

[Chorus]
Long live Wash, he makes Serenity fly,
Long live Wash, no one can take his sky,
Long live Wash, he ain't dead, it's a lie!

With Kaylee in the Engine Room while Wash is doin' the drivin'
They work so well together, they can even pull an "Ivan",
An interview with Niska left him with his own "war story"
Fighting's not his first choice, but zen-flying is his glory.
His offbeat wit is difficult to quash,
Wash is dead, they say.
Long live Wash!

[Chorus]

Firefly hurtles through the dogfight,
Landed hard, both engines shed,
Reaver spear comes through the cockpit,
Watch him soar…Wash is dead, Wash is dead, Wash is dead….

Alliance thinks Serenity's no longer got her guidance,
We're lettin' them believe it--we're all sworn to silence.
An empty grave's dug next to Mr. Universe and Book.
He's in the smuggler's cubby-hole, where no-one'd think to look,
Blastomere transplants, in River's cryo-box,
Wash is dead, y'say?—HAH!
Long live Wash!

Long live Wash, long live Wash, long live Wash,
Long live Wash, long live Wash, long live Wash,

[Chorus]"

I'm with you, Mike; and Joss' sense of humor is weird enough to make
it happen.

Capn Mark, in control, almost, of the Shiny Apple

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Friday, January 22, 2010 7:20 AM

PENNAUSAMIKE

And of course that was written because:

Re: Wash's death in "Serenity". I am simply not willing to accept that in a fictional 'verse. I look to fiction as entertainment. If I want unhappy endings, all I gotta do is wake up! In my mind, until a film or series continuation says different, the crew put Wash in River's cryo-box to take him home for burial. Along the way, they are informed by Simon that the same medical tech that produced Tracy's hopped up internal organs ("million credit meat" in Tracy's words) are accessible at Government research facilities. Using a bit of improvisation and Book's ident card, they sneak Wash in place of a politico who bumped a deserving recipient (ala PA's governor Casey who bumped everybody down the list for his transplant). Alliance bashing, witty dialog and some gunplay ensues. The Firefly 'verse returns to normal.

I will miss Book but his death was a more acceptable fit than Wash's.
One: Books death was important to the storyline and character development because Book was the catalyst to Mal regaining a little bit of his "rudder". Book's casual murder by the Operative and his dying wish, nay, DEMAND that Mall "believe" again made Mal and crew confront River's Miranda secret, rather than just run. Wash was sacrificed meaninglessly as a plot gimmick to create peril.

Two: Book was an individual who interacted with the crew but Wash was half of a married couple who as such made up an important ingredient of Firefly's unique-ness. To destroy that couple as a plot device is a cheap shot at all those who reveled in a mature, married couple as part of the cast ensemble. Which ties into,

Three: Book is a more easily replaced character. If another character with deep-seated religious beliefs were to join Serenity, (not a Sheperd but perhaps a person who wouldn't be stereotypically devout, say a blue-collar industrial worker who knows why he trusts in his Christian faith) the conscience-character would not replace Book but add to his legacy.
But if some "guy" just jumped into Zoe's heart and bed, it would be creepy and an insult to both Wash and Zoe.

Four: Also, Book's mysterious past could be explored in flashback, which would keep actor Ron Glass involved in the series without quite the level of sadness that showing widow Zoe's dead husband would cause. Wash is the "funny" character and there is little funny about being reminded of his death.

I have to admit that to many people, "undoing" Wash's death would cheapen it.
Since I feel the death was cheap and frivilous in the first place,
(and we are talking about "entertainment" and "fiction" here)
I want Wash back as a character more than I want to service a
manipulative, low blow.
Book's death had value and made sense.
But you can't "cheapen" a "Cheap Shot".
While some may think Wash's death was a good idea at the time,
I haven't heard ANYONE say,
"Boy I sure am glad Wash is dead!"

Joss went on at some length in the Australian Q&A about messing with characters internally vs externally to provide real drama vs contrived drama. I understood his point but I think he went too far. The dynamic has been needlessly shifted from all the things Firefly used to be about (do the job, keep flying, found family) to life without Wash. Mal has no pilot (and making River skilled at Wash's level is a farce of a fiction if ever there was one), Zoe has no husband, Simon has no friend and advocate, Jayne has no light-hearted counter-point and the ship has no smart-assed comic relief. Book's role is replaceable, Wash is NOT.

I understand the idea of killing characters for dramatic effect, but my whole point is that at no point is the show (or a Serenity sequel) made better by the loss of a main character as compared to what those characters bring to the table dramatically. If we "had" to kill off a fictional character I would agree with this reasoning but we don't "have to" kill off anybody. Its a work of fiction. There is no REAL peril in any of it.

If Firefly were truly realistic, every one of the crew would be in jail or dead. The success of their criminal enterprises, and the fact that they never hurt or kill innocent people while commiting crime is far more "Unrealistic" than Wash living through Serenity.
If we are going to pick and choose our un-realistic-ness, lets pick and choose what makes for the most entertaining story

But please keep in mind that I acknowledge that my bias runs to the fact that I like my entertainment to be FUN and I expect life to be tempered by MISERY, so when entertainment is tempered by MISERY it becomes a reflection of life and ceases to be entertainment. Good entertainment resonates of real life without getting sucked into dwelling on real life drawbacks.

Also, Wash being saved by Simon adds exciting new dramatic tension for the characters. Zoe would now "owe" loyalty to two people; Mal for saving her and Simon for saving Wash. A viable plot/character development would be her journey to her not owing anybody, which would strengthen her relationship with her husband, Wash. ("What this marriage needs is one less husband") And Mal would have less of a subordinate and more of a partner. And Zoe would be an even stronger female character; but dramatically MADE stronger thru growth, not contrivance.

I LOVE the potential storylines and character development that grow out of Wash being saved. I am disheartened and depressed at the downward spiral that is inevitable if Wash is removed from the Firefly equation.

Joss is a genius, but he isn't perfect.
(Read "Serenity: Those Left Behind", ooo....)
To service a short term goal, he wrote himself into a corner by killing Wash, if Wash is truly gone. He took one of the "wheels" off his Firefly "car". The car might limp around on three wheels, but it ain't gonna run RIGHT.

In my mind, Wash lives. I feel so strongly about his place in the Firefly dynamic that if no more Firefly can come after Serenity without dead Wash, I'd rather it end at Serenity and allow me to finish it out in my own mind in a way that makes me happy. ( My "Wash Lives" plotline.) Firefly speaks to me very deeply at a very tough (just "still flyin'")point in my life. I hate to see that connection tossed in the dustbin in the name of a cheap, needless dramatic trick to create fictional peril.

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Friday, January 22, 2010 7:21 AM

PEACEKEEPER

Keeping order in every verse

Interesting-----but----The fact that the original shock would have him paralysed,coupled with the fact that everybody else run off and left him,added to the fact that even if he did come around to find himself still alive he would have to be strong enough to unpin himself from the chair and survive the blood loss, I would have to say he is 100% dead.!!!

Peacekeeper---keeping order in every verse!!!

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Friday, January 22, 2010 7:48 AM

KUANGZHEDE

Peacekeeper, all your points are absolutely correct and your logic is concrete.... however.... I chose to ignore it, WASH LIVES!

On a serious note though, could the show ever go on with another pilot replacing Wash... it would just be wrong.

Kuang Zhe De

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Friday, January 22, 2010 7:59 AM

BYTEMITE

Well, no one wants Wash to die, but I have to support this choice. It wasn't just cheap shock value, it's character development for Zoe.

The alternative, Zoe dying, would have just had Wash leaving the ship. This way, Whedon gets to plumb the full depths of regret and grief in any potential future storylines. Wash's death, unfortunately, is really the only death from the movie that changes dynamics.

Book's death, while sad, and also not my favourite thing in the world since we never found out his secret, didn't actually change anything. Which is what makes it so damn tragic. People think just because it was Book's dying plea, that Mal actually found something to believe in. I disagree. SURVIVAL and REVENGE are what drove him to Miranda and Mr. Universe's moon, and it's something Mal would have done anyway after Book's death, with or without the swan song.

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Saturday, January 23, 2010 2:52 AM

ZZETTA13

Some say that he is dead,

And would be mad if he’s resurrected, (in BDM2)

But think of his dearly wed,

And how sadly Zoe’d be neglected,

Oh, she could find another suitor,

And I think without much trying,

Just use Inara’s computer,

And forget her husband’s dying,

Without our favorite “Leaf on the Wind”,

The verse just wouldn’t be the same,

And although to his chair was pinned,

And Joss be the one to blame,

Whedon could bring him back,

Because the verse is fiction,

Return Wash to the black,

And temper our addiction.

The Zen

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Saturday, January 23, 2010 6:42 AM

BYTEMITE

Guh, if Zoe's character development from this is

Quote:
Oh, she could find another suitor,

And I think without much trying,

Just use Inara’s computer,

And forget her husband’s dying,

Then I will be much unhappy.

This needs to become Zoe examining her life, including her involvement with the Dust Devils and the Independents. There needs to be new-found insolence and questioning of orders, if not outright grief stricken/irrational resentment towards Mal, Simon, and River. Perhaps increasingly so, because she seems stable and loyal at the end of the movie.

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Saturday, January 23, 2010 7:08 AM

ZZETTA13

Interesting Byte! I concur with your observation.

And something maybe to be explored in a future fanfic?

As for the show, how much hate mail did Joss get by impaling Wash? Just got my copies of DTI a month ago, and just got my better half to watch it a few days ago. I love the fans on that documentary. I have a connection with them that is hard to explain. Their devotion did not go unnoticed!

No matter what other part Alan plays he will always remain Wash: Pilot of Serenity. Can I get an “Amen”?

Those people love those characters ( and I purposely say people here instead of actors because they are folks with feelings) . They are known to the browncoats as those characters. Nathan is one of the biggest browncoats that ever walked the plant and I admire him for his loyalty to the fans. A rare thing in this age. All of the cast and crew on the FF series are like that. To have been part of that show is something I will not experience, but am effected by. I came to the dance late, but am no less effected by it’s human spirit.

Am I making any sense? I hope that I am!

Z

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Saturday, January 23, 2010 8:13 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by pennausamike:
...In my mind, until a film or series continuation says different, the crew put Wash in River's cryo-box to take him home for burial. Along the way, they are informed by Simon that the same medical tech that produced Tracy's hopped up internal organs ("million credit meat" in Tracy's words) are accessible at Government research facilities. Using a bit of improvisation and Book's ident card, they sneak Wash in place of a politico who bumped a deserving recipient...

I understand the idea of killing characters for dramatic effect, but....

I LOVE the potential storylines and character development that grow out of Wash being saved. I am disheartened and depressed at the downward spiral that is inevitable if Wash is removed from the Firefly equation.

Joss is a genius, but he isn't perfect.
(Read "Serenity: Those Left Behind", ooo....)
To service a short term goal, he wrote himself into a corner by killing Wash, if Wash is truly gone...

In my mind, Wash lives. I feel so strongly about his place in the Firefly dynamic that if no more Firefly can come after Serenity without dead Wash, I'd rather it end at Serenity and allow me to finish it out in my own mind in a way that makes me happy.

Wash's death and return is the basis of a story here at fireflyfans.net called “Indistinguishable From Magic.” There's no magic but River knows that Miranda wasn't the only secret the Alliance had. It doesn't require Wash to be super tough or lucky. It doesn't even require a medical miracle to save Wash. It is pure science fiction.
www.fireflyfans.net/sunroomitem.asp?i=5185
http://kieyra.livejournal.com/186086.html

“kieyra” wrote the story the same week Serenity premiered. Given a few months time, Joss Whedon could expand such a story idea and write a movie script for Serenity 2. It might well have been part of His Secret Master Plan from the very beginning!

Maybe Wash died because Joss Whedon planned on resurrecting Wash in the next movie. Denzel Washington and director Tony Scott did just that to Paula Patton in Deja Vu (2006) www.imdb.com/title/tt0453467/ It is the kind of story Hollywood executives can understand and are willing to finance. Even the title Deja Vu has been used on 25 different movies and short films! People are in love with the idea of reliving the past and making it come out right, this time.

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity", where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Saturday, January 23, 2010 8:31 AM

TRAVELER

Wash knew. Hense his chant,"A leaf in the wind."
He was destined, and he knew it, to end. His chant had nothing to do with his flying, he was alreay the best and no one else could have done it. It means, like the leaf, he was to be blown without control to his final act on the stage. Got sort of Shakespearian there, but you get the idea.