Lord Of The Rings.

Are they all contributors to the lessening impact of death in science fiction movies and TV shows?

There arespoilersfor some older TV shows and movies in here.

I remember as a child, watching Disneys version ofThe Three Musketeers.

The musketeer hit the floor, lifeless.

I sat there with my mum, the both of us looking a little confused.

I wish I could remember exactly what he said after that, because I recall it being brilliantly cheesy.

Of course, there are some exceptions, but not many.

Ad content continues below

However, science fiction and fantasy have always bent the rules slightly.

They can kill characters off and then take it further.

But recently, it seems that the things that once made sci-fi exciting and unpredictable have become the norm.

Youd be more hard pushed to find a character that hasnt died, than vice versa.

Most of the time, theres no going back from it.

In the last series ofDoctor Who,a particular theme started to occur regularly.

Poor old Rory, long suffering fiance to Amy Pond, kept on dying.

He just couldnt help himself.

In the space of five episodes, he died, or appeared to die, at least three times.

To be honest, I lost count.

But it became hard to not sigh every time his mouth gaped open and his eyes rolled back.

It was the first death, inAmys Choice, that was probably the most predictable.

We knew it was a dream world.

We knew hed be coming back.

And, watching it back, we knew it was the start of some sadistic trend.

A load of other cases spring to mind.

And it probably could have, but never would have continued without Sarah Michelle Gellar.

InChildren Of Earth, fan favourite Ianto Jones was laid to rest, well before the finale.

The first thought that crept across most minds was: hell be back.

Theres ages before the end.

But he didnt come back.

Even by the end of the series, many were still convinced he would come back.

But the shows are expensive to make, and are often cancelled as a consequence.

The last thing any writer would ever want to do is leave a story unfinished.

Joss Whedon constantly suffered at the hands of television executives.

Subsequently, a majority of the season finales ended with a death or near-death.

But it was clear that, if it did return, everyone would be brought back.

The deaths were ready to be undone.

They had to be.

Theres no time for them to lay dead for half an hour.

They have to get back up, almost immediately.

So, the characters dont suffer from grief, the audience doesnt suffer from a great deal of shock.

Its a twist that, as soon as its twisted, just straightens itself back out again.

So, that bullet pops back out, and up he jumps.

The new expectation is that characters will get up again.

I suppose it leaves audiences reeling more, finding it hard to believe that the characters are actually gone.

Maybe its denial, more like in a life situation.

At the end ofBeing Humanthis year, Mitchell made an emotional exit.

I managed to avoid spoilers, and so the very end was genuinely shocking.

But as soon as the credits had rolled, I had convinced myself that hed be back next season.

Much like Annie the season before.

Of course they would.

In each of these cases, the writing was brilliant.

It was tense and heart-wrenching.

But it still took an Internet search to realise that Mitchell probably wasnt coming back.

In the back of my mind, I still think hell crop back up at some point.

So, is death becoming a predictable cliffhanger, when it can be undone just as easily?

Will it slow down?

At the moment, it all boils down to the writing.

It makes me think of the Adam WestsBatman.

At the end of every first two-part episode, Batman and Robin would be facing certain death.

My all time favourite was when they were hanging over a vat of sulphuric acid.

And then crawled out.

Lucky I was wearing my sulphuric-acid-proof suit today, he sighed.

Or something to that effect.

Dont expect that to be the last time someone gets that lucky.