The original post: /r/television by /u/iuabv on 2025-11-17 18:09:50+00:00.
Most interesting/unique/subverting tropes/etc.
Haunting the narrative is usually defined as a character that does not appear in the main story but materially changes the course of the story/the characters in the story. I suppose some would argue the character is allowed to be in flashbacks or the first episode or so.
It’s very common in cop/detective shows from the last 20 years to write in some sort of overarching tragedy/mystery like the cop joins the police force to find his wife’s murderer, that’s practically cliche at this point.
And there are plenty of sitcoms that begin with some dark catalyst like the main character losing their entire family so they’re forced to move in with their zany upstairs neighbor. But in the case of sitcoms, a lot of shows intentionally don’t allow the dead character to haunt the narrative except for the occasional “Very special episode.”
But I think there are ways to do it that are interesting as well. Rebecca is the classic literary example, she even snagged the book title.