at the hostage or kidnapped, captured never getting killed. they are always tied to a chair and the killer/suspect is right in front of them with a gun to their head and just before he is about to pull the trigger, he hears a scream in the other room from his henchmen getting beat up or shot..then he decides to take the hostage and run, rather than just kill them.
they always know its the turtles, or the punisher, batman or the xmen, the expendables, or the ateam, etc...and they always find some reason to not kill the hostage at the first sign of trouble.
if i have someone tied up in my basement especially if ive already beat or tortured them, if i hear the trash cans get knocked over by the dog, that person is getting their throat cut or the knife in the heart.