I knew Stephen was going to die.--Raise your hand if you guessed the spoiler!

I knew someone was going to die, but I just wasn't sure who it would be. Killing characters off seems to be the "in" thing for tv writers these days, but much like they have done with the Stargate franchise, there's built in ways to bring the character back in one form or another. There's no real shock left and I can't feel any real "loss" because of it. If they want him back, just bring in a clone or AU version and tada!

While I was composing this, I got a reply from [info]cordeliadelayneon one of her stories; she tells me that best as she and some other fans can work out, the writers meant to get rid of Stephen pretty much right away. ITV insisted they keep the actor for the season. That could explain a lot: the writers are stuck writing half a dozen or so extra episodes for a characters they just want to be rid of.

Hmmm... that adds a new spin. Perhaps the body found in the very first episode was actually supposed to be Stephen and they had to change it to be Dashing Captain Ryan when ITV insisted on keeping Stephen around? That would have actually been a lot more poignant all around, letting Stephen die a noble death before the character was ruined. This actually would make a lot more sense and impact on the other characters than the death of DCR would have too, and I'm not saying that just because I like him.

On reflection, I think I don't want Helen to bring Stephen back. I'm afraid she's into cloning (that was a LOT of Cleaners), and a Stephen-clone bent to her will, or even a Stephen plucked safely from the past but persuaded that Helen is being persecuted and Lester and possibly Nick are enemies--I don't want to see either of those things.

I can't figure out why out of all the people on the show, we're seeing a lot of this one particular guy. Is it cloning, Helen screwing over the timeline multiple times, or a combination? She seems fascinated with the idea of changing the timeline, even saying she was working with Oliver to have the right environment to perform her experiments, so how many changes have their been that we don't realize? Might explain Stephen becoming a total dick.

I found this review over at CliqueClack rather interesting, and now I want to go back and read their previous reviews. They point out several of the same things we have, and I love this bit:

"So do any of you know what the hell happened to the character of Stephen this series? I guess after the timeline changes between the first and second series, he became a tool. And yet no one mentioned this particular personality change, what with being focused on Claudia/Jenny and all. Maybe Helen has some venereal disease that brings out the stupid in guys. Nick has been out long enough to have started recovering. Maybe there’s a Helen’s crotch brain rot therapy group out there."

After the last episode in which the other shoe had dropped for Stephen in regards to Helen being a "self-serving psychotic bitch" I can't believe he actually seemed to be buying it again instead of seeing what was right in front of him.

Winning line goes to Lester, for his comment to Oliver about snooker being on the other channel. *g*