Jesse - Why we forgot about him?

MarieVampSlayer

MarieVampSlayer

Bloody hell, Sodding, blimey, shagging, knickers..
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Sineya
Hey all,

Ok so we can all agree that killing Jesse in S1 was supposed to be shocking for the characters, a way to say that slaying is dangerous and anybody could die (Yeah Lost, Buffy did it first!). Watching Welcome to the hellmouth for the first time, we didn't know that Jesse wasn't going to be part of the scoobies like Xander and Willow.

But did you find it strange that they never in 7 years talked about him? Not even in the following episodes of the season? I always thought that JW characters were good because they grieved and changed from their past experiences and didn't forget about them like other TV shows. Do you think that mistake mattered or do we blamed it on S1 being less cohesive then the others?

Let me know 😉

MVS
 
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It was probably because few fans had seen Welcome to the Hellmouth. It was the olden days and people missed episodes. If you discovered a show late, you could not turn back time and rewatch the earlier episodes.
 
Jesse was supposed to be in Conversations with Dead People and the actor was unavailable. So they didn't completely forget about him. But I also think we didn't get to know him enough to grieve for him. So clearly Xander and Willow grieved, we just didn't see it.
 
Blaze
Blaze
That would have been awesome to see in Convo with Dead People
Jesse had "plot device" written all over him. I believe it was Joss's way of saying, "nobody's safe". It's honestly a shame that they didn't even bring him up once after his death, but then again, he was a plot device, he wasn't supposed to be remembered. So sad. I probably would've preferred him over Xander. 😳😉
 
Jesse was just a throwaway character, despite the fact that he was supposed to be Xander and Willow's best friend. It does seem strange, though, that someone who they had known, supposedly, most of their lives, was just completely forgotten like that, when you compare it to Doyle, on "Angel," who Angel and Cordy only knew for a few months, but whose video they drug out as late as Season 5, bemoaning, :I just miss him so..."

I guess Joss just ain't consistent about how the people he kills off are remembered by those who loved them.
 
I think it was a missed opportunity to be honest. If Jesse was as important to Xander and Willow as they claimed he was, it would have explained SO much of Xander's resentment and hatred of Angel, and Vampires in general. Instead Xander used Jenny's death as more of traumatic experience instead of his best friend. Even just mentioning him, or dealing with Xander's anger down the line , like in Restless, or at any point in season 7 as a way for the First to mess with him would have been great.

But I think that what is really boils down to is that it was a new show, just getting on its feet, and they weren't sure yet where it was headed..and then when it was good to go for a second season, they didn't bother with a character who dead in the first episode.
 
GraceK said:
Xander's resentment and hatred of Angel, and Vampires in general.
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Yes, I believe that is where his hatred for Vampires comes from. His hatred of Angel is partly because he's a vampire and mostly because he's jealous of Buffy and Angel. And then later he hates him because of Angelus.

GraceK said:
Instead Xander used Jenny's death as more of traumatic experience instead of his best friend.
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Well I think the death of Jenny is different. The reason why he brings it up a few times is because Jenny's death means more to the Scooby gang then Jesse's does. Jenny was at times a part of the scooby gang, she betrayed Buffy, was Giles' girlfriend, and killed by Angelus, so her death is more connected to the gang as a whole, where as Buffy and Giles didn't really know Jesse. Good thought about him popping up in Restless, though. If he had been in Xander's dream, and then appear as the First in season 7, I think that would have been cool.

If Jesse had been more focused in the first episode, like Xander and Willow were, and then dies, and then Xander takes over that role, it would have been more of a surprise and possibly had more consequence. This happens a lot in TV shows though, either the pilot episode or the first season often have characters that just disappear, or continuity is changed, as the show starts to find itself.
 
Guessing the problem is that the majority of the audience wouldn't remember him.
Having the main character reminiscing events that we haven't seen about a character you don't even remember just doesn't work very well.

I have no problem with them not mention Jesse.
They should have done it within season 1 if any.

/SK
 
High School of the Dead had one best friend who didn't last an entire episode before he changed into a zombie that had to be destroyed. I'm not the only one who thought it was a gripping scene, and it would be brought up again in later episodes.

OTOH, it's real hard to keep a fun, innocent vibe to contrast with the horror if the death of Jesse was portrayed as it should've been, shocking, horrifying to Xander and Willow, and something that haunted them. Even though Willow wasn't the one to dust Vampire Jesse, it should've had an impact to her similar to the room of dead bodies later on (though the room of dead bodies would actually just build on that).
 
I think the audience overinflate Jesse's importance to the characters and overall story and think too much about him.

Xander & Willow grew up on the Hellmouth. In Prom, Jonathan said with Buffy there SHS had its lowest mortality rate in Sunnydale history. In Earshot, Oz said when he reads the school newspaper he goes straight to the obituaries. In Anne, Larry said they'll have a good football year if they can keep down all of the mysterious deaths.

Considering the big deal everyone made out of Buffy being "the new girl" I bet not that many people move there so they've known their peers their whole lives.

* Marci turned invisible, recruited by the US gov to be a spy/assassin.
* a group of boys were killed by vamps in the AV room.
* Sheila was sired.
* Thersea was sired.
* 4 members of the swim team turned into monsters and now live in the ocean.
* 4 students committed cannibalism and murder while possessed and who knows what happened to them
* that boy who the Scoobies commented took gymnastics before being sired
* Larry was killed by the demon Mayor.
* Harmony was sired.

* Dr Gregory (Biology teacher) was beheaded by a giant she mantis
* Flutie (the Principal) was eaten alive by hyena possessed students
* Jenny (computer teacher) had her neck snapped by a vampire
* Ms Greene (the nurse) was eaten alive in the sewers by monsters
* Marin (the coach) was either eaten alive or gang raped to death
* Ms Frank (teacher) was shot by the possessed janitor
* Snyder (the Principal) was eaten alive by the demon Mayor
 
GraceK said:
I think it was a missed opportunity to be honest. If Jesse was as important to Xander and Willow as they claimed he was, it would have explained SO much of Xander's resentment and hatred of Angel, and Vampires in general. Instead Xander used Jenny's death as more of traumatic experience instead of his best friend. Even just mentioning him, or dealing with Xander's anger down the line , like in Restless, or at any point in season 7 as a way for the First to mess with him would have been great.

But I think that what is really boils down to is that it was a new show, just getting on its feet, and they weren't sure yet where it was headed..and then when it was good to go for a second season, they didn't bother with a character who dead in the first episode.
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That's my thought-It would have been really great to see Xander mention him once and a while in regard to why he has trouble sympathizing with even "good" vampires.
 
From the point of view of someone watching the show I never really cared/thought about him during any of the later seasons. While I still think it's was a terribly missed opportunity for any character development for any of the characters because the show did not reference him, even in a flashback. I really think that was wasted potential. And I understand the reason for not giving the actor a main character credit scene in the intro, but it still would have been nice. Especially for new people who just started watching the show.
I think Jesse was just a victim of flawed writing and timing (as much as he was to the vampire that sired him).
 
It would have been great to hear the occasional mention of him. At one point in a later season I remember him saying something like 'a guy would have laughed - I miss Oz'. Would have been nice to hear him say Jesse instead. Especially since I never had the impression that Oz and Xander were that close.

Conversations With Dead People definitely would have packed one hell of a punch with Jesse and Tara. It would have been a real heavy hit.
 
caitaintdead said:
Conversations With Dead People definitely would have packed one hell of a punch with Jesse and Tara. It would have been a real heavy hit.
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I don't think so at all. I mean, yeah the Tara bit, but not so much Jesse. For the fans that knew him it would have been meh? and I am sure there was a large percent of fans that would be been like "who is he?"

Now if Jesse's death had dramatically changed Xander and it was alluded to throughout the series then yeah, the callback in Convos might have had some gravitas; otherwise it would have felt like damn, seven seasons and the only person close to Xander that he lost died in the first episode?
 
Mr. Pole said:
For the fans that knew him it would have been meh? and I am sure there was a large percent of fans that would be been like "who is he?"
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Reminds me of what happened in the new season of TWD. It was kinda laughable.
 
I did find it strange they never mentioned him. He didn't really impress me or something, but I just hate bad writing and this is yet another example. There are way too many opportunities where they could have mentioned him, but no let's pretend he never existed instead. Xander should have staked a beloved classmate or something.
 
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