8 Main Character Deaths That Killed Great TV Shows
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- Опубликовано: 1 июл 2024
- These shows never recovered from these untimely character deaths.
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I think Glenn's death was what really started the end of TWD. By the time Rick left the nail was already in the coffin
I hated that they kept trying to pair up Clarke with various love interests. Like just anyone could replace Lexa!
Glenn killed the series. Rick put the nail in the coffin. Carl's death just set that coffin ablaze.
Couldn't agree more. True heart of the series, which became painfully apparent after his death.
Facts 💯 how dare they give that worthless character all that credit ...
Glens death was always going to happen at that exact point. The reason the walking dead sucks is because they don’t like to follow the source material and want a million filler episodes.
The real problem with The walking Dead and Rick Grimes was they killed Carl the season before!!
Carl trying to follow in his Father's footsteps could have been a very good central storyline for the others to revolve around in the last few seasons.
8 Underrated Adult Cartoons That Deserved To succeed but didn't
Great idea for a list!!!! My (obviously) subjective top 3 picks:
#1 Patheon... It just about preceded the AI obsession of the moment but instead of AI, they were doing *uploaded intelligence* and what could be the ramifications of that. I'm still so mad about AMC cancelling it over tax reason???? UGH. Gross.
#2 Venture Bros...I will never forgive adult swim for cancelling it. So good, so underappreciated and (imo, i guess?) you can see the DNA of modern adult cartoons all over it (e.g. I can't confirm but frimly believe Rick and Morty stole/borrowed A LOT from it). It deserved so much better. The movie finale did the best it could but dammnit, it wasn't enough!
#3 Inside Job...Don't get me started. Maybe it wasn't the greatest adult cartoon in the world but that concept is so golden, it hurts it was shut down so early. FU Netflix, damn.
Honourable mention: Fired on Mars...Technically not cancelled (yet) and only has 1 season so far so it still has a chance to sucseed but it has such terrible marketing and I don't see much fan fare about it. It's probably the best new adult animated show of 2023. Preparing myself for the worst cos it was/is streaming on HBO Max and fuck those guys 😤
Aqua Teen Hunger Force did ok, but deserved better.
@@jayluck8047Turner & Hoop
Mission Hill!
@@IAmMightyMike I have it on DVD... The whole series sadly
Seven years later, and I'm still salty over Lexa getting killed off. The show was never quite the same afterwards, in my opinion.
Professor Arturo in sliders was a massive blow losing the bestist character of the original cast was one of the biggest things to cause its its downfall.
Tara Knowles's death didn't kill SoA--SoA was already planning on going the way it did because that was its entire story arc. It was literally the beginning of Jax's downfall/downward spiral.
I agree. But like always, I suspect that neither the narrator nor the writer actually watched the show, so they really have no idea what they are talking about
I'd say Glen's death is what killed Walkikng Dead. Rick's felt like an approreiate moment for the most part. Like the series could've ended the end of that season and broke off into the spine offs would've worked. It was approraite to end his story because everyone in his family original family died. He had his new found family. But they were able to watch over themselves and had their own lives. His phasing out in that moment, protecting them as it were. Felt ok.
Sure michone had a kid. and Judith was still around. but it felt like a good transition to their story.
I was coming to say the same. In the comics, Glenn's death was a gut punch but a better-earned one because he had been surviving side-by-side with Rick as his right-hand man for a good while. On the tv series, a lack of central focus as a primary character for seasons, an overabundance of "foreshadowing" his eventual death seasons before Negan even appeared, and the "double death" fake out just made the entire thing insulting to Glenn (and Steven Yeung who brought such charisma, charm, and heart to the role). It felt like just when he was getting more focus on the show it was snatched away in a way where even his "big death scene" isn't entirely his own. It felt cheap. I began tuning out after that and it was purely the chemistry between Rick and Michonne that saw me tune in for a few of the episodes featuring them afterward. Then the penultimate character death that cinched it and saw me stop watching completely was actually the death of Carl. That was the final straw for me, it was every bit as insulting as Glenn's death and clearly done to avoid renegotiating Chandler Rigg's contract because he was turning eighteen. Rick's exit from the show by comparison actually felt more appropriately handled when I eventually watched that episode to see for myself. For me, Glenn and Carl's deaths killed the show well before they even got to Rick exiting the series.
Including Tara's death (buffy) is a reach here.
Disagree. It was a massive downer and seemed like a callous contrivance to get Willow into being the villain for the season's end.
@user-lb9xw4xf2q Funny enough, we don't disagree. I meant Tara's death came after the show was already "killed". I don't like how the storyline was handled, either but Buffy was already in decline at that point. Hopefully I'm making more sense?
Goldbergs, when they had to kill the character of Pop when the actor died and then Murray the dad when the actor was fired.
After each character being written out there was an obvious drop in quality
Writing out Pops was unavoidable though, since George Segal died on real life.
zoe barnes didn't kill house of cards, the fact they stretched it on too long is what did it.
Silly me I thought Kevin spacey being a nonce and then being like "that's right I'm gay" and expecting us to take that as an idk apology killed HOC
He's been proven innocent so calling him a "nonce" could be libel.
The killing of bellamy soured the entire ending of the 100 for me. It was very out of character Lexxa was quite destructive as well.
yeah that would have been a better choice
Even though it was in the finale, Daenerys' WWE like heel turn and death was a key reason many GOT fans suddenly went, "nevemind...GOT sucks" 😆
I suspect the fans thought that well before season 8 finale though. Dark clouds were circling, supposedly since 7 or even 6.
Logan at the end of the Hulu Revival of "Veronica Mars." I'm still bitter over it to this day!!!!
Oh my God!!! Me too!!! I have rewatched the first 3 seasons and the movie so many times, but I can't rewatched Season 4. I am so angry that after everything that Veronica went through with Logan and the growth in both of them, they had to kill off right after they finally got married!!!! It was the best way to permanently kill off the series!!! And I don't mean in a good way
@@karawardlaw4090 I haven't been able to watch any Veronica Mars since what they did to Logan. It was my favourite show until they ruined the whole show's legacy with that ending. If you also look at iZombie, Rob Thomas appears to have an issue writing characters in a stable relationship where the main character doesn't crap the bed [Veronica's hot/cold/on/off treatment of Logan throughout the series; all of Liv's (iZombie) boyfriends died or relationships fizzled until the last episode].
There needed to be a believable reason for willow to turn evil in season 6 of buffy. Tara dying was the only thing that made sense… we had had a glimpse of it when glory had left Tara crazy in season 5… you can get all salty about it being a same sex couple that got killed off, but as a show “BTVS” went out of its way to show that the love between willow and Tara was the most pure and true love of any of the relationships in the show, the only other that came close was the platonic love and friendship between xander and willow, which is why it was xander who finally got through to willows humanity in that seasons finale.. Tara’s death although sad, didn’t kill off buffy at all, and although season 7 did have a slight dip in quality, it still managed to stick the landing and end the series in a way that didn’t leave fans wondering why they’d watched for the last seven years… something that a lot of shows can’t do
I agree with you, to a point. I do think Willow getting with Kennedy in S7 made a mockery of her relationship with Tara. It felt like they just shoehorned that in for ratings sake. 🤷♀️
@@gingerninja2487 we don’t talk about the Kennedy relationship except to mention that willows own guilt over originally kissing her (along with Amy’s spell) did cause her to start turning into Warren… Willow never got over Tara, but I agree the Kennedy relationship did feel a bit tacked on to try to give willow a happy ending, which personally I don’t think she needed a new love interest to do that
Lesbian relationships don’t last because neither want to pay the dinner bill.
Killing off Abbie Mills in Sleep Hollow really killed that show.
They were the MC for a reason
Nicks death was so pointless. He was easily one of the best characters in the Walking Dead universe. He really came into his own and became one of my favorites during, I believe it was season 3 where they were on the ranch. His whole relationship with Troy was very interesting and and entertaining.
Mulder's death wasn't the start of the decline. It was the move from Vancouver to L.A. and the loss of the talented writers at the end of the 5th season that did it.
Zoe Barnes dying didn't kill HOF. Just because a show can't reach the heights of its first/best season doesn't mean it's been killed. HOF was still good/entertaining long after her death and only really died cos of Spacey's real life BS.
when it comes to the 100 it was that kind of thinking around lexa that did the show in not her dying, the show had lots of great strengths but people got obsessed with one misstep and quite literally never gave it a chance. the show was never meant to be about Lexa or a same sex romance and it had a lot of great storylines afterwards but people like this never gave it a chance.
FOX's Lethal Weapon was s damn good for two seasons. They killed of Marty Riggs and replaced him with the bland as hell Wesley Cole and it killed the show.
I actually didn't end up minding Cole. I did miss Riggs though.
TWD ended for me when Rick Grimes was airlifted out of the show..he was the axis that the show revolved around.
Can’t have “X Files” without “Fox”; that just leaves “iles”
Curtis in Misfits. After his death, Rudy was the only interesting character left in the show compared to how boring all the new characters like Finn and Jess were
I'd actually say killing Nathan was the beginning of the end, it just lost its charm after that.
@@JD1010101110 Nathan's character didn't die, he left and went to Las Vegas, but yes the show did begin to decline without him. However, it was Curtis death that was the final nail in the coffin
@@rorylynch7775 Fair, but he was written out in a way that was akin to a death from a narrative perspective. Never to be heard from again...
@@rorylynch7775 Also technically, he did die a few times...!!!
Rita getting killed in Dexter was a high point. I couldn't stand her. The thing that killed Dexter was that awful last season.
Well, HoC…the Zoe character dies in the uk based original. Thrown to her death there, so…inevitable. Of course the original was only a couple of seasons
It's in the book! HOC Zoe's death at the end of the first season is the American version of the death of the journalist Mattie at the end of the first season of the original UK version of the program, only Mattie gets to scream "DADDY" as she is thrown off the roof of the house of Commons by Francis/Frank. Zoe just doesn't get the chance. The original series is worth the hunt; it follows the books and has a beginning, middle and end. Missed opportunities there.
Lexa's death on The 100 was because the actress was committed to Fear the Walking Dead and couldn't continue working on the show. I know the show gets a lot of flack for everything but they didn't have many good options
Really don’t agree with SOA being on this list, the show was drawing to its conclusion, it didn’t “kill” the show
Yeah if it happened in season 2 then it could be on the list, but it was setting up the final season!
Agreed!!! I don't think the narrator nor the writer have actually watched the show, so they probably have no clue what they are talking about
@@karawardlaw4090 Absolutely, last episode of the next to last season is a great time To kill off a character that would have this kind of impact on a show, I think sons of anarchy executed it perfectly
Martin Stein “Legends of Tomorrow”
Laurel Lance arrow
Glory done worst to Tara than a stray bullet that accidentally killed her.
David got tired of doing X-Files. He quit. The last time you saw him, it wasn't even him. Gillian wanted to quit too. After David left, Gillian wasn't there as much as you think. Once they left the series was over
How about The Magicians?
I know not the most popular show, but is awesome and a major character death in season 4 really hurt season 5 (the last)
I actually still loved TWD even after Rick left
I felt like it'd been dead a couple of seasons before Rick left. Really glad to hear people still enjoyed it though
Your premise for many of these seems to be that all of these shows would/could have gone on as well forever for years if those deaths hadn't happened. But with Buffy (and arguably, several others) that story and the series retaining what makes it so special years later, had both been coming for some time. Death isn't always meaningful, often pointless, and horribly timed. Stories, like most things, have finite lives and the best lose so much if they don't recognize that - hence "jumping the shark"....😢
Quentin Coldwater in "The Magicians". Years later, and
I'm still p!ssed
by the time RIck Grimes was killed, the TWD was already dead. HOC died with Frank Underdwood.
Was really expecting Ragnar from Vikings
Tara’s death caused so much mayhem and needless death on Sons of Anarchy. Tara’s death on Buffy caused a fun Rampage. When Willow Flails homeboy it was kinda hot yo. Also he had to go!!!
Her death was tied into the dark willow story arc it needed it
I dont think it made s7 much worse except for Kennedy being in it one of most peoples least fave characters
7 id a lot less good than the rest but still very good
I'd argue Fear still had legs after Nick's death but after John Dorie it was a goner.
Optimus Prime getting killed in the Movie killed the Transformers cartoon.
I loved Dexter's relationship with Rita, but i thought that was one of the best endings to a season. Honestly the show never lost steam til season 8 for me, but that's bc i personally didn't really care for the antagonist. He just didn't live up to the season 1 antagonist to me.
Probably in the minority here, but Riggs from Lethal Weapon
I agree
I hope we have all learned: Don't kill off Julie Benz. You'll miss her.
The Shield went to crap after Lem's death. I tell everyone just to watch through season 4 and pretend the show ends there.
I agree that Sons of Anarchy and house of cards were never the same without those two important female characters.
IT WAS MEANT TO TARA DIE.... her death caused jax to derail and set a motion to end of show on season 7... theres was no way to soa had more season alter season 7
Absolutely, it sets off the final chapter where Jax has to kill his own mother and is so distraught even kills himself, but not before setting everyone else & the MC up for success
@WillyKillya exactly!!!! I liked Tara and I was sad about her but it certainly didn't kill the show. Jax had to lose her one way or another. They clearly have never watched the show
Re House of Cards. Was the journalist not supposed to be the Mattie Storin character from the UK version? Haven’t seen the US version so can’t say for certain but sounds it from the way you described the role and death (sudden and brutal)
My opinion of Rick being gone from twd wasn't that it killed the show. The main character being gone was nearly a deatblow to the series, but the whisperer arc was amazing enough to keep it going long enough to actually wrap up all the story arcs
Pyrrha Nikos from RWBY. Like I said, the show peaked with The Fall of Beacon.
From SOA if you put Tara and not Opi then this list is dead
Totally agree about Tara and Mulder.
Oh, Tara Maclay. You and Willow deserved so much better. 😢
Zoe was not the best part of House of Cards
A 'stray bullet' is such a weak trope
It was killing off Kevin Spacey's character on "House Of Cards" that killed the show.
You do realise not killing off Lexa wouldn't have magically saved The 100 as a show, right? The reason the show was going downhill was behind the camera, in the writers room. Even if she hadn't been killed off, the story would have panned out the same way.
I don't know about the BHS/writer room drama but I fully agree. If a show is on the CW, expect the worst...however,even after Lexa's death, the show still showed some promise so (I feel) maybe it would have fallen apart anyway without Lexa being killed off...we might've gotten 1 or 2 more good seasons before the inevitable downhill slope. idk. It definitely didn't fall off cos Lexa died.
Edit: tipsynes made me contradict myself so fixed the wording.
@@MsPurplelocket the 100 was never the Lexa show, she was only ever a side character
I would argue the show only really fell apart in it's last season
@@user-jj4pm2wr6o I totally agree. I said so in my prior comment but I worded it super weird cos I'd been drinking lol editing the comment to be more clear now😅
@@MsPurplelocket ok, having read that I think I see what your getting at. honestly I think the show would have been better off ending after season five, if it had I think we would be having a very different conversation.
I kind of wish the mom was done in rather than Nick in FTWD, I could never stand her. She was wanting af. Tara's death didn't really kill the Buffy series, it was the catalyst to bring in a supernatural BB for them with Willow. We see how she was overusing magic, and her death was the breaking point to show us that Willow really was teetering on the dark side. Also, it added in another HUMAN death, as opposed to the supernatural kills that typically occurred in Sunnydale.
Come on dexter was a great show and was good till the terrible 8th season.
Glad Zoe Barnes left as she was very annnoying and the show kept going and was good, only really going down hill fast when Kevin Spacey left
What about Iron Man?
fear the walking dead was mostly dreck in its first few seasons. Thats why it was completely rebooted with Morgan.
Killing Rita on Dexter killed the balance of the show. She should have been killed in season 7, and then the actual season 5 in Dexter with Julia Styles should have been season 8, where Dexter learns how to help someone else as he was helped and finds closure instead of going to Alaska or where-ever
Rita was annoying and was nothing more than cover. Serial killers don't get happy endings.
@@jamespope7669 The ratings and most people agree Dexter really diminished after season 4.
The killer in me wrapped up the Tara story well though
Marissa Cooper's death killed my interest in the o.c.
No one cares, dear.
@@seth82481 LOL
and along with it, Mischa Barton's bad acting.
They made huge mistakes when they started killing off major characters on The Walking Dead, my husband and I lost interest,it was like ok whose getting killed tonight
The take on Tara's death in Buffy is wow. Imagine that you're so "progressive" that you manage to put every minority character into such a tightly caged box of narrative do's and donts that you accidentally cause them to cease being characters and instead a new modern stereotype. Yay, it's the noble savage and angelic black person trope all over again! Nice going, WhatCulture!
How about Jim's death on "Ghost Whisperer?" The problem was, he didn't _stay_ dead. First he's a ghost, then he jumps into a newly dead body to stay with Melinda, but oh noes now he has amnesia and doesn't know Melinda but he moves into her garage and everyone else thinks he's the dead guy, but he's still being played by Jim's actor and the dead guy also had a fiancée who shows up...And on and on and on. Hands down one of the worst TV arcs I've ever watched.
I just rewatched this recently and there are so many plot holes. In the 5 years time jump everyone is calling Sam "Jim". I'm presuming he still looks like Sam to everyone else, they still live in the same town and Sam still has family outside of Melinda and Aden. Does everyone just accept that this guy is called Jim now? Do they cut all ties with Sams old life? Drives me nuts.
Im here for the Mulder clickbait
Lexa's death probably could have done better, but at some point they needed to get that control program out of her. So it was inevitable.
I stopped watching the walking dead after they killed Carl and didn't kill Negan when they had the chance.
Killing Alyson Archer in Teen Wolf.
Tywin Lannister, Game Of Thrones
Number 7 Opie*** Tara was awful, just awful
It was awful 7th & 8th seasons that killed Walking Dead, not Rick leaving. Andrew Lincoln left because the show had lost its way by unnecessarily dragging out the war story over 2 seasons. The show actually got better after Angela Kang took over - Seasons 9-12 are better than Rick’s last 2 full seasons
Calling 'The 100' a great TV show is a bit of a stretch 😆
Fair enough it was ar from the best show...but it really was quite good. Retrospectiveky, you almost can't believe it aired on the CW. For what it was, the first few seasons really were quite fantastic.
@@MsPurplelocket when would you say it fell down?
List is invalid. No Simon Adabisi from OZ.
I hated Rita in Dexter. Cuts to her chipper phone calls while he was busy killing did nothing but annoy me. I was so happy to find out Trinity got rid of her. Losing Rita didn't hurt the show as much as they didn't know what to do without Rita, and had no plan for shading Dexter in a different lens.
You'll never convince me killing of Kate Mara is a bad thing.
So the people at what culture have not seen the British House of cards. Which the American one is based. The journalist character was thrown from a roof in the British one. But then i think the British version is better. Maybe that is another list British TV show better than their American remakes.
I didn't care about Rick OR Carl's death in The Walking Dead, it was Glen's death that hurt me the most. I literally stopped watching the show for almost 2 years after Glen was killed, when Rick was killed I kinda felt like it's about time. It might be the whole cocky cop persona, I guess he played that part too well
If you stopped watching the show, then stop commenting on the show. Fool.
Rick
FUCK YEAH!!!!
Some love for Son's of Anarchy 👍🏿
Why they focus on the fact that it was the death of a same sex couple that made the show go bad. Even if characters are kept, if the writing is bad then won't save a series. People really should stop harping on this
A pre-watch comment. Let me guess: Rita from "Dexter" is gonna take this cake, isn't she? Despite the show's fifth season, the first following her demise and featuring the brilliant Julia Stiles as Dexter's literal partner in crime, being one of the very best in its history.
Oh. "Only" 6th place. Nevertheless, the statement stands.
omg yes... really bad writing killed the 100 in seconds. I laughed so hard my wife loved the show!
House of Cards was dead when they killed off Spacey, but I guess saying that would cause you trouble, despite him being declared innocent.
They seem more interested in same sex relationships ending than shows getting actually bad.
Progressives are poison
Smfh
At this point we should know if we if we see a happy lesbian couple one of them is gonna die at some point
We all die at some point.
Hail Mary, full of Grace, the LORD is with Thee.
Blessed art Thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, JESUS.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Tara from SOA was a sh*t character, super annoying. Rita on Dexter was an abusive partner and she treated him like crap. Tara on Buffy contributed absolutely nothing other than a mousey presence worthy of mockery which was simply trying to capitalize on the token gay character that kept popping up in TV shows at the time. She was the second worst character on that show eclipsed only by Dawn who was the downfall of the show.
Lexa and Jesus (TWD) deaths pissed me off so much. Sadly they both suffered the “Bury Your Gays” trope
Jesus rose from the dead, though.
Basically if you're in a gay couple on TV, it's more tragic when your relationship ends. Thanks WhatCulture.
I think the producers of these shows love to kill one or more of the gay characters. I'd like to see strong male gay characters in these shows instead of being the sassy best friend or those guys on "Modern Family" who became very annoying with the coming seasons .
On The Walking Dead Rick's disappearance was, in my opinion, the final nail in the show's coffin. Rick waa THE GUY. But Carl's pointless death tore EVERYONE'S heart out. He was a leader with a strong moral compass. His death felt sloppy and forced.