Sunday: Why was Doctor Beckett written out?

[Snowman37]

SPOILERS for the third season episode "Sunday."

Remind me, why was Doctor Beckett killed off in this episode?

[gateraid]

You will get many variations in the answers for this. The story I heard (based on what Martin Gero said once, although even those stories vary over time) was that it wasn't planned per se.

He wanted to write about their day off. The others said it wasn't interesting enough etc etc, and the story sort of evolved into Carson being killed. In other words, when he started writing, nobody was to die, but that's what the story became.

Another theory that has done the rounds at cons (based on what some of the actors have said) is that TPTB (writers, producers etc) did it to shake things up a bit with the regular cast, to make them a little less 'secure'.

Likely what happened is that they decided someone had to die from the regular cast. They looked at potential candidates - it couldn't be anyone on the away team, and it couldn't be Weir (at least not mid-season). Carson was a fan favourite, but not part of the frontline team, so he was an obvious choice.

[Hellraiser-89]

One of TPTB said in bonus material on the DVDs that they wanted to shake things up by killing Carson.

[Snowman37]

That's what I had heard when the episode first aired back in 2007. I had also heard that his death was influenced by an episode of Grey's Anatomy. In the episode, a central character (a doctor) was killed by an active grenade after it was surgically removed from a patient. Sound familiar? I don't know if there was any truth to this or if it was just to cover themselves from an angry audience.

[Raineman]

and maybe paul wanted a break or go in a new direction. they kill people off alot when the actor wants to leave or if he/she is giving the producers greif

[Snowman37]

I thought the actor was devastated that he was being written out of the show?

[Falcon Horus]

and maybe paul wanted a break or go in a new direction. they kill people off alot when the actor wants to leave or if he/she is giving the producers greif

He did not.

And the fact they blew Carson to kingdom come with an exploding tumor is still to this day a favorite joke to tease Paul with (as witnessed at a convention in Marseille just a few weeks ago).

[QuantumIguana]

I would have preferred that he had been merely seriously wounded. You can shake things up just as much by having someone be injured than you can by killing them off. Sometimes it shakes things up even more, because an injury is less neat and tidy, the character still exists, even if they are elsewhere recuperating, and while they live, they exert an influence because even if they aren't there, you can hear from them, and they could come back.

[AlexanderD]

An episode teasing the death of a central character generates ratings.

[JT-2]

An episode teasing the death of a central character generates ratings.

It didn't work in Sunday's case. According to the GW site, it got a 1.1, tying with Tao of Rodney for lowest rating of the season.

[hedwig]

That's what I had heard when the episode first aired back in 2007. I had also heard that his death was influenced by an episode of Grey's Anatomy. In the episode, a central character (a doctor) was killed by an active grenade after it was surgically removed from a patient. Sound familiar? I don't know if there was any truth to this or if it was just to cover themselves from an angry audience.

If I remember correctly, the guy that was killed in the explosion was a member of the bomb squad, not a doctor. Somewhat similarly to Carson, he was walking away with the grenade and it blew up. He's now the star of "Friday Night Lights".

[Snowman37]

If I remember correctly, the guy that was killed in the explosion was a member of the bomb squad, not a doctor. Somewhat similarly to Carson, he was walking away with the grenade and it blew up.

That's the episode, but I only read about it... I just assumed it was a doctor. Anyway, back in 2007, the story I read was that they were copying that episode's shock factor to spike up the ratings. It backfired.

[hedwig]

That's the episode, but I only read about it... I just assumed it was a doctor. Anyway, back in 2007, the story I read was that they were copying that episode's shock factor to spike up the ratings. It backfired.

Yep. I watched that episode. And I must say, I was stunned at that explosion. Not so much with Carson's, though, even though I knew something was going to happen to him. :

[JT-2]

Yep. I watched that episode. And I must say, I was stunned at that explosion. Not so much with Carson's, though, even though I knew something was going to happen to him. :

I was more stunned that they'd done something as stupid as an exploding tumor.

[hedwig]

I was more stunned that they'd done something as stupid as an exploding tumor.

I agree.