Most television series offer plenty of twists and turns—whether they’re unexpected births, deaths, or affairs—that can throw viewers off. But sometimes these maneuvers can throw fans for a loop, particularly when it comes to a character’s shocking death. These ten TV demises shook audiences in all the right and wrong ways.
Lt. Col. Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson), M*A*S*H
This remains one of the most classic shockers in television history. Lt. Col. Blake was one of the few main characters to get his discharge papers from the Army. But shortly after he bid adieu to his fellow officers of the 4077th, his transport plane was shot down over the Sea of Japan. While the show was technically a comedy, it was ultimately about war—and Blake’s death was part of those circumstances.
Joyce Summers (Kristine Sutherland), Buffy the Vampire Slayer
When you reside over a hellmouth, death should be a given. But just when you thought Buffy Summers had a grip on what her job requirements as a vampire slayer entailed, her mother dropped dead of an aneurysm after having just survived a brain tumor. Buffy creator Joss Whedon followed up with an amazingly moving installment (appropriately titled The Body) in which the Scooby Gang struggled to come to terms with something they had yet to deal with—the death of a loved one from natural causes. Jenny Calendar’s death in season two and Tara’s death in season six came in a close second and third, respectively, in the bombshell department.
Teri Bauer (Leslie Hope), 24
In the premiere season of this Fox staple, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) endured one bad hour after another, staving off a terrorist plot to kill presidential candidate David Palmer and rescuing his wife, Teri, and his daughter from kidnappers. The season culminated in Bauer’s failed attempt to stop CTU mole Nina Meyers from escaping the country; she ended killing Teri before getting away. Viewers were left blindsided, but the murder ultimately established that no one in the world of 24 was safe. The show has been building on that sentiment ever since.
Lawrence Kutner (Kal Penn), House
This was a left-fielder that rocked House fans, especially because it came out of nowhere. Without any real warning signs to imply that Kutner was suffering from depression, two of his coworkers went looking for their friend, only to discover that he’d shot himself in his apartment. And the rest of the Princeton-Plainsboro crew (and the audience) were left to draw their own conclusions about why it happened. For the record, it had to do with Kal Penn’s sudden decision to join the staff at the White House, but that provided little comfort for Kutner fans.
George O’Malley (T.R. Knight), Grey’s Anatomy
After this show’s drama-packed season five, creator Shonda Rhimes had plenty of material to create an intense finale. Izzie was on her deathbed, newly married after Meredith and Derek gave up their wedding for her and Alex, and George (Knight, who had asked to be let go from his show contract) up and joined the military, which seemed like an easy way to send off his character. Then there was that pesky subplot involving a man dragged by a bus half a block and brought into Seattle Grace a bloody, pulpy mess. You’d think that would have been telling enough, but the big twist came when the patient grabbed Meredith’s attention by scrawling a message on her palm, the numbers 007—George’s nickname! The scene closed with Izzie and George flatlining, leaving viewers wondering which one would die. The show’s creators went with George. Just goes to show that if you mess with Rhimes, she could literally throw you under the bus.
Adriana La Cerva (Drea de Matteo), The Sopranos
It was tough to narrow down the field of shocking deaths in a show centered on a Mafia family in which murder went hand in hand with cigars and strip clubs, but this one was still a blow. Adriana, beloved girlfriend of Tony Soprano’s nephew Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), unfortunately got coerced into ratting out the family to the FBI. While such a situation could never really turn out well in the land of The Sopranos, the show actually gave the audience a glimmer of hope that it might. And then Soprano henchman Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt) went and took our girl out into the woods and shot her down like a dog as she tried desperately to scamper away on her hands and knees. Christopher’s death a season later also provided some shock value, but Adriana’s lingered long after she disappeared.
Dr. Ray Romano (Paul McCrane), ER
People died in practically every episode of ER, but the death of Dr. Romano—who was long the bane of the ER’s existence—got his comeuppance not too long after losing his arm in a helicopter accident. You’d think he would have learned to stay away from that aircraft, but no. Romano died Final Destination–style, after a helicopter fell on him. His character wasn’t necessarily missed, but some fans say this was the show’s “jump the shark” moment. That didn’t make it any less surprising, however.
Mrs. Landingham (Kathryn Joosten), The West Wing
Dolores Landingham, loyal secretary to U.S. president Jed Bartlet, couldn’t have been happier to finally get behind the wheel of her brand-new car, the first she ever owned. Her simple goal after picking it up was to show it off to her beloved employer and friend, but the sweet scenario took a tragic turn at 18th and Potomac when she was struck by another vehicle. Dolores’s unexpected death broke the hearts of the White House staff and fans everywhere who never saw it coming, just like Mrs. Landingham herself.
Dan Conner (John Goodman), Roseanne
This show did provide clues to Dan’s death when he was hit by that heart attack during his daughter Darlene’s wedding in the eighth season, but he supposedly survived, until the series finale revealed that he hadn’t. In fact, Roseanne decided to upheave a lot of groundwork she laid out over the years by having Dan actually succumb to that attack, by preventing the family from ever winning the lottery, and by making Jackie gay, among other major tweaks. It turned out that creator Roseanne Conner had conjured up half the scenarios we came to accept as true, something she did to comfort herself in the wake of Dan’s death. A lot of fans cried foul, but the comedian defends her decisions to this day. But any way you slice it, the fact that Dan is dead just sucks.
Susan Biddle Ross (Heidi Swedberg), Seinfeld
This comedy was notorious for its characters’ self-centered outlook on life, but Seinfeld really pushed the callous limits when it killed off George’s fiancée, Susan. Jerry’s commitment-phobic best friend had been trying to ditch Susan for over a year, panicking after realizing he was going to have to go through with their wedding. But thanks to George’s idea to buy cheap invitations, Susan dropped dead from the toxic glue used on the envelopes. It was a gutsy move on the creators’ part, but the way the friends all kind of shrugged it off was more shocking than anything. And having George call Marisa Tomei for a date shortly thereafter was just wrong.
The key to a shocking television death is not only the element of surprise involved, but also the emotional punch it offers a viewer. In these cases, those punches were delivered in spades. |
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