Everybody has at least one TV show where the characters on it feel more like family than … well, their families. Whether it’s a long-running comfort sitcom, or the latest drama everyone’s talking about, television is designed to string audiences along. It does this with storytelling, compelling characters, and most of all, never knowing what twists are in store from episode to episode.
But like any television show,nothing lasts forever. It’s rare actors will agree to play a character until they’re dead, especially the worst main characters in popular sitcoms. Actors want to move on to other projects, or the shows themselves simply must end with not a whimper but a bang that leaves viewers remembering these characters’ fates for the rest of their lives. Sometimes, a show nails it, but other times, it does not.
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After its cancellation,fans were worried they’d never get to see Veronica and Logan become endgame,at least until Hulu gave us another season of ”Veronica Mars” set 12 years after the events of season 3. Veronica and Logan’s rocky relationship remains a major part of the series to the vrey end, when they finally get married … only for Logan to be killed by a surprise car bomb moments later.
Unsurprisingly,fans were heartbroken that a character like Logan could be killed off in such a sudden,cruel manner. It’s especially egregious knowing that there were no plans to continue “Veronica Mars” beyond its fourth season, despite Bell herself defending Logan’s death as the right thing for Veronica instead of her getting married. Either way, it would’ve been nice for Veronica to have some agency in that decision and not have her new husband ripped from her so bluntly.
By the time Carl Grimes met his fate on “The Walking Dead,” the show had already drove away most of its core fanbase. Many fans felt that “The Walking Dead” should have ended with season 5, back when it was at the height of its popularity and still prominently featured the likes of andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira’s Michonne. And yet, the death of characters like Steven Yeun’s Glenn was a turning point in which audiences started tapering off.
Generally speaking, “The Walking Dead” did have a graphic novel to adapt, but after a while, as it began straying from its source material, decisions like killing Rick’s son Carl (Chandler Riggs) seemed to be made purely for shock value. Riggs had essentially grown up in front of audiences’ eyes since “The walking Dead” season 1, so it was all the more frustrating when he died of a Walker bite in the season 8 mid-season premiere, as opposed to becoming the strong leader he is in the comics.
Though character deaths in “The Walking Dead” had resulted in backlash prior to Carl, this was a new low for the series and kickstarted a petition to have Scott Gimple, the showrunner at the time, fired for abandoning the character’s more captivating comic book arc.
eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn) may’ve had a tough go of it in “Stranger Things” season 4, but at least his absence from the series afterwards gave Quinn time to star in blockbusters like “A Quiet Place: Day One” and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.” A new addition in “Stranger Things” season 4, Eddie is a misfit D&D player and mentor figure to Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) who’s framed for the murder of Chrissy (Grace Van Dien), a cheerleader killed by the malevolent Vecna (jamie Campbell Bower).
At a certain point, it becomes kind of obvious that the only fate left for Eddie is death. Save for Dustin and his friends, everyone else believes he’s a Satanic worshipper and murderer, forcing him into hiding. Not only that, but by this point, “Stranger things” had developed a habit of introducing fun new characters each season only to quickly kill them off.(See also: Sean Astin’s lovable Bob Newby and shannon Purser’s Barb.)
Sure enough, Eddie ends up sacrificing himself to some Demo-bats in order to get them off the tail of the show’s plot-armored characters at the end of season 4. As “Stranger Things” proved over and over, beloved supporting characters like Eddie never stood a chance when no one else on the series could die.
Chef (South Park)
Most of the time, deaths on “South Park” don’t really matter, as evidenced by the 100+ times that Kenny has been killed in various episodes of the adult animated series over the years. However, one death was not only permanent, it was also caused by behind-the-scenes drama related to one of the most controversial “South Park” episodes of all time: season 9’s “trapped in the Closet,” which infamously lampooned the Church of Scientology.
Though Chef (Isaac Hayes) was an integral character in the early seasons of “South Park,” the character was killed o”Yellowjackets” is an interesting show to dissect in terms of who does and doesn’t die. The Showtime drama takes place in two timelines: One is set in 1996, where a high school girls soccer team gets stranded in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash, and the other is set 25 years later, as those who survived continue to deal with the aftermath of this traumatic event. Consequently, several characters die brutal deaths, including Ella Purnell’s star player Jackie, who freezes to death in the ’90s timeline at the end of the first season.However, season 2 also featured another major character death – namely, that of adult Natalie, as played by Juliette Lewis. Her younger self, played by Sophie Thatcher, proves to be more logical than her peers when it comes to surviving in the ’90s timeline. Nevertheless, adult Natalie dies at the end of season 2 when, in a bizarre twist, she’s accidentally injected with fentanyl.
while many felt “Yellowjackets” season 2 was angrier, more twisted, and as good as season 1, adult Natalie’s death still came as a shock. Ultimately, it may have been the result of behind-the-scenes drama involving Lewis’ creative differences with the show’s writers regarding Natalie’s storyline. At the very least,fans can take comfort in knowing Thatcher’s Natalie will remain part of “Yellowjackets” to the very end.In the pantheon of great shows with terrible endings, “Killing Eve” is up there. The BBC series drew in an audience with its fascinating character study of Eve (Sandra Oh), a workaholic MI6 agent who becomes obsessed with catching the twisted-albeit-charismatic assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer) – whose own obsession with Eve turns their cat-and-mouse game into a romantically-charged drama. Obviously, a character as horrible as Villanelle couldn’t have a happy ending, but the way the show’s writers did her dirty betrayed everything fans loved about the series.
The series finale, “Hello, Losers,” sees Eve and Villanelle not only finally get together as a couple but work together to take down the Twelve, a secret society who had initially hired Villanelle to do their killings. Just as the two are about to get away, Villanelle is disappointingly killed by a sniper, falling into the River Thames where Eve dives in after her, mourning her. Following this moment, the series ends, full stop, no epilogue.
It’s hard to believe that “Killing Eve” almost had a darker ending,but that might have been better than the anti-climactic (albeit,totally deserved) justice served to Villanelle. Yes, she’s horrible, but fans loved her character so much and wanted to see her change for the better, if that was at all possible. Seeing her die in a very unremarkable way right after consummating her slow-burn romance with Eve was not the right call.
Ncuti Gatwa’s Role as the Doctor and Concerns Over Character Treatment
Fans are expressing concern over the potential for diminished storylines for Ncuti Gatwa,the current actor portraying the Doctor in the BBC series Doctor Who. This concern is heightened by the significance of Gatwa’s casting as both the first Black actor and the first openly-queer actor to take on the iconic role.
The frustration stems from a perceived lack of significant advancement for Gatwa’s Doctor, despite the ancient importance of his representation. Details regarding future seasons remain unclear as of January 19, 2026.
This discussion occurs alongside broader conversations about disrespectful character deaths in television, as highlighted in a Slashfilm article discussing the fate of Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones. Read more about disrespectful TV deaths hear.
