Sometimes, we’re looking for something new to binge, and other times, we want to immerse ourselves in a show we’ve long loved. Even if TV characters aren’t real, we get connected to them like they’re members of our family. A superbly written series crafts fictional people that represent something deeper than what’s on the screen. We see parts of loved ones in them, we live vicariously through them, and the line between reality and fairytale gets blurred.
Nothing shocks us more than when a beloved member of our TV experience gets whacked. Other times, a villain we can’t stand also gets the same treatment. Whether we’re happy or sad about a character dying, the response elicited is dynamic. These are the TV character deaths we’re still not over.
Gale Boetticher on Breaking Bad
Most people would say the death on Breaking Bad they still think about over a decade later is Hank’s. While ASAC Schrader is still the most heartbreaking character death in the show, Gale Boetticher’s was more shocking. Seeing Walter use Gale’s mortality as leverage in his battle with Gus was thoroughly badass, but it also demonstrated Walt’s pathetic manipulation of Jesse yet again. Forcing Pinkman to kill someone in cold blood to save his hide was the most harrowing cliffhanger in the series up to that point.
Howard Hamlin on Better Call Saul
Better Call Saul was usually a lot more tame in its violence than Breaking Bad, but not when it came to the final season. As Jimmy McGill and Kim Wexler got in too deep with the wrong people, they forgot they were putting other innocents in the line of fire. Jimmy’s frenemy, Howard Hamlin, gets splattered across the hardwood floor in the season six midseason finale. It’s the type of character death that had me and so many others devastated for days afterwards.
Joel Miller on The Last of Us
The most recent death on this list is fresh in our minds and the inspiration for this journey through memory lane. Even though fans of the video games knew it was coming, seeing Joel killed with Pedro Pascal portraying his demise gave the scene an extra oomph that wasn’t in the game. How will The Last of Us season 2 continue on without its biggest star? We’ll have to be patient and accepting of Bella Ramsey and Kaitlyn Dever to lead the way for the foreseeable future.
Joffrey Baratheon on Game of Thrones
Joffrey thought he was the king of Westeros through the first four seasons of Game of Thrones, but his status was purely a superficial title. Everyone hated the illegitimate Baratheon heir, both on the show and in the audience. Watching him choke to death on poison was a satisfying and deserved end to his villainy.
Omar Little on The Wire
Omar Little was the toughest there ever was in The Wire. With so many criminals, cops, and politicians vying for status on the streets of Baltimore, everyone still looked up in awe when Omar was comin’. When he was killed by a kid in the final season of the show, it was a symbolic middle finger to the power hierarchy in the series. Nobody is safe from untimely demise in a city inundated with corruption.
Adriana La Cerva on The Sopranos
Adriana’s first mistake on The Sopranos was trusting Christopher. Tony Soprano’s second-in-command thought he loved Adriana, but he sold her to a tragic execution instead of running away from crime and living with her in hiding. Adriana may have deserved to die according to mafia code, but she was truly too good for the world she got caught up in. Her death capped off perhaps the best episode of the series, “Long Term Parking”.
Rita Morgan on Dexter
Dexter Morgan thought he had won his battle with the Trinity Killer at the end of season 4 of the legendary SHOWTIME series, but instead experienced a level of trauma he hadn’t since childhood. Dexter walking into his home to his dead wife and their baby sitting in her blood remains the most indelible moment of tragedy in the franchise.
Logan Roy on Succession
Logan Roy was a titan who lorded over the Roy family for three-plus seasons of Succession. He was supposed to die at the beginning of the series, but the longer he survived, both the fans and the characters in the show expected him to stay around until the final episode. Creator Jesse Armstrong’s decision to kill off Logan with several episodes left in season 4 was daring and unforgettable.
Glenn Rhee on The Walking Dead
Glenn’s death in the comic book didn’t make his TV demise any easier to stomach. When Negan whacks Glenn over the head with his spiked bat, Lucille, each hit became exponentially more painful. His legacy reverberates through The Walking Dead franchise’s spinoffs to this day, especially The Walking Dead: Dead City.
Nate Fisher on Six Feet Under
Nate Fisher was the type of complex person who made Six Feet Under such a fascinating and engrossing series to get lost in. He was always in danger of dying from his AVM throughout all five seasons of the show, but when the moment finally came in the fourth-to-last episode of the final season, it didn’t feel any less painful. It was a plot moment that led to what is now thought of as the best series finale in TV history, “Everyone’s Waiting”.
