Overuse of character deaths on TV?

[thewerepuppygrr]

Originally Posted by theprestige85

That's interesting, I think it's definitely the other way around for me. I've gotten used to seeing characters dying as some knee jerk reaction to get more ratings that it always surprises me when I haven't seen a death at the end of every season. It's one of the strengths of Mad Men. A show i'm not exactly in love with but do appreciate. Given it's setting and tone, you are very unlikely to see any deaths of characters. And the very few deaths that you do see or hear about are effective because it's a show that doesn't rely on it. It's just good old fashioned storytelling and character development that the show prides itself on, not characters dying at the end of the season.

The Wire was also a show that used character deaths sparingly, but then, that show was about SO much more than that.

Mate, look at my avatar! Of course I don't like fantasy. I LOVE fantasy. I've no problem with that genre at all. 'Fantasy is true', as Ursala K. Le Guin says. 'Not factual but true'. My problem with thrones has absolutely nothing to do with fantasy as so much as to do with a weakness storytelling

You alluded to Shakespeare telling off characters in his plays in defence of GoT. Difference is Shakespeare actually seemed to have sympathy and care for his own characters.

None of the shows you mention are remotely similar to Game Of Thrones. If someone died every week in Mad Men, then it wouldn't make any sense - they don't exactly live in a dangerous environment. As I believe someone else here tried to point out to you, Thrones is set in a harsh, feudal environment where, in many circumstances, escaping death and tragedy is more difficult than being a victim of it. The entire story is a war - guess what? People die in wars. A lot.

To complain of a weakness in storytelling or to accuse Martin of having no sympathy for his characters is a narrow-minded opinion. Every death matters.

[Show spoiler]Obyryn's death has major repercussions later on. Robb and Catelyn's deaths are already affecting the lives of many characters, not least Arya and the Bolton family. The Hound may or may not be dead, but if he is, then it was to provide a further influence on Arya.

None of it is for naught. The significance of events may not be apparent to you right off the bat, but the ripples WILL resonate.

While I am happy to accept that there will be major character deaths in a show such as Thrones, in other shows it simply doesn't work. I agree major character deaths in Buffy (like JC and JS) were shocking and well done, but one that did my head in was Heroes. They kept introducing interesting people and then bumping them off before you even got a chance to see their full potential, and instead chose to kept the focus on tiresome people like the Petrellis. I think that was one of the major reasons Heroes went downhill so fast. Agents of SHIELD is in danger of succumbing to the same trend as well.