Hoban 'Wash' Washburn (Caution! Spoilers!)

[Lonewolf89]

I didn't see a thread for Wash, like the rest of the characters so I thought I'd add one.

Originally posted by ray gower
What makes the characters in Firefly tick?

The series finished before it got going, leaving a huge hole in what we know and understand about them. So there must be some good theories about them, so let's have some thoughts?

Let us have a go at Wash here?

At first I wasn’t a fan of Wash but after two episodes I really began to like his character. He has a way of balancing everything with humor, like BtVS’s Xander.

His relationship with Mal is always interesting. Mal didn’t seem to like him that much until War Stories, even though Wash didn’t seem to have an opinion one way or the other about the Captain. After Stories, though, they began to having a mutual respect for each other.

As I’ve said in the Zoe thread I really like the interaction between Wash and Zoe. They complement each other every well and Joss did a great job writing their scenes together.

 

[Tabitha]

Wash grew on me slowly but surely. I have to agree that when he says "Not a lot of people get me and Zoe" I had to agree, but the more I see how they interact, the more I get it. Kind of an "opposites attract" kind of thing.

My favourite moment with Wash is still the scene where he is playing with his dinosaurs - I think in "Serenity" or "Out of Gas".

 

[Dave]

Originally posted by Tabitha
My favourite moment with Wash is still the scene where he is playing with his dinosaurs - I think in "Serenity" or "Out of Gas".

After the war scenes in Serenity Valley and the opeing credits, it is the very first scene in 'Serenity'. I must admit when I first saw that I thought "What?" I'm still not sure what it is meant to tell us about him.

I think there is still a story to tell in how Wash and Zoe got together. All we know is that 'the Captain got a pilot and Zoe got a husband' -- but does that mean 'love at first sight'. As you have said, they are so different that is unlikely.

 

[Rik_the_Riff]

You remember in 'Out of Gas' where we see Wash for the first time with the ridiculous moustache? Zoe muttered to Mal about not liking something about Wash - I'm guessing that was the seed of their love right there. I agree with the dinosaurs being his best scene. I guess they're supposed to tell us he's the least serious member of the crew - or at least the most innocent (how that fits in with Kaylee, I don't know)

Just a thought,

Rik

 

[Dave]

Originally posted by Tabitha
My favourite moment with Wash is still the scene where he is playing with his dinosaurs - I think in "Serenity"

Did you notice the brief scene in "Bushwacked" when the Alliance officer is searching Wash's quarters? He finds one of his Dinosaurs (the blue one), looks at it, then throws it on the bed.

On the DVD extras, he does the 'Dinosaur' scene without props as his first audition for the show.

 

[Rik_the_Riff]

So, Wash boils down to the dinosaurs? I guess that makes him.... old-fashioned, child-like etc. etc.

He's certainly a bit of a romantic. And a bit naive....

I reckon he's the Xander-to-be (I think it's fair to use Buffy archetypes when talking about Joss' other output); he was going to 'grow up' and become the solid one that everyone can rely on.

Just a thought,

Rik

 

[Maria8475]

I liked Wash right from the dinosaurs scene, it was just so funny. And i think it was really needed after the scenes before it (that made more sense in my head!). But Wash continues to make us
laugh throughout the rest of the episodes too.

His interrogation in Bushwacked, especially compared to Zoe's "it's private" attitude

In War Stories -"Hey, I've been in a firefight before! Well, I was in a fire. Actually, I was fired from a fry-cook opportunity."

In Jaynestown his comment on Simon playing a character, something about "diabolical master of disguise" and later in the ballad with "we gotta go to the crappy town where i'm a hero".

Originally posted by Dave


Did you notice the brief scene in "Bushwacked" when the Alliance officer is searching Wash's quarters? He finds one of his Dinosaurs (the blue one), looks at it, then throws it on the bed.

Lol, yeah. We see the other one a few times too. It's in the cockpit in The Message and Objects in Space. Strangely manages not to fall over

 

[The Procrastinator]

The dinosaur scene tells you that if Wash were real he would be somewhere on these forums.

 

[BookStop]

I love Wash. He's fun, smart - well, smart-assed - brave, and not too testosteroned-up to let his girl be the strong one. That's a real man. Plus he just makes me laugh.

 

[Rodders]

Yeah, i liked the relationship between Wash, Zoe and Mal. Even though Wash had some respect for his Captain, I always felt that he was jealous of the bond and closeness that Mal had with Zoe. I also liked the reversal in Wash's and Zoe's roles. Wash had a great sense of humour too. I was gutted when he was killed off.

 

[The Procrastinator]

I rewatched the movie recently and am getting more and more narked about Wash getting killed off. Who the h*ll is going to balance Jayne now? Spells death to the series/movie to me, not only death to Wash. I can't see the dynamic working without him. But maybe I'm just having an angry. Grrr.

 

[THX-1138]

Why did Wash have to die? I would much rather it'd have been Jayne. Or better yet, neither. The Shepard should have been the only major death.

 

[J-Sun]

No way. Jayne's great. I think, as a lesser reason, people might have read into it wrong with Joss bumping off just the preacher. As a more significant reason, while Book was, IMO, beloved, he wasn't strictly crew. I think it needed to hit closer and people (myself included) would have wanted to lynch Joss if he killed Kaylee. (I think the Doc would have been a fine candidate but that would have messed up the River/Doc situation. Zoe, Inara, and especially River are too significant, in their ways, to die unless the story is specifically about them.) And, just logistically, Book was dead kind of in the movie's middle of nowhere. Someone had to die in the more climactic region of the movie for dramatic purposes and to give extra teeth to the idea that all kinds of people might die in the final battle.

Besides, "only the good die young" - it couldn't have been Jayne.

 

[THX-1138]

Agree to disagree, dude. I loved Wash. And it was torture the way they did it to, "I'm a leaf on the-"! Jayne was my least favorite character(which isn't to say I didn't like him).

 

[J-Sun]

Agree to disagree, dude.

Deal.

 

[Metryq]

But maybe I'm just having an angry. Grrr.

Or maybe an angry "Grrr, Arrgh!"

Wash was the "Dr. McCoy"—the most down-to-earth character to whom the audience could relate. For him, the Firefly 'verse "sounds like something out of science fiction."

"You live in a spaceship, dear."

Explaining the dinosaurs and other child-like innocence is easy: Both Kaylee and Wash are geeks, the type of people who make highly technical trades look effortless because they live and breathe them. Kaylee can climb all over the ship and look busy with a tool in her hands. Wash has only a piloting console with a game controller, er, steering yoke and lots of screens and keyboards. Looks a lot like a computer workstation, doesn't it? About all that was missing amidst the toys was a Twinkie, or a bag of Cheetos.

As for why Joss "killed off" Wash in the movie: First of all, Joss often does dramatic, unexpected things. Somehow Wash's death was dramatic even after that crash landing. Secondly, it was a spin-off movie, an opportunity to cap at least the River story, and it was highly doubtful there'd be a follow-up, even if the movie had been a blockbuster. So Joss set about doing the most dramatic things he could think of: he killed Book. Then he killed the ship! Wash gets skewered, Zoe gets slashed across her back, Jayne catches one in the fire fight, Simon gets one in the gut, Mal's fight downstairs is going very badly, and then River "sacrifices" herself. Joss must have had at least half the fans in complete panic.

When it's all over, if Joss hadn't paid some price, the audience wouldn't feel that characters had been through Hell and lived to tell about it, and the whole scenario would have seemed even more absurd than it did. (I really thought Joss was going to strain our credulity by having River take out all the Feds.)

 

[Pyan]

First of all, Joss often does dramatic, unexpected things.

Whedon's motto appears to be "If they're happy, likeable, or in a stable relationship, kill 'em off"...

I call as witnesses:

• The ghost of 'Wash' Washburn - Serenity
• The ghost of Shepherd Book - Serenity
• The ghost of Allen Doyle - Angel
• The ghost of Winifred 'Fred' Burkle - Angel
• The ghost of Kitty Pryde - Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1
• The ghost of Tara MacClay - Buffy
• The ghost of Jenny Calender - Buffy

And, of course, Buffy herself - twice...

The man just doesn't like to see happy people...

 

[Mouse]

I saw Serenity before I'd ever seen Firefly and when Wash died, it made me jump but didn't have any impact other than that. In fact, I don't think I even knew the character's name.

Then I watched Firefly. Now whenever I watch Serenity I almost bawl when Wash dies! Can't bear it!

 

[THX-1138]

He has most of my favorite lines in the series. By far the wittiest and least serious character, and for me the most relatable.

 

[steve12553]

Do you suppose that's Whedon's way of making sure he only goes forward. I also saw the movie then bought the series on DVD. It bothered me a lot five or six years ago but now I realize that it's just a little universe that you may ant to visit every few years ut there's too many others that you need to visit also.