Day #28 of the 30 Days of Television Challenge

[shadowkat]

Day #28 of the 30 Days of Television Challenge.

The prompt is Most shocking character death - I feel like we've already done this one, and more than once.

Mine is The Good Wife.

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The style of death wasn't shocking, it was that they did it. Also to a major character and lead of the series. Apparently the actor had advised the writers a year before that this season was his last, and they all managed to keep it a secret, including the fact that the actor was leaving.

Comments

[cjlasky7]

Playing my ANGEL card here...

Julie Benz might not stick around a series for very long, but whether on Dexter, Buffy or Angel, she knows how to make an exit.

On Angel, Darla checked out twice, and both were dramatic highlights. In "The Trial," Darla was about to do the noble, "I've accepted my fate and I will do no more evil" death, when Drusilla waltzed in and drained her right in front of Angel. And in "Lullaby," Darla staked herself to save the life of her unborn child:

https://youtu.be/vTmU-7ZfwQg

[shadowkat]

Lullaby is a good pick. I actually found that one interesting. One of the better episodes of Angel S3.

[atpo_onm]

Hard to pick just one shocking death from a series that from the very first season had the temerity to suggest that in any real world, people die stupid, senseless deaths, usually because someone else put themselves or their cause as a priority, or were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This case involved both of those factors, and resulted in the death of what may well have been one of the series most beloved characters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZwixae0NNA

Your fight is over, Lexa kom Trikru.

[shadowkat]

I'd have gone with the first shocking death - which kind of flipped the series completely. I didn't find Lexa's death all that shocking - I knew they were going to kill her off from the moment she was introduced. (And that it would piss off a heavy enough portion of the fandom, that people would stop watching afterwards.)

But the guy who...they have to sacrifice, I can't remember his name, but it's in the second season? His death was huge. The series was going one way, kind of a teen dystopian romance similar to the Hunger Games, but not as good, and most folks weren't taking it seriously - and then Whoa, they killed off the heroine's main love interest and in a really interesting and shocking way, that changed the show completely.

At that point, people thought - wait...none of the characters are safe.

[tellshannon815]

Finn is the name of the character you're thinking of there, and I'm inclined to agree, but with the same show I would probably also go with Wells right at the beginning.

[shadowkat]

You may be right about Wells - who was set up as the best friend/unrequited love interest in competition with Finn - and who dies in a shocking and almost random manner.

That death surprised me. Because it looked like the show was going the typical teens in the horrible wilderness/lord of the flies direction, and wow, curve ball.

[atpo_onm]

I thought about Finn, and your points are quite valid, but for me the admittedly subtle deciding factors were 1) this is now the second time Clarke falls in love only to have her lover die and 2) the way Lexa's death occurred, accidentally, ironically by someone else who loved (loyally admired) her and that she trusted.

[shadowkat]

But was it really shocking? I don't know, mileage may vary here. I was waiting for it - and kind of knew they were going there. But I also knew they were going to kill off Tara - before S6 even started. It was obvious to me, I couldn't figure out why the fandom didn't pick up on it. It would have actually been more shocking if Lexa had lived. The writers didn't want Clark to have a lasting love relationship, and appeared to be going for a Clark and what's his name (the guy with the sister who was Clark's antagonist at the beginning?). At that point they appeared to be moving towards that relationship as the end game? (Note I stopped watching after around S5, or thereabouts.) That's another show - I only made four or five seasons total.