Which TV character’s death
shocked you the most
and hit you the hardest?
On Sunday night viewers of Fox’s long-running cartoon sitcom Family Guy were shocked and disturbed when the show made the unusual step of actually killing off one of its regular characters–an act virtually unheard of in the world of animation, where the players are essentially immortal.
But as unexpected as the death of Brian (the Griffin’s talking pet dog) was, it definitely wasn’t without precedent. For decades now, TV shows have been using death as both a dramatic tool and occasional professional punishment (“Really? You want how much more money?”) with varying results. Usually we shrug and move on, but sometimes the effects can last with us long after the actual show has ended.
In my case, all of the deaths that first spring to mind come from one show–Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Set in a universe where high school literally was hell, a lot of people died over the course of the series (and it’s spin-off, Angel) but there were at least four that hit me like a freight truck.
I suspect most people would pick the death of Joyce Summers, Buffy’s mom, as the most emotional–largely because it stands at the center of one of the best hours of television ever devoted to the subject of death–while others might select the deaths of Tara Maclay and Buffy herself (she got better, but it wasn’t pretty) as the ones that really hit them in the gut, but for me the first one stung the hardest.
The death of Jenny Calendar (nee Janna Kalderash) in the second season marked the first real time that a character on Buffy we had came to like and root for was suddenly and cruelly killed and it forever changed the stakes of the show. Actions now had real consequences and the safety net we assumed were inherent in such a production now didn’t feel so safe or sturdy. If Jenny could die so suddenly–her neck snapped by Buffy’s sadistic former-lover–then all of the Scoobies faced similar danger, which added a tension that elevated the show’s famously quippy dialogue.
So, that’s my pick. What’s the first one that comes to your mind? Is there one that still makes you mad? Or misty-eyed if you think about it too much?
Dr. Lawrence Kutner on House. Can anyone honestly tell me they saw that one coming? I think not.
Ianto Jones on “Torchwood: Children of Earth.” Caught me off-guard, just as his relationship with Jack was taking off. Heart breaking.
For those old enough, seeing Lee Oswald murdered live on TV in 1963 was probably the most shocking television death of that generation.
If you say Oswald was a real person and not a fictional character, then you are just being naïve…. ; – )
I remember how in the late-80s and early-90s people would say “A child will see 10,000 murders by the time they are 12 (or some other age)” and I would always think it was stupid because I could only think of a handful I had seen–all of which were assassinations shown in documentaries and news shows. It took me awhile to realize those folks were talking about pretend murders that I knew weren’t real.
For me, it was the unaired series finale of “Gilligan’s Island.” The castaways have depleted their coconut supply (no doubt due to all those pies Mary Ann used to make) and see their fishing is starting to dry up. After several weeks, they begin to sink into a slow starvation. The decision to resort to cannibalism was a touch of horrific realism. I guess the real shocker is that Ginger draws the short straw and has to sacrifice herself for the good of the group ( I would’ve thought it would be one of the Howells). When the Prof. admits… Read more »
It says something about how good that show was that the episode you’re talking about made me cry while watching a robot shut down.
Passion – the episode in which Jenny gets killed off, may or may not be my favourite episode in the entire series. I haven’t decided yet.
Strangely, it was just this past week. NO SPOILERS. I’ve been watching TV my whole life, but a character took a sudden, unexpected, beautiful turn on a police police procedural, and one of the most sudden, unexpected, and beautiful moments of pure love and connection, ending with a gentle, passionate kiss, happened. And then suddenly and brutally, one of them died, and the grief and heartbreak in the eyes of the other was just gut-wrenching. This is the second time this has happened to the one left alive, and I’m almost not sure if I can watch the next episode,… Read more »
How can it be no one has said Kenny McCormick from South Park? I mean…he dies almost every week!. Now that is tragic.
I’ll agree that all of the Buffy deaths took a toll on me – Joyce’s in particular still haunts me. But the TV death that had me sobbing harshly and even having nightmares after, oddly enough, was that of Nate Fisher in Six Feet Under. Don’t ask me why, I should have seen it coming…The revelation of all of the Fisher’s death dates/circumstances at the end tore me up, honestly.
Even though True Blood is awful, Eric’s death was categorically the worst.
I am going a different Route I am going to go with Kate on NCIS. She was a main Character and a popular one. She had a very graphic death where she took a bullet between the eyes.
Blake on Mash was a tear jerker, but it was not shocking. Brian the dog can (will) always come back. How many times has South Park killed Kenny?
For reasons of its WTF factor, I’m going with Brian on Family Guy….although I don’t believe it. They killed Lois before, too; I think they’ll bring Brian back. Brian was the reason I watched to begin with–from the very first commercial where they showed him from the back, peeing on a fire hydrant (standing up), with a little tug upwards before he turns around, as if he was zipping up his pants. Priceless. Killing Brian was like painting clown make-up on Michelangelo’s David. Someone should’ve stopped them.
Fantastic question. And you so perfectly describe how Joyce’s death episode changed how TV depicted death. The whole of it – from the haunting silences punctuated by tinnitus-like noises to the still shots of Joyce’s death face (which, by the way, were stylistically and visually accurate – that is exactly how a face grays over the course of an hour or two) were so riveting that I couldn’t cry. But boy, am I crying now remembering it. I’ve seen the episode three times. It never fails to amaze me how Whedon and Friends got it right: if you’ve ever lost… Read more »
I watched it about six months after my mom passed and I at last understood just how accurate it really was.
That must’ve been really hard to watch under those newer circumstances in light of your loss…
Blakes7 end threw me in a huge way and left a hole….I was used to my heros (Doctor Who, James Bond) always winning out no matter how dire the odds
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake's_7
I still haven’t forgiven Joss for Tara.
Buffy is my favourite television show of all time – and I love quite a few.
The thing about Tara’s death, is that on the one hand, its initially shocking, but we don’t get the full blast of the emotions until Xander saves Willow. It’s at that moment when you see her break down, and her true vulnerability with the fact that with all her power she is helpless to bring Tara back.