Clear Rivers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Clear Rivers | |
|---|---|
| Final Destination character | |
 Ali Larter as Clear Rivers in Final Destination | |
| First appearance | Final Destination (2000) |
| Last appearance | Final Destination 2 (2003) |
| Created by | Jeffrey Reddick |
| Portrayed by | Ali Larter |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Clear Marie Rivers |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Artist Former high school student (at Mt. Abraham High) |
| Children | Alexander Chance Browning (son, with Alex Browning; alternate ending only) |
| Location | Mt. Abraham, New York |
| Status | Deceased |
| Cause of death | Incinerated in oxygenated explosion |
Clear Marie Rivers is a fictional character from the Final Destination film series. Created by Jeffrey Reddick and portrayed by Ali Larter, the character first appeared in Final Destination (2000) as a high school senior who, after surviving a plane explosion foreseen by Alex Browning, assists him on "cheating Death" by rescuing the other survivors from their impending doom. Clear returns in the sequel Final Destination 2 (2003), where she aids Kimberly Corman in saving the new set of victims from the Route 23 pile-up. The character also appears in the novelizations of the two motion pictures.[1][2]
Created by Reddick, Clear was further developed by James Wong and Glen Morgan to be "the loner of the group" and a girl who is insecure about her sex appeal and tries to hide it with a gothic appearance. Larter described her as someone who has suffered from many losses in her life, causing her to close off from other people. Clear's death occurs in the second installment of the franchise, where she was fatally incinerated in an oxygenated explosion.
Along with Tony Todd, Larter is the only actor to reprise their role in the series. The character of Clear has polarized critics, particularly for her characterization, which has earned mixed reviews.[3] However, Larter's portrayal of the character was praised, winning a Young Hollywood Award and earning a nomination for a Blockbuster Entertainment Award.[4]
Film
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 heading to Paris on May 13, 1999. On board, Alex Browning warns the passengers about his vision of the airliner exploding in mid-air, gaining no support from anyone except for Clear. Having witnessed Alex and their classmates Tod Waggner, Terry Chaney, Carter Horton, Billy Hitchcock, and teacher Ms. Valerie Lewton being removed from the plane, she willingly gets off before it explodes in mid-air minutes after take-off, killing the other 287 passengers and crew. Thirty-nine days later, while at the memorial for the victims, she presents Alex a white rose as gratitude for saving her life.
After Tod dies in a freak accident, they go to the morgue to see his body and find mortician William Bludworth. Bludworth explains to them Death's design and warns them that they are still in danger. Realizing this, they attempt to save the remaining survivors. Following Terry's and Ms. Lewton's deaths, they are successful in saving Carter's life. Unfortunately, only seconds later, Billy dies, causing them to realize that if they intervene in someone's death, they can save that person. Believing himself to be next, Alex withdraws from the group.
After Alex realizes that Clear is actually next to die, he goes to her house to save her. Due to her house experiencing short circuits, she attempts to escape with her car. Despite the car being trapped by livewires, Alex manages to save her, and they both survive the ordeal. Months later, in Paris, Alex has doubts about their triumph over Death. Noticing signs of impending doom, Clear saves Alex from a speeding bus, but they both witness Carter's demise by a falling sign.[5]
Alternate ending
In the alternate ending of the film, Alex and Clear have sex while lurking at a beach, resulting in her pregnancy. Later on, Alex dies after the livewire sets him on fire 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.[6][5]
Final Destination 2
Clear returns in the sequel Final Destination 2 (2003) set a year after the events of Final Destination. After Evan Lewis's death, Kimberly Corman visits Clear inside Stonybrook Mental Institution and asks for her help concerning the safety of the Route 23 pile-up survivors: Officer Thomas Burke, Kat Jennings, Rory Peters, Eugene Dix, as well as Nora Carpenter and her son Tim. While she does inform Kimberly of what she knows about Death, she is still too distraught over Alex's death and tells Kimberly to let the other survivors perish and save only herself. Nevertheless, after Tim dies, she changes her mind and accompanies Kimberly and Burke to Bludworth, who informs them the equilibrium of Death and "new life", implying their salvation upon the unborn son of survivor Isabella Hudson. The three of them gather the remaining survivors to Burke's apartment, but despite Clear's and Kat's attempts to save her, Nora gets decapitated by an elevator.
En route to Isabella, Clear and the others realize that all of them are still alive due to the Flight 180 survivors having gotten off the plane. While driving to the hospital, they are involved in a car accident that leaves Eugene needing medical help and eventually leads to the deaths of Kat and Rory. Following their deaths, Clear, Kimberly, and Burke go to the hospital to save Isabella. While they do succeed in finding her in time and ensuring her infant survives, Kimberly has another premonition that reveals to her Isabella was never meant to die in the pile-up, meaning they are still in danger. Understanding the situation, Clear tries to find Eugene's room. Finding him contained by an oxygenated room, she opens the door, subsequently loosening the plug of Eugene's defribrillator, creating a spark that incinerates Eugene's room, killing them both.[7] In her alternate death scene, Clear smiles in contentment as flames engulf her body.[8] Clear's death is shown in X-ray format during the opening credits of The Final Destination, and briefly in the death montage of Final Destination 5.[9][10]
The Final Destination and Final Destination Bloodlines
A reference is made to the character through an easter egg in The Final Destination (2009), 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.[9] Similarly, a character named Darlene Campbell makes an unknowing reference to Clear's name in Final Destination Bloodlines (2025), while guessing the name of a hospital.
Literature
Clear Rivers made her literary debut in January 2006 when Natasha Rhodes released a novelization of the film entitled Final Destination. The book follows the events of the film, but expands on Clear's backstory regarding her parents.[1] The last adaptation to feature Clear was Final Destination 2; it was 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.[11][12]
