hello! I have a few minutes so I guess it's time to talk, FOR NO REASON AT ALL, about the 'timeline defrost' and why it usually falls flat. 1/

I've seen at least three tv shows do this thing recently where they kill off a major character but the actor doesn't leave, oh no, instead they stick round to play a different version of the same character -but from an alternate timeline. 2/

The first problem that might come to mind wrt timeline defrosts is that it cheapens the original character death, which it does, but that's not what I want to draw attention to here. 3/

For me, the best storytelling is about characters and their relationships to each other. The longer the characters know each other, the deeper, more complicated, and more interesting those relationships get. 4/

When a character is killed, the stories of that person's relationships with every other character in the show abruptly end, eliminating story-telling potential. 5/

...except for mopey grief stories, which I guess is why writers like to fridge people in the first place? While these plots can be compelling, I find that they are usually less interesting than the relationship stories that could have happened if there were no refrigeration. 6/

Oh but wait! There was a defrost! Now we can tell the grief story AND keep the character around? Right? Well, not really. 7/

What's happened is you've introduced a new character, with no relationship to the rest of the cast...or the audience! You have to start from scratch, and any new relationships formed between the timeline alternate and the existing cast will be weaker than 8/

those between the folks who have been around all along. Now you're working to get the audience to connect to the new character, and to be interested in a set of new dynamics, competing with what's already happening on screen.

The effect is stronger in proportion to how long the fridged character was in the series, and how strong their relationships were to the others. Bringing back someone who was never really in the show but was fridged in someone's backstory can be interesting. 10/

You're not really losing much there, since they weren't part of the story to begin with (though defrosting minority characters with this method because you realized your representation sucks *may* feel a little patronizing). 11/

But if you're going to do it with someone who has been part of the cast and plot for, say, 2 to 3 1/2, seasons, building chemistry and relationships, the timeline defrost and the replacement character themself feels hollow -at worst disrespectful to the original story. 12/

It can be done, and can probably be done well, but having trouble imagining a scenario where the timeline defrost is more powerful narratively than just NOT FRIDGING THEM TO BEGIN WITH. 13/

linking to this thread I wrote on Monday for, again, ABSOLUTELY NO REASON. https://twitter.com/Moonlitfractal/status/1290373437022711808