Murdering my darlings

Over at the Major Case board there has been some speculation about the future of Nicole Wallace (Goren's Nemesis). An article posted there included a blurb from someone who said that the end of "Frame" seemed ambiguous for the Nicole character. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see how a heart in a box is ambiguous. It sounds pretty finite to me (and this coming from an "Angel" fan who totally bought into the pissed off, pregnant vampire storyline).

The whole thing has sparked quite a debate about whether or not Nicole is really dead. I for one think it's time to leave her dead and buried. I think Nicole is a really fascinating character, but I think it's better to let interesting characters go while they are still interesting instead of waiting until they've been completely dried up of interest.

I've enjoyed all the Nicole episodes, but if I look at it objectively and compare it to some of my other favorite characters who have been killed off my favorite shows, Nicole should have died at the end of "Great Barrier" the third episode she was in. There was an alternate ended where she did die -- Goren shot her, which I don't particular like the idea of him killing her -- it seems out of character, but I think Eames shooting first would have been perfect and fitting.

That really would have been the height of her interest as a developing character, because "Great Barrier" is the first time we see the tables turn -- where Goren is rattling her and she isn't rattling him. I mean in the interogation scene she looks like a tiger in a cage, where as in the first two she's completely calm and in control. We really learn how deep her psychosis goes in this episode and it would have been so much more poignant for her to die then rather than now.

All of this got me thinking about all of the other recurring characters in series that I adore that have died in their prime and who were still interesting and could very well produce more storylines, but as a professor I had in a fiction workshop once said, "sometimes you have to murder your darlings." Meaning, sometimes even the initial idea that sparked a whole story has to be let go because it doesn't fit any longer into the bigger picture that has developed.

Now, of course here is where I go off on a Joss Whedon tangent (you knew it was coming) because he is a master at letting go of wonderful characters (good and evil ones) while they were still fresh and fascinating and enjoyable -- which makes their loss all the more important.

The Jenny Calender death is the first death in the "Buffy" series of a major recurring character and it really sets the mood for the whole last story arch for the second season. It signified that no one is safe anymore -- things are going to get bad and then they are going to get worse.

Darla (the pissed off, pregnant vampire mentioned earlier) is still one of my favorite deaths of a character ever. There's just the right amount of soap and genuine emotion to make it just a wonderful moment. We see her struggling with these emotions that she doesn't know what to do with because of the child and then her killing herself because she knows once that baby leave her body she will once again be this hollow evil thing that won't think twice about killing that child.

And of course, Whedon's masterpiece on the reality of death, the episode of "Buffy" called "The Body." He did several experimental episode -- it's one of the advantages of doing a show like "Buffy" -- you can get away with a lot more and try things that are out of the usual format more easily and actually get away with it.

"Hush" is probably the most noted experimental episode because about 70-80% of it has no dialogue. And for a show that is really grounded in it's quick wit, is really impressive.

"The Body" though is even more quiet because, even though there is dialogue, there is no music. This is also an episode that is much more like a short film, than a "Buffy" episode. It's about something that we all eventually go through -- losing a parent. and unlike any other death on "Buffy" is a natural, unexplainable death. Joyce, Buffy's mom, was a beloved character, but it was time to let her go and time to push Buffy into adulthood -- that couldn't have been done as effectively as it was in the following seasons if Joyce was still around.

I'm not sure if i did this right, but hopefully below there is a youtube video that is part of a little documentary on the making of "The Body." Where Joss Whedon and his writers talk about the episode. It's unfortunately not the whole thing (it's a DVD extra on the season five set) but you get the gist.