Joss Whedon is by far one of the greatest television writers of all time. The genius behind the acclaimed Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as the movie Serenity and the brand new series on Fox called Dollhouse. Which is starting to kick serious ass as the season progresses.
Whedon has this incredible ability to create characters that viewers actually care about. I can hardly think of a character on his show that I didn’t like, or at least respect the creepiness of. This being said, Joss Whedon also has a tendency to put his characters through the emotional wringer, and death is more often than not a very large part of the story ending.
Spoilers for all of his various shows/movies/etc below.
After watching the most recent episode of Dollhouse, I arrived at the conclusion that as much as JW enjoys bringing joy to the hearts of millions of fanboys and girls across the world, he also very much enjoys watching as our hearts are ripped out and stomped on. Episode 8 seemed to end with a happy note. The guy got the girl, Echo saved the day, and we learned more about Mellie/November’s past. A little bittersweet, but not bad. But episode 9, A Spy in the House of Love? Heartbreak! Paul Ballard finds out his new cute girlfriend is actually a doll, we learn who the spy in the Dollhouse is (and that definitely doesn’t end happily) and poor DeWitt had to end her little affair with Victor. Which, whoah, I definitely didn’t see coming. But it only sustains the point that no one can be happy while living in JW’s world!
Take Firefly/Serenity. The series itself was relatively light. Sure, Mal gets to kick some ass once in a while, and the reavers are freaking scary, but it wasn’t too bad. Then Serenity came along. Mal’s character was so much darker in the movie than in the series! Sheppard Book dies, which to be honest I was sad about but not too heartbroken. But then Wash! Really? Did they NEED to kill off Wash? He was the light! The awesome! The guy who played with plastic dinosaurs! And JW stuck a giant wooden pole through his chest, effectively breaking the hearts of millions of fans.
Even the cheesy, Sarah Michell Gellar-filled wonder that was Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended with the entire town of Sunnydale turning into a crater, and Buffy’s sexy British vamp boyfriend exploding. (He comes back in Angel, which is about the only thing that redeemed the later seasons of that show. But still. Exploded.) Buffy wasn’t even originally going to end that way! It was going to end the way season five ended, with Buffy dying in order to save her sister (and the world) from certain destruction. He was going to kill the main character!
And dare I start on Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog? All poor Billy wanted to do was rule the world with the woman he loved. Then JW went and killed her. You could trace Whedon’s career with a trail of bodies!
I will forever be in love with the stories that he weaves and the characters he creates. But as an avid fan of happy endings, I very much wish he would let people be happy - let characters live. Please?
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