Serenity thoughts...

[lapsedagnostic]

Okay, I've been thinking about it, and I've got a theory for why Wash had to die.

Joss needed a way to convince the audience that this wasn't a tv show anymore, that the Reavers weren't just big, bad, bogeymen, but, no, really, kill you dead, end of story bad bogeymen. When wash died, the audience suddenly didn't know who else, maybe everyone? was going to die in that stupid tunnel. Maybe Zoey wasn't going to get back behind the lines, maybe Kaylee was going to fade away from the poison, maybe the doc was going to die, and then everyone else after him.

These possibilities became real because Wash died, and Joss proved that the rules had changed. It wasn't going to be all right, everyone wasn't going to be back next week, and maybe, just maybe, they were all going to die. And I think the audience reacted to the fear the way he wanted; I know that we did. It was emotionally gut wrenching and exhausting.

And, sadly, Wash was the most disposable.