Great Characters who left too soon

[byron lomax]

I've remembered another example - Lara Means from Millennium season two. I really loved this character and how she intereacted with Frank. Her story did come to a conclusion, and a good one at that, I just wish she could have stuck around for longer.

Pretty much every character who leaves Homicide: Life on the Street? Keeping in mind that I've finished the first four season only so far. I swear, after the pilot, Crocetti was my favorite character. At least they gave him a proper send-off, even if Joe Polito wasn't involved.

It was an excellent send-off, but it still kinda irks me that his stand-in was the rather bland Megan Russert. All of the original cast were awesome. Kellerman was the last Homicide character I really liked.

 

[ancientone51]

Since it has so sadly been brought to mind....Adam on Bonanza.

 

[Goji]

Deep Throat on the X-Files. He was more fun than any of his successors.

Vedek Bareil on DS9. I liked his relationship with Kai Winn, and would have liked to see him continue to represent the other side of Bajoran spirituality.

He was kind of a one-joke character, but I was a little disappointed when Anyong disappeared on Arrested Development, though his return in the finale makes up for it.

 

[Marc]

Deep Throat on the X-Files. He was more fun than any of his successors.

Vedek Bareil on DS9. I liked his relationship with Kai Winn, and would have liked to see him continue to represent the other side of Bajoran spirituality.

read a comment once that the actor who played Bareil was suprised and a tad on the miffed side when he found at that the characters's demise had been written.

 

[NCC1701]

Wash from Firefly/Serenity - Granted, the movie ended half an hour later, but it just won't be the same without Wash if there's ever a sequel.

Jeffrey Sinclair from Babylon 5 - I know a lot of people think Michael O'Hare's acting is wooden, but I think he's just a much subtler actor than Bruce "Hammy Actor" Boxleitner. Definitely the only thing that's missing beginning from season 2 onwards.

 

[StarshipDefiant]

Wash from Firefly/Serenity - Granted, the movie ended half an hour later, but it just won't be the same without Wash if there's ever a sequel.

Jeffrey Sinclair from Babylon 5 - I know a lot of people think Michael O'Hare's acting is wooden, but I think he's just a much subtler actor than Bruce "Hammy Actor" Boxleitner. Definitely the only thing that's missing beginning from season 2 onwards.

Yeah, definitely on both counts (Although I doubt there'll be post Serenity stories, at least on filmy anyway). I always put up Sinclair as someone who kept himself restrained, and rather liked that aspect of the character.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Doyle in Angel.

At least his departure was planned from the start.

Depends on who you believe. Joss Whedon says so, but I read an interview with Glen Quinn (RIP) which implied otherwise.

 

[selina]

Zhaan on "Farscape". I liked the way the character left the show, but still, it was sad to see her leave in the first place. I missed Zhaan.

 

[Marc]

Zhaan on "Farscape". I liked the way the character left the show, but still, it was sad to see her leave in the first place. I missed Zhaan.

So was Virginia Hayes but the makeup was cause her serious health problems so she had to make the hard decision.

Does say something about how much she loved the work when Hayes was upset at the cancellation two years after she'd left.

 

[D Man]

I never warmed up to Ivanova on B5 until very late season 4, when suddenly Claudia Christian displayed acting chops that she seemed to have never used up to that point (i.e. her talk with Franklin on the medlab's floor.) Then...she left the show. Among its various other problems, the final season's lack of Ivanova feels like a really big hole. Doesn't help that her replacement was the boring Lochley, either.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I don't understand why Donna Noble couldn't have been around longer either. I don't think it's necessary to get rid a brand new companion every season, which I fear is where this show it headed. Let's keep some people around for a while!

From what I'd read, If RTD had been staying on, and if they thought they could have kept Catherine Tate on for another year they would have loved to have her for another series, but they were surprised she agreed to 1 year and even more surprised when she said she'd love to come back, but she'd already been written out by then. Besides which RTD had decided to leave and thought it was better to draw a line under his tenure on the show and have everything wrapped up.

 

[Vanyel]

Zack Addy from Bones: Making him to be an accomplice to murder, I really hated that. I really hate the rotating interns too. They need to pick either Mr. Nigel-Murray or Wendell, as a cast member. And make Caroline a regular too.

Marcus Cole from Babylon 5.

Chuck Cunningham.

 

[NCC1701]

I never warmed up to Ivanova on B5 until very late season 4, when suddenly Claudia Christian displayed acting chops that she seemed to have never used up to that point (i.e. her talk with Franklin on the medlab's floor.) Then...she left the show. Among its various other problems, the final season's lack of Ivanova feels like a really big hole. Doesn't help that her replacement was the boring Lochley, either.

Gotta agree with this one, the only time Lockley was interesting to watch was when she was butting heads with Garibaldi.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Elle on Heroes. They were onto a way of salvaging the show, and preventing Sylar from continuing to sabotage it. Or maybe not. Probably nothing could have saved it.

Danielle on Lost. That abrupt death just felt really wrong. There was so much more to her story.

I'll put this behind tags as it's an ongoing series.

Spoiler: Mad Men spoiler for S3

Sal Romano on Mad Men There is just so much left to tell with that character.

For me, that's a reason to bail on the series altogether. I was already on the fence and that pushed me off. What a lost opportunity to inject some life into that inert so-called drama!

Wash from Firefly/Serenity - Granted, the movie ended half an hour later, but it just won't be the same without Wash if there's ever a sequel.

QFT. If they ever bring the series back, they better figure out a way to resurrect Wash. I was ok with it only because I figured the movie was the last we'd see of any of them.

More on Lost:

Spoiler: rumor and S5 finale

For whatever reason, I never liked the way they killed off Boone. Well now I'm happy to hear he'll at least get a slight chance to reappear. And if Juliet is really dead...I guess I'm ok with that. It's more a logic issue. How can she be dead if Sawyer, Jack and Kate, who were also at the blast site, be alive?

And regarding certain key demises on Dexter:

Spoiler: S2 and S4

Many people bitch about both Doakes and now Rita, but I approve of both of them. Their deaths were exactly what the series needed, just at the time they died, and are linked. Doakes was the Cassandra who warned Dexter that he would end up hurting the ones he loved unless he surrendered to formal justice, giving up his own personal and skewed version of justice. But Dexter's pigheaded refusal to listen, and then Doakes death, and his inability to continue to play Cassandra, led ultimately to Rita's death, as Doakes predicted. Doakes is vindicated from the grave.

And that is how to kill off characters right - in the service of the story and the development of the lead character.

 

[JediKnightButler]

Oz from Buffy. How they ended his storyline wasn't that great either. I was kind of surprised that he didn't join up with Angel-that would've been cool but I guess he had other projects going on that would've probably made anything other than guest appearances unlikely.

I was disappointed that Ivanova left after S4 of B5- although if the rumors about Ivanova getting involved with Byron were true, I'm glad she wasn't!!! Frankly, given how S5 turned out, I'm not sure exactly what her role would've been. After the Civil War, they couldn't have made her commander of the station given that she fought against Earthforce with Sheridan, et. al. Speaking of Ivanova, I felt like they were really going somewhere with the Talia-Ivanova "relationship" but then they abruptly cut things off towards the end of S2 with the revelation that she was (unconsciously) a Psi-Corp "mole". It's also never quite revealed what happened to her after she left. Bester makes a cryptic comment about her to somebody in S3 but nothing solid.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I swear, after the pilot, Crocetti was my favorite character. At least they gave him a proper send-off, even if Joe Polito wasn't involved.

Thats one of my favorite episodes of television ever.

Agreed on Diane leaving Cheers. Seeing the later seasons in the first run and reruns I simply liked the show. It was not until years later that I really watched all the early epiosdes that I really saw how good the show had been.

Professor Arturo leaving Sliders. I would rather they had killed Quinn off. While the main character he was never really that interesting. Much less without Arturo. Jerry O'Connell never really brought much to the character on his own. Unlike the combos of Marty McFly and Doc Brown and Sam Beckett and Al Calavicci. Where Marty and Sam worked well alone as leading men and pov characters. In addition to working great with their older, more colorful counterparts

 

[dru]

Ivanova (B5… unwatchable show with Sinclair imo) ++
Elle (Heroes) ++
Zack (Bones) ++

 

[Stiletto]

Tir Anazzazi from Andromeda. He was the coolest! I guess Kevin Sorbo was having problems with Tir upstaging him.

 

[shockwave]

heroes:
linderman
claude
elle

x-files:
deep throat

doctor who:
eccleston
donna

bsg:
boomer (maybe doesn't really count)

lost:
jacob (probably doesn't really count either)
eko

 

[auntiehill]

^I don't think Jacob has actually "left," but we shall see.....