TV CHARACTERS THAT DON’T HAVE THE BRIGHTEST FUTURE

Characters that will eventually need to go

Every year I mourn the death of some of my favorite TV characters. This year show runners were killing off main characters like they were flies! Most recent casualty was SPOILER ALERT True Blood’s Terry, so tragic! END OF SPOILER.

With so much tragedy going around, it is amazing some characters manage to survive; Matt on The Vampire Diaries e.g. While I don’t mind Matt sticking around, there are other characters whose deaths [or disappearances] seem unavoidable and/or necessary.

SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for the latest seasons of The Following, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Banshee and Bates Motel

Claire – The Following

Let’s be real, Poe would be proud if they killed her

After watching The Following’s pilot I wrote an stellar review where I explained how much it blew me away. The rest of the episodes were good, but I felt the impact level decreased. It almost felt like they were forced to take it down a notch. Regardless, The Following is still a show I enjoy, but there are parts of it I don’t love. One of them is Claire. Unlike a lot of people I never hated Winona on Justified and I really have nothing against the actress (Natalie Zea). In fact, I loved her on Dirty Sexy Money as the vapid Karen Darling. However, as a character, Claire never quite did it for me. I don’t know if it was the writing or how the actress chose to play the part, but I never connected with her. She is a woman who was married to a serial killer and just had her son kidnapped; yet I didn't feel sorry for her! There is a difference between being strong and appearing detached. It is very rare for me to advocate killing a character; I respect when they do it in service of the plot, but I don’t usually ask for it. However, I think killing Claire would have been good for the show. After mourning Ned Stark’s death on Game of Thrones, I realized killing main characters is important for some shows. The perception that no-one is truly safe elevates the stakes and makes the viewer more invested. We’ve seen it on shows like Sons of Anarchy, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones and even Arrow. It doesn’t work nor is it necessary for every show, but The Following is a show about a serial killer, yet most main characters manage to survive. Yes, Jacob and Paul died… but I saw that coming for episodes, so I wasn’t as shocked or shattered. The biggest casualty was Agent Parker (her death was unexpected and tragic). It would have been a shocking twist if they killed Claire in the finale, just when Ryan is about to save her. Even Joe knew that would have been the most shocking ending to his “book”.

Rabbit – Banshee

You can take Banshee out of the criminal, but you can’t take the criminal out of Banshee!

Rabbit is one of those villains that need to go because our heroes would never be free until he dies. Yet, I don’t really want to see him die, because he is a worthy adversary. My feelings for Rabbit are similar to the ones I had for Percy on Nikita. Hood and Ana can’t keep fighting Rabbit forever and he would eventually expose them. The whole premise of Banshee is well… that they live in Banshee, so any threat to their fake personas couldn't last forever. At this point, I think two outcomes are possible. Rabbit could go back to be a threat in which case, the only logical outcome is for him to die. The question would be who kills him? And how brutally? The other scenario would be for Rabbit to disappear for a while. After how he ended last season, this is the most likely situation. If he disappears for a while Ana and Hood could peacefully [OK, not so peacefully] stay in Banshee, trying to keep up pretenses and occupying their time dealing with the array of local bad guys. Then, Rabbit could pop back up when we least expect him; at which point he would probably have to die anyway… but he could survive for another season or two. In any case, I don’t see a scenario that doesn't end with Rabbit’s death. The question is when; it could be next season or it could be near the show’s end [which I hope won’t be in a long long time].

Gillian – Boardwalk Empire

I will personally donate 100 bottles of scotch to whoever whacks Gillian

I have mixed feelings regarding the deaths of other TV characters; but I have zero confusion when it comes to Gillian. I want her gone. She has been responsible for SO MANY deaths and suffering. Ever since season one I've been expecting her demise. Initially I thought Jimmy might kill her, but … he died. Also, he kind of died because of Gillian and how much she screwed him up. Nucky also had plenty of opportunities to murder her but didn't. Mr. Slater could have killed her for Nucky, but he also died [too soon!]. Not even Gyp Rossetti managed to end her existence! The worst “almost-killed-Gillian-but-not-quite” situation was when faceless Richard killed EVERYONE at the brothel… except for Gillian! Why? Oh why didn't he kill her? I don’t know… In summary, next season, I don’t care who… but someone needs to get rid of her. Now, I feel compelled to say that I have nothing against Gretchen Mol, I think she is a great actress and the fact that she has made me hate her character so much is just proof of that [because I actually really like her as an actress, but Gillian is not meant to be loved].

Joffrey – Game of Thrones

You want to kill Joffrey Baratheon? well get in line...

Before you start telling when and how Joffrey dies in the books STOP! I am spoiler free for Game of Thrones, which is REALLY hard given that the information is out there, perfectly written on the books and easily accessible through the internet. But I choose not to. So let’s pretend, Game of Thrones is just like any TV show and that we have no way of knowing what will happen to the characters until next season, OK? If that were the case, the character I really want to see DIE and SUFFER is Joffrey. The little brat is the devil’s spawn, not even his mother is as evil. I never cheered so loud as when Tyrion slapped him (twice), but I wish someone would strike him with a knife next time. I would like Arya to kill him, but I would settle for Daenerys or… anyone. I repeat, please DO NOT tell me how it actually happens. I want to have the satisfaction of seeing it!

Bonus: watch the best scene ever

Norma Bates – Bates Motel

OK, so she’s not going to die [yet]. That’s a fact. She is too essential to the plot and she still has a long way to go until she turns Norman into the psychopath we all remember from the movie. I am aware of the fact that the twisted Norma/Norman relationship is the whole basis of the show, but I find myself wishing Norman would run away a lot! If you think about it, wouldn't Norman be SO much better without his mother? Perhaps he could have grown into a reasonably sane person … or perhaps not. Anyway, we all know what will be Norma’s fate, so let’s enjoy the creepy journey while it lasts.