A look at the different important deaths in Heroes, and how Kring handled(or didn't) all of the after effects of these deaths.

As it goes through the currently aired season, and into some speculation about 19-23, and mentions certain spoilers about the final five episodes and season two, it has ALL KINDS OF SPOILERS.


So I got this thought in my head while thinking about deaths and how they're handled in the different shows I watch--brought on by Tim Kring's words about upcoming deaths.

So, lets look at how Heroes handles death--which is a common theme in the show--and the most important part, aftershock and grievings. Herein lies the problem I have seen in Heroes.

Forgive any inconsistancies I have with the earlier episodes, I haven't watched them in awhile.

The first death mentioned is the father of Nathan and Peter, which gets a few lines from Mrs. Petrelli about 'not feeling alive anymore', and is used in a few plot points later, but otherwise ignored. We excuse the lack of grieving on the boys' parts, because it has been 6 months, and they were not close to him, anyway.

After this is the mention of Chandra's death. Once again, he seems to have dealt with it already, and was not close to him, either, so after a few good cries, he moves on for the most part (except for developing a bit of an obsession with Chandra's work)

The next death was Charles, Simone's father. A few choked up lines before and after his death, and a good cry on Peter's shoulder, and he's never mentioned again. This time we excuse it because she had expected it for a long time, and we don't get to see her much, anyway, so who knows what she does when she's alone.

After this is Karen Sprague. Now, Ted seems to be suffering the effects of grief throughout the series--but he usually only has cameo roles in episodes, and his entire character hinges on the need for him to be grieving, and so although it is often implied, not much is shown of it.

Now, the next important death is Charlie Andrews, Hiro's brief girlfriend. At first he is crushed, and for a few episodes, he mentions her often. After Fallout, however, he seems to have completely gotten over it--except for the lack of confidence the experience caused, whether this is a symptom of grief, or just a failed hero complex is debateable. Other than the throwaway 'for Charlie' in his blog (Which was likely Masi's idea, not Tim Kring's), and one or two reference, he is back to hi bubbly self, and has apparently forgotten Charlie.

Now, after Charlie, is Jackie. This is one of the worst handled deaths in the show, if not the. Jackie's a popular girl, who was once 'best friends' with Claire. They imply she has been for some time. And yet, aside from being shaken up about it in Fallout, Claire never really mentions or cares about Jackie again. All they refer to is 'a terrible happening' or 'that one girl died'. It's not hard to figure out WHO died, even if their memories were erased of the night. And Sandra refers to Jackie as if she never knew her, when clearly Jackie came over to visit Claire, most likely often. Sandra should be a bit more empathic. Zach should refer to it when he rides up on his bike. The school should do something to honor it. SOMETHING more than 'Lets just brush the Captain of the Cheerleading Squad's death under the table kthnx'

After Jackie is Eden. Bennet mourns all of one graphic novel and one or two references about 'What Sylar did to Eden', and then forgets her entirely. Mohinder and Isaac have throwaway reactions, if that.

The final death was Simone, considering most grievings go an episode or two, there's no telling yet how they'll handle it. If its anything like every other death, however, the token grieving is going to be brushed aside by episode 22, and they'll be moving on.

And with the finale coming up, we know there will be many more deaths over a short period of time, which characters will not be able to grieve over much because of circumstances.

Yet, after the finale, where someone will no doubt die, Kring is going to immediately jump to another group of people with no connection or care to the others. Meaning there will be no grieving period for them, either.

For perspective, lets look at other popular sci fi TV shows:

Stargate SG-1, through its 11 year run, whenever a team member died, vanished, was trapped, or otherwise became indisposed and endangered, the entire team ached, Sam cried to herself in the locker room, they became obsessive over getting the other back, the team sought psychiatrists and grief counselors, they winced every time the name was mentioned, over a year real time, and longer show time, until the character finally returned. And these people were trained proffessionals, that dealt with death on a daily basis.

Doctor Who recently lost one of its primary characters--in this show its been typical that they never mention a lost character ever again, as thats how the show goes, and yet with this latest loss, the Doctor continues to grieve and dwell on her every episode.

My point here, is that no matter the excuses he may come up with, good or bad, he is in the end simply avoiding illustrating any form of grieving--when these people are supposed to be 'ordinary people' we identify with, and yet they seem impervious to all the deaths around them no matter who they may be, despite the fact that in other shows, trained professionals, and people with entirely too much experience grieve.

The audience needs to be able to grieve over their favorite characters (and in the final episodes, no doubt favorite characters will die), they need some time to honor their favorites and clean it out of their systems. Hiatuses don't do that, that only makes it fester in most cases--watching other characters go through the same and worse, wathing them start to pick up the pieces, and try to move on does.

Pushing them immediately into other people we don't know or care about, is not. It seems like Kring only knows how to use death as a shock factor, and not move audiences with the show or make them care, or help the audiences cope with the losses of their favorite characters. If their favorite dies and is never mentioned again, why bother to watch anymore, Kring?

So, in closing, what I'm saying, is that I don't think Kring knows how to handle grieving, and if the season ends like I think it will, I shall be sorely disappointed with him. It doesn't hurt to give the audience some time to breathe between the action and the killing sometimes.

What do you guys think?