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March 26, 2024: Important T.V.-related questions!

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This one stands out for me, not so much because they killed him off but because of the way they killed him off. Ā It was gruesome, upsetting, and undeserving of the character. Ā It was the one and only time the death of a character affecting me so deeply as a viewer that I actually stopped watching the show. Ā And, it turns out, I wasn’t the only one.

To be honest, this one was a toss up between Jamie Lannister and this guy…

Not surprised to see a lot of followers answer Dark Matter’s THREE for this one. Ā I recall perusing the internet the day after the show premiered and reading almost universal dislike for the character. Ā The plan, of course, was to introduce these characters – seeming cliches because of their lack of backstory – and then gradually subvert audience expectations. Ā Like my college psych professor once told me, former friends make the worst of enemies while former enemies make the best of friends. Ā That’s exactly what I was looking for, a redemption in the eyes of the viewers that would have them eventually fall in love with the character. Ā But seeing all those negative reactions to the character, I’ll admit I was a little concerned. Ā And I admitted to actor Anthony Lemke that I’d feared I’d gone too far. Ā But he just laughed it off. Ā He’d read the scripts for the next nine episodes, knew what we had in store for our audience, and he wasn’t concerned in the least. Ā He knew that they’d eventually fall in love with his character. Ā And he was right. Ā They did. Ā By the end of season 3, viewer scores put THREE and Android as the audience favorites.

This one stands out because it was the most recent. Ā Loved this character in the beginning of Better Call Saul as I’d already been introduced to him in Breaking Bad and, throughout the BCS’s first five seasons, I loved his character. Ā Then, in season six, the show and character take a very dark turn and so much screen time is spent detailing Saul’s mean spirited targeting of Howard Hamlin, a good-hearted character who effectively has his life destroyed. Ā Bleak. Ā And off-putting.

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And how would you respond to the aforementioned questions?

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7 responses

  1. gforce Avatar
    gforce

    I liked THREE from the very beginning – “bad” characters are almost always more interesting and complex than “good” ones. I even guessed that he was the character that FIVE saw in the memory where he lived on a farm as a boy, because that backstory would make him all the more interesting. What got him from that point to where he is now? What trauma or big life changing event? Great character, and perfectly acted by the inimitable Anthony Lemke!

    Reply
  2. Peter Riani Avatar
    Peter Riani

    On one, you pretty much summed up the way I personally felt. It haunted me for weeks. There are many, many people for whom Glenn was their personal favourite character. I couldn’t even look at Jeffery Dean Morgan without hating him even in other roles as if the actor himself was complicit in Glenn’s murder. The reason it hurt so much is that it wasn’t dramatic or heroic. It was in many ways simply to realistically grotesque. In a show where the undead were routinely decapitated and eviscerated often in bleakly funny dark ways as vehicle to demonstrate the survival of of the group. But the world had ended, the walking dead are the survivors. So it was inevitable that there would be some main cast casualties. However that said, using the very same jokey horror murder on one of our protagonists was a step too far and it was indeed something that writers and show runners could learn from. We’ve got Jumping the Shark, the Moonlighting syndrome and now possibly when people refer to as ‘The Glenn’ moment where an innocent likable, popular character is sacrificed in the most unpleasant grotesque gratuitous way for fun with viewers unable to continue to watch the show having been traumatised.

    Reply
  3. Kenneth Amend Harnish Avatar
    Kenneth Amend Harnish

    I would save One. I was disappointed ā˜¹ļø in his demise. I almost quit the show.

    Reply
  4. Tam Dixon Avatar
    Tam Dixon

    Loved your story about Anthony! We did grow to love his character. It’s an interesting strategy making unlikeable characters lovable. That worked for Rodney McKay, too.

    In the Harry Potter films, Snape was the biggest turn around character. Rickman was such a good actor.

    On character deaths: I stopped watching Game of Thrones because they killed Sean Bean. In retrospect, with Bean’s track record, I should have been prepared.

    Technically, Firefly didn’t kill off Wash until the movie but I was distraught over his death. I “overwrote” that in my memory. In my head, Wash and Zoe have settled on a nice back world planet. They have 4 kids and Zoe takes off for a occasional “job” to replenish their supplies. Wash still adores his warrior wife.

    Reply
  5. Ponytail Avatar
    Ponytail

    Have you done A Bad Guy That You Actually Loved yet?

    A bad guy I instantly loved was Ennis Esmer as Wexler on Dark Matter. He was so funny too. I always loved Three’s Anthony Lemke. AND, AND, I loved Robert Picardo’s Woolsey on Stargate Atlantis. I thought he was going to be very interesting when he joined the show.

    Reply
    1. Joseph Mallozzi Avatar
      Joseph Mallozzi

      Haven’t done that one yet but I’ve always been a big fan of bad guys (as you can probably tell).
      How goes?

      Reply
      1. Ponytail Avatar
        Ponytail

        You tend to put a lot of humor in your shows and characters. Give a bad guy humor and it makes their character endearing and cute. Wexler and his toothpick. Didn’t Two beat him up. LOL. Woolsey and his awkward moments (doors to the meeting room closing before he could get out) etc etc. Some times the actor makes a bad guy loveable like Anthony’s Three.

        I am doing okay. Had chemo #3 of 6 last week. Have treatments every 3 weeks. Takes some time to get back to normal – whatever that is. Side effects are never ending. Just when I start feeling GREAT!! it’s time for another treatment.

        Reply

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