as television has become more serialized
over the years major character deaths
have become increasingly commonplace
sometimes however a death is poorly
planned or executed and it tends to
stand out like a sore thumb here are
some of the shows that killed characters
who should have lived from the very
beginning Netflix's oranges the new
black has had a highly developed sense
of social justice and an admirable
dedication to its representation with
this comedy drama set in a woman's
prison
creator Jenji Kohan and her writers have
attempted to balance a stark look at
criminal justice in America with a dash
of comedy and a cast of likable
characters many of whom are LGBTQ women
and women of color one of the most
likable characters from day one was
poussey Washington a smart and funny
black woman who ended up in prison for
minor drug charges of all the women on
the show she was perhaps the kindest and
the most helpful to her fellow inmates
she also had some of the show's most
moving romantic storylines from her
unrequited feelings for her best friend
tasty to her eventual relationship with
another inmate Brooke during the show's
run the black lives matter movement was
gaining steam in the real world reacting
against the unjust deaths of black
Americans at the hands of law
enforcement naturally a show is keen to
promote social justice as orange as the
new black wanted to reflect that reality
in a story so in the fourth season who
say was accidentally suffocated by a
guard when she attempted to defuse an
escalating situation unfortunately the
show went on to attempt to make the
guard who killed her a sympathetic
character fans were understandably angry
and the show became that much less
lovable for the loss of its most likable
character in its first season Netflix's
house of cards was a story told from two
opposing angles corrupt politician Frank
Underwood and young investigative
reporter Zoe Barnes as Frank plotted in
schemes gained more and more power zoe
attempted to uncover the truth about him
although he manipulated her for a while
and the two even shared a creepy semi
romantic relationship Zoe was the first
to realize Frank had murdered
Congressman Peter Russo and wanted to
see him brought to justice
that's where season 1 ended and it was
reasonable to assume season 2 would see
her quest continued I know it's been
using you
don't you want to know why instead the
season 2 premiere saw Underwood murder
Zoe by pushing her in front of a subway
train from that point on house of cards
becomes a story about the bad guys
winning and loses all interest in
featuring sympathetic protagonists
moreover Frank's murder of Zoe Marx's
turn from an amoral politician who once
killed in a moment of opportunity to a
cartoonish supervillain who could get
away with anything
the series maintained its popularity for
a while but it's story never really
recovered 15 years ago lbgtq
relationships were much less common on
television than they are today
but Buffy the Vampire Slayer offered one
of TV's earliest examples in the romance
between Willow Rosenberg and Tara McClay
for a couple of years after their
meeting in season 4 nothing could keep
them apart the relationship got rocky in
season 6 but that wasn't too surprising
on a show that never shied away from
being a bit of a soap opera style drama
what was surprising was the moment later
in the season when just as Willow and
Tara had overcome their problems and
were recommitting to their relationship
Tara was hit by a stray bullet fired by
a villain who had come looking for Buffy
Tara died and willows arms and the rest
of the season became the story of
willows unhinged quest for revenge
against not just the villain in question
but the entire world the loss of Tara
wasn't just a blow to the show and its
audience it was also an ignominious and
mean to one of televisions first great
lesbian relationships John Locke died
halfway through the fifth season of Lost
but the actor who played him Terry
O'Quinn was a regular on the show until
it ended in addition to flashbacks Locke
appeared in the purgatory s flash
sideways scenes during the sixth season
however Oakland also took on a new role
as the man in black previously known as
the smoke monster who took Locke shape
as his primary human form after Locke's
death John Locke was not a believer Jack
he was a sucker John Locke with his
unshakable and sometimes the irrational
faith and the power of the island could
be an aggravating character at times but
he was set up throughout the series as a
heroic and hugely important figure
then suddenly he died a pathetic death
strangled with an extension cord in a
hotel room and his form was used as a
host for a force of evil ultimately
Locke finds peace in the afterlife but
it was hard to watch that last season
without thinking that he deserved better
Torchwood an edgier spin-off of Doctor
Who about an extra governmental agency
that investigates the supernatural
seemed to really enjoy killing off its
characters by the time the third season
rolled around only three members of
Torchwood remained Jack Harkness Gwen
Cooper and Ianto Jones however the five
episodes which made up the third season
otherwise known as children of Earth and
an even darker tone than the seasons
that had come before it was Ianto who
paid the ultimate price for that
don't this upset many viewers
particularly because the Anto was in a
gay relationship with Torchwood leader
Jack Harkness fans accused the series
and its creators of homophobia despite
the fact that showrunner Russell T
Davies is himself a gay man as is John
Barrow man who played jack nevertheless
Davies had unintentionally stumbled into
the long-standing and unfortunate
cultural trope of killing LGBTQ
characters in fiction LexA was the
character whose death brought criticism
of what's often called the barrier gays
trope and mainstream discourse played by
alycia debnam-carey on the CW Syfy
series the 100 LexA was the leader of a
warrior tribe on a post-apocalyptic
earth drama ensued when she fell in love
with Clarke leader of a group of
delinquent teenagers who'd been sent
back to the planet by human refugees in
space their political responsibilities
complicated their feelings but they
found each other nonetheless and soon
began a romantic relationship
unfortunately debnam-carey was also one
of the stars of fear The Walking Dead
and its season two shooting schedule
interfered with the 100 so just as she
had finally found a moment's happiness
with Clarke LexA was killed off not only
that but she was also shot by someone
who wasn't even aiming at her exactly
like Tara on puppy the Vampire Slayer
the show's fan base which included many
LGBTQ viewers was outraged by this turn
of events with many vowing never to
watch the show again it became
impossible to discuss the 100 without
talking about the LexA problem which
cast the shadow over discourse about the
series until its end the BBC costume
drama Downton Abbey was very much an
ensemble show but Matthew Crawley was a
principal protagonist from the very
beginning he's introduced as a distant
cousin of patriarch Lord Grantham and
becomes the heir to Downton Abbey when
Grantham's previous heirs died on the
Titanic he serves as an important
audience identification character
adjusting to life on the lavish estate
and also engages in a doomed romance
with Mary Crawley Grantham's daughter
the two eventually Wed and have a son
but one day Matthew suddenly dies in an
automobile accident unfortunately there
was no way Matthew could remain on the
show because Dan Stevens wanted to
pursue a movie career and was free to
leave after season three's Christmas
special however the romance between
Matthew and Mary had been a fan
favourite aspect on the show and his
rise to become Lord of Downton Abbey was
a central element of the series from the
very
Jenny Matthews sudden death so totally
derailed to show storyline that it might
have been better just to end it when
Stevens left How I Met Your Mother was
presented as a story told by Ted Mosby
to his kids explaining how his
relationship with their mother began and
diverging into countless stories of
other relationships along the way but
the title character Tracy McConnell
doesn't really show up until the finale
of season eight and doesn't become a
regular character until the ninth season
it took a long time to get there but
tenant Tracy's romance actually plays
out pretty well in the final season I
know sometimes you just
fine
despite everything that had happened
over nine years viewers were primed to
watch 10 and Tracy live happily ever
after and then things took a turn when
it was revealed that while Ted had been
telling the story to his kids their
mother had been dead for six years she
passed away from an undisclosed illness
and Ted had been a single father ever
since this sets up the reveal that Robin
who Ted fell in love with in the series
premiere is the real love of his life
and the woman he was meant to grow old
with that might have worked better if
she hadn't spent so much of the show
romantically involved with Ted's friend
Barney who she marries and divorces
during the series finale the show's
creators offered the defense that this
had been the plan all along but after
such a long run it just didn't work the
twist made Tracy feel like nothing more
than a prop and left a very bad taste
than the mouths of viewers Allison
argent was a hugely important character
during the first three seasons of Teen
Wolf she started out as the love
interest of Scott McCall the show's lead
the relationship was complicated by the
fact that Allison came from a family of
werewolf hunters Paul Scott was a
werewolf himself by season 3 however
Scott's and Allison's romantic
relationship was over though they
remained friends and allies more
importantly actress crystal Reed wanted
to try other things and felt a bit
stifled as a 29 year old actress playing
a 17 year old character so she made the
decision to leave the series and at the
end of the season Allison was run
through with a sword by an Oni demon it
was probably the right decision for Reed
but Allison was such a strong part of
the series a Teen Wolf was never quite
the same without her
Madison Clark was the glue that held
fear the walking dead together for three
whole seasons the show began by focusing
on her family as the high school
guidance counselor protected her son
daughter husband and stepson from an
escalating zombie apocalypse it was a
great role for Kim Dickens a talented
actress who rarely had a better chance
to shine and putting a capable
middle-aged woman in the lead made beer
stand out for most of the rugged man
dominated zombie genre including the
show at its spun off from nevertheless
after teasing her absence for the first
few episodes of season for the show
revealed in a flashback that Madison had
sacrificed her life by leading a horde
of zombies to their doom while the other
humans escaped when something like that
happens to a lead character you might
assume it's because the actor wanted out
this time however Kim Dickens was as
surprised as anyone to find out her
character was dying and described
herself as heartbroke
about the news news showrunners ian
goldberg and andrew Chambliss claim they
wanted to kill Madison as part of their
vision for the show but it still seems
like a strange decision to make
Madison was what made fear The Walking
Dead different from all the other zombie
stories out there so I get rid of her
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