From Derek’s fatal car crash inGrey’s Anatomyto Glenn’s gratuitous head-bashing inThe Walking Dead, some TV character deaths were so devastating that we almost rage-quit their shows. An emotional attachment toiconic TV charactersis the reason why audiences keep coming back to their favorite shows every week. They eventually come to feel like family.
So, a TV character’s death can hit a lot harder than a death in a novel or a movie. The untimely passing of characters like Sarah Lynn inBoJack HorsemanandHoward Hamlin inBetter Call Saulwere so heart-wrenching that it almost felt like the show wasn’t worth watching anymore.
10Dr. Derek Shepherd
Grey’s Anatomy
Derek’s relationship with Meredith was the emotional backbone ofGrey’s Anatomyfrom the very beginning. The show started off with the two unwittingly engaging in an affair before realizing they’d have to work together. Over the course of the early seasons, they quickly fell for each other and even got married.
In season 11, Derek was involved in a fatal car crash. But he wasn’t killed on the scene; he was declared braindead and Meredith had to make the heart-wrenching decision to take him off life support and let him die. The series went downhill after Derek’s death, so it wasn’t really worth watching anymore.
9Sarah Lynn
BoJack Horseman
Sarah Lynn’s story inBoJack Horsemanis a harrowing portrayal of the way Hollywood destroys the lives of child stars. BoJack reconnects with his old sitcom co-star, and instead of trying to save her from her addiction, he enables it. They go on a drug-fueled bender and, ultimately, Sarah Lynn overdoses at a planetarium.
Not only was this death heartbreaking; it made a monster of the show’s titular protagonist.
The most devastating part of Sarah Lynn’s death is that BoJack waited 17 minutes — an eternity in the midst of a medical emergency — before calling 911. If he’d called sooner, the paramedics might’ve been able to save her. Not only was this death heartbreaking; it made a monster of the show’s titular protagonist.
8Charlie Pace
Lost
When we first met Charlie Pace inLost, he spent every episode scrambling for his next heroin fix. But after being forced to go cold turkey on the island, he achieved a much-deserved redemption. He became a caring father figure to Aaron and a dependable friend to all the other survivors — especially Hurley.
So, when he died in the season 3 finale, it was naturally really sad. But what made it even sadder was that it was a heroic sacrifice. His final act was completely selfless, using a hand-scrawled note (“NOT PENNY’S BOAT”) to warn Desmond and the others about the fake rescue team. From season 4 on, Charlie was sorely missed.
7Howard Hamlin
Better Call Saul
The midseason finale ofBetter Call Saul’s final season brought the most shocking and unjust death in the entire show. Howard Hamlin stops by Jimmy and Kim’s apartment to give them a piece of his mind after being subjected to a series of cruel pranks that destroyed his reputation, and ends up getting a lot more than he bargained for.
Lalo Salamanca comes back from the dead, barges into the apartment, and guns down Howard like it’s nothing. Howard is the most needless casualty of Jimmy’s turn to the dark side. He was a bit pompous, but he wasn’t a bad person.Howard’s deathis the final straw that ends Jimmy’s relationship with Kim and completes his transformation into Saul.
6Wallace
The Wire
The Wireestablished that there was no line it wouldn’t cross — and no character it wouldn’t kill off — withWallace’s untimely deathin season 1. Wallace was a teenage drug dealer with more of a conscience than any of his peers. Unfortunately, that conscience is what got him killed, because it took him to the police.
Stringer orders two of Wallace’s closest friends to lure him into his own empty apartment so they can discreetly shoot him dead. Wallace was so sweet and lovable, and his death felt so hauntingly real, that it proved to be a watershed moment for viewers. If you couldn’t handle that, you couldn’t handle the rest of the series.
5Tara Maclay
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
There was a lot of tragedy inBuffy the Vampire Slayer. No one in that show was allowed to be happy for too long. But the tragic twist that hurt our souls the most was the death of Tara Maclay. Willow and Tara were one of the most lovable TV couples ever created.
And then, just when it seemed like they were finally happy together, the heartless writers decided to tear that happiness to shreds by killing Tara with a stray bullet. Willow and Tara were the first lesbian couple ever depicted on primetime American television, and they deserved a much happier ending.
4Joel Miller
The Last of Us
In 2020, gamers were devastated when they saw Joel Miller get beaten to death with a golf club in the first couple of hours ofThe Last of Us Part II. Five years later, TV audiences were devastated by the exact same act carried out by the exact same weapon.
Joel’s death was arguably even more heartbreaking in the TV showthan it was in the game. Pedro Pascal’s Joel was much more sensitive and vulnerable than Troy Baker’s stoic Joel from the games, and the TV show left Ellie conscious to lie with Joel’s corpse in the immediate aftermath of his demise.
3Poussey Washington
Orange is the New Black
In the first four seasons ofOrange is the New Black, Poussey Washington was the heart of the show. But in the penultimate episode of season 4, when Poussey tried to de-escalate a peaceful demonstration that was getting less and less peaceful, she ended up being killed by a guard.
When Poussey was killed, it was like the writers ripped the heart out of the show. She was such a lovable and deeply complex character that the series never felt the same without her.Orange is the New Blackcontinued until season 7, but the seasons following Poussey’s untimely passing took a nosedive in quality.
2Daenerys Targaryen
Game of Thrones
There wasn’t much further left to go withGame of ThronesafterDaenerys Targaryen’s death, since it happened midway through the final episode, but it was so poorly handled that it made the finale barely worth finishing. Jon Snow is tasked with essentially putting down Daenerys to save the people she would slaughter, so he stabs her mid-kiss.
Game of Thrones' last few seasons suffered after running out of source material to adapt.
WhenGame of Thronesstarted, Daenerys became one of the breakout characters. Audiences followed her journey for years. But in the final season, the writers burned all her character development and turned her into a genocidal monster murdering innocent people en masse. It might be the biggest black mark onGame of Thrones’ legacy.
1Glenn Rhee
The Walking Dead
The Walking Deadsuffered a massive dip in viewershipfrom which it never recovered after Negan killed Glenn in the season 7 premiere, so clearly a lot of people did rage-quit the show after his death. The season 6 finale had ended on a cliffhanger: a P.O.V. shot of one of Rick’s group being brutally beaten to death by Negan’s barb-wire-wrapped baseball bat.
The season 7 premiere finally revealed who he killed: Abraham. And then, he killed someone else. Glenn was one of the show’s most beloved characters, so his death was a huge disappointment, especially on the heels of his cheap fake-out death, and it was so gratuitously gory that it felt like torture porn.The Walking Deadjust wasn’t fun to watch anymore.
