But this ending-- her head in a box delivered to Lincoln-- smacks of real hostility toward either the actress or the character.
Supposedly they planned a long arc for that but she wouldn't budge. That's why she didn't even come back to record the telephone conversation from the previous episode so they had to find a way to kill her off without having a body. (just to explain why this particular ending was chosen, not why she left in the first place; apparently they tried to negotiate around a different ending quite a lot and made her a variety of offers about how many episodes she would come back for and she didn't)
Seems like the whole thing was very messy. There's an interview about it on tvguide.
Makes more sense when I read the interview-- she clearly was unhelpful in dealing with their ending, and it sounds as if they tried to negotiate it in various ways. Nonetheless... this is still a more gruesome method than it needed to be. Head-in-a-box is justdisgusting in so many ways.
Reading the part about "Michael needed proper motivation for S3" makes me come back to, "You know... a GOOD S2 and a total of 2 seasons would have been SO much better." *sigh*
Seems like all the brotherly love is going to occur in fiction from this point out, since even Lincoln's S3 visits to Michael in SONA smack of the same, "Huh. Whatever." response he had to Michael getting beaten up on the nearly fatal visit to Agent Kim in S2. :(
While I understand your feeling on the way she went I really don't think they had a lot of choices with Sara or Veronica and it has less to do with them being woman and more to do with them being love interests
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I do see some of your point here, though I didn't think Veronica had THAT strong a following as Lincoln's love interest (we were somewhat prepared with her fiance, even though they killed him off). Her death seemed abrupt and extreme to me.
I still don't like the flavor of Sara's death. And I realize that the actress made it nearly impossible for them to script that, but I still think it was excessive and grotesque. Although yes, very hard to maintain denial about.
Oh, I so hated the way Veronica's death was handled. And there are other PB fans who felt the same way-- it's the primary reason I wrote this story for lissa_bear. That character, after the price she ultimately paid and even knew she might be paying, deserved a much better elegy. :(
Interesting take on how the women have died v. the men. I don't know if your are reading too much into it. If the Pres of something over at Warner Bros can declare no more movies with female leads, then it certainly possible sexism has played a part in their deaths.
I wasn't in the meetings between SWC and the powers that be so I have no idea what happened. I've read an account of what happened. I can't help but feel like despite all their 'we did this and we did that' that it didn't have to end like this. I get it. PB is a brutal show. The show breaks your heart. And I'm a shipper so I'll take it harder than someone who didn't like M/S or didn't like Sara or SWC even still if you can feel like it was wrong, then it must be wrong on some level.
Reading the interviews made it clear why her death came so soon and so abruptly-- SWC gave them very little to work with.
But pushing the M/S in S2 (and keep in mind that I always found it really sudden and ridiculous) and then preemptively deciding that for S3 to work Sara had to die... it smacks of a failure to EVER think long-term in the story and character arc, and they made her death worse by how much they inflated the relationship in S2. Guaranteeing that the M/S fans they catered to and in some cases created are going to be REALLY pissed off at them
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Reading your response makes me think that the writers on some level were like, "If we thought it was kick-ass to 'kill' Sara off at the end of S1, think how much more kick-ass to really do it in S3." While I can't say that I disagree with the logic, it doesn't feel right. And probably for the reasons you said regarding not thinking of a long-term story and character arc. And IMO, so far that evident in regards to a lot of things in S3.
Here would have been a novel idea for S3: have the story arc being Lincoln returns a freakin' favor for a change and he has to break MICHAEL out (because SONA's a deadly place if I ever saw one). That provides motivation for both characters (Michael trying to help Lincoln help him, Lincoln actually deserving some of Michael's devotion for a change) and also balances out the brother relationship more. Not to mention making DP work harder for a paycheck than unbuttoning his shirt a little. ;) Even as a shipper, I found Sara being kidnapped along with LJ ridiculous. Why not just LJ? Not enough motivation
( ... )
Here would have been a novel idea for S3: have the story arc being Lincoln returns a freakin' favor for a change and he has to break MICHAEL out
Funnily enough, I thought that was going to be the plot for this season. I could've sworn I'd read or saw an interview with DP or someone else about how in S3 Michael was going to land back in jail and Lincoln was going to have to break him out. Which would've been so much more interesting, if only for the fact that it would put more pressure on Lincoln this time to get Michael out, rather than a retread of S1.
I agree with you completely. You are not reading too much into this, particularly with consideration to the fact that it's the female characters who die such gruesome deaths. Your points are all extremely valid and spot-on.
They really backed themselves into a corner on this one, though, by bringing her back at all for S2. I mean, she died at the end of S1. She did. And I'm pretty sure that was the original plan. But then they brought her back via a miraculous recovery, and that was a huge mistake in my opinion. I didn't actually hate Sara in S1, although I agree with you about the addiction thing; clearly that was a cheap twist to give her some sort of depth that completely backfired. But by the middle of S2, I was so sick of her and her whole storyline.
However, re. the reasons she left the show, you should read Ausiello's interview.
Having said all that, though, I'm just glad she's finally gone, even though I don't like how it happened and am generally pissed off about her whole story arc post-S1. :P
Sorry, I forgot that your LJ doesn't embolden or otherwise indicate links. There's a link to the Ausiello interview where it says 'Ausiello interview'. :P
mean, she died at the end of S1. She did. And I'm pretty sure that was the original plan. But then they brought her back via a miraculous recovery, and that was a huge mistake in my opinion. Mine too. They should have let her go at the end of S1. She would have been a brutal and constaint reminder of the horrible cost of Michael's choices-- and of his willingness to use people, never thinking about what he's really asking them to do-- and we would never have gone deep into the ridiculous M/S territory. Which ends like a nuclear explosion with this plot twist, and that's more ugliness to the M/S fans than anyone needs or deserves.
The Kellerman/Sara stuff in S2 (which I loved, mainly the Kellerman side and also seeing a whole different type of behavior for Sara) and the kickass!Sara besting Kellerman were fabulous, but not worth bringing her back for in S2 and definitely not worth this horrible end. The S1 OD was a tragic end. This one was just brutal and gruesome. :(
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Supposedly they planned a long arc for that but she wouldn't budge. That's why she didn't even come back to record the telephone conversation from the previous episode so they had to find a way to kill her off without having a body. (just to explain why this particular ending was chosen, not why she left in the first place; apparently they tried to negotiate around a different ending quite a lot and made her a variety of offers about how many episodes she would come back for and she didn't)
Seems like the whole thing was very messy. There's an interview about it on tvguide.
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Reading the part about "Michael needed proper motivation for S3" makes me come back to, "You know... a GOOD S2 and a total of 2 seasons would have been SO much better." *sigh*
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I'll have to rely on you to keep me posted on any instances of brotherly love ;-)
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Bad show!
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I still don't like the flavor of Sara's death. And I realize that the actress made it nearly impossible for them to script that, but I still think it was excessive and grotesque. Although yes, very hard to maintain denial about.
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I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that last season.
...but after that, Sara's death was just sort of a *shrug* event.
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I wasn't in the meetings between SWC and the powers that be so I have no idea what happened. I've read an account of what happened. I can't help but feel like despite all their 'we did this and we did that' that it didn't have to end like this. I get it. PB is a brutal show. The show breaks your heart. And I'm a shipper so I'll take it harder than someone who didn't like M/S or didn't like Sara or SWC even still if you can feel like it was wrong, then it must be wrong on some level.
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But pushing the M/S in S2 (and keep in mind that I always found it really sudden and ridiculous) and then preemptively deciding that for S3 to work Sara had to die... it smacks of a failure to EVER think long-term in the story and character arc, and they made her death worse by how much they inflated the relationship in S2. Guaranteeing that the M/S fans they catered to and in some cases created are going to be REALLY pissed off at them ( ... )
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Here would have been a novel idea for S3: have the story arc being Lincoln returns a freakin' favor for a change and he has to break MICHAEL out (because SONA's a deadly place if I ever saw one). That provides motivation for both characters (Michael trying to help Lincoln help him, Lincoln actually deserving some of Michael's devotion for a change) and also balances out the brother relationship more. Not to mention making DP work harder for a paycheck than unbuttoning his shirt a little. ;)
Even as a shipper, I found Sara being kidnapped along with LJ ridiculous. Why not just LJ? Not enough motivation ( ... )
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Funnily enough, I thought that was going to be the plot for this season. I could've sworn I'd read or saw an interview with DP or someone else about how in S3 Michael was going to land back in jail and Lincoln was going to have to break him out. Which would've been so much more interesting, if only for the fact that it would put more pressure on Lincoln this time to get Michael out, rather than a retread of S1.
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They really backed themselves into a corner on this one, though, by bringing her back at all for S2. I mean, she died at the end of S1. She did. And I'm pretty sure that was the original plan. But then they brought her back via a miraculous recovery, and that was a huge mistake in my opinion. I didn't actually hate Sara in S1, although I agree with you about the addiction thing; clearly that was a cheap twist to give her some sort of depth that completely backfired. But by the middle of S2, I was so sick of her and her whole storyline.
However, re. the reasons she left the show, you should read Ausiello's interview.
Having said all that, though, I'm just glad she's finally gone, even though I don't like how it happened and am generally pissed off about her whole story arc post-S1. :P
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Mine too. They should have let her go at the end of S1. She would have been a brutal and constaint reminder of the horrible cost of Michael's choices-- and of his willingness to use people, never thinking about what he's really asking them to do-- and we would never have gone deep into the ridiculous M/S territory. Which ends like a nuclear explosion with this plot twist, and that's more ugliness to the M/S fans than anyone needs or deserves.
The Kellerman/Sara stuff in S2 (which I loved, mainly the Kellerman side and also seeing a whole different type of behavior for Sara) and the kickass!Sara besting Kellerman were fabulous, but not worth bringing her back for in S2 and definitely not worth this horrible end. The S1 OD was a tragic end. This one was just brutal and gruesome. :(
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