Miss Kitty
~ Out of this World ~
Nombre de messages : 60592
Age : 34
Date d'inscription : 07/01/2009
 | Sujet: Joss Whedon’s 5 Most Neglected Deaths  Jeu 23 Avr - 17:23 | |
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- Long before Game of Thrones brought ruthless slaughter to our TV screens, there was Joss Whedon. Where previous series in which death was reserved for unnamed red-shirts, and main characters always survived for next week’s episode, those under Whedon’s stewardship had no such assurances.
The sudden deaths of Joyce Summers and Tara Mclay reminded fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer not to take any character for granted, and it didn’t take long for his other creations to follow suit. Fred in Angel, Wash in Serenity, and even Penny’s heartbreaking final words in Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog all prove one thing; Whedon’s deaths aren’t just inevitable, they’re devastating.
In fact Whedon’s reputation has become so well known, that one of his first reactions upon the release of Avengers Assemble was to protest his innocence at the Death of Agent Coulson, placing the blame squarely on the shoulders of Marvel Supremo Kevin Feige. How much responsibility he takes for Age Of Ultron remains to be seen however; speculation is rife that his latest magnum opus will continue his tradition, something added to when he was quoted as saying that “The Avengers need to die.”
As with all long standing customs however, the increasing number of deaths means that not all can stand out. Here then is an in memoriam of characters whose deaths came from nowhere, were traumatic to say the least, but were forgotten about quicker than an active’s treatment. They gave their lives so that the unexpected (even when it became expected) was always on the horizon, and these sacrifices should not have been made in vain.
5. Jenny Calendar – Buffy The Vampire Slayer
When something becomes as traditional as Whedon characters dying, it’s often easy to forget where things all started. Appearing as a guest in Buffy’s first season, but promoted to recurring character in the second, it wasn’t long before Janna of the kalderash was welcomed into the Scooby gang. Known to them by the name Jenny Calendar, she was in fact a member of the Romani clan who had punished Angelus by returning his soul; forcing him to live with the guilt of his vampiric barbarism.
Finding her niche within the Scoobies thanks to her skills as a techno-pagan, she became an early mentor to Williow, and with Giles also formed one of the show’s first relationships. Despite overcoming their differing views on computers and American Football, it wasn’t a coupling without its ups and downs, particularly when her true origins were discovered and she was excluded from the group.
A make up of sorts wasn’t far away however, with each of them declaring their feelings for each other, only to be denied by Jenny’s fateful encounter with a once more soulless Angelus. To make matter worse, he even leaves her body at Giles’ apartment, in a romantic setting no less, and the spell that would once more restore Angel’s soul wouldn’t be found until the season’s two part finale.
Regardless of Joss Whedon’s other series, there were enough subsequent deaths in Buffy The Vampire Slayer alone, which does tend to leave Jenny’s at the bottom of the pile. And in order to get a better idea of how far back Buffy’s season two actually was, just remember that all of Jenny’s work on the spell was saved on that most high-tech of formats, the 3.5″ floppy disk!
4. Wesley Wyndam-Pryce – Angel
Just because it’s the final episode of a Whedon series, it doesn’t mean you’ve made it. Anya was present for over half of Buffy’s seven year run only to be slain unceremoniously just ten minutes before the end of the finale, and in Dollhouse not one but two main characters stopped breathing before the final credits rolled. Being the final episodes however, with people knowing that none of the characters would return to TV screens anyway (although it was Whedon who paved the way for canonical comic continuations), these deaths are rarely given the attention they deserve.
Of all the characters seen and loved throughout the various Whedonverses, none had such an arc as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. First seen as inept watcher in season three of Buffy, he later went from rogue demon hunter to both leader and betrayer of angel Investigations throughout all five seasons of Angel. As if having to watch his true love be consumed by the reincarnating demon Illyria wasn’t enough, the fact that he died in the arms of said demon possessing her body just added insult to emotional injury.
As emotional to us as it was to Wesley when he accepts Illyria’s offer of ‘becoming’ Fred for him; the climax to a relationship that makes Buffy and Angelus’ seem totally straightforward. Much more than any other, it is Wesley’s death that reminds us not just how much growth and evolution there are in Whedon’s characters, but how much more there could have been.
1. Loo – Fray
Not well known to all fans, Loo played a major part in Fray, Whedon’s first foray into comics which is set some 200 years into the future of the Buffyverse. As something which doesn’t interfere with the TV series but still incorporates its essence, he largely wrote it as he just hadn’t considered the fact that anyone would want him to write anything else. It may not have interfered however, but it did introduce the scythe to the mythology, which would later be seen in Buffy’s seventh and final season.
A mutant living in 23rd Century Haddyn (Manhattan to you and me), Loo was a close friend of the newly discovered slayer Melaka Fray, who also acted as her surrogate big sister; living down in the slums, Fray often used her earnings as a thief to pay for Loo’s much needed medication. Although she isn’t the only cherished character to be killed in the pages of a comic rather than on screen, even the death of Rupert Giles can’t compete with that of Loo’s, despite the fact she appeared in just five issues of a comic book mini series.
While Whedon has never been one to shy away from using death as a protagonist’s motivation, Loo is undoubtedly his most unfortunate victim. She is also the best example of why, out of all Whedon’s deaths, there are those remembered over others. Not because they are shocking, those that stick with us do so because the victims are so innocent. In worlds populated by vampires, reavers, and homelessness, all they ever wanted to do was help people, and occasionally play with dinosaurs. No other character defined this virtue as much as Loo, and the heartbreak is only added to when you discover the true cause of her death. | |
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