Back to your regularly scheduled pogrom

Dammit. All my favorite characters are being killed off, and I'm starting to develop attachment issues. And I wholly blame HBO for starting this bloody massacre of the likable.

[Obligatory warning: abandon here all ye who dodge spoilers.]

It started last year with Deadwood. The damned sanfan-sissko-cogsockers behind Deadwood, the best (non-island) show on television, had to go and kill William. I don't think I've actually liked a TV kid since, well, Wednesday Addams. But William was bright, clever, brave, and he brought out the best in Bullock. I guess those are precisely the reasons why he had to be trampled into the muck. (They also found it necessary to knock off Wolcott, who was far from likable, but still a great character.)

At about the same time, Six Feet Under had to initiate the show's finale by killing off Nate — and then everyone else. Then Rome got into the act. Now yes, obviously I did see this guy's demise coming, but still, he was by far the best character on the show.

Not to be outdone by HBO, this year the networks pulled their blades and starting lopping heads. Smallville, as previously lamented, knocked off Jonathan last month. And two weeks later, Battlestar Galactica put a bullet in Billy. Note that these are two shows where every main character has been “killed” at least once. Now suddenly, death is permanent? Irreversible? Couldn't we irreversibly kill Lionel instead?

The last straw: Over the weekend we finally saw Serenity — a great movie based on a really great show, except that those @$$#Ø£ε$ went and killed Wash! Just like that! Thunk... Wash is dead!

Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's like Josey Wales said: “That’s just how it is. When I get to likin’ someone, they ain’t around very long.” If that's the case, Eko, Chloe, Kaylee, and Sol had better watch their backs.