The Shadow of Death in “The Golden Girls”

From its very first episode, death is never very far from The Golden Girls. As Blanche waits for her fiancee Harry to arrive, the preacher she has hired to perform the service grows increasingly impatient, announcing that he simply must bury Mr. Pinkus. When it’s revealed that Harry is, in fact, a bigamist and has been arrested, Blanche remarks that part of her hopes that she will drop dead right there and then so that they can bury her with Mr. Pinkus. It’s played as a joke, but it’s still a rather potent reminder of just how close death is to these four women.

Indeed, it’s worth pointing out three out of them have watched their husbands die: Rose’s husband Charlie died of a heart attack during sex (she thought something was wrong when he started shouting “I’m going, I’m going!); Sophia’s Sal has been dead for quite some time before the series begins (he even made a bet regarding his oxygen tank while on his deathbed); and George Devereaux died in a tragic car accident, spending several days in a coma before finally succumbing (Blanche was getting a pedicure on the day he died). Furthermore, given that they live in Miami, that famous abode of retirees and seniors, death is never far from their thoughts, and there are numerous references to acquaintances and friends passing away, and it seems as if they are always attending a funeral or a wake.