I don't do well with death in general. I have a hard time coping with the fact I'll never see the person again. And viewings I just don't do most of the time, because I'd rather not remember the person that way. This typically holds true for TV Show deaths as well. To be fair a TV viewing is so different from an actual viewing. You know they're not really dead, and they don't look dead. But the idea of the character dying and you never getting to see them again is pretty much like a real life death. Of course you can have the occasional flashback and you get to see that character again, but it's still not the same.
Last night's episode of The Walking Dead got me thinking about how often I'm probably going to have to deal with a character death on this show alone. The most recent being not only shocking, but sad. I liked Dale, although he was a little too preachy for me at times, he held true to himself when everyone else kept wavering on their rights and wrongs (Oh yeah Spoiler Alert! Better late than never I say). And with this character death, I thought I'd spend a little time highlighting five of the most shocking and/or sad TV deaths that I have seen (the Spoiler Alert holds true throughout this post if you've not watched any of these shows).
1. Nate on Six Feet Under
This could actually go for the entire cast, but honestly, Nate's death affected me more than the series end. I have never cried so much for a character death than I did when Nate died. I was so sad that he couldn't beat his illness even after surgery. Having to say goodbye to Nate was the hardest TV death I have ever gone through. The only consolation was to be able to watch Peter Krause move onto Parenthood. It's almost as if Nate re-incarnated himself. Too much of a stretch? Having said this, the series end of the show is probably the most beautiful, sad and satisfying end of a show there has ever been. You actually got to have closure with every single character, and nothing was in question of what would happen to them in the future. I wish every show could put this much thought, and have the chance to end it like Six Feet Under did.
2. Rita on Dexter
Rita's death was definitely a shocking end to an amazing season. My hat's off to John Lithgow for playing such a convincing character. One who you think is a normal bloke living a typical family life, and then see that he's in fact a serial killer. I see why Dexter was so intrigued with The Trinity Killer, because he seemingly was able to manage his two lives. But under the surface you witness this isn't the case, and the family is suffering greatly. And just when you think Dexter has taken care of the problem in the end and he can go home to his own family, you find that he doesn't get off that easily this time. The hardest part of Rita's death was seeing his poor child sitting in a pool of his mother's blood crying uncontrollably. That will tug on your heart strings for sure.
3. Lucy on ER
This death was both sad and shocking. This happened early on in the series (I believe first season), and with a show that lasted for as long as it did, you sometimes forget about characters that worked in the hospital. This one I have never forgot, because the death was a complete shock. First you have the guy from Numbers and the Santa Clause movies come in to the ER with his wife Paris from Gilmore Girls. You learn that the guy has a mental illness and sees things that aren't real. Even after all of this you still would not expect him to go all postal on the hospital and stab not only Lucy, but Carter too. Although Carter ultimately survives (and gets addicted to pain pills), Lucy isn't so lucky and ends up dying from her injuries.
4. Alex on Roswell
Suicide is never an easy subject to cover, whether it's in real life or on TV. For this death though, it was one that was supposed to look like a suicide, but then ends up being a murder. The second season - at least the last half of it - is spent searching for Alex's killer. Which we later find out has been hanging out with them the entire time (enter shock face here). The initial assumption of Alex's death I would guess was aimed towards trying to help teens deal with suicide and understand that it happens, but maybe it was a little too heavy, so they decided to go the murder route. I'm not really sure as I was a late comer to this show, and those that are more die-hard fans can enlighten this subject better than I can. Either way the death of Alex was both shocking and sad for me, and thus the reason he's on the list.
5. Kutner on House
Speaking of suicide...Nobody and I mean nobody was expecting this death. The show producers, writers and cast were held under the utmost secrecy on this one, and it paid off. I still remember watching the episode when it originally aired, and yelling "Serious???" when they found his body. The most interesting part of Kutner's suicide was watching how it affected House. He is one who always has to have an answer for everything and this time he didn't. He tried so hard to find a reason to Kutner's decision that he drove himself crazy. Literally.
