Putting the 'Fun' in Funeral: The Speculation Discussion Thread

[Daniel Avery]

Okay, we probably should have had this thread set up earlier, but now that it's Crunch Time.....

One of the producers revealed long ago that we would learn in the upcoming episode (S4E13) just who they've gathered to bury. In the flash-forward scenes we have been shown so far, we know that Sam and Adam are attendees at the funeral where Fallon is staged as the "Chief Mourner". That leaves all the other cast members' fates left up in the air.

I resisted the urge to set up a poll since I was hoping the thread would be more of a discussion about why your choice makes the most sense, or what you think makes them the most likely to be killed off. Or will anyone actually be killed off? Could it be one of a few certain favorite characters who are currently off-canvas?

Heck, just for fun feel free to offer up your craziest, least-likely (but funny to consider) scenarios. We could always use a good laugh at a funeral, right?

 

[Grant Jennings]

The candidates:
Cristal: brain tumor
Kirby: drug overdose
Liam: murdered after he learns the circumstances of his father's death
Culhane: murdered by Leo the crooked contractor
Jeff: poisoned paint or, in case you forgot, the bullet still lodged in his chest
Steven: drug overdose or suicide
Blake: plane crash
Anders: undiagnosed pre-existing condition. Remember when he collapsed prior to quitting his job at the manor?
Alexis: ?
Dominique: ?
Monica: ?

Just because Fallon is front and center doesn't necessarily mean the dearly departed is someone she is especially close to. Fallon is a narcissist; if Hilda Gunderson died Fallon would take the best seat - if she bothered to attend. I think Cristal is a red herring; she's too obvious a choice plus Adam has to cure her as part of his redemption arc. I don't think it's Kirby, either as there are still possibilities for her character. I could only imagine Blake being killed off if it was the final season of the show and the story revolved around who inherits what. Amanda has been mentioned so that rules out Alexis; the same goes for Dominique because of Brady. Monica? With all of the build up I can't imagine the reveal would be someone who has appeared just once this season.

If you asked me a year ago I would have felt strongly that Jeff would die. Why? I don't believe in psychics but soap opera writers do. Adriana told Alexis she would marry a man and he would "expire". Now, I'm not so sure. Jeff has become a more interesting and likable character over the past season and a half.

I think a case could be made for killing off Liam. Happily married couples don't make for good soap opera plots. Liam's death could bring about a much needed change in Fallon's personality: they really need to dial her back a bit. I'll doubt they'll do it. Liam lives.

Who do I think it will be? I'm torn between two characters for two very different reasons. Michael Culhane seems to be a fifth wheel, he isn't essential to the story and he has few connections to the other characters. I can imagine Michael and Sam trying to gather incriminating evidence against which puts them in grave danger. Michael could die a hero's death saving Sam from Leo. My other choice is Steven. Steven "dying" would be in keeping with the original series. Fallon being graveside before Alexis arrives (fashionably late) and Blake being absent (refusing to accept Steven's death) would also be in keeping with the original. The upside to this would be that it means the writers intend to bring Steven back. The downside would be that Steven would probably not be played by James Mackay.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I think Cristal is a red herring; she's too obvious a choice plus Adam has to cure her as part of his redemption arc

That would be a perfect reason to kill her. Adam unjustly accused of malpractice. Who's going to support him, and who won't?
Cristal needs to be home with her baby anyway.
Last-last-minute surprise twist: Celia is the last guest to show up at the funeral.

 

[Brian Kinney]

Cecil Colby (last seen in Season 2, Episode 20) returns, wealthier than ever. Cecil marries Alexis, dies and the prophecy is fulfilled. Liam doesn't fake his death - Liam will be replaced by an evil doppelgänger, that's why Fallon's phone was bugged. The people behind the murder of Liam's father want to know everything about him to get hold over the Van Kirk company.

 

[Rove]

I'm not hearing any mention of Bo this return season. Could it be him?​

 

[tommie]

I'm not hearing any mention of Bo this return season. Could it be him?​

Shame on you for even putting that out in the universe.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Are you kidding? Bo is Fallon's new sidekick (sorry, Sam). Fallon and Bo go hunt the goons down who took Liam, with Bo literally sniffing them out like a bloodhound right back to Senator North's house. Bo leads Fallon into the master bedroom, where Senator North is having nasty, nasty sex with Laura Van Kirk (because...I mean, it's just sex, get over it). Bo goes all pit bull on Senator North, chasing him down the hall; Fallon informs Laura that her latest booty call is holding Liam prisoner. Laura says she knows---she had almost gotten him to confess where Liam was being held when Fallon interrupted.
"You big fat liar!" Fallon exclaims. Laura gasps. "I am not fat!" she yells back.
From offstage, we hear Senator North howling in pain as if Bo has latched on, unwilling to let go.
"So you and that Senator were in on it together? You are responsible for killing your own husband? Liam's father!"
"You make it sound so tacky. But everything was okay until he started digging around. Now he won't let it go."
"And you're willing to sleep with that murderer while your son is being held prisoner? You are such a psychopath. A nymphomaniac psychopath."
"Flattery isn't going to help you, Fallon." Laura pulls a gun and is about to pull the trigger when Bo leaps from the darkness and sinks his teeth into Laura's ankle. Fallon can't believe Bo has so much energy all of a sudden, but isn't going to argue the point. Laura screams in pain and the gun flies out of her hands, which goes off when it hits the wall; the bullet hits Laura right between the eyes and she's dead before she hits the floor.

"Good boy!" Fallon exclaims. "Who's the good boy? You're the good boy!" she says in doggy-talk as she scratches his ears.

 

[tommie]

Who do I think it will be? I'm torn between two characters for two very different reasons. Michael Culhane seems to be a fifth wheel, he isn't essential to the story and he has few connections to the other characters. I can imagine Michael and Sam trying to gather incriminating evidence against which puts them in grave danger. Michael could die a hero's death saving Sam from Leo. My other choice is Steven. Steven "dying" would be in keeping with the original series. Fallon being graveside before Alexis arrives (fashionably late) and Blake being absent (refusing to accept Steven's death) would also be in keeping with the original. The upside to this would be that it means the writers intend to bring Steven back. The downside would be that Steven would probably not be played by James Mackay.

I agree that if they're going to kill off someone it should be Culhane - I've said it in the episode threads pretty much but his character is just way past it's sell date and he has no real or meaningful connections to the other cast. He's essentially in the same position as the OG Culhane or OG Mark Jennings. He fills no real purpose at this point and it does feel like they shoe-horned him into La Garbage / Club Colby because they have no idea what to do with him.

I still think Liam is going to fake his death though. It wouldn't surprise me if he set up his own kidnapping and subsequent death to try and lure out the ones who murdered his father. He'll probably appear in flashbacks the rest of the season, Fallon will start to move on and surprise surprise in the season finale.

 

[GillesDenver]

Any of them are going to die, they all are mentioned in the recaps for ulterior episodes.

Steven is surely the one in the basket.

 

[Rove]

Steven is surely the one in the basket.

Would this just be a bit callous from the producers? It would have the appearance they acknowledge fans constant questioning, "Whatever happened to Steven Carrington?" To suddenly kill him off when nothing has been mentioned of him seems tacky.

 

[tommie]

Would this just be a bit callous from the producers? It would have the appearance they acknowledge fans constant questioning, "Whatever happened to Steven Carrington?" To suddenly kill him off when nothing has been mentioned of him seems tacky.

That's the thing that makes me wonder if it's Steven - they've really not mentioned him at all and considering they dropped the funeral bomb in the first episode of the season you'd think they'd try to keep Steven alive off screen more if they were going to kill him off.

That said, we're still not 100% sure what the timeline is - it's been a few episodes when we last got the update on the timeline of this happening, so it could also be that we find out who is dying in this episode but it won't actually happen for another few episodes. (ie we get a flashforward of "we are gathered here today to mourn the loss of ______" flash to current time).

Maybe they'll pull a Mark Jennings and introduce Amanda in the episode only to kill her off, finally doing what the OG show planned to do three times but never dared to pull the trigger.

 

[GillesDenver]

the OG show planned to do three times but never dared to pull the trigger.

Three times ? Her death was planned only once in season 7, the script was even written.

 

[tommie]

Three times ? Her death was planned only once in season 7, the script was even written.

They floated killed her off when Catherine Oxenburg was fired.
They then wrote a bible for season seven where she and Culhane was set to be peppered by bullets in a limo in the season finale cliffhanger.
They then of course wrote the script where she was supposed to be lost in the lake, maybe even filmed scenes for it, but then decided to quickly write her off by Blake saying she went to London to never be mentioned again (CWSteven can relate).

 

[GillesDenver]

They floated killed her off when Catherine Oxenburg was fired.

Not really.

They then wrote a bible for season seven where she and Culhane was set to be peppered by bullets in a limo in the season finale cliffhanger.

No, she, Michael and Blake were to enter in a car that was to explode a few seconds after. Their fate would remain unknown until season 8's premiere.

They then of course wrote the script where she was supposed to be lost in the lake, maybe even filmed scenes for it, but then decided to quickly write her off by Blake saying she went to London to never be mentioned again (CWSteven can relate).

Actually, a script in which her body was found was written and thrown away when it was decide to make the Blake's amnesia storyline (originally, Blake was to return in Denver with Ben right after Ben saved Blake's life). Then the script was recycled after the 2 episodes in Singapore but this time Amanda's body was missing and then her parents were supposed to find her trace in England.

Some there was only one time in which Amanda's death was really envisioned.

 

[tommie]

I'll believe what I choose to believe, just as I'm 100% sure that Alexis would've been saved in season 10 by falling on a newly arrived Amanda who ended up dying by the fat cow falling on her as she enters xoxo

 

[Daniel Avery]

I guess the irony of this situation (of not knowing who they are going to bury) is that if the show were a "typical" ratings success and had a larger following, the info would have leaked out by now. I love being surprised by soaps, so I'm not all that eager to be spoiled. Not sure if killing someone off just to have a "shocking plot twist" is productive...unless killing them off can be justified by a bigger plotline being launched. I just worry that the death is financially-dictated (that is, cost-cutting) rather than story-dictated.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Within that episode, they set up even more situations that could potentially make half a dozen or more characters into the "doomed one". I think they did this just to toy with us, like maybe they filmed all these "____is in jeopardy" scenes just to have them leak out and obscure the actual victim's identity. Cristal's condition went downhill entirely too quickly. Blake ended up on a potentially crashing airplane. Liam was being held prisoner by Killer Karen, of course, and Sam and Culhane had further pissed off Leo the mafioso. Kirby was spiraling badly and Oliver left her to die. They were more subtle in setting up Anders's demise, at least until that scene in the car. Any soap watcher with two brain cells to rub together knows that if a character is seen getting into a car at night, there will be a crash. It's like anytime a pregnant woman gets near a staircase you just know that baby is a goner.

I still don't think Fallon ought to have been depicted as the "Chief Mourner". Blake ought to have been the one they focused on, since Anders really was more of a father to Blake than Tom had been. I don't think it was a mis-direct as much as it was just another conceit to the fact that LG is the star of the piece. And you just know that Blake is thinking "Who's going to dump the dead bodies in the lake for me now???"

 

[Toni]

For anyone interested, the truth is out there... though I won´t post the link here (temptation may be a b*tch...).

Da Pig ready to attend the funeral...​

 

[Rove]

that LG is the star of the piece

Pity really because others - both characters and actors - are just filler for LG's (Fallon's) rapid fire barbs. I accept it for what it is, silly nonsense.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Overall, perhaps....but this episode was quite dramatic, well-paced---probably the best episode of this season and one of the top three or four episodes in the whole series. This season has also been the first time in a while where most (not all) of the actors got their chances to shine on their own, not just satellites orbiting Planet Fallon.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that this episode was directed by multi-Emmy-winning, daytime actress Heather Tom, who has apparently branched out into directing (she also directed at least one previous ep of Dynasty). I remember when she debuted as Victoria, the pre-teen daughter of The Young and the Restless's Victor and Nikki Newman, and watched her grow up onscreen to go toe to toe with her control-freak father. She moved on to The Bold and the Beautiful (and is still there, I assume) as Katie Logan, but I always see her as Victoria Newman. This episode will look good on her resume.