Was there a real-world reason for Lou to leave Flashpoint?
In the show Flashpoint, the character Lewis "Lou" Young leaves the show rather abruptly.
In S02E10, he dies from a landmine at a bomb site.
Was he written out of the show just as a plot device? Or was there a real-world reason that the actor needed to leave the show?
Another major event was definitely written into the show for a real-world reason:
In S02E04, Jules is shot by a sniper. It was an invented plot device to allow her time for maternity leave.
Best Answer
No, the real-world had nothing to do with Lou's death.
In order to make the show feel more realistic and serious, the show's creators simply decided to kill off one of their regular characters. Lewis Young just happened to be most appropriate for the way that they wanted to handle the aftermath. In particular, they could show how his death affected his best friend Spike, who was also a regular.
In the 16 July 2010 Interview: The Creators of ‘Flashpoint’, creator Mark Ellis explains what happened:
So in the start of the second half of season 2, you start off by killing one of the team members, you kill Lou. One, why did you decide to do that and two, how did you decide Lou was going to be the one to go?
Mark Ellis: [laughs] Um, well it wasn’t an easy decision; it was a really difficult decision. We spent a lot of time in the show talking about, how every call is high risk, how the team faces life and death everyday and that their own lives can hang in the balance, and it was so important that we actually show that we’re not just talking and that stuff can happen. To be honest, killing one of your own team members is like cutting of your own arm. It’s a very difficult thing to write and what we found interesting in particular about it, Lou as his character and the relationship that ripples underneath the surface between Spike and Lou and we felt that Lou was always a great straight man to Spike’s funny man and that their obviously buddies, they hang around together. They’re two younger guys, they’re single, they don’t have the same family issues that our other team members have. And we wanted to explore what that death felt like to a character that was in out show. We’ve never gone to the homes of our characters too often, so we really couldn’t explore what it was like for Lou’s mom or his dad, but we could explore what it was like for his best friend. So I guess that’s one of the reasons Lou drew the short straw and Mark Taylor accepted that episode with great grace and I just though he brought in a tremendous performance. Just a beautiful performance, both he and Sergio Di Zio who plays Spike were outstanding I thought.
Pictures about "Was there a real-world reason for Lou to leave Flashpoint?"
Why does Lou leave flashpoint?
When Spike decides to attempt a water weight transfer as a last ditch effort, Lou realizes that attempting it could result in both of their deaths. After calling his parents to tell them he loves them, Lou steps off the land mine and sacrifices himself to protect his friend.Who killed Lou in flashpoint?
Lou was killed in action when he stepped on a landmine while defusing a bomb on a college campus in the Season 2 episode, "One Wrong Move". When it became clear that any attempt to rescue him would likely result in the death of another member of the SRU, Lou sacrificed himself by activating the mine.What episode does Lou step on a landmine?
Episode:One Wrong Move.Who died in flashpoint?
In Season 4 and Season 5, Donna appeared as the Team Leader on Team Three. In Keep The Peace, Part I, she is tragically killed in the line of duty.Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Ketut Subiyanto, Pixabay, Amina Filkins, Karolina Grabowska