Sudden character deaths — they’ve become a regular occurrence television occurrence.
Even the lightest, breeziest comedies aren’t afraid to sacrifice some bodies these days. No one on a screen is safe because the ax can be dropped on anyone, including characters we thought were too important to ever be at risk.
Killing off a character is a powerful weapon in the tv writer’s arsenal. It raises the stakes and forces the audience to take the surviving characters’ dilemmas seriously. Death
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can be a springboard for a lot of great plotlines. It’s also the easiest way to write a character off a show.
Sometimes it’s a character’s time to go. However, far too often, a show kills a character off just as they were becoming interesting.
The characters below could have played a larger, more relevant part in their respective shows, which made seeing them die all the more crueler.
Capt. Zoe Anderson – The Rookie
Captain Zoe Anderson was one of the few authority figures we liked seeing onscreen. She was compassionate, badass and died heroically in the line of duty. The officers of the Wilshire Division and the audience won’t forget her anytime soon, but there was still so much more we could have learned about and from her.
Wells Jaha – The 100
Wells was a viewpoint character in the books The 100 was adapted from. He was Chancellor’s Jaha’s son, Clarke’s former best friend, and one of the few voices of reason among The 100. Clearly, he was being set up to — Nevermind, he was stabbed to death in the third episode.
Paige Larson – Days of Our Lives
Discovering Eduardo Hernandez was Paige’s father after her death robbed us of a juicy plotline about Paige getting to know her family while her controlling mom tries to prevent it. All we got were some weak lamentations after the fact from Paige’s relatives.
William Walker – Brothers & Sisters
William Walker conducted shady business deals and had affairs. Do we get to watch him face the consequences of his actions? No, he dies in the first episode, and his wife and kids are the ones who have to pick up the pieces and clean up the messes he left behind.
Dr. Heather Brooks – Grey’s Anatomy
Even for Grey Sloan, Brooks was odd. Some thought her personality was offputting, but Derek saw past her quirks and recognized her surgical talent. Unfortunately, not long after, a fellow intern’s jealousy got the better of him and caused a chain of events resulting in her getting electrocuted and then dying on the operating table.
Ben Button – Riverdale
Ben was at the Twilight Drive-In, Ms. Grundy’s, and the Cooper house but wasn’t important to any plot though until he began playing G & G. Surviving his encounter with the Gargoyle King while Dilton didn’t seemed to hint at him gaining a larger role, but shortly thereafter he chose to ascend and reunite with Dilton in the kingdom.
Capt. Phillipa Georgiou – Star Trek: Discovery
Captain Georgiou was instantly memorable, and her death early on in the series was huge loss in-universe and out. The continued presence of mirror!Georgiou is a constant reminder of how we’re stuck watching a xenophobic, former dictator instead of one of the best officers in Starfleet to ever captain a starship.
Nolan Hotchkiss – PLL: The Perfectionists
Most of PLL: The Perfectionists’ premiere was devoted to showing us Nolan’s dickish behavior. Then we discovered he knew his sister faked her death, was helping her take down Hotchkiss Technologies, and regretted having to treat the people around him horribly. Just as we started to root for him, he was murdered.
Det. Eudora “Dora” Patch – The Umbrella Academy
Diego and Dora had a classic, “he’s a vigilante; she’s a detective; they’re on and off romantically dynamic.” It came to an abrupt end after Dora was murdered four episodes into the series.
Jesse McNally – Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Remember, Jesse, he was Willow and Xander’s best friend. Not long after Buffy moved to Sunnydale, he was kidnapped and turned into a vampire. He could have made for an interesting recurring villain, but alas, Xander accidentally staked him.
Georgia “George” Lass – Dead Like Me
At 18, George was a depressed college dropout living with her dysfunctional family and forced into working a menial temp job. Her life was brimming with potential TV storylines. We never got to see those stories play out because a toilet seat from outer space crash-landed on top of her.
Victor Stecker-Epps – Burn Notice
Like Michael, Victor was a burned spy coerced into working for a rogue organization. Initially antagonistic, he eventually agrees to team up with Michael to take down their common enemies. Unfortunately, their partnership began and ended in the same episode.
Lady Catelyn Stark – Game of Thrones
Lady Catelyn Stark lost her husband, her home, and witnessed the murder of her eldest son right before her own throat was slit. In the books, she was resurrected as Lady Stoneheart and began hunting and killing those who wronged her and her family with a vengeance. On Game of Thrones, her story ended at the Red Wedding.
