Deaths of TV Characters that Were Devastating:

When Mrs, Maisel was offed on HOUSE OF CARDS. Such a sad character.

River Barkley on The Polititian. The character had it all and yet threw it all away.

Angela / Mr. Robot

"My Name is Ruby" also from The Deuce. Shocking.

Henry Blake on M*A*S*H

Lucille Ball’s career.

Mom ... Mom ... Mommy?

R1 That upset me.

Lucy Knight (Kellie Martin), on ER. That was really awful.

R9 Fuck, yeah! I watched the entire series of ER, there were a few very sad, shocking character deaths. (Remember when that helicopter dropped on Dr. Romano?)... but Lucy's was the most devastating.

The Deuce? Are you fuckers retarded? That show is a fake train wreck made for the stupid middle classes.

And ER, just sad

Now Fiscus going to heaven and meeting the characters who had died on the show, Eve was so lovely, rapist Dr White... Now THAT is writing

R5 So good, and not how I remember

Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) on Downton Abbey. Once they killed him off, I lost interest in the series.

You bitches are slipping

Omar on The Wire

R13 Oh honey, post the scene at least

R7 Again, post the scene at least, it is very very good

Matt Lauer.

Pennsatucky's Death on OITNB really floored me... heartbreaking...

So, so many deaths on OZ floored me. Especially the last season when everyone dies.

So must choose Adabisi, what a piece of shit, amazing character he was

[quote] The Deuce? Are you fuckers retarded? That show is a fake train wreck made for the stupid middle classes. And ER, just sad... Now Fiscus going to heaven and meeting the characters who had died on the show, Eve was so lovely, rapist Dr White... Now THAT is writing

Who the fuck are you to disparage anyone's choice? This thread was fine until you polluted it.

R21 Meh, Sorry, but having run whores I find The Deuce awful fake bullshit. And not based in the reality of prostitution at all. And as a TV fan find it wantiing as a show.

And ER is just poo......compared to any good TV, and when these threads start we always get the Lucy death fan crying about how good it was, when it was just about thinning down the cast and Noah hated her guts and had her fired, that always triggers me.

Cause St Elsewhere was my shit.

BUT i will try to be a bettterer cunt on the DL

R21 I mean...is this octogenarian really worth it? Ignore him. Like everyone else in his life.

Rose

The Red Wedding on GoT.

....

It wasn't my favorite show by any means but Will Gardner's death on "The Good Wife" was rather moving. And it came at a very unexpected time. As much as we all loved to hate Alicia's character, the scene when she's trying to hold it together, driving to the hospital and then sees a flock of birds flying in the sky while waiting at a red light, which causes her to completely lose it, was great.

I'm surprised no one has posted a death from an *ahem* daytime show.

I came here to post the Red Wedding. I can't believe it took this long.

J R Ewing

The death of a serious career.

This is still one of the most disturbing death scenes ever filmed. And Laura Palmer's death scene in Fire Walk With Me is just as disturbing.

Yeah Lori’s death on The Deuce was difficult. From the start of this season I knew she was headed for a tragic end, but I wanted to believe she’d save herself somehow. It was so sad to see her completely give up, turn one last trick on the Deuce just to see if she could feel something, anything. And nothing. If you notice, she didn’t answer Candy when she asked her her real name, but when her last trick asks her, she says “Sarah”, which we are to assume is her real name.

Gant's death on ER wasn't really devastating, but shocking...

The season 2 finale of Hannibal.

I think Sybil's death in Downton Abbey is the most shocking - it was so graphic and the despair of the other characters unbearable.

NYPD Blue Det Bobby Simone

Damn! Damn! Damn!

Totally agreed on Adriana on The Sopranos and Maddie on Twin Peaks. So upsetting.

I found the Twin Peaks thing theatrical, and (intentionally?) humorous, which diffused the intensity.

Nate in SFU, Henry Blake, and my personal, most upsetting death - Charlie in Lost. Like another poster above for a different show, I stopped watching Lost then (even though it went on for three more seasons).

George on Grey's Anatomy.

Lexie's on Grey's Anatomy

Lucille Ball

Did thy ever call kill her?

Why not?

Roseanne.

GOT - Ned Stark, Viserion and Shireen

Mathew Crawley's death on Downton Abbey was at the request of the actor, Dan Stevens, who had an opportunity on Broadway and wanted to leave before he became "typecast". I think it was a bad decision on the Stevens' part given how his career has gone, and it certainly didn't help the series either.

Another vote for Adrianna's death on the Sopranos. I was sincerely upset by it, and it makes me sad still.

Hotch's wife on Criminal Minds.

Muriel Goldman - stabbed to death in an episode of Family Guy.

Gary's death on thirtysomething.

Two and a Half Men - Charlie died

James Evans (John Amos) on Good Times

Edith Bunkers was the only one that made me actually cry.

Cyril O'Reily on Oz

Andy Sipowicz's son Andy Jr. on NYPD Blue

Colonel Blake on M*A*S*H

Edith on All in the Family

James on Good Times

Sid on "Knots Landing."

Laura on "Knots Landing."

Cherry on "China Beach."

It was never spoken of but Aunt Clara on Bewitched.....she just disappeared.

Bobby Symone -NYPD Blue

Stone Cates- General Hospital

BJ Jones- General Hospital

April Stevens in Dallas. I was devastated when she was shot dead in Paris but I appreciate the story arc it set up for the final series in 1990-1991.

Megan Gordon - OLTL

Lane Pryce in "Mad Men"

And Omar Little in "The Wire"

Jin and Sun in "Lost"

Dr. Mark Greene in "ER"

Tom Keen on The Blacklist.

Poussey's on OITNB

Poussey and the redneck on Orange is the New Black, Charlotte in Harlots, Quentin in the Magicians, Buffy's mom, Maude Flanders, Bea in Wentworth.

Four from Mad Men:

Anna Draper

Betty Hofstadt Draper Francis

Bert Cooper

Ida Blankenship - born in a barn in 1898, died on the 37th floor, she was an astronaut

Laura Ingall's dog Jack

Lord Grantham's dog Isis

Laura Ingall's horse Bunny

I was gutted by the death of Inspector Morse. It was handled superbly, but it’s rare to see something so stark on an ‘escapist’ television series.

Claire’s death on McLeods Daughters. This was a huge water cooler moment the next day. I didn’t even watch the show but I tuned in for this episode. It make me cry it was really well done.

[quote] Betty Hofstadt Draper Francis

Technically, she didn't die on the show, she was given 4 months to live in the penultimate episode of the series.

[quote] I'm surprised no one has posted a death from an *ahem* daytime show.

Cassie's death on Y&R.

We'd seen Camryn Grimes grow up in the role, from child to to teenager. So it was pretty sad.

BJ's death on General Hospital and the saddest and most memorable part Tony listening to his little girl's heart beating inside Maxie's chest. I still cry when I think about it. b Also on GH, Stone's death. And, it was the only time in the all the years he's been on the show that MB (Sonny) gave a good performance

Annelise on The Americans. Philip has feelings for her but she was killed was killed by Yousaf and Philip had to help break the bones in her body to make it fit in a suitcase.

Adriana on The Sopranos.

Violet Harmon on AHS: Murder House.

Kenny McCormick, many times, South Park

Chef - South Park

Lex Luthor

Littlefoot's mother

Brian Griffin, but returned, Family Guy

Bambi's father

Two more from Mad Men:

Lane Price

Adam Whitman

Both suicide by hanging.

Abigail Hobbs. and Hannibal/Will (implied) on Hannibal

Jo and Ellen Harvelle on Supernatural

Glenn, Herschel. Rick and Carl Grimes on The Walking Dead

^^Rick is not dead.

Herschel, so true! ;'-(

Home Simpson's mother. He rails into her for abandoning him as a child and seemingly wants nothing more to do with her. She says "I understand" and leaves him to ponder his feelings. He has a change of heart and wants to make up with her and goes to her...and she's dead. It was truly affecting.

John Mitchell, the luscious vampire from the original British version of "Being Human" (they had to knock him off so he could go play Kylie the Dward in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy).

The series died after that without him.

Anyone here remember the cult series "The Sandbaggers" (British), and the shock death of Willie Kane in the last episode?

Guys. The correct answer is:

Mr. Hooper from Sesame Street.

O' Yeller

Ragnar Lothbrok on "Vikings"

Maude Flanders, Homer Simpson’s next-door neighbor Christian lady, killed at a NASCAR-type auto race, leaving her husband Ned "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily."

I love you R28. And yes, you'd be among the recognized!

Cherry White on China Beach. That was a tough one.

No one has mentioned Frieda Claxton?

When Gary, on HBO's The Corner, died

R74 that episode was one of the most heart wrenching of the wholes series. I couldn't watch it again

r22 Nothing will ever come close to St Elsewhere as a medical show. It was never for everyone, certainly not the mainstream TV watcher who thinks ER was da bomb

Gary on thirtysomething.

Pru on Charmed.

Athelstan - Vikings. I Became quiet invested in that little monk.

Even though I loved Ragnar AND Athelstan, I wept when Ragnar died. I got teary when Athelstan died, but it was more for how devastated Ragnar was by that death. Travis Fimmel acted the hell out of that scene.

Poor Maggie...

Can't find a video of it, but Linda Fairgate on Knot's Landing had her throat cut, blood splattering and streaming down onto her legs and feet. I was too much, she was a fun character.

Most of the cast members of The Walking Dead—especially Glen.

Sister Jude on AHS: Asylum

Xena. If felt like such a slap in the face to the lesbian community and it caused me to not get that attached to fictional shows. I can not think of one I have been an avid fan of since then.

Claire on SFU. The tears were rolling down my cheeks.

I'm with you, R33--though I think she turned that last trick just so she could pay Candy back. Even sadder...

Fallon’s funeral in Season 5 of “Dynasty,” (even though she turned out to be alive at the end of the season).

Another for Gary on thirtysomething, just when Nancy's season-long battle with cancer had a happy ending. Talk about a 180 degree pivot.

I second r95's choice. Maggie Gioberti's death was unnecessary and unnecessarily cruel. Falcon Crest had a huge death toll compared to other night time soaps anyway. But killing off the fan favorite, in this manner, was a sure thing to antagonize the last remaining viewers.

Henry Blake, absolutely--gut wrenching, brilliantly handled, absolutely nailed the senselessness of death during wartime. Another one that has stayed with me for about 35 years--and I only saw it once as it is not in reruns much--was the death by suicide of Dr Wendy Armstrong on "St. Elsewhere." Kim Miyori played Armstrong so well and I can still remember my shock at seeing her wheeled into the ER.

Harry Thompson on Hollyoaks, cute gay twinks who barely wear shirts most of the time should not be murdered for being baby daddies.

Lois Smith’s character on THE AMERICANS.

Agree with Xena R99 and it was such a bullshit storyline/explanation. Plus seeing such a strong character with her head chopped off and hung up like a side of beef was disgusting.

I was also pretty upset about Root on Person of Interest. Yeah I get what they did with the character, but in my head the Machine faked her death and it was her calling Shaw at the end and they lived happily ever after with Bear. :)

R107 That was very well done for a one shot character, but Nina’s execution was just brutal on The Americans.

Beverly LaSalle's, because it devastated Edith.

Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey. After the birth of his son so unexpected!

Fry's dog Seymour in the Futurama episode Jurassic Bark

All the deaths on “Dynasty”. Some of the characters have died and been reincarnated repeatedly.

Oh, who am I kidding. It’s dishy and dopey but not devastating.

On Beverly Hills 90210, I found the death of Dylan's wife Toni to be devastating even though she was a minor character.

R114 the death of Brandon's friend Josh was a bit of a shock too.

Sylvia's death on NYPD Blue.

Another vote for Joyce Summers on Buffy & Adriana La Cerva on The Sopranos.

I'll add in Toshiko Sato on Torchwood.

Peggy Mitchell on EastEnders.

Write off soaps if you wish, but this was well done top to bottom - a real look at suicide (euthanasia-ish) and a surprise appearance by a former character that was just......so, so well done.

What made Adrianna's death so moving was we got to see her fantasy of getting away in her Thunderbird and the haunting song playing "Leaving California". Also, Silvio her a cunt was just vicious.

I was pretty choked up over Lady Marjorie's death on "Upstairs Downstairs."

Agent Kate on NCIS. And the young boy, the sheriff’s stepson, on Deadwood.

R17, that was a good scene from Buffy. I liked Joyce, too.

My Mom got cold pretty quickly. It’s very strange to touch a human body that is much colder than it should be.

Frank Sabotka walking towards certain death at the end of the second season of The Wire.

Bobby Simone on NYPD Blue. I wasn’t a regular viewer of the series, but found his death gut wrenching.

Regarding Xena's death, I thought the way she went out was amazing. Putting on her armor, waves upon waves of arrows flying at her, swinging her sword with a body full of arrows while steamrolling through anything in front of her. ALL of that at the beginning of the episode. I think it did the character justice. I mean...the show had gotten pretty bad by then.

I would say Cordelia, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce and Charles Gunn from "Angel" were sad for me. Even though Gunn survived in the comic book. That final season of Angel was better than the last two seasons of Buffy. It was an entirely different show but I still compare them.

Thanks a fucking lot, Nietzsche!!

[Quote] I would say Cordelia, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce and Charles Gunn from "Angel" were sad for me. Even though Gunn survived in the comic book. That final season of Angel was better than the last two seasons of Buffy. It was an entirely different show but I still compare them.

I was pretty shocked by Lindsey's death. But this scene with Cordy gets me every time 😭

Opie in Sons Of Anarchy.

Ooh, I'd forgotten about Tosh/Torchwood. Good call. Very sad.

R129 Owen dies at the same time. Well, dies again. Surprised no love for the death of Ianto Jones

Mrs. Landingham's death on West Wing.

Sorkin seemed to just do it for the Hell of it.

R106 Still mourning twink, Harry.

That Torchwood "mess" was ridiculous. The fact that they killed off 95% of the team pissed me off more than it made me sad.

[quote] The Deuce? Are you fuckers retarded? That show is a fake train wreck made for the stupid middle classes

I see we have a member of the upper classes deigning to post here! Let's all learn more from his thrilling aristocratic tastes, like "St. Elsewhere."

The only one that ever really got to me was that of little Princess Shireen on "Game of Thrones." I had seen her inevitable sacrifice for her father's ambition coming episodes before, but I did not see that her death would be so horrible (burned alive at the stake while she pleaded for her parents to save her), or that it would prompt her seemingly ice-cold mother to commit suicide the next day in shame over her responsibility for her death.

It was the only death on "GoT" that affected me--it was a real gut-punch.

[quote] Mrs. Landingham's death on West Wing.

And also Mrs. McCluskey on Desperate Housewives...both played by Kathyrn Joosten.

The DH death made sadder by the fact that it was filmed when Joosten was sick and aired a few days before she died in real life.

Brian Piccallo in Brain's Song.

Unless I missed it, you folks overlooked the most famous of them all.

The demise of Frannie on Mama's Family.

[quote]Sid on "Knots Landing."

I have yet to recover.

Oddly, I had forgotten this series was in German.

Will Gardner's death on THE GOOD WIFE hit me and caught me off guard. It was unexpected, there was no mention of it prior to the episode. A colleague of mine told me there would be a surprise, but I thought a character would return. After following the show for a few years, I thought Will and Alicia would reconcile in the final season. It really hit me when Diane saw him at the morgue. A real shocker. I was thinking about his passing for a few weeks after.

Prior to that, it was when one of the characters on MASH was killed in a helicopter. Maybe I was in junior high school, but I remember thinking how sad it was that the character was killed.

Very few. What I hated most, and this is an older thing, is when a series would not be renewed, between seasons, but mid-story. There would be some storyline that was going on, and boom! The world just ends. Poof! It’s over!

[quote]Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) on Downton Abbey. Once they killed him off, I lost interest in the series.

No where near as tragic as the death of his career

After a decade of being given absolute shit to work with, Terri Conn (Katie) proved her mettle on ATWT in Brad's death scenes. Just TRY not to cry.

[quote]After a decade of being given absolute shit to work with, Terri Conn (Katie) proved her mettle on ATWT in Brad's death scenes. Just TRY not to cry.

It' a fucking soap, I assume the dead guy came back and died three more times.

R144

Nope he stayed dead.

Uncle Vic dies.

When Dorothy Kilgallen died.

Agreed, r36.

Kaz on Wenthworth. It was devastating because of the eventual reveal of who did it was such a let down and a waste of a good character dying.

Along with R118's Eastenders clip of Peggy Mitchell on EastEnders, the show also did a terrific episode where Dot Cotton helps her best friend Ethel Skinner die

Agree with Adriana on The Sopranos

Nate's death on Six Feet Under

Jon Snow's at the end of GoT's Season 6

[quote]That Torchwood "mess" was ridiculous. The fact that they killed off 95% of the team pissed me off more than it made me sad.

Toshiko Sato's death made me extra sad because I ran into an interview with the actress Naoko Mori where she said while they were shooting takes of the scene she ad libbed the line, "Please, I don't want to go." She said she said it then because she really didn't want to go. They offed her and she was as shocked as we were.

Charisma Carpenter/Cordelia Chase's death made me angry because she relayed the story at a con of how they asked her to come back after she had been in a coma on screen and she agreed to as long as they didn't bring her back to kill her off. However, once everything was a go and she got to the set when she was in her trailer they presented her with the final version of the script where they did in fact kill her off but they told her it was done really well. She was okay with it but boy was that a dirty move.

Dana's death on the L Word. Show sucked afterwards.

The deaths of so many...SO MANY...red-shirted security officers in Star Trek. We hardly knew them and they were gone!

[quote]R159 EastEnders also did a terrific episode where Dot Cotton helps her best friend Ethel Skinner die

Did the coroner or police ever question how that infirm old lady got her hands to so many pills without help? (Or, there was no autopsy?) Because that would be a bummer for the friend.

Much worse, r143, was Jennifer's death, especially seeing poor Ben Hendrickson acting grief-stricken over it knowing he had committed suicide before the scenes aired.

Another vote for Adriana on The Sopranos

Yes, R156, I loved Jennifer's death because it was such a "non-soapy" death: She just ran herself ragged, got pneumonia, and died. Simple as that.

I always thought Mrs. Grubman's death on Nip/Tuck was pretty heartbreaking and one of the best things Ryan Murphy ever did. He must have really loved that character or her actress Ruth Williamson, because her send off was really terrific. When Christian and Mrs. Grubman's nurse (played by Monique) were the only ones who turned up to her funeral, it just hit me so hard. A whole life only dedicated to looking her best and that's what it got her.

Falconer's death on Sisters was very sad.

Allison Mackenzie on "Peyton Place."

Jack on "Little House on the Prairie." Shitbra wouldn't play with him and he just went and died.

Honorable mention for battering ram baby.

Sorry, R143, but I was cheering when Brad died. I was pissed off when he came back as a ghost for several months. I wanted him to be dead and stay that way.

However, the death of gay Dr. Reid Oliver had me in tears.....the only good guy on the show got killed off (because he was gay, I think......CBS wasn't going to give him or Luke a happy ending for the show finale).

Myra Desmond from Prisoner. She was shot in the head by terrorists who took over the prison. The actress who played her, Anne Phelan died last week.

When the kid Urkel died, I cried.

R165 Damn, had not heard that, was she family?

Prisoner deaths were always fucking good.

The "8 Simple Rules" episode dealing with Paul's death, made necessary, of course, due to the sudden death of the star, John Ritter. The actors were obviously devastated, and their emotions were real.

Seymour the dog in Futurama. The song at the end of the episode makes me cry every time. The Giant in the Iron Giant (though you then find he didn’t die), still cry every time my kids watch it, 20 years later.

Omar's death in The Wire made me so sad.

This one really got me on Boardwalk Empire. Dad talking about buying his kids roller skates and then.... Character was only in one episode but I remember this more vividly than anything else in the series with the exception of Charlie Cox's ass.

R171 Funny, I just started watching Boardwalk Empire solely for the goal of seeing Charlie Cox’s ass, given how well it filled out tight black pants in Daredevil.

Snoop's killing on The Wire. The part when she, after realizing that she was going to be shot, sadly asked "How does my hair look, Mike?" brought tears to my eyes.

Bobby Ewing on Dallas. He and Pam had just gotten back together after years apart. As a young gayling who loved the romantic pairing of Bobby and Pam, I was devastated. I remember I cried like a baby. I even cried when I saw it again the first time in reruns. Of course they ruined that storyline with the Dream Season ploy to bring back Patrick Duffy, who realized he wasn't any big deal or sought after as much as he thought he would be.

I used to cry when a Doctor would be regenerated on "Doctor Who."

It's interesting that so many people are saddened by Omar's death when it just proves the old adage, he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.

The death on The Wire that really affected me was Wallace. THAT WAS HORRIBLE.

[quote][R171] Funny, I just started watching Boardwalk Empire solely for the goal of seeing Charlie Cox’s ass, given how well it filled out tight black pants in Daredevil.

I was just about to post a particularly devastating Boardwalk Empire death, but since you just started watching, I won't spoil it for you.

R177 I don’t care, I spoil most things for myself before I watch them because I don’t like being surprised by devastating deaths. I learned that the hard way after going into Game Of Thrones blind.

She's talking about the death of Fatty Arbuckle, r178....

Not a "character", per se, but original SNL castmember Gilda Radner's death from cancer was extremely sad. She had actually been in remission, was finishing her autobiography, and even starting to work again when the disease returned with a vengeance. She died the afternoon of SNL's 1988-89 season finale, and host Steve Martin tearfully paid tribute to her during his opening monologue.

Yeah, that's it, r179!

But seriously, r178, I was talking about the death of Richard Harrow, the physically and emotionally disfigured WWI vet who really only wanted to stop killing and have a normal, loving family life.

Here he is, finally "coming home" from the war (very "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge) :

[quote][[R171]] Funny, I just started watching Boardwalk Empire solely for the goal of seeing Charlie Cox’s ass, given how well it filled out tight black pants in Daredevil.

Charlie Cox's Owen had a hot ass, but he couldn't live forever...

Brian's Song

Has anyone said Betty Draper?

R164: "However, the death of gay Dr. Reid Oliver had me in tears.....the only good guy on the show got killed off (because he was gay, I think......CBS wasn't going to give him or Luke a happy ending for the show finale)."

It was a cowardly cop-out. But I will say that I liked how they had Tom Hughes standing there beside them, giving them advice and support, as he would have with any straight couple in that situation. No "I'll leave you two alone, now" and departure before the kiss. (I know, I know... a crumb)

[quote]But seriously, [R178], I was talking about the death of Richard Harrow, the physically and emotionally disfigured WWI vet who really only wanted to stop killing and have a normal, loving family life.

His is a troubled character, arguably the most interesting of the entire show, but he has to die in the end, despite his core of humanity. Killing was everything for him. He even agreed to kill to buy his way out of killing, back to a normal life.

r171, the last moments of that scene..oh god.. when Werner says "why" will give me nightmares. I know its a mary thing, but god its sad.

Apparently, according to IMDB that scene was shot in a "haunted mansion" in Staten Island.

anyone have a good shot of Charlie Cox bare ass?

don hyatt, alice's husband. his death was so unexpected

every episode of 'murder she wrote.'

my victims

[quote]goal of seeing Charlie Cox’s ass,

For me, it was his glorious, hairy chest/stomach. A lot of you can have your plucked chicken twinks. I love 'em hairy