QUOTE (jh1205us @ Sep 25 2008, 12:37 PM)

If someone is dead, can't we keep them dead? Nikki/Jessica died in the explosion, Linderman died when his brain was pulled out of his head, and Nathan was killed at the end of the season. It appears that the writers have no problem introducing new characters, but can't let go of ones that are being killed off. One of the bigger disappointments from last season was the slew of new characters who took camera time from other ones. The show is overcrowded and needs to have a few people killed off. Let them go! If I'm honest with myself, I'll watch for a few more weeks, but I hope things change. This past week was not good enough to peak my curiosity. It simply made me mad. We'll see how it goes
If you've been watching this show for a while you should know better than to make assumptions such as so-and-so died or so-and-so is alive. Nathan being shot does not in and of itself mean that he was dead. Did you really go into this season
expecting him to be dead, as opposed to wondering
whether or not he was dead?
And as we've discussed in other threads, the potential for one consciousness to inhabit another body (such future-Peter putting present-Peter in Jesse Murphy's body) could be at least part of the explanation for how Linderman and Niki may SEEM to be alive and ticking. The writers don't want us to be thinking, "Oh, Linderman's suddenly alive again. Okay." They want us to be wondering whether that's even really him, who is he if he isn't Linderman, how is he back if he is, etc. My feeling is that Linderman is not a ghost, not a hallucination, and is still dead, despite appearances. And I know I'm not the only one here who believes Tracy may honestly not be Niki at all.
Ultimately, this show is about the rollercoaster of the journey itself, not where it ends up. In other words, the entertainment and drama and excitement is meant to come from the question of HOW such-and-such character gets out of a predicament, not WHETHER they will. And when the rare permanent death does show itself (as it has with Isaac and D.L. and Simone and Eden and Thompson and Kaito and Alejandro and Bob), it's just that much more impactful.