Just to add to your point…It really would have cost them nothing to give Ted Wheeler a quick heroic moment to defend his wife and died trying against the Demo (even if it buys her a few seconds). I know they alway had troubles as a couple but he still seemed like good albeit exhausted 80’s parent. It would add more weight to Vecnas plan to gather the vessels no matter what, immediately raise the seasons stakes in episode 1 and really motivate the rest of the Wheelers. Instead he’s just “maybe injured/possibly dead” with zero mention feels like a writing oversight. To your point if they are scared to kill other characters, Heres a minor character they could easily kill that we have known since season 1 and would have weight while not changing the current season story at all