‘The 100’ writer discusses fallout of Lexa’s death while at ATX Television Festival
There have been many positive themes to play out across television over the course of the past year or so, but unfortunately, there have also been quite a few the majority of us wish we never had to discuss at all. The recent trend of LGBTQ characters getting killed off on shows is one of them. While there are times when removing a character is important for the sake of the story, too often this past year in general it has felt like these characters have been used to perpetuate shock value to the dismay of their fans.
More so than any other, the death of Lexa (Alicia Debnam-Carey) on “The 100” was a tipping point to many fans. In the aftermath of it happening, there were protests, petitions, and overall outrage among many diehard viewers, who imagined there being a way that she Clarke (Eliza Taylor) could have had a future together. The death was an easy way for the show to avoid a problem they were starting to run into in that Debnam-Carey was going to be unavailable due to “Fear the Walking Dead.” We do think that there were other ideas that the team could have come up with, even if we do understand it was a difficult situation.
What was discussed more today that the ATX Television Festival in particular was the way in which the show was unprepared for the reaction to the death, and in particular the widespread issues that would be discussed. Per Entertainment Weekly, the writer of this particular episode (“Thirteen”) featuring Lexa’s death in Javier Grillo-Marxuach had the following to say:
“I think it was a failure to recognize the cultural impact that this would have outside the context of the show … The systemic failure to recognize it as an event of the magnitude that it would have… is the real subject of discussion. Perhaps if we knew, why did we still go through with it? Why did it not register with us? I think that’s a bigger issue.”
Ultimately, it’s not possible for anyone to go back in time. Meanwhile, there’s no way to make Lexa fans happy now with the decision. The best thing that can be done in this situation, ultimately, is for everyone to try to learn from this and then move forward into the future.
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