Elements undergoing change

[masqthephlsphr]

January talking meme, Jan 29. From harsens_rob: Choose 2 Joss-verse characters who've died. One that you believe was handled very well and one that you think... wasn't.... How were they handled differently and why do you feel one worked and the other just didn't

Comments

[masqthephlsphr]

I was going to go into a tangent about writers' bloodlust leading to the death of characters that they later decide they like and so reanimate. It's fortunate only SF/F (and outlandish soaps) can really get away with this.

It's really gotten absurd with Vampire Diaries. I rather enjoyed it when the character in question was Darla.

One reason they went into this whole, "Fred's soul was destroyed in the fire of Illyria's resurrection" crap on Angel was so that they could get around the viewer's "Someone can do magic to bring her back." Thus allowing Fred's death to be truly tragic and motivating to the survivors.

Of course, disgruntled viewers can always find a loophole, and so series writers as well. The fact that the guy who claimed Fred's soul was destroyed was a untrustworthy W&H doctor lackey always gave me a fan fiction way to bring Fred back.

[sophist]

"Unavailable" being the polite term.

[chaos_by_design]

You make a lot of damn good points.

I don't have much to add.

[masqthephlsphr]

Thanks for reading!

[treadingthedark]

"But there is a tipping point in keeping the stakes high where you start to lose a viewer or reader's investment, where it becomes so common for characters to die, viewers are no longer willing to invest emotionally in the characters. When a viewer reaches this point, they can either take a more flippant attitude towards the show, or stop watching it all together. I doubt either of these outcomes is something show-runners want."
I agree. I started the slow slide, during the shows, but really, the comic was I realized how far it had gone. The end of season 8 with it's big death only got an eye roll from me. How things had changed.

[masqthephlsphr]

"Joss is killing someone again. And whataya wanna bet they'll be back?"

*Yawn*