Death is always difficult to process for a TV Fanatic.
So often, deaths serve as jumping-off points to explore a character’s story or as a way to sign off on a character with maximum emotional impact.
But they can also feel a little cheap or unsatisfying, depending on how a series executes them or just how the storylines play out in their wake.
For the most part, 2025 wasn’t a character slaughter as is so often the case.
But there were a great deal of television deaths that left us scratching our heads or considering that maybe, just maybe, the powers-that-be should’ve avoided them at all costs.
There are just some characters in which series are just ill-equipped and unprepared to lose, or their deaths fundamentally changed the plot, but not necessarily in the best way.
Bobby Nash – 9-1-1
Many 9-1-1 Fanatics had already sensed that we’d be losing someone, and the idea that it was Bobby had been circulating well before the episode aired.
Yet, there’s something to be said about denial. But 9-1-1 Season 8 Episode 15 left us reeling when we had to watch the emotional core, stalwart character, and leader of the pack, Bobby Nash, die in a terrifying biolab due to a virus.
If it wasn’t already devastating enough, they set the entire sequence to Hozier’s “Work Song” as we watched Bobby saying goodbye to the love of his life, Athena, and praying in his final moments. It was the type of devastation that many viewers have simply not gotten over.
And there’s still a question of whether this death was even necessary. It changes the entire series as the 118, more family than a firehouse, have to navigate this grief, loss, and extreme trauma. Bobby’s death feels like a shock value moment to spark a new life in the series.
But truthfully, it just puts the series in an unsettling place that, at times, feels directionless as they try to navigate around the huge decision they made.
Did 9-1-1 need to kill off such an inspiring character who had finally learned how to navigate things like suicide ideation, trauma, and guilt to forge a different family for himself, found genuine love again, and still had so much to offer?
No, not really, and viewers are still angry about it and the lingering effects of his tragic death, regardless of how poetic, still undermine all that he represented. But alas, that’s why he fits this list.
Monica Beltran – Grey’s Anatomy
So, anyone who has tuned into the over two decades of Grey’s Anatomy knows that they are infamous for killing off beloved characters in devastatingly glorious fashion.
When they teased that we would be losing a character after an explosive season finale, it kept many viewers on edge. Of course, the Grey’s Anatomy Season 22 season premiere resulted in none other than Monica Beltran succumbing to injuries she sustained during the commotion.
Unfortunately, the death was more anticlimactic and frustrating than meaningful. The series benched Monica for so much of her tenure and never actually committed to the Monica/Amelia romance that they kept teasing endlessly.
Her death felt entirely unnecessary, as in, at any given point, someone should’ve saved her sooner. And while she died heroically, it didn’t do much good when her death felt like a blip in the lives of nearly everyone else at Grey Sloan Memorial.
It felt like a cheap way to make Amelia Shepherd suffer. Again. And a total waste of a strong albeit criminally underdeveloped character.
Vince Leone – Fire Country
Apparently, there can only be one strapping Leone man to shine over all, and it had to be Bode, so Fire Country decided it wanted to up the stakes and kill off Vince. It’s safe to say it hasn’t gone over well, and understandably so.
What’s frustrating is how Vince’s death came to be with a massive fire at a retirement home, his own father being stubborn and, truthfully, responsible for Vince’s death, and just a cluster of atrocious decisions all around by nearly every other character.
Vince’s death felt contrived, and it really and truly didn’t even need to happen, which makes it all the more unsatisfying.
He didn’t even get a proper sendoff or a serviceable onscreen death scene, as we essentially returned from hiatus with Vince’s funeral during Fire Country Season 4 Episode 1.
It’s true that, much like Bobby Nash, Fire Country has lost some of its sparkle with the unnecessary death of Vince Leone, resulting in a mostly heavy season for all the characters and more unnecessary tension.
Nikki – Alert: Missing Persons Unit
Many of us are still trying to figure out exactly what transpired behind the scenes that led to Nikki’s death in this series.
No one saw Nikki’s death coming because it was so random and out of the blue, and worse yet, the actress, Dania Ramirez, never appeared again for a proper death scene or farewell.
Nikki’s murder takes place offscreen; we only get flashes of whomever from a distance, and this half-baked storyline about the mob boss she was helping being the one who killed her.
And then the rest of Alert: MPU Season 3 simply carries on without her as if she were never an integral part of the unit in the first place.
It was so jarring that it sparked a conversation about how much of a disservice it is when shows kill off female leads “just because.”
Cragen – Law & Order: SVU
Is anyone else still trying to figure out why Cragen had to die in the Law & Order Universe?
It’s hard to say whether it was better or worse that there were teasers suggesting a death would result in the return of former characters like Cassidy, Huang, and Stabler to Law & Order: SVU. We pretty much suspected that Cragen had died, but then, it made the anticlimactic nature of his death that much worse.
Cragen wasn’t seen onscreen enough to introduce an arc of him being sick or slowly dying, anything to really layer this in as a legitimate story arc that would have meaning.
No, they just randomly announced that he died of “natural causes”, and we were privy to his memorial service during the season premiere, along with some footage from him giving his retirement speech.
We have yet to see what impact this death was supposed to have on the series, the current season, and the characters.
For such a longstanding, iconic character who left such an impression not just on this series but the franchise, it was a puzzling, underwhelming way for him to go.
Alexandra Dutton – 1923
The very best thing about 1923 Season 1 was the steamy and adventurous romance between Spencer Dutton and his Lady, Alexandra. They came from such different backgrounds, but they shared a passion and values that seemed to make them unstoppable.
We knew things would be rough when they were ripped apart at the end of the season, but nothing prepared us for the long, arduous journeys they took, separately, to find one another again.
It was brutal on screen and off, as the thrills and chills they brought to us became fear and anxiety. Would they ever see each other again? Would Alex live long enough to give birth to the child she was carrying?
Sadly, the answer to those two questions was yes, but the caveat was that it took until the final minutes of the series, and Alex was almost too far gone to survive.
Everyone holding out hope for a happy ending saw those hopes dashed when Alex, who badly needed surgery that would change who she was forever to survive her ordeal, wouldn’t give up even a moment with her premature child, literally sacrificing her life for his with her sheer determination for him to survive.
But this didn’t have to happen for the story to thrive.
In each prequel, Taylor Sheridan determined that the sunshine had to be ripped from the sky. Isabel in 1993 and Alex in 1923. Neither was necessary from a storytelling perspective.
Their deaths didn’t serve any purpose, and those who loved them never flourished in the wake of their deaths. No lessons were learned. It’s just another in the increasingly long line of disappointments with female characters in the Sheridan Universe.
Tracy McLusky – Mayor of Kingstown
Why stop with 1923 when Taylor Sheridan did us dirty on Mayor of Kingstown, too?
The entire series has been about Mike McLusky paying for mistakes he made long before we knew him. Thus, Tracy’s marriage to Kyle McLusky has been rife with tragedy and misfortune through no fault of her own.
Mayor of Kingstown Season 4 was already difficult for the family. Kyle went to prison, certain he could take one for the team, spend six months inside, and move on, taking his family out of Kingstown and away from the misery.
Instead, part of Mike’s prison past returned with vengeance on his mind. His tactic? Get to Mike through Kyle… and Kyle’s family. We saw a white supremacist escape prison, visit Tracy’s house, and kill her while she begged for the life of her son.
It was vile and heartbreaking, and it never had to happen. It’s hard to fathom the purpose of a show where you’re willing to snuff out any ray of light that dares poke through the darkness. But this was too much.
Again, it served no long-term purpose. It just sets up a finale where the McLusky brothers can get their own revenge, before settling into a reality that they can’t have nice things, and if they keep on the same course, they will meet the same fate.
Will – Criminal Minds: Evolution
Will LaMontagne’s death during Criminal Minds Evolution Season 3 Episode 2 was heartbreaking because he had become such a beloved fixture of the series.
While they at least prepared us for it when we learned before that Will was battling with medical issues, it still didn’t make the shock of watching him suffer a headache and die from an aneurysm in JJ’s arms in the middle of their kitchen on a casual day in their life any less difficult to witness.
Apparently, the actor didn’t want to return to the series; nevertheless, Will’s death was such a devastating development that it still felt unnecessary to the show’s overall plot and like an undue hardship on JJ.
It was tough to watch her suffer so much and say goodbye to yet another BAU spouse, even if it did lead to some of AJ Cook’s finest work on the series to date.
Lottie & Van – Yellowjackets
Lottie and Vanessa’s deaths on Yellowjackets were both absolutely ridiculous.
Especially since we’ve spent so much time with these characters, it’s almost insulting how they both died completely avoidable deaths.
While Yellowjackets may be a show about grief and trauma, that doesn’t mean the series should just resort to artificially creating more for the characters to work through.
At its crux, Yellowjackets was also about survival and what happens after such traumatic events, so the idea that Lottie and Van could survive so much and get this far, only to die all these years later in such a senseless way, is infuriating.
It was death just for the shock of it.
Plus, Lottie and Vanessa are some of the strongest, most capable characters on the show, so forgive us if we have trouble believing that Lottie died by falling down a flight of stairs.
Foggy Nelson – Daredevil Born Again
No Daredevil fan will ever be able to fully get over Foggy’s death. When news broke that the series would return in some form, the excitement was in seeing these characters brought back to life on screen.
Of course, that was temporary when Foggy didn’t even make it out of the season premiere alive, as his death served as the turning point for the series, a new era for Daredevil, and particularly for Matt Murdock.
Losing his best friend changed everything. And it challenged Matt, a devout Catholic, as he grappled with losing his faith amid the sheer violence and brutality that surrounded Foggy’s death and the guilt he feared.
There’s no question or doubt that it shifted the series’ nature, and maybe it led it in the direction everyone involved wanted it to go to produce a compelling enough story.
And yet, Foggy’s death still feels like something that simply did not need to happen for the sole purpose of elevating Matt’s arc.
Clark Evans – Invasion
Clark Evan’s death on Invasion was not only unnecessary but also did a disservice to Aneesha’s character, whose role as a doctor and mother held her to the principles of a reluctant combatant, understanding that violence was necessary in the interests of the common good.
With Clark’s death, her purpose became one of rage and vengeance.
It was a cheap trick to force a reaction from a character who had held her course admirably.
Furthermore, it punished Clark for his completely human choices, presumably because he wasn’t “worthy” of Aneesha, which is total BS.
They were two fallible individuals who had found love in each other and deserved the chance to grow old together. Clark’s death is the worst sort of emotional trope: meaningless and disrespectful to the narrative and the character.
Which Death Should’ve Been Avoided?
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