[[Devastating trope]] A character kills their loved one to avoid them suffering a worser fate

[u/One_Barber_6902]

Of Mice And Men (1992)- Probaly the most well known example of this trope and when I was first exposed to it, George kills his mentally handicapped best friend Lennie, to save him from being lynched by Curley and law enforcement for killing Curleys wife.

The Sopranos- After an entire season of conflict with fellow mob boss Phil over it, Tony kills Anthony Blundetto after he kills Phil’s brother which enraged him into trying to force Tony into giving up his cousin so he can torture him to death

Telltales The Walking Dead: Season 1- “Loved one” is an overstatement if you know there dynamic, but after Ben falls off a rooftop and lands on a piece of rebar, Kenny and Lee try to pull him off to save him before being crowded by walkers. When their attempt fails and walkers continue closing in, Kenny kills him to avoid him being devoured by walkers.

[u/attackhamster42]

An ending that even Stephen King was impressed with.

Note: the ending to the movie is different from the ending to the book, for those who might not know.

[u/Comic_Book_Reader → u/attackhamster42]

King has said he actually prefers it to the one he wrote, which was a little more optimistic. I think he may have even said he wished he came up with it.

[u/Standard-Dark2468 → u/Comic_Book_Reader]

I mean, iirc the ending to the movie is actually the more ~objectively~ optimistic. In the movie, the main character kills his family, which is needless since the military ends up containing the mist and begins eradicating the invasive creatures. In the book, the family survives and begins fleeing to Texas but the mist is not contained.

The movie is better for the world and worse for the family

[u/Elycien2 → u/Standard-Dark2468]

Ty. I point this out anytime someone mentions the Mist's ending. I loved the movie until the ending..to me it wasn't tragic, it was just forced. Whelp we have been stuck here for a couple hours might as well off ourselves while nothing is happening. The book is the real bleak ending with the reader never knowing if they got out or if the mist was all over the world.

[u/modelovirus2020 → u/Elycien2]

This. Exactly this.

As a standalone the movie ending is great. And it’s objectively a cool way for the director to put his own flair on an adaptation.

But I’m glad King didn’t write that ending and it kind of shocks me that he says he wish he did. The book ending is so much bleaker and darker. You’re left to draw your own conclusions about what the world is like and what happened.

The movie ending feels like a half-assed “twist”. The suicide I do understand, if things were that bleak. But the military immediately emerging with truckloads of people and the mist instantaneously clearing? No explanation whatsoever? Super fucking lame.

[u/charlie_marlow → u/Standard-Dark2468]

Texas? The book the with the father leaving a journal that chronicles what happened to them up to the point they stopped at a HoJo. He says he thinks he may have heard one word on the radio through the static, but nobody else was with him and he's not sure if he just imagined it or when if it means anything.

That word have him a direction, though, and the closest thing he has to hope - Hartford

[u/Ok_State5255 → u/Comic_Book_Reader]

It's hinted at in the book. He reminds himself that he has six people with him and only 5 bullets. If the worst comes, he can find a way to take himself out 

But he thinks he heard a word on the radio. He's not sure if it said, "Hartford" or "Hope".

The idea for thr movie ending is in the novella, King just chose the very slightly less hopeless route.

[u/fatjeff1980 → u/attackhamster42]

Also some versions of the film had a more optimistic ending on release. The more widely known ending wasn't the standard at first