8 TV Deaths That Made Me Miserable
This past week I watched a ridiculous amount of deaths via The Walking Dead. I waited for season three to be over to catch up; and now that it’s all behind me, I’m convinced that dying sucks. Obviously. We want to be forever young! Anyway, all the zombie killings and illogical massacring got me thinking about depressing TV deaths.
So, with this in mind, I decided to revisit 10 TV deaths that made me miserable. Take a look. Spoilers follow, starting with The Walking Dead season two below:
Dale Horvath, The Walking Dead
Among the many, many, many deaths that have occurred on The Walking Dead, none felt as gut-wrenching as Dale’s. It was so incredibly stupid the way he died. Why couldn’t Carl just kill the walker instead of just letting him hang around? Dale deserved better than a runaway zombie. I’m still reeling over his incredibly dumb end.
Charles Brandon, The Tudors
I could see Charles’ death from a mile away. Both he and King Henry VIII weren’t looking so hot towards the end of The Tudors. But it’s always hard to say goodbye to someone as good-looking as Henry Cavill. Sigh. Jokes aside, Charles’ death (though peaceful) showed us that the king had very little friends. Charles was one of the few people who honestly loved him. He would’ve given his life for his king. He was a true friend, and the king turned his back on him for a while. Thankfully, the two reconciled in the end.
Buffy Summers, Buffy The Vampire Slayer
The (second) time Buffy died might’ve had such a strong effect on me solely because I was a pre-teen girl, watching one of my all-time favorite TV characters dying. The scene was very emotional, and seeing the reactions of all the other characters devastated me. (Remember Spike’s?) Thankfully, she was brought back from the dead.
Chris Miles, Skins
Skins is a heavy show. Every issue it tackles, whether it be drugs, eating disorders, teen sex or suicide, is taken to the extreme. That’s the charm of the show. During the first generation, Chris Miles is the light of the group. He’s always full of energy and radiates that to those around him. Sadly, he’s the first main character to be killed off. (After that, at least one main character is killed off of every generation.) His death, however, is the saddest of them all. Right before he bites the dust, it’s revealed that his girlfriend Jal is pregnant (though she later aborts). He dies in the arms of his beloved friend Cassie, breaking our hearts in the process.
Im surprised no 24 deaths made the cut. Those always shook me. They went into overkill in the end there but Edgar, Palmer, Teri, George Mason, but mostly Chappeles death really did leave an impact.
Great list but not to be a stickler or anything but I don’t think Chris Miles and Cassie had anything more of a friendship. i might be wrong since it’s been such a while since I’ve seen it.
Dinobot in Beast Wars was traumatizing for me, then again I was only 13.
well chris miles died then was transported too a different world where he was born as a bastard child of a king!
I’ll never forgive Don Draper for what happened to Lane. Has anyone received more second chances than him? He’s an arrogant jerk to everyone and they just keep putting up with him. Lane gave SCDP everything he had while Roger was slacking off and Don was pulling an emo with the smoking issue and generally does whatever he wants without consulting anyone.
chris miles death made a grown man weep, aka thisguy.
rewatched THE MIST yesterday and i was all like, “hey she is in walking dead, oh she is too”. then dale popped up and i said wait a minute wtf? same director, cool and andrea was actually likeable!
no love for LOST??
Charlies death was one of the saddest deaths I’ve ever seen
Rita from Dexter
Chris Mile’s girlfriend was Jal not Cassie. She also had just found out she was pregnant which made the whole thing even worse
Michael Scofield from Prison Break
Crixus from Spartacus had me upset for a few days.
Mr. Eko!!
I’d take Joyce’s or even more so, Tara’s deaths over Buffy’s. Even Jenny’s death was more brutal and shocking. You knew Buffy’d obviously be back. Be happy Dale wasn’t kidnapped and dismembered by human cannibals in the WD tv show like he was in the comic. Libby dying in Lost was pretty brutal, too.
Chris’ girlfriend was Jal, not Cassie.
BUT, you can see both Chris and Cassie on Game of Thrones now a days.
The deaths that made me the most sad were all on the same TV show, Angel.
1. Fred. Her death was drawn out for an entire episode and there was nothing any of the other characters could do to save her.
2. Wesley. His death was kind of expected but very shocking. Him dying in the hands of Illyria/Fred was just the icing on top of a very sad cake.
3. Cordelia. It was out of the blue but she at least had the chance to redeem herself.
Dale was boring. I applauded when he died.
I actually don’t hold Don accountable for Lane’s death. Lane could have taken his son out or private school and moved to a less expensive apartment when he began having money troubles. He could have swallowed his pride and asked for a loan. Since Don has frequently changed his life he didn’t foresee Lane’s restricted life.
I think a lot of Lane’s suicide went into growing up with a domineering, controlling, abusive father. He holds a job where his bosses just move him from country to country, when he complains about going to Bombay they’re immediately dismissive about his feelings. He finally find the courage to pursue things he wants: job with SCDP, affair with playboy bunny, and really loving American culture. For Lane he finally had a life he wanted and he lost it… he did *embezzle* money and forge Don’s signature implying Don in the crime. What was Don suppose to do?
Don is still a terrible broken person. He was awful to Betty and a terrible role modal for his kids. But Lane’s death was solely by his hands.
Derek Reese TSCC. I don’t even remember much of the show, but I remember his death.
Lem in The Shield… every fucking time
Jimmy Darmody, Boardwalk Empire. Leaving this off your list makes your list completely irrelevant and worthless. Nice work.
Minor quibble, the picture of Dawn is actually Meg on Supernatural.
how about Xena and Gabrielle, crucified by the romans. I was devastated o_O
Thank you for finally mentioning Dawn Trager (Sons of Anarchy). She was the truly innocent one (much more than Opie) and Kim Coates’ performance was so brilliant.
What made Dale’s death all the more ridiculous was the fact the walker practically popped up out of nowhere. Walkers are not notorious for being steathy, and Dale was incredibly stupid to go out like that at night.
Whilst not perhaps as big as the shows mentioned above, the death of Rick in ‘In the Flesh’ was one of the most devastating TV deaths I’ve seen.
Rick, after dying in Afghanistan, returned as a partially-deceased-sufferer to his Xenophobic and prejudiced father only to die at his hands and be dumped at the door step of his best-friend/lover to be found.
Xeno, you will have my respect always for mentioning how epic the death of Dinobot (from Beast Wars) was, although it didn’t make me miserable. I think I was like 10 or 11, and I was a bit sad, but he went out so hardcore, driving back all the entire Predicon force with his sword… super epic. And then the caveman who witnessed his death, driving back the snake with a club and an honor cry a la Dinobot… dope.
Now Vegeta with the Final Explosion… I was pissed. I knew Majin Buu was going to live, but Vegeta went so hard that I wanted Majin Buu dead (among other reasons… he was so damn annoying). Then seeing that Majin Buu didn’t even suffer damage from it… now that was extremely disappointing with no upside.
L from Death Note.
I was always cheering Light on, and I’m glad he won (I’m completely ignoring everything in the second arc), but was a serious moment for me.