23 Shocking TV Character Deaths That Truly Changed Everything

"It was like losing a member of the family. It came out of nowhere."

—Supermanc77

"I couldn’t function for the rest of the evening after watching that episode. I just turned the TV off and went straight to bed crying."

—susieunderpants

"It was so heartbreaking to watch her lying on the floor with Bailey on top of her and struggling to breathe. Taystee’s reaction killed me!"

—courtnie13

"This is honestly one of the saddest TV show episodes I've ever watched. I cried for two hours afterwards."

—Sav

"He and Regina were so happy and good. That moment when his soul stayed there...it was just heartbreaking."

—brittanijuneb

"It was hard going through the rest of the series without her. She was a great character who could've brought a lot to the show, especially with Emily's development as an LGBTQ character. It breaks my heart every time I watch it. When Emily cries for her, I try so hard to hold back tears."

—j45d7514fa

"She was unexpectedly killed by a stray bullet. It ruined the show for me after that."

—pantherfan22

"I knew it was going to happen and put off watching the episode for years. When I finally watched, I was completely devastated. I cried my eyes out for hours after the episode was over and was upset for days. I'm still not over it."

—mandystew

"Honestly, the episode surrounding his death left me emotionally wrecked."

—maloneyc

"I’m still not okay. I gotta skip that episode when I rewatch the series because I bawl my eyes out every time. HE WAS SO PURE."

—Devilsdaughter

"I had just had a baby myself when I saw that episode, and my postpartum hormones were raging. I bawled through the rest of the episodes dealing with her death and the baby’s christening. It still gets me."

—Grant101010

"His death was quite possibly my first heartbreak. To this day it still hurts."

—biancab4fef94982

"Throughout the show, you fall in love with his character, so I was really sad when I found out how he died. He’s such a great dad and husband, and his relationship with Rebecca is so beautiful."

—camrynj

"Hotch tried SO hard to save her, as did the rest of the BAU. And her son was there when it happened. Watching the agents realize they were too late after they heard the gunshot makes me cry."

—bells98

—Spencer Althouse

"Survived a whole hostage situation, only to die from a car accident as she was rescued and heading home?"

—guillendenise65

"Even though his character came back, his 'death' ruined me. Gina Rodriguez's performance was one of the most heart-wrenching things I've ever seen. I'd tear up every time they mentioned his name later on."

—alyssag46001af5b

—Jen Abidor

"I was so surprised when I watched the episode, and couldn’t stop crying. She was my favorite character and went through hell."

—lilyr4ff20ceb6

"Wes was my favorite character, and killing him off was like killing off the heart of the show. I stopped watching after his character was written off. It just wasn’t the same to me. When I saw that Alfred Enoch was returning for the final episode, I was hoping that his character had somehow survived, but I was wrong."

—megana459

—Lauren Garafano

"He had the best character development on the entire show, and there was just no reason for his death. I’m still asking myself why the writers did this!"

—SamJones88

—Nora Dominick