MickeyCharacter Death
I've been thinking a lot about the death of characters on television shows and when it's appropriate. I've also been thinking about what makes fans cry out in outrage when a character is killed off and what makes them shrug their shoulders and say, "that's okay."
The topic was raised with me last year when I marathoned my way through 4 seasons of Spooks in my winter semester break. In the second episode of the first season Helen Flynn (played by Lisa Faulkner) was violently tortured with a deep fryer and ultimately killed. It was shocking to me when she was killed because I never actually expected it.
So long have we been watching television shows where the cast gets in what we think are dire situations, only to be rescued at the very last second, that it's actually shocking when they get it. And for me, this is what makes Spooks such exciting viewing. Every character is expendable. It doesn't matter if they're part of the main cast, every time they get into trouble, they really could die. This was demonstrated in episode two and it has continued throughout the series.
I could be wrong here, but the fans seem to be a bit more content with this approach. I loved Adam Carter, but it seemed to me that the fans accepted his death. (And why not when the cushion to the blow was Lucas?!) But at the end of season two of Torchwood when main characters, Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori) and Owen Harper (Burn Gorman) were killed, there was fan uproar.
I wonder if this was because it was unexpected- characters on Torchwood and Doctor Who are all about the last minute saving the day. Or maybe it was because there were rumours on the fan circuit that the cast members weren't happy with the decision to kill off their characters?
At the time, I was unspoiled and didn't see it coming. I cried when I saw the episode and I was shocked, but I wasn't angry with the writers. I loved the characters, but I'm fickle. Give me a good death scene and I'm usually happy. But then I rewatched the episode when I bought the DVDs and realised, all the signs were there. All the way through the episode there was talk of death, talk of setting things right. It looked like Tosh might get her long hoped for date with Owen... all things that seemed impossible suddenly appeared possible and then they died. That, to me, isn't a good TV death because in real life, people don't often get a chance to set things right before they go. Especially not people who work for secret agencies protecting the world from aliens.
Last night I watched something where a character who was always my favourite died. I didn't expect it in a sense that I wasn't spoiled, but from the moment I started watching, there were cues in the dialogue from the character that made me know what was coming. As a result, I didn't think this character got a good death. The scene itself was great-- it was emotional and heart wrenching. But I didn't cry because I'd seen it coming. It wasn't a shock.
And I came to the conclusion that as always, it comes down to the writing. A writer who gets attached to a character wants to give them a good send off will be tempted to tie up lose ends. And that's not always good. Being too attached, not always good. TV writers who feel this tug should watch a few episodes of Spooks and see how it's done.
The topic was raised with me last year when I marathoned my way through 4 seasons of Spooks in my winter semester break. In the second episode of the first season Helen Flynn (played by Lisa Faulkner) was violently tortured with a deep fryer and ultimately killed. It was shocking to me when she was killed because I never actually expected it.
So long have we been watching television shows where the cast gets in what we think are dire situations, only to be rescued at the very last second, that it's actually shocking when they get it. And for me, this is what makes Spooks such exciting viewing. Every character is expendable. It doesn't matter if they're part of the main cast, every time they get into trouble, they really could die. This was demonstrated in episode two and it has continued throughout the series.
I could be wrong here, but the fans seem to be a bit more content with this approach. I loved Adam Carter, but it seemed to me that the fans accepted his death. (And why not when the cushion to the blow was Lucas?!) But at the end of season two of Torchwood when main characters, Toshiko Sato (Naoko Mori) and Owen Harper (Burn Gorman) were killed, there was fan uproar.
I wonder if this was because it was unexpected- characters on Torchwood and Doctor Who are all about the last minute saving the day. Or maybe it was because there were rumours on the fan circuit that the cast members weren't happy with the decision to kill off their characters?
At the time, I was unspoiled and didn't see it coming. I cried when I saw the episode and I was shocked, but I wasn't angry with the writers. I loved the characters, but I'm fickle. Give me a good death scene and I'm usually happy. But then I rewatched the episode when I bought the DVDs and realised, all the signs were there. All the way through the episode there was talk of death, talk of setting things right. It looked like Tosh might get her long hoped for date with Owen... all things that seemed impossible suddenly appeared possible and then they died. That, to me, isn't a good TV death because in real life, people don't often get a chance to set things right before they go. Especially not people who work for secret agencies protecting the world from aliens.
Last night I watched something where a character who was always my favourite died. I didn't expect it in a sense that I wasn't spoiled, but from the moment I started watching, there were cues in the dialogue from the character that made me know what was coming. As a result, I didn't think this character got a good death. The scene itself was great-- it was emotional and heart wrenching. But I didn't cry because I'd seen it coming. It wasn't a shock.
And I came to the conclusion that as always, it comes down to the writing. A writer who gets attached to a character wants to give them a good send off will be tempted to tie up lose ends. And that's not always good. Being too attached, not always good. TV writers who feel this tug should watch a few episodes of Spooks and see how it's done.
