We've been hearing rumors (and seeing funeral pics) about the death of a major character on Gossip Girl for a little while now and I think most fans of the show (including myself) can probably guess who it will be. I'm not saying who my guess is but if it comes true it probably won't be much of a surprise to anyone. Time will tell.
This got me thinking about television deaths that did take me by surprise. Lost fans, for example, can probably count several shocking deaths over the show's lifespan that came out of left field (and some that didn't, but were still sad). I still vividly remember the jaw-dropping shock I felt at the death of Teri Bauer on 24. And sometimes a television death may be predictable but still manage to bring about some tears of disbelief, like Denny's sad death on Grey's Anatomy.
When a TV death is genuinely a surprise it can be really disturbing, but at least it's all just make-believe entertainment. Which TV deaths have shocked you?
Stila
Fantasie
Jerome Dreyfuss
Yeah, I was gonna say I wasnt expecting a lot of the Lost deaths!
1well - i think that that ER has had a few that were 'interesting' over the course of it's run - so that's one show that i think always kind of challenges us with the way they get rid of stars. other than that - i kind of feel like most are 'expected' ya know?
2Okay, I know no one watches this show, but I was shocked when Jim died last week on Ghost Whisperer. My jaw literally dropped! Most of the Lost deaths also shocked me, especially Shannon in Season 1.
3The all-time worst? Tasha Yar's on Star Trek Next Gen...absolutely infamous for how casually the character was killed and how little it had to do with the plot.
4Charlie on Lost, Locke On Lost, Echo On lost, Shannon on Lost
Nate on SFU, Lisa on SFU
Tara on Buffy. Anya on Buffy
Wesley on Angel, Fred on Angel
5The bomb squad guy on Grey's Anatomy. Kyle Chandler was just too cute to get blown up! Fortunately, he went over to Friday Night Lights
6Ooh, good one Fleur. What a creepy episode. Charlie's death on Lost was sooooo sad, because they put it off for so long! Made us think they'd let him live. But when Denny died on Grey's, while Izzy was riding up in the elevator, I swear I lost it. I ugly cried. The saddest television moment I have ever seen, no joke, it literally broke my heart. As you can see, I am still not over it.
7I am still sad about Ned Flanders' wife dying on the Simpsons
8For me it was Vaughn on Alias (before we knew he didn't really die). I was so upset with how they had given him a disrespectful death that I stopped watching the show for half a season.
9I was spoiled for it, but I was surprised they killed off Lamb on Veronica Mars.
10tlsgirl - I watch Ghost Whisperer and am so depressed about Jim's death. This is sad, but it was the only thing I thought about all weekend - why would they do that!
11Nate on Six Feet Under. Also, Sarah on Prison Break shocked me, except she didn't stay dead!!
12adw7984 - I know! He was one of the best parts of the show, and HOT. I keep hoping that maybe they'll find a way to bring him back, even though I always find it totally cheesy when shows do that. But still, I just sat there with my mouth hanging open, like "No. Freaking. Way."
lauriegilbert - I had totally forgotten about Vaughn's "death" on Alias! And then they made you wait forever to find out he wasn't really gone.
13Doakes on Dexter.
14Libby on Lost was shocking. I saw the Ana Lucia death coming, but to have Michael turn and shoot Libby too! Wasn't expecting that at all. Also, CaterpillarGirl, I do not consider Locke dead on Lost. Jeremy Bentham is dead.
Yes, I might be in denial.
15Bree's first husband's death on Desperate Housewives. Mr. VanDeCamp - his first name escapes me. Also I second the comment about the bomb squad guy on Grey's. Totally unexpected!
16Papouli on Full House
17man that episode was sad
Kate on NCIS. She was a main character and it was such a sad episode.
18xoxo, it was REX VanDeCamp! Good one, I forgot about him. Poor guy. I liked him.
Divinelight, I agree. You KNOW they can't kill of Locke's crazy a$$ yet!
19...Like reading a foreign language...I have never heard of a single one of those characters. LOL WOW, I have really weaned off TV. I can't even think of a character who died on any show I watched, I'm a sitcom girl.
20OMG Schnappycat - I was totally going to put Sheriff Lamb too!! Also, Marissa on The OC and Keith on One Tree Hill - do we see a pattern as to what I watch?? LOL
21I'm right there with you, PinkTink (well aside from Marissa, who I was ok with dying). But we watch the same shows it seems! And I'm sure I'm much older than you are. Heh.
22I'm with adw7984 & tlsgirl, I was totally shocked on Friday when they killed Jim off!! :|
23charlie on lost.
24there might have been tears...
I'm still sad about Charlie too,
And, divinelight, I too am in denial about Locke and dont believe he's necessarily dead yet!
25Cally on Battlestar also.
26Spike on Buffy
Angel on Buffy (even though he came back)
Denny on Gray's (I never REALLY thought they'd let him die! I still keep hoping they'll come back and say "GOTCHA! He didn't die, he's in witness protection!")
Most shocking of all though, was John Ritter. They had to kill off his character after the man himself died. I was so very sad the day I heard he had died. I loved John Ritter. NO one played an evil robot like he did!
27Nate Fisher on Six Feet Under... Perhaps not the most shocking but DEFINITELY the most tragic... I think I cried for the entire episode!
28I watch Ghost Whisperer too. In the first season's finale when they killed off Andrea. I was so shocked, I started crying! I stopped watching the whole next season, but then I've been getting to caught up on Net Flix. I'm not totally caught up, but I decided to watch last Friday's because of what they said about Jim cuz I thought, "It can't be true." But apparently, it is and I"m shocked, sad and disheartened that the writers would do that to two important characters, so I've decided I'm done with it. (Yep, I hate this about myself, I get REALLY invested in the characters.) They've implied that he will be living on and has not been fired, but for him to be a ghost character, well it's just silly.
29The other shocker, but expected was Det. Doakes on Dexter. Totally hearbreaking was Hilda's fiance on Ugly Betty. That made me just BAWL!
I'm with jdots24 - the death on NCIS was shocking and sad and brilliantly done.
30other than that, i would say that a number of deaths on MI-5 (otherwise known as Spooks) have been. wow! they'll blow you away!
TED! i loved John as Ted! "would you like some delicious chocolate chip cookies"
31I was definitely shocked when Shannon died on Lost, especially since she and Sayid had just gotten together.
I was also shocked when Buffy killed Spike on Buffy. Of course, he did return.
Lastly, I was very saddened by the death of Mrs. Landingham on the West Wing. To think that she had just bought her first new car and then died in a car crash.
32On Ugly Betty when Santos was killed. They writers were so clever on the season opener so we all thought the lovebirds were holed up in the bedroom for days and I was so happy he was ok. At the end of the show, when it was relieved Hilda was up alone in her room depressed, my heart just sank. I had been so fooled and was shocked by that twist. I'm getting teary eye now just thinking about it. Saddest episode ever!!!
Also shocking was Ana Lucia and the other woman with her on Lost. Even though everyone knew she was going off the show, it was still shocking when/ how it happened. A few on Lost have shocked me. The brother and sister both surprised me too.
Also, Rex on Desperate Housewives. Didn't see that one coming!
33Denny on Grey's broke my heart & Teri in 24 was so sad, Keifer blew that scene away with his performance, I had forgotten all about that, feel the need to watch it now?!?
34Who can forget Prue's death on Charmed? The show was never the same after that.
Denny & Bomb Squad Guy on Grey's Anatomy. Both were very unexpected because you thought that were both in the clear and then they ended up dying at the end of the episode.
Charlie & Shannon on Lost. I already heard that Charlie was going to die but I didn't believe it because he was my favorite character and he managed to escape death several times. Shannon's death was also shocking because she was shot out of the blue by Ana Lucia (thinking she was an Other). Oh and when Michael shot Ana Lucia & Libby - THAT WAS CRAZY.
Santos' death on Ugly Betty was tragic. He was killed off way too soon.
35Oh and I forgot to add Rex Van de Kamp on Desperate Housewives and Keith on One Tree Hill.
36*Buffy didnt kill spike, the necklace he was wearing did.
37Caterpillar, don't you agree that his character was FAR creepier than any of the "Demons" they encountered? he was just so, so REAL. LOL And then when he came back... AAAAAHH! LOL
38Jim on the Ghost Whisperer
Echo on Lost
President Palmer on 24.
39To clarify, I know Denny and Bomb Squad Guy didn't die in the same episode. But you both thought that they would be fine...because Denny survived his heart surgery (although he died of a blood clot, I think, at the end) and the Bomb Squad Guy was able to remove the bomb safely and then he blew up all of a sudden while he was walking down the hallway. That was the best episode of Grey's!
40Definitely Libby & Shannon on Lost. Their deaths came as a huge shock, especially with Sayid and Shannon - ohh!
With Charlie I prepared myself for his death & well, I never cared much for Ana Lucia, but her death was surprising.
Also I can't quite believe Locke is dead either - not yet!
With Lost I'm always a little afraid that one of my favorite characters will be killed off. Seriously I really worry about Sawyer
41I completely agree about Teri's death on 24. I can remember how literally dumbfounded I was (which made me think how awesome it was that a TV show could elicit such emotional attachment, you know?).
42for me, Teri Bauer's death on 24 definitely takes the cake on this one. Others saddened me, but didn't surprise me much, including Charlie on Lost.
43Denny on Grey's, Tara on Buffy, Dokes on Dexter, Charlie and Libby on Lost, Nate and Lisa on SFU
44col. henry blake on mash... and come on denny's shocking???
45Jin on Lost and Keith on One tree Hill.
46Sobbed through all of those =[
I-like most of you--can't single out one LOST death as the most depressing. Echo was a big one though. And Shannon. She had finally stopped being a spoiled brat!
And I completely agree about Terri Bauer. Totally thought that after all that, she'd survive! Oh- and Tony Almeida from 24 as well. He was hott....
47I FORGOT ABOUT TARA! Yes, that made me cry.
And I know Buffy didn't kill spike, I was just shocked that they had to let him die in the end. After everything he'd come through, for THAT to be his end... I was so sad.
48I know I'm the only one to say (or probably think) this, but Caleb from The OC. Man, was he the most badass villian. Heart attack into the pool; Julie diving in after him (while "Fix You" swells in the background). I totally just thought he'd be in the hospital, and I was completely nonplussed when Sandy tells Kirstin that her dad died.
Glad we have Alan Dale on Lost now, though!
49marissa on the oc, hadnt watched in a while so it shocked me.
50clark kent's dad in smallville, bomb squad guy, john ritter from 8 simple rules, that was soo sad since it was real.
i can't believe the ghost whisperer one, havent watched it in a while since i work on fridays.
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