Typical On-Screen Death on Philippine Television

If you haven’t seen the new season premiere episode of The Walking Dead, you might be up for some surprise. The previous season has ended with a cliffhanger that got the whole internet talking as it has hinted that one of the characters of the series will be saying goodbye for sure. As the season seven opened last October 23 it has created another fuss as a character that has been with the show since the first season has finally met its demise which has been considered as one of brutal onscreen death on television of recent time. To give you a bit of a hint: it includes bashing and an eyeball.

THE WALKING DEAD
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In the Philippine TV scene, it may be a long shot for us to witness on screen death that is similar or as brutal as the one that can be seen on western series like The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, or Dexter. The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board or MTRC imposes television standards that make sure that the scenes that are being televised are safe for its viewer. But recently, the Board has been allowing more mature content.

Onscreen death on Philippine television is mostly cushioned and implied only. In the Philippine television culture, character deaths are not a usual occurrence even on action series. The plot will always cheat death and the hero will survive. It has always been the trend and it continues to sell for some reason. But there are still rare cases where characters DO die in a scene. How? Let us list down how characters die in a typical television show in the Philippines.

1. Of old age

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Plot one: a very rich father/mother/grandfather/grandmother dies off very old age. Who should truly inherit his/her wealth will be the main plot of the whole series. The dead body usually ends up needing Cremation Funeral Services ‘cause why not, they are rich. Bonus points if they are rich and if the grandfather is played by Ronaldo Valdez.

2. Gunshot

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If there are things there are other things that never runs out in a Filipino television culture aside from the recycled plots and sexism, it will be the amount of bullet that is shot. And of course, with that amount someone will sure get hit—that random nameless extra with 15 seconds screen time. The poor extra will wave his dead body; lie down on the ground, and enjoy on his on-screen bloodless death.

3. Car accident

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Isn’t it convenient how car accidents death on television appear while the same character is on the phone and confessing a juicy piece of information that will help on concluding the whole show? But nope. The show has high ratings so… sorry, key character, you have to die.



These are just some of the on-screen death that we have seen over and over on Philippine television. While the most note-worthy deaths just play along with the dead relative needing cremation funeral services, these are some of the elements that have made the television culture of the Philippines entertaining. They may be cliché and repetitive but they are cliché for the reason that they never fail.