Charmed spoilers ahoy!
May. 9th, 2004 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apocalypsos... I mean, I kinda knew that if they were gonna kill anyone off, it was going to be Chris. But still ... *sobs and wails* Drew! Drew, come back! *user snuggles her icon*
From a storytelling point of view, it does make sense, though. If they were going to give this season a happy ending, and they were going to kill off a male character like they said, Chris was the logical choice. One of the pitfalls of writing original fic that relies heavily on time travel is that I tend to think more about the consequences of stuff like this, which is probably why I figured if they were going to kill Chris off before he could get back to his time, I could understand that.
The whole male-character-death spoiler left four options -- Leo, Darryl, Wyatt and Chris. If Darryl died, I don't know about anybody else, but I would have been, "Meh." (I don't hate Darryl, I don't like Darryl ... I just don't give two shits about him.) Meanwhile, if you kill off Leo, who exactly does it accomplish? Hell, if they saved Wyatt but Leo died in the process, that could enough to royally screw him up, too. As for Wyatt dying, television shows aren't about to kill off children. And there's a scenerio for you -- what if, to solve the problem of Future!Wyatt, they had killed Baby Wyatt? What exactly does that accomplish? Piper and Leo would be inconsolable, and God only knows if they would get back together, and they don't have a "spare Wyatt" to work with like they do with Chris, to put it bluntly.
But Chris ... as much as I don't like it (Wah! Drew! *snuggles*), I understand it. Chris came back to save the future from Wyatt, and to save Wyatt. He didn't come back to cause his own conception (which is an ewww), and he didn't come back to hook his parents back together (although he was hoping for it, and made it perfectly clear to Leo in the last two episodes). I think even he saw that the most important thing was saving Wyatt. If Wyatt is saved, the world is saved and their family is saved. And I know it's been mentioned, but if Chris had gone back to his future, with a non-evil Wyatt in residence, he'd have no idea how to deal with him. If he's killed so easily and hurt so many people, I think the concept of Chris trusting Wyatt would have taken ages and might never even have occurred. (Then again, he could have gone forward, found a happy Wyatt and a married Leo and Piper, and suddenly lost all of his emotional baggage, but I doubt it.)
Plus, what would have happened if OldFuture!Chris shows up in the new future? Does he get two sets of memories? Does he keep the old set? Do his memories simply adapt to the change in events as soon as he lands, magically "conforming" his memories to his new reality?
Killing Chris sets up an emotional resonance with Piper and Leo. Here was their son, who was willing to come back and die to save his older brother. They're going to think of that every time they see Little Chris. I highly doubt this Chris will have any trouble with daddy issues, except maybe getting Leo to leave him the hell alone and stop being so overprotective. (I can soooo see Wyatt becoming a mommy's boy in the future, if only because Piper wasn't the one who had to watch Chris die. That poor little kid's going to get smothered by Leo, but in a good way. ;)) I think if Chris accomplished anything at all, it was making sure that this version of himself is going to be spoiled fuckin' rotten. *g*
So now you have Wyatt saved, Chris born, Piper knowing full well what her destiny in Chris's future is and hoping to change it, and Leo knowing that he's going to have to be there for both of his sons or else one's going to be an evil overload and the other's going to turn out to be a mope with daddy issues.
From a storytelling point of view, it does make sense, though. If they were going to give this season a happy ending, and they were going to kill off a male character like they said, Chris was the logical choice. One of the pitfalls of writing original fic that relies heavily on time travel is that I tend to think more about the consequences of stuff like this, which is probably why I figured if they were going to kill Chris off before he could get back to his time, I could understand that.
The whole male-character-death spoiler left four options -- Leo, Darryl, Wyatt and Chris. If Darryl died, I don't know about anybody else, but I would have been, "Meh." (I don't hate Darryl, I don't like Darryl ... I just don't give two shits about him.) Meanwhile, if you kill off Leo, who exactly does it accomplish? Hell, if they saved Wyatt but Leo died in the process, that could enough to royally screw him up, too. As for Wyatt dying, television shows aren't about to kill off children. And there's a scenerio for you -- what if, to solve the problem of Future!Wyatt, they had killed Baby Wyatt? What exactly does that accomplish? Piper and Leo would be inconsolable, and God only knows if they would get back together, and they don't have a "spare Wyatt" to work with like they do with Chris, to put it bluntly.
But Chris ... as much as I don't like it (Wah! Drew! *snuggles*), I understand it. Chris came back to save the future from Wyatt, and to save Wyatt. He didn't come back to cause his own conception (which is an ewww), and he didn't come back to hook his parents back together (although he was hoping for it, and made it perfectly clear to Leo in the last two episodes). I think even he saw that the most important thing was saving Wyatt. If Wyatt is saved, the world is saved and their family is saved. And I know it's been mentioned, but if Chris had gone back to his future, with a non-evil Wyatt in residence, he'd have no idea how to deal with him. If he's killed so easily and hurt so many people, I think the concept of Chris trusting Wyatt would have taken ages and might never even have occurred. (Then again, he could have gone forward, found a happy Wyatt and a married Leo and Piper, and suddenly lost all of his emotional baggage, but I doubt it.)
Plus, what would have happened if OldFuture!Chris shows up in the new future? Does he get two sets of memories? Does he keep the old set? Do his memories simply adapt to the change in events as soon as he lands, magically "conforming" his memories to his new reality?
Killing Chris sets up an emotional resonance with Piper and Leo. Here was their son, who was willing to come back and die to save his older brother. They're going to think of that every time they see Little Chris. I highly doubt this Chris will have any trouble with daddy issues, except maybe getting Leo to leave him the hell alone and stop being so overprotective. (I can soooo see Wyatt becoming a mommy's boy in the future, if only because Piper wasn't the one who had to watch Chris die. That poor little kid's going to get smothered by Leo, but in a good way. ;)) I think if Chris accomplished anything at all, it was making sure that this version of himself is going to be spoiled fuckin' rotten. *g*
So now you have Wyatt saved, Chris born, Piper knowing full well what her destiny in Chris's future is and hoping to change it, and Leo knowing that he's going to have to be there for both of his sons or else one's going to be an evil overload and the other's going to turn out to be a mope with daddy issues.
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no subject
Date: 2004-05-09 09:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 04:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 03:17 pm (UTC)I think that's a plotbunny gnawing on my ankle. Oh, dear.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 03:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 03:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-09 11:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 04:20 am (UTC)Of course, ten bucks says it's that Leo shows up at the hospital with Wyatt and finds out Piper died in childbirth or something. *eye roll*
no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 06:15 am (UTC)Unless they want to kill five years of tradition?
Of course, ten bucks says it's that Leo shows up at the hospital with Wyatt and finds out Piper died in childbirth or something. *eye roll*
You really need to stop mistaking Brad Kern for Joss Whedon.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 06:17 am (UTC)I know. It's a fatal flaw. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 05:41 am (UTC)But yes, him dying in the finale totally makes narrative sense.
I'm not sure if there's a missing scene or not. The last scene of the script does have the doors-closing thing in it, but that might just be so fans feel like it's final. If there is another ending, I bet it is Chris and Wyatt in the happy future. Which would make me gag, but it would tie a bow on the whole storyline.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 05:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 06:06 am (UTC)Even if Drew doesn't come back fulltime next year, I really want at least one episode where the CO's go into the Fabulous Future and see the next generation at work. Just for the happiness value.
no subject
Date: 2004-05-10 06:10 am (UTC)And also, YES. I totally want them to go forward and have to work with Chris, Wyatt, and Unknown Pheebs Spawn on vanquishing something. And they can all angsty over Chris and get pleasantly surprised over him smiling and laughing and OMG I think I just want to see Drew be silly. :)