Nah, you don’t get credit for suicide.

But to your broader point, it takes a lot of work to right something that’s bad. Someone who has a troubled youth but does their time and spends years rehabilitating their image may be remembered for their later years, while someone who is a terrible person and then says something nice on their deathbed is likely to only be remembered for the bad.

Tying back to the shower thought, a show can start out bad and get good (Star Trek TNG, Parks and Recreation,) but a show whose only good episode is the finale is unlikely to be remembered fondly.

We absolutely do apply these to people. Kevin Spacey? Bill Cosby? Jeffrey Epstein? Jared Fogle? Joe Paterno? Louis CK? Chris Brown? P. Diddy? Harvey Weinstein? OJ Simpson?