Crime shows rely on all kinds of reasons for murder--the genre calls for it--but different shows emphasize different reasons.
CSI:LV tended to emphasize relationship problems rooted in jealousy: the husband who was jealous of the wife's ability at hiking; the wife who killed her ex-boyfriend's current girlfriend years earlier out of jealous possessiveness (then married the oblivious boyfriend); the boyfriend who died in a bus crash while chasing after his girlfriend because he was jealous of her time and attention.
Jealousy not of an affair but of a man's second family results in a bomb; a wife's jealousy incites her to kill the wrong woman; an onlooker's jealousy of a relationship ends in a terrible rollercoaster accident; a husband kills his wife, not because she cheated on him but because he is sure that eventually she must.
It isn't that CSI didn't use other plot lines--or that spouses are only killed over jealousy. It is that the writers showed a penchant for plots where jealousy, as an overriding emotion, worked as a motive.
Jealousy may seem an obvious theme in relationship murder mysteries but surprisingly enough not all mystery shows use it to the same degree as CSI:LV. I will later post about Law & Order: Criminal Intent, which concentrated on lost opportunities rather than jealousy.
Jealousy is fundamental, however. So many motives come down to criminals who "want what they want when they want it," no matter what.
No comments:
Post a Comment