Bill McNeal's Death and its effects on the staff of WNYX
Whether the writers intended it or not, there was an immediate and influential change on the employees and owner of WNYX. Obviously, all were saddened by the fact that Bill was no longer in their lives in the physical sense. Still, each character experienced a change in personality drastically different from before his passing.
- Jimmy James Before, Jimmy was most concerned with making money and having his companies perform at peak efficiency. This shows when Jimmy hires Andrea, the efficiency expert; and the emergence of Roger to help soften the financial blow to Jimmy's problems through the station. After Bill's passing, Jimmy gets a sense that life is too short to worry about such trivial problems. His demeanor is even more relaxed in the office, he does not mind the workers being off task. Jimmy searches for a legacy to remember him by, feeling that a life is a waste if it is not remembered. Eventually, only weeks after Bill's passing, Jimmy retires to the country. Still, he remembers the value of good friends and recruits most of the staff to join him.
- Matthew Brock Matthew idolized Bill. This was a crushing emotional blow to his fragile little world. Thus, Matthew rejects every form of comfort and the new employee. Matthew, still trying to discover his true identity, conjures up the "punk" persona. This stage is short lived when he realizes that there are people besides Bill who truly care about him. This brings of the return to the old Matthew. Still, Matthew is not one to lead in his social life, so he turns to Joe; and becomes the main pesterer of Dave.
- Dave NelsonThe most obvious physical change occurs in Dave. His spirit is crushed when his main rival, albeit friendly rival, is taken from him. He looks so forelorn throughout the rest of the season. His love for his job disappears. This is only magnified when Jimmy starts to achieve his new way of living life and forgeting about working. Dave has to control a bunch of workers who wish to do no work and refuse to listen to orders. Bill was the main deflector of Matthew. With Bill gone, Dave had to face the brunt of Matthew's annoying traits. Many attempts were maid to calm Dave down, including a white noise box and punching Matthew with his padded suit. In the end, Dave cannot leave the office with the rest of the crew, and as a sort of punishment, is forced to work alone with Matthew. This is the culmination of Daves slow coming craziness. This would have been what would have snapped in his mind. Unfortunately, we never get to see this to fruition.
- Lisa Miller Bill was the top charasmatic man in the office. This turned Lisa away from such men, and threw her into the arms of Dave. Bill, in a sense, turned her away from phony men; wisened her up to the real world. After his death, his example is gone, so when she meets the highly charasmatic Johnny (whom Bill would have eaten up) Lisa falls head over heals in love just by gazing into his eyes. Spontaneous marriage would never have happened under Bill's watch, as we know, Lisa had her window closed by Dave's unwillingness to go along. Lisa also takes the responsibility to show her ambition in saving the workplace. She single-handedly runs the whole show as Dave is slowly but surely going crazy. Helps to save the jobs of the employees despite their indifference in wanting help.
- Joe Garelli Loses main manly companion in Bill. Forced to turn to other people to spend his day with, such as Beth and Matthew. Finds it comforting to help Matthew through this tough time, even though he gets frequently angrered by Matthew's antics.
- Beth Loses what was left of her work ethic. Finds a source of comfort in comforting Max and welcoming him into the office.
Back, back I say