Character deaths can make or break a good TV show.
Some you saw coming, some you celebrated (looking at you, Joffrey from Game of Thrones ), and some you absolutely hated.
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Whichever way you stand on some of your favorite TV shows, here are 5+ character deaths that saved shows (and 5+ that ruined them).
1. SAVED: Ned Stark in *Game Of Thrones*.
As much as fans loved Ned Stark in the popular HBO series, let’s be real: there would be no storyline in Game of Thrones without this man getting his head chopped off.
Sorry, Ned!
2. RUINED: Elena Gilbert in *The Vampire Diaries*.
If we learned anything from Steve Carrell leaving The Office , it’s that a show has a hard time recovering after losing its main character.
That’s what happened with Elena when she died in Season 6.
As it turns out, the reason she fell into deathlike sleep was because the actress left the show.
After this, the writers couldn’t get the show back on track.
Instead of shaking things up with new storylines, the plot grew stale and the show didn’t last much longer without Elena in it.
3. SAVED: Laurel Lance in *Arrow*.
If fans haven’t seen this actress in Arrow , they might recognize her from Gossip Girl . Sadly, she has a knack for playing really annoying characters.
So when she met her end in Arrow , fans celebrated since her death freed Oliver from his guilt.
4. RUINED: Lexa in *The 100*.
A lot of LGBTQ+ viewers could relate to this character. So when she fell in love with Clarke and met her end soon after, fans were pissed.
The show’s ratings never really recovered after that.
5. SAVED: Joffrey Baratheon in *Game Of Thrones*.
This is one death that no one is sad about. Joffrey was a monster, plain and simple.
And, like Ned Stark’s death (Karma is a you-know-what), it set a lot in motion with the storyline.
For one, Cersei became even more blood-thirsty for vengeance.
After losing all of her kids, she took a page from Dany by becoming a mad queen.
In the meantime, more wars raged on and those with a claim to the Iron Throne grew more power hungry.
6. RUINED: Carl Grimes in *The Walking Dead*.
While Carl wasn’t a fan favorite by any means, his death felt like a betrayal. That’s because the show deviated from the comics to kill him.
Some fans believed that his death was done for shock value.
7. SAVED: Andrea Harrison in *The Walking Dead*.
Oh, Andrea. She started out as such a strong, cool female character.
But as soon as she started having a relationship with the evil governor, not much about her actions made sense anymore. Good riddance!
8. RUINED: Marissa Cooper in *The O.C.*
This California teen had a lot of issues. Like, a lot. But it still didn’t justify her untimely death in Season 3.
Not only did this crush Ryan, but the show was never the same after it.
9. SAVED: Lori Grimes in *The Walking Dead*.
Fans were itching for Lori to meet her end as soon as it was discovered that she was having an affair with her husband’s best friend.
Her death set a lot in motion for the characters.
10. RUINED: Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd in *Grey’s Anatomy*.
This one still hurts to write about. In Season 11, while married to Meredith, he got into a car crash.
While the show is still going pretty strong ratings-wise, a lot of fans feel like he didn’t have to die.
11. SAVED: Peter Russo in *House Of Cards*.
This politician’s death was truly tragic.
He was completely manipulated to cheat on his girlfriend and drink alcohol despite being a recovering alcoholic.
But it had to happen to help Frank Underwood begin his descent.
12. RUINED: Tracy McConnell in *How I Met Your Mother*.
This one still stings.
Fans waited literally nine seasons to find out how Ted met his kids’ mother, only to be incredibly let down.
She died so Ted could pursue Robin…again.
13. SAVED: Christopher Moltisanti in *The Sopranos*.
There was so much symbolism that went into the death of Christopher.
While his death was painful for fans, it was necessary to help Tony escape from under Christopher’s thumb and become more decisive.
14. RUINED: Daenerys Targaryen in *Game of Thrones*.
When the Mother of Dragons’ death took place, the show was already in a pretty bad place.
Fans criticized the final season of the popular HBO series for feeling really rushed and there being bad lighting in key scenes.
There were even obvious mistakes such as a coffee cup and water bottle appearing in scenes.
So when Jon Snow killed his lover (and aunt) Dany, it put things over the edge.
Fans were upset that she wasn’t able to sit on the Iron Throne, something she had dreamed about for years. Then, we all had to watch her poor dragon mourn her death.
15. SAVED: Piney Winston in *Sons Of Anarchy*.
Character deaths, while painful, are sometimes a necessary part of a show.
This was what happened with Piney, as his death made way for one of the show’s most important storylines: Jax becoming president. Talk about sacrifice!
16. RUINED: Glenn Rhee in *The Walking Dead*.
Thanks to an insane cliffhanger at the end of Season 6 involving Negan, fans were emotionally invested to figure out who he killed.
Although fans knew it was Glenn, per the comics, it didn’t sting any less. The show has been on a downward slope ever since.
17. SAVED: The Commodore in *Boardwalk Empire*.
The show producers of Boardwalk Empire totally misplayed their hand when it came to The Commodore. Right from the get-go, he was a sub-par, uninteresting villain.
Once he was out of the way, New Jersey officially belonged to Nucky.
18. RUINED: Tara Knowles-Teller in *Sons Of Anarchy*.
This marked the beginning of the inevitable end for Sons of Anarchy . For a long time up until this point, we slowly saw Jax getting more conflicted and becoming more and more like Clay.
Tara was his tether to morality. With her gone, Jax succumbed to his dark passenger.
19. SAVED: Pierce Hawthorne in *Community*.
I don’t care what anyone says: Pierce Hawthorne was one of the best reasons to watch Community in the early seasons. Unfortunately, actor Chevy Chase was an alleged racist, self-obsessed diva who became impossible to work with.
His departure secured the show’s longevity.
20. RUINED: Spartacus in *Spartacus: Vengeance*.
This one just makes me sad. Andy Whitfield, the actor who played Spartacus in Spartacus: Blood and Sand was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and sadly passed away.
The show recast the role (horribly) and lurched forward for two more seasons, slowly decaying all the while.
21. SAVED: Roseanne Connor in *The Connors*.
Roseanne Barr was, unfortunately, her own worst enemy in this scenario. After tweeting out a slew of incredibly racist remarks , Barr was quickly fired (from her own show!).
In surprising fashion, The Connors’ popularity rose and the show became an even greater success without her.
22. RUINED: Cottonmouth in *Luke Cage*.
I am not a Marvel fan, but I loved Luke Cage . Those first few episodes were unlike any superhero TV show to come before it.
But then they had to go and ruin everything by killing off their main antagonist!
23. SAVED: Susan Ross in *Seinfeld*.
I like to think that Susan died so that George could live, figuratively speaking. It was funny for a while to see George paired up, but audiences knew that it couldn’t last.
With her out of the picture, Seinfeld once again became “The summer of George.”
24. RUINED: Tara Maclay in *Buffy The Vampire Slayer*.
Not only was Tara an incredibly well-rounded character in her own right, but her lesbian relationship with Willow was also one of the first audiences ever saw on TV.
Rumors began to circulate that the reason for Tara being killed off was that Joss Whedon had caved due to the media’s homophobia.
25. SAVED: Edie Brit in *Desperate Housewives*.
Did anyone ever really like Edie at all? What was her purpose? Sure, it was fun (for a short while) to see her used as a foil for Susan, but that got old quick.
Edie didn’t work as an individual or as part of the group: She had to go.
26. RUINED: Nicholas Brody in *Homeland*.
Ugh! Why?! Why did you have to be so short-sighted, Homeland ?! Killing off Brody was the worst thing the show ever did.
From this point on, the writing became predictable, hokey, and just kind of annoying to be quite honest.
27. SAVED: Reed Adamson on *Grey’s Anatomy*.
Okay, obviously Reed’s death was very tragic, but can we all agree that her character was getting more annoying by the episode? She wasn’t bringing much to the table, so fans weren’t all that upset to see her go.
28. RUINED: Frank Underwood in *House Of Cards*.
All of us are well aware at this point of Kevin Spacey’s actions. They were reprehensible beyond all measure and it would have been irresponsible to allow him to continue.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t change the fact that no show could recover from such a loss.
29. SAVED: Bob Newby in *Stranger Things*.
This one will probably divide people, but Sean Astin’s Bob Newby always felt like a character who was put in the show to die.
From a show that feels reluctant to kill off any main cast, the sudden appearance of loveable Bob only for him to honourably sacrifice himself felt a little predictable. So, when the show moved passed his death it felt good to get back to focussing on the main cast.
30. RUINED: Kilgrave in *Jessica Jones*.
David Tennant’s performance as Kilgrave was a masterclass in creepiness and real evil. Kilgrave also gave us a villain who wasn’t simply a mirror image of the hero for Jessica Jones to fight. However, the character’s demise left an unavoidable hole in the show.
31. SAVED: Sarah Lynn in *Bojack Horseman*.
Anyone who was a fan of Bojack Horseman could see that the show was starting to fall into a bit of a repetitive emotional cycle. However, the shocking death of this beloved character provided the show with one of its most harrowing moments, as well as ramping up the stakes for the main character.
32. RUINED: Rita Bennett in *Dexter*.
For most people, the latter series of Dexter were diminishing returns, with the turning point being Rita’s death at the hands of the Trinity Killer. The show never quite managed to replicate the same emotional heights following her death.
33. SAVED: The First Doctor in *Doctor Who*.
As ill-health forced William Hartnell to step away from his role as The Doctor in Doctor Who, the writers found the best way to keep the show alive as the doctor regenerated into Patrick Troughton. Without this notion, the show would not have survived as long as it has!
34. RUINED: Matthew Crawley in *Downton Abbey*.
Okay, so this one is more branded as “RUINED” due to the emotional turmoil that it caused so many of us! The shocking death, right after the birth of the character’s son no less, was a real heartbreaker.
35. SAVED: Adriana La Cerva in *The Sopranos*.
The death of Adriana La Cerva had been signposted for quite some time leading up to her demise in the show. However, her actual death sequence is still shocking, emotional, and the fallout provided some amazing story arcs.
