Worst Character deaths in TV show

[nelsonmuntz]

The Sopranos anniversary: TV's most heartbreaking death explained

SPOILERS BELOW

This article made me think of this topic.

What are the worst TV deaths in your opinion? By this, I mean good guys that died, where you were shocked, or just depressed that a character you really liked was gone. You can include bad guys if the character was really interesting and the show missed him or her.

For me (in no particular order):

Robb Stark - I had read the books, and still hoped that somehow he would survive (That stupid scalitoing Kaitlyn Stark had it coming).

Anne Boleyn (The Tudors) - Natalie Dormer may one day become the female Sean Bean after biting the dust in The Tudors and Game of Thrones. The show lost something when Dormer left, and felt like the later seasons were just reciting history rather than developing characters.

Jimmy Darmody (Boardwalk Empire) - I have discussed this elsewhere, but this show was never the same after Darmody left. There were still good seasons and good episodes, but the show lost a big chunk of its foundation.

Lane Pryce (Mad Men) - he was one of my favorite characters in the show, and the closest thing a show about narcissistic -holes can have to a likable character, especially once he flattened Campbell.

Omar Little (the Wire) - you knew he was going down, and it was just a matter of when, but it was still shocking.

Bobby Baccala (Sopranos) - not so much shocking, as just raw. Most of the show you barely saw Bobby as a gangster, and he was killed while buying model trains. I thought he might survive, although the way the show was going I knew the body count was going to be high.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Rita in Dexter

Chef in South Park

 

[CTGoonie]

Rita in Dexter and Bobby in the Sopranos was quite the shock. Also, Jack Bauer's wife in season 1 of 24.

 

[G0UCONN]

Hank in Breaking Bad.

Brian in Family Guy.

Robb Stark and Eddard Stark in Game of Thrones.

Jimmy Smits (Bobby?) in NYPD Blue.

Adrianna in Sopranos.

Jackson in White Shadow.

Rita in Dexter.

Tara and Bobby in Sons of Anarchy.

Glen in Walking Dead.

 

[John]

Henry Blake - MASH; shocking the first time you see it

Omar - The Wire; it had to happen, but still happened too soon

Anne Boleyn - The Tudors; kind of lost interest in the show because I had grown so fond of the Natalie Dormer eye-candy

Robb Stark and Joffrey - GOT; liked the Stark character and hated the Joffrey character - both made the show more watchable.

Adriana La Cerva - Sopranos; just really liked the character and liked her look too.

 

[G0UCONN]

Susan dying in Seinfeld was a funny "shocker".

"Sorry George.. ."

 

[SAMCRO]

Opie in Sons of Anarchy
Hodor in GoT

then similar to what was mentioned above...
Omar in The Wire... although that kinda had to happen
and my first "WTF" moment as a kid was Col Henry Blake in MASH... one of the most moving/sad episodes of TV I can recall (along with an ER episode where the mother dies giving birth).

 

[nelsonmuntz]

ER was so emotionally manipulative that I won't give it credit for any of its deaths. Even the cute little blond (Lucy) that was stabbed to death.

I had forgotten Jimmy Smits died in NYPD Blue.

Joffrey had to go. He was a great character, but the story would have lost credibility if it kept him around. Losing Tywin was a much bigger shock to the plot, and in some ways the plot never fully recovered. The villains since (the Dorne sluts, Ramsey, the Slavers) are over the top caricatures of real villains. Hell, the last 3 seasons have in some ways been about Tyrion's, Cersei's and Jaime's feeble attempts to fill their father's shoes.

The death of Gus Fring in Breaking Bad was probably the biggest impact to a show of losing a villain. He made that show into one of the best of all time, and the villains that came after him were not of the same caliber.

 

[Dove]

Edith Bunker

 

[billythekid]

Matthew and Sybil in Downton Abbey.

 

[Waquoit]

Claire Kincaid in Law and Order

 

[traitor71]

Lem's death at the hands of Shane in the Shield was pretty bad.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Brett from Archer

He died doing what he loved

 

[Dogdeacon]

2nd to Henry Blake, I'll cry re-watching that for the 20th time sometime soon.

Similarly, Sgt Esterhaus - "Let's be careful out there" was a sad death both show and real life to an iconic character.
On a lighter note;

• Bobby on Dallas was such a devastating death they literally un-did it.
• In contrast Chuck Cunningham's entire existence was erased on Happy Days

 

[Deepster]

Edith Bunker

Wow. This post hit me in the chest. GREAT CALL.

 

[Dove]

Wow. This post hit me in the chest. GREAT CALL.

Yep. A sad, grieving Archie was rough to watch.


Grandpa Walton was sad, too.

 

[Excalibur]

ER was so emotionally manipulative that I won't give it credit for any of its deaths. Even the cute little blond (Lucy) that was stabbed to death.

I had forgotten Jimmy Smits died in NYPD Blue.

Joffrey had to go. He was a great character, but the story would have lost credibility if it kept him around. Losing Tywin was a much bigger shock to the plot, and in some ways the plot never fully recovered. The villains since (the Dorne sluts, Ramsey, the Slavers) are over the top caricatures of real villains. Hell, the last 3 seasons have in some ways been about Tyrion's, Cersei's and Jaime's feeble attempts to fill their father's shoes.

The death of Gus Fring in Breaking Bad was probably the biggest impact to a show of losing a villain. He made that show into one of the best of all time, and the villains that came after him were not of the same caliber.

I'll give ER credit for how it took out Dr. Greene. But yes, emotionally manipulative is a good description.

The most shocking GoT death was Robb Stark's. Ned's death was a necessity to drive the plot.

Speaking of shows that never recovered, Big Love turned into a total $h!+show after Roman Grant was killed.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Speaking of shows that never recovered, Big Love turned into a total $h!+show after Roman Grant was killed.

+1000. I can't believe I forgot this. Harry Dean Stanton must have had back problems by the end of his run on Big Love because he was carrying that show. Roman Grant is one of the best villains in TV history, and the show was absolutely not the same once he was gone. I think Bill Paxton and Jeanne Tripplehorn are (were in the case of Paxton) average actors, so that show really depended on the villain.

The first season of the show is one of the best single seasons of any show ever.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I'll give ER credit for how it took out Dr. Greene. But yes, emotionally manipulative is a good description.

ER would use kid illnesses and dying A LOT in its plots. You wouldn't notice it when it was on once a week, but my wife watches it on POP and I start to notice some trends in the story-telling when I watch 3 or 4 in a week.

I agree on Greene.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Hannah Baker - 13 Reasons Why. You know exactly what is coming and when but it doesn't make it easier to watch, it makes it worse.

 

[temery]

Calculon in Futurama.

 

[Bliss]

A third on Henry Blake of M.A.S.H. His replacement, Sherman Potter, was boring and added nothing entertaining. Trapper's replacement, B.J. (?), was a pansy ass and Frank's replacement, Charles, never fit in. I don't even watch reruns unless the original cast is in the show.

 

[SubbaBub]

Mrs. Landingham

 

[John]

A third on Henry Blake of M.A.S.H. His replacement, Sherman Potter, was boring and added nothing entertaining. Trapper's replacement, B.J. (?), was a pansy ass and Frank's replacement, Charles, never fit in. I don't even watch reruns unless the original cast is in the show.

Charles would have been a good fringe character like Klinger, but he was not an adequate Burns replacement. I agree, the Potter character wasn't particularly compelling. The BJ character was completely out-of-place. Also, with the loss of the Blake/Trapper/Frank characters, other remaining characters started to get less interesting too, mainly thinking of Hot Lips. This not to mention that Klinger stopped dressing up in women's clothing as the series got older.

 

[Chuck]

Charles would have been a good fringe character like Klinger, but he was not an adequate Burns replacement. I agree, the Potter character wasn't particularly compelling. The BJ character was completely out-of-place. Also, with the loss of the Blake/Trapper/Frank characters, other remaining characters started to get less interesting too, mainly thinking of Hot Lips. This not to mention that Klinger stopped dressing up in women's clothing as the series got older.

Henry Blake and Edith were great calls. I think it's because they were sitcoms that knew how to kick you in the nards to introduce the reality of life and make the characters 3 dimensional. Emotion was common in M*A*S*H, but it was usually other people that died, not the 4077. I love The Walking Dead, and it can hurt if a good character dies, but it's supposed to happen.

IMO, Winchester was underrated. His not fitting in was deliberate and probably somewhat realistic that not every surgeon acts like a child. He allowed Hawkeye to be more human because Charles was his equal as a surgeon. Maybe it's also because I used to watch M*A*S*H with my mother when I was in middle school so I remember the later episodes when they were new rather than seeing older repeats. One of my all time favorites was the one with the injured soldier that stutters who Winchester treats with respect. Still brings tears to my eyes.

So that I'm giving to the thread and not just taking us down a rabbit hole, I'll add Charlie from Lost. Lot's of people "died" on the show, but the scene was done well and tragically. Also, for @billythekid, I'd put Isis at the top of the Downton list for sadness!