28 Times Characters Were Literally Only Killed Off Because The Show Was Ending

"I'll see you soon, child."

Character deaths are a part of almost every TV show — but sometimes, they feel totally uneccessary. This is especially true when they happen in the last few episodes of a show — it feels like they're just killing off a character for shock value.

The WB

^Let it be clear that the ONLY reason Fred isn't on this list is because I don't think it happened close enough to the end of the show, even if I binge-watched from this episode to the finale in the same day. 

Here are 28 TV deaths that happened in the last few episodes of a show that still piss off lots of people — including me:

WARNING: Some of these submissions contain mentions of suicide (in particular, 3 and 24).

🚨🚨Spoilers ahead!🚨🚨

1. On How to Get Away with Murder, when both Bonnie and Frank died from gunshot wounds in the same scene:

ABC

"Both Frank and Bonnie dying in the LAST episode of How to Get Away with Murder was the most unnecessary thing I'd ever seen."

—jb1001

"I didn't like Bonnie, but the way her and Frank went out, I was a sobbing mess!"

—tessaramsay

2. On Scandal, when Cyrus killed David:

ABC

"Totally unnecessary. Like Abby said, David was the good guy."

—laurlaur11

3. On Sons of Anarchy, when Jax killed himself rather than be apprehended by the police:

FX

"Typical cliché biker ending on a biker show: 'I’m gonna evade the police by killing myself and permanently scarring an innocent truck driver I just ran into head-on in the process.'"

—substantialappeal663

4. On Supernatural, when Castiel sacrificed himself to save Dean:

The CW

"I'm still salty that they killed Cas when he finally admitted to being happy in the penultimate episode."

—rmcullen

5. And then Dean died anyway:

The CW

"How about both Castiel and Dean from Supernatural? Cas died in order to save Dean and wanted him to live a long happy life. Then Dean dies by a rusty nail a few episodes later...they literally defeated GOD the previous episode and their 'son' became the new God. You’re telling me he couldn’t do anything for Dean? Or even mention it as a possibility? It was so dumb. Had Dean not come to Sam in the pilot, things would have turned out the same: Dean dies young on a hunt without a happy ending and Sam lives a long life and builds a family."

—merrymadison

6. On Merlin, when Merlin killed Morgana:

BBC

"I think the show should have gotten a few more seasons, and it would have been so much better to give her a redemption arc. I know the show is its own story, but in Arthurian legend, Morgana watched over Arthur after he was taken to Avalon. She was such an interesting character and I don't think her story should have ended with her death."

—mereditha4fa5aaa98

7. On Angel, when Wesley died in Illyria's arms:

The WB

Suggested by ashley1246

Wes was the only one to die (I believe Gunn dies right after in the comics, but still) after Angel made this big deal about them all probably dying under his plan. I felt like his arc with Illyria was just getting interesting, and Wes had just been through SO MUCH. It would've been great to know he continued to struggle and also grow.

8. On Unforgotten, when Cassie died after getting in a car accident:

ITV

"It's a bit more obscure here in the US, but in the UK series Unforgotten they kill off the main character in the final episode for no reason! She was just about to retire and have this great life. It was totally unnecessary."

—marr0k

9. On The 100, when Clarke killed Bellamy to protect Madi:

The CW

Suggested by bayleighann271

Look, we all know this one was bad. Clarke and Bellamy had such a close relationship, and whether you ship them or not, Clarke killing Bellamy came out of NOWHERE and just really did not feel justified.

10. And then when Madi basically died anyway:

The CW

Suggested by carolinelee7185

Ah yes, there's that trope again where some character makes a huge sacrifice to save another character...and then that character dies anyway. It just makes it all feel so pointless.

11. On Dawson's Creek, when Jen died of a heart condition:

The WB

"This is an old show, but I just watched it on Netflix. Jen Lindley did not deserve to die at the end of Dawson’s Creek. After everything she had been through in her life, she deserved a happy ending."

—dlee1127

12. On Game of Thrones, when Jon stabbed Daenerys after she won the throne:

HBO

I think most of us agree that Daenerys's decent into "madness" felt far too rushed, which meant that Jon having to kill her did too. I wouldn't have minded Dany dying in the finale if it had happened maybe a season or two later, but this death did not feel at all earned or inevitable. It just felt stupid.

13. And when Jaime died with Cersei:

HBO

There's definitely a theme with a lot of the characters on this list, in that these are characters with great arcs that suddenly got cut short due to their deaths. I understand that happens in real life (that someone is growing and changing and dies before they can complete this change), but Game of Thrones is hardly about realism. They totally ruined Jaime's character and made his death his fault.

14. On Veronica Mars, when Logan died from a car bomb after marrying Veronica:

Hulu

Suggested by ultimatefangirl12

This was just mean, especially considering they brought the show back to give us closure. After years of waiting, we see Logan and Veronica's story end THIS suddenly and awfully??? I hate it.

15. On Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when Anya died in a two-second clip:

UPN

I'LL NEVER BE OVER THIS. They literally kill her in a 0.2-second-long flash and have Xander look for her for another 0.2 seconds before leaving, then when he hears she's dead, he just goes, "That's my girl"????? She was just at the start of her arc, and no one seemed to care that she died. I'm still mad.

16. On Orange Is the New Black, when Tiffany overdosed falsely thinking she'd failed her GED:

Netflix

This was just dumb. It felt like it 100% happened because it was the finale. There were multiple deaths that felt needless on this show, but it kind of sucked to see that they reverted to this really tragic death (especially because it was based on a misunderstanding) in the last episode rather than leave with a message of hope.

17. On 13 Reasons Why, when Justin collapsed at prom and died of AIDS:

Netflix

Justin really had the best arc. It was so important to see a character overcome so much and finally be in a good place in the end of the show. And then...the show killed him. It's important to talk about AIDS and show characters who have been diagnosed with it, but to give it to him for shock value then kill him right after felt really cheap, which I guess is unsurprising for 13 Reasons Why.

18. On Sherlock, when Mary died after jumping in front of a bullet for Sherlock:

BBC

I mean, the whole fourth season of Sherlock probably shouldn't have happened. There was some good stuff, but it just felt torturous to put John through that much and to see him turn against Sherlock. Also, Mary dying was another classic example of a show killing off a woman (in this case, one of the only women) to further a man's storyline. No thanks!

19. On Breaking Bad, when Andrea was killed in front of Jesse:

AMC

Oof. This death was unnecessary for the story. It was just too cruel — Andrea had a son! And Jesse was literally being chained up, held hostage, and forced to make drugs by a sadistic freak. We got that he had it ROUGH. We didn't need his poor girlfriend to be killed in front of him. It really just felt totally for shock value.

20. On Arrow, when Arrow died to save Barry:

The CW

I have to admit, I couldn't watch the last couple seasons of Arrow. Things just got too convoluted. But I still tried to follow the crossovers, and though I thought it was nice for Oliver to die to save Barry, it was really disappointing that Oliver didn't get to finally live out his days in peace.

21. On The Vampire Diaries, when a humanity-less Stefan killed Enzo just when he'd found happiness with Bonnie:

The CW

I didn't necessarily like Enzo or even his relationship with Bonnie, but it was just so nice to finally see Bonnie happy. Bonnie was constantly giving up her own happiness to help her friends, so to see her happiness ripped from her in the last few episodes (and then she still had to help the guy who killed her true love and celebrate his wedding to her best friend) just felt cruel.

22. On Skins, when Effy's psychiatrist killed Freddie:

E4

So, while not technically close to the series finale, this was the finale of Gen 2 and we moved onto an entirely new cast after this. We all knew Effy's psychiatrist was messed up, but it looked like she was out of the woods and that her and Freddie could finally be together. To see Freddie brutally murdered and then have NO ONE know about it until the last few minutes of the finale, and then not see ANYONE'S reactions (besides Cook's) or get any closure??? Ugh.

23. On Pretty Little Liars, when it was revealed Alex killed Wren:

Freeform

Wren was a character with such great villain potential, and then we only got to see him in flashbacks in the utterly ridiculous Alex storyline, then found out he was dead. I would've much preferred Wren to be the one behind things in the finale than Spencer's secret identical twin. They had a perfectly good villain and they killed him.

24. On 90210, when it was revealed Silver's baby had died:

The CW

I didn't particularly like Silver, but watching her find out she has cancer directly after losing the baby she planned to have DUE to her cancer risks and THEN seeing her contemplate suicide was just so dark and depressing. There was no silver lining. The other characters all basically got happy endings. It was messed up.

25. On Lost, when Jin decided to stay with Sun and die with her rather than go back to their child, who would now be an orphan:

ABC

The idea of not wanting to leave your love to die alone is noble and all, BUT SUN AND JIN HAD A KID. Jin 100% should have left Sun so that their child wouldn't be an orphan. Still mad about it.

26. And when Sayid died detonating the bomb the same episode:

ABC

"What about Sun, Jin, and Sayid? Killing off three main characters since the first episode in the SAME episode so close to the series finale. Totally done for shock value [to show] that anybody could die."

—stellal4a527e2d6

27. On American Horror Story: Coven, when Misty was stuck in hell:

FX

Again, this didn't happen in the series finale, but since every season is a completely new story in this show, I think I can count it. In the finale of Coven, Misty (arguably the kindest of the witches) is stuck forever in her own personal hell. It's super dark and honestly freaks me out whenever I think about it. She didn't deserve that and it didn't really do anything for the plot; she could've failed a different one of the Seven Wonders.

28. And finally, on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, when both versions of Sabrina died:

Netflix

It was cruel enough that the show was cut short — we really had to also lose BOTH versions of Sabrina?? Don't talk to me about this finale. It didn't happen.

Alright, now let's talk about TV deaths that happened in season finales! What other deaths did you feel like just happened for shock value because it was the last episode of a season? Let me know in the comments!

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org. The Trevor Project, which provides help and suicide-prevention resources for LGBTQ youth, is 1-866-488-7386. You can also text TALK to 741741 for free, anonymous 24/7 crisis support in the US and UK from the Crisis Text Line.