Yeah, exactly. I think the strongest rebuttal to that reading is that if you look at Wash at the end of season 10, he does appear to have taken responsibility for his actions and made a conscious effort to change. That's why he finally confronts Carolina--he sees her going down the same path he did, and he's self-aware enough to recognize what's wrong with that. So it's strange to turn around and see him on Chorus calling what happened with Donut "a misunderstanding" and "just following orders."

And looking at the inherent contradictions there... well, it's easy to see why I've gone back and forth so much on my interpretation of post-s10 Wash, and why so many fans have ardent disagreements over his later characterization. :P

Dropping that scene right in the circle file is as good a choice as any.