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.
[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's insecure about her sex appeal and tries to hide it with a gothic appearance.
She, along with Alex and their classmates Tod Waggner, Terry Chaney, Carter Horton, Billy Hitchcock, and teacher Ms. Valerie Lewton are removed from the plane before it explodes in mid-air minutes after take-off, killing the other 286 passengers and crew.
After Evan Lewis' 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.
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.
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.
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're still in danger.
[9] Clear Rivers made her literary debut in January 2006 when Natasha Rhodes released a novelization of the film entitled Final Destination.
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.
[12] Kirsten Dunst was originally considered for the role of Clear Rivers,[13] but Ali Larter, who starred in the 1999 film Varsity Blues, was cast instead.
[16] On the subject of returning for the sequel, Larter was chosen by New Line Cinema over her co-star Devon Sawa, who played as Alex Browning in the first film.
Perry said that bringing back Clear over Alex was due to narrative reasons, stating that there were no financial problems that prevented Sawa from returning.
[5][14] In the original screenplay of James Wong and Glen Morgan, she is described as the loner in the group who wears dark colors to hide her sex appeal, something she is insecure about.
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.
[23] 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.
[28] 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.
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.