Clear Rivers

Final Destination

Clear Rivers is introduced in the 2000 film Final Destination as one of the seniors from the fictional Mt. Abraham High School boarding Volée Airlines Flight 180 from John F. Kennedy International Airport destined for Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport on May 13, 2000. On board, Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) warns the passengers about his vision of the airliner exploding in mid-air, gaining no support except for Clear. She and Alex are removed from the plane along with five others before it detonates, killing the other 286 passengers. After an interrogation with Agent Schreck (Roger Guenveur Smith) and Agent Weine (Daniel Roebuck), she is accompanied by Alex and Ken Browning (Robert Wisden) to her abode. At the memorial for the victims, she presents Alex a white rose as gratitude for saving her life. Tod Waggner (Chad Donella) unexpectedly dies, forcing Alex to flee with her. Inside her residence, she explores her past with Alex regarding her father's death, her mother's remarriage, and her abandonment. Afterwards, she and Alex visit William Bludworth (Tony Todd), who claims about Death and its consequences. Once Alex realizes that Death is recouping their lives, she and Alex plot to rescue the remaining survivors. Having successfully saved Carter Horton, Alex withdraws from the group. Not long after, her house experiences short-circuits, obliging her to escape with her car. The car is trapped by livewires, nonetheless Alex saves her and survives. Months later in Paris, Alex rethinks about their triumph over Death, in which she saves Alex from a speeding bus, yet also witnesses Carter's demise.

In the alternate ending of the film, Alex and Clear engage in sex while lurking at a beach, resulting in her pregnancy. Later on, Alex dies of the electrocution while saving her. Nine months later, she gives birth to their son, naming him Alexander Chance, and reunites with Carter, safe in the knowledge that they defeated Death.

Final Destination 2

Clear returns in the sequel Final Destination 2 (2003), set a year after the events of Final Destination. Kimberly Corman (A. J. Cook) visits Clear (Larter) inside Stonybrook Mental Institution and asks for her help concerning the safety of the Route 23 pileup survivors. Distraught by Alex' death, Clear induces Kimberly for isolation to let the others perish. Nevertheless, she accompanies Kimberly and Thomas Burke (Michael Landes) to Bludworth (Todd), who informs them the equilibrium of Death and "new life", implying their salvation upon the unborn son of survivor Isabella Hudson (Justina Machado). Falling short on salvaging the remaining survivors, she, Kimberly and Thomas succeed on saving Isabella and her infant. Unfortunately, Kimberly discovers Isabella's embargo from Death all along, thus they are all still imperiled. Understanding the situation, Clear locates the room of Eugene Dix (Terrence C. Carson) at the hospital. Finding him contained by an oxygenated room, she opens the door, subsequently loosening the plug of Eugene's defibrillator, creating a spark that incinerates Eugene's room, burning her and Eugene.

In her alternate death scene, Clear grins in contentment as flames engulf her body. Clear's death was shown in x-ray format during the opening credits of The Final Destination and briefly in the death montage of Final Destination 5.

The Final Destination

A reference is made to the character through an easter egg in The Final Destination, where Clear's name appears on a sign of a brand of water that reads "Clear Rivers Water". The sign triggers the main visionary and alerts him that water will be causing an upcoming fatal accident.

Novels

Clear Rivers made her literary debut in January 2006 when Natasha Rhodes released a novelization of the film entitled Final Destination I: The Movie. The book follows the events of the film, but expands on Clear's backstory regarding her parents. The last adaptation to feature Clear was Final Destination II: The Movie, released 28 days following its precursor. Likewise co-written by Rhodes and Nancy A. Collins, the novel follows the events of Final Destination 2, with the substitution of a birthday cake in conducting the combustion and the inclusion of a hospital orderly among the victims.

Casting and creation

Along with other Final Destination characters, Clear was conceived by series creator Jeffrey Reddick. Ali Larter, who starred in the 1999 film Varsity Blues, was cast as Clear Rivers. "I remember reading the script for the first movie and just being thrilled to find out I’d be playing a more introverted, darker character than I was accustomed to at the time," Larter articulated. She thought the script was special and cancelled all files on young scripts of several roles, such as the cheerleader, the victim, and others. Larter liked the themes of both films and thought they were fascinating within their genre. According to her, the film shows how easy it is to turn on someone and to blame someone when you're scared and about trusting your intuitions and yourself.

On the subject of returning for the sequel, Larter was chosen by New Line Cinema over her co-star Devon Sawa, who performed as Alex Browning in the first film. "We’ve brought back Clear in an interesting way and we just felt that to bring both of them back would make you wonder too much just what the hell they’d been doing for the past few months," producer Craig Perry conveyed on developing the cliffhanger of Final Destination. The crew had an option on Sawa to return, hence no financial setbacks was acknowledged. Perry observed Larter's character is more knowledgeable in terms of mentoring the new protagonist. The character has incarcerated herself into isolation, utilizing her as the main link to the original film. The whole casting process had everything to do with narrative, therefore, nothing to do with financial issues or Sawa’s unwillingness to return. Larter was delighted when New Line reinstated her, finding it "great" and "terrific" when they showed her the script and let her have some input. As a result, Sawa's character was killed off-screen in Final Destination 2, as divulged by Clear to Kimberly during their first meeting.

Characterization

Larter defined her part as a girl who has a lot of loss in her life, has fallen into herself, and has made a life within that. She broadened her description as an estranged artist who's holding to her grip for what the world has given her. In the original screenplay of James Wong and Glen Morgan, she is described as the loner in the group who wears dark colors against the insecerity of her sex appeal. She appears aloof and more wordly then the other students. Larter donned a brunette hair color through the majority of the film to suit her artist character's gothic leanings. Still, Larter reverted to her original blonde hairdo in the film's ending.

Clear changed drastically in the sequel. Larter indicated that the character has gotten to a hardened place and has tucked herself inside because of the pain she experienced in her life. By having herself committed to a mental hospital, she has created a safehouse to avoid Death. In the draft screenplay of J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress, she is identified as while still beautiful, the young woman bears few traces of her former self. Her dark and haunted eyes dart around suspiciously, maddened by chronic paranoia. Bordering on savage, her hair is patchy whereas her movements are fidgety, erratic, and distracted by something unseen.

Critical response

Clear in Final Destination has received mixed reviews from critics. Joe Leydon of Variety claimed that Larter never seems to be entirely at ease in her part, and finds her one-on-one conversation between Alex "annoyingly jagged" because of attempted editing salvage jobs; while Jami Bernard of the New York Daily News said that Larter plays the only person who believes in Sawa——her name is Clear, which sums up the movie's entire philosophy of character development. John Fallon of JoBlo.com remarked that Larter also holds her own as a strong yet vulnerable character by conveying her underlying sadness perfectly, asserting it as a "step up from the whip cream-bimbo she played in Varsity Blues." Dustin Putman of TheMovieBoy.com praised her as effective; whereas Brett Gallman of Oh, The Horror! commended Larter for upstaging Sawa's performance and carrying the film. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle noted Larter and Sawa's relationship as appealing as the film progresses.

Similarly, Clear in Final Destination 2 garnered mixed reviews too. Robert Koehler of Variety said that Larter was cast little light; while Putman of TheMovieBoy.com admired that Larter accurately plays Clear as an emotionally worn-down young woman who may still be alive, but realizes that it is only a matter of time before fate has its way with her. Nevertheless, Putman found her performance short. David Grove of Film Threat stated that she spends the whole movie looking miserable with her frigid acting; and criticized her and A. J. Cook as "dumb blonde leads" as well. Despite this, Robin Clifford of Reeling Reviews was favorable to Larter's performance, saying she was giving the smart-ass edge her character needs. Gallman of Oh, The Horror! claimed that Larter is again the bright spot; whereas Andrew Manning of Radio Free Entertainment positively acknowledged her, declaring that Larter rules the movie. Manning argued that while everyone else is merely a hastily assembled caricature without depth, Clear has a well-defined background and history with recognition to her appearance in the first film. He further affirmed that Final Destination fans will see Clear as the heroic franchise veteran.

Accolades

Larter's performance in Final Destination earned her the Young Hollywood Award for a Breakthrough Performance by a Female in 2001. She also obtained a nomination from Blockbuster Entertainment Awards for Favorite Actress in Horror (Internet Only) in the same year.