The shocking ending of this season’s “Downton Abbey” — shocking at least for those who managed to avoid the news when the finale was shown in Britain in December — most likely left thousands of the show’s fans mourning the loss of a beloved character and angry with the show’s creators for erasing him from their lives.
The plot twist, though, was just the latest in a long tradition of television character assassinations, many of which have elicited reactions of shock, pain, sorrow, fury and sometimes laughter from devoted watchers. “Downton’s” leading man, Matthew Crawley, played by Dan Stevens, left the series in a screech of tires on a country road on Sunday, never to return. That is, unless, some other character, perhaps his beloved Mary, steps into a shower at some future time and declares that his death was all a dream. That, of course, was the infamous solution employed by the venerable television family saga “Dallas” in the ill-conceived decision to kill off a central character, Bobby Ewing, in 1985.
Generally, though, the decision to terminate a television character means there is no going back. And while many show creators say the decision to kill off a popular character carries a risk, potentially alienating viewers, in almost every case shows survive. They often thrive, the producers say, because shaking up viewers is almost always a good thing.
The death of Matthew in “Downton” recalls many other plot developments that have taken place in the middle of successful television runs, like the heart-tugging death in 1998 of Bobby Simone, the character played by Jimmy Smits in “NYPD Blue.”
But some deaths have taken place on shows as little recalled as the comedy “The Hogan Family,” which changed names mid-run from “Valerie” after the series lead, Valerie Harper, staged a salary protest. (Her character died, like Matthew, of an auto accident.)
As happened in “Downton,” a character’s exit is often driven by an actor’s decision to pursue other artistic challenges or bigger paychecks. The latter was the case with the demise of Lt. Col. Henry Blake, the character played by McLean Stevenson for the first three seasons of “M*A*S*H” on CBS.
After Stevenson signed a contract with NBC, the “M*A*S*H” producers gave Colonel Blake a send-off episode, in which he said his goodbyes and flew away. Even the cast (other than the star Alan Alda) didn’t know a coda scene would be added, to deliver the news that the colonel had gone down in a plane crash.
Stevenson’s career went with it. His character’s death stirred hostile reactions not only from the fans, who poured in angry letters, but also from CBS, which wasn’t happy its hit comedy had broken viewer’s hearts.
Today, thanks to the Internet and social media, audiences have more immediate ways to voice their fury. When the ABC drama “Lost” had a core character, Charlie, played by Dominic Monaghan, drown trying to save his friends, the show’s top producers were inundated with protests.
“People were really angry,” said Carlton Cuse, who with Damon Lindelof, was a main creative voice on the show. “They proceeded to blast the heck out of Damon and me for this woefully misguided decision. We thought people would be shocked, but we were unprepared for that level of anger.”
Mr. Cuse noted the unexpected extinguishing of characters is a growing — and mostly welcome — trend. “If you watch ‘CSI Miami’ and someone puts a gun to David Caruso’s head, you know he’s not going to be shot,” he said. In recent years, especially on cable dramas, writers are more willing to blow up such conventions. “Now I think people are reaching further narratively, and maybe those shots of adrenaline are not as unusual as they were in the past,” Mr. Cuse said, pointing out that “The Walking Dead” on AMC kills off familiar characters almost routinely. “These moments are really good for television, because as a storyteller you want to attack and break up those conventions the audience has in their minds.”
Killing Off TV Characters Carries Risk
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Killing Off TV Characters Carries Risk
