Cold Case victims who irriated you

[ninja1088]

Let's face it, not all the Cold Case Victims can tug at your heartstrings. In some of the episodes, you feel nothing when the victims died. I'm not talking about the %*# "victims" in Blackout , Justice or The Plan. I'm talking about victims they tried so hard to make perfect or likeable that they fell flat. In some cases, the victims irriated me. These are mine... what are yours?

World's End - I'm amazed Audrey became angered at Will for not telling her about his wife. Yet she's basically engaging in an affair herself. Her husband wasn't perfect by any means but for her to be made out as "strong" etc doesn't wash for me. Having an affair and being a hypocrite isn't strong or heroic.

Schadenfreude - Sorry, Lindsey still broke the law, regardless of the reasons. The idea that she deserved sympathy for that didn't wash.

Debut - My biggie. They tried to show how Emma was ahead of her time and "better" than the other snobbish girls in this episode. Yet, in her final conversation with Travis, she acts no better than them.
Not saying Travis lying about his hertiage was right. But having been there myself once, I can see why he did it. It's not easy to be shunned and discriminated against for who you are. It's even harder for a teenager.
Instead of showing any understanding or compassion, Emma simply calls him fake and comes off as acting superior because she can be true to herself. Give yourself a pat on the back Emma. Not everyone can do it as easily. To dismiss those who can't as shabbily as you did. You were no better than the other girls, despite's the writers attempts to show otherwise.

[The Reverend Bizarre]

One of mine.

Spider(s) - As tragic as the death was, I couldn't feel much for the victim. Let's face it, she got herself into a neo-Nazi organization (though a loose one), but never had any desire to really join them. I guess we're supposed to believe that she was just incredibly naive and stupid, but c'mon, surely the schools would have rammed it in her brain that 'Nazi's are bad, Mmmmkay?"

I just can't feel much for a victim who joins with people who have corrupt moral values, and doesn't expect to get burned.

[bgn122]

Nov 7, 2009 20:00:13 GMT -5 The Reverend Bizarre said:

I just can't feel much for a victim who joins with people who have corrupt moral values, and doesn't expect to get burned.

One of mine was definitely the one who's name we shall not say Blake from "Jackals". Okay, I understand the one who's name we shall not say was an innocent troubled girl going through a lot, but she was too stubborn and stupid. She knew who she was dealing with. The Jackals were criminals who stood by each other and she was aware of that. Even though, she insisted in being part of their group and when she finally realized she didn't belong there, it was much too late. the one who's name we shall not say was so innocent that she trusted Darren and he let her down. Her brutal murder was just a consequence of her continuous mistakes.
I'm gonna think of someone else afterwards.

[The Reverend Bizarre]

Another thing that irked me about the girl from Spiders (what was her name?) is when she's talking to Spider about the Swastika symbol.

"Isn't that a hate symbol?"

"No, it's an ancient symbol of peace."

"Okay!" =D

No, no no no! Yes, the Swastika was a symbol of peace, but do the time to compare that Swastika with the Nazi version and anyone call tell a huge difference. The Nazi version is always tilted at an angle.

...but, then, I need to remember that not everyone knows a lot about symbols.


Now I'm trying to think of another victim that irritated me.

[ninja1088]

Have to agree with you about Spiders. Another one for me is Roween from Dog Day Afternoons. Sorry, wallflower or not, she still agreed to break the law and put other lives at risk because of it. It seemed her final motivation to push the button was realizing the leader of the gang was simply using her.
Like Tamara in Spiders and Lindsey in Schadenfreude , she chose to hang out and participate in activities with dangerous people... and got burned in the end.

[Electrophile]

No one deserves to die, unless they are truly evil and death is the only appropriate punishment.

These were victims, regardless of what lead up to their deaths or what their associations were. I can understand the feeling of "if you play with fire, you'll get burnt", but that doesn't mean their deaths are somehow less tragic. Someone chose to take their lives and that choice was not theirs to make. If this was a loved one of yours in one of these situations, would you want someone saying "Oh well, he/she hung out with bad people. They had to know this would happen"?

[The Reverend Bizarre]

No, you are right in a sense, nobody deserves to die, except those who deserve it.

However, this topic is called "Cold Case victims who irritated you" NOT "Cold Case victims who you think deserved to die." Huge difference. As far as I can see, nobody here is posting about how 'happy' they are that these victims died.

The truth of the matter is, is that not everyone is going to like every victim. For the sake of this thread let's focus on the topic at hand, and realize that none of us are happy that these victims died.

[ninja1088]

Oh no electrophile, not saying that at all. Clearly in real life and on tv, no one deserves to have their life taken, despite the mistakes they make.
All I was stating (and Reverend was too) is that some time Cold Case tries too hard with their victims to make them perfect, nieve, ahead of their time etc in an effort to get us on their side and fall flat.
My best example would be Audrey Metz from World's End. Did she deserve to die? Of course not, but she wasn't a strong woman like the writers tried to make her be. Sorry, she was basically engaging in an affair and was a hypocrite to boot. In trying to show her as a strong woman, (IMO) the writers failed. Lo Kinney, Kate Butler, Miriam Forrester were women to be admired. And they didn't intentionally humilate or hurt anyone and were willing to do what was right...even if it meant their lives.

[bgn122]

I understand you and I think what you're saying is right, Electrophile. I was not saying that the one who's name we shall not say Blake deserved to die either. Like ninja1088 said, in real life and on tv, no one deserves to die or to be murdered. I just tried to say that her stubborn and ingenuous attitude cost her her life. I am sorry for her and I do not agree with her brutal murder.

[Electrophile]

I understood where you guys were going, I just disagreed with the way you were getting there. I agree that their fool-hardy actions put their lives in danger and ultimately lead to their deaths. Sometimes stories need to be framed that way so that the people watching at home can understand how not knowing what road you're on can lead to trouble.

For me, the only unsympathetic victims are the ones who were abusers/criminals/wrongdoers themselves. That doesn't mean they deserved to die, just that their deaths aren't exactly going to be mourned. Take Justice, for example. The victim was a rapist. I'm not going to feel sorry that he got his comeuppance and I'm sure you all agree with that. I can see how in some of the episodes you discussed, the victim was drawn or written in a way that makes them look comically naive or unaware, but people like that actually exist and it's not always a function of the writers trying to make them even more sympathetic to us.

You used the episode Spiders as an example of this. I'd say that there's a quite a few people who don't know the swastika's connection to history OR where it came from/how it was originally used. Yes that's embarrassing, but there's a lot of stupid people out there.


Maybe I was misinterpreting the initial tone/premise of the thread and if so, I apologize.