Queer Women On TV, Ranked By How Wrecked You Were When They Were Killed Off

Their storylines were cut short, but they live on in our hearts.

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Queer women can all name at least one character who helped them understand themselves and allowed them to feel represented. Unfortunately, we've all also experienced the epic heartache of having that same special character whacked mid-season. This is by no means exhaustive (but if you're looking for such a list, Autostraddle has an excellent one). Take this as a best of the absolute worst. *grabs tissue*

1. Alice, Under the Dome

CBS

CBS

It's hard to get too upset over a character you didn't get the chance to know, but Alice and her partner were one of the only reasons you wanted to watch the show in the first place! One silent tear for writers toyin' with our valuable time.

Grief Rating: Teary eyes of disappointment.

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2. Maya St. Germain, Pretty Little Liars

ABC Family

As cuts go, this one certainly wasn't the deepest — but that doesn't mean you didn't feel something when it happened. Maya was there from the beginning, helping you fall so in love with Emily Fields. True, it's hard when the show's plot has a mystery murderer on the loose, but her death, which had nothing to do with "A", ended up being even more traumatic.

Grief Rating: A case of the sniffles.

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3. Cat MacKenzie, Lip Service

BBC THREE

A lot of people found Cat's character a bit anal and annoying — after all she was cheating on lovely hot cop, Sam! Would it have worked out eventually? Would she have figured out that toxic relationship with Frankie (which the show was mostly revolving around)? We will NEVER know because she was (wait for it ) hit by a car and sent literally flying to her death. If it wasn't so tragic it would be hilarious.

Grief Rating: One single tear of utter disbelief.

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4. Queen Sophie Ann, True Blood

HBO

We deserve to have lesbian vampires on television, damn it! OK, that's really the only thing you can say in defense of this one, besides the fact Evan Rachel Wood was an amazing contribution and she should have stuck around longer. The end.

Grief Rating: Angry eyes, empty hearts, can't win.

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5. Leslie Shay, Chicago Fire

NBC

Look, you don't always watch shows just because there is a queer character — but it certainly doesn't hurt. Shay was not only a central character, but the heart and soul of the show. So now you just have to stay up at night asking the heavens why we couldn't just keep the beautiful, smart paramedic? Why!?

(Pours one out for Shay)

Grief Rating: Crying into your wine glass before downing it.

6. Tara Thornton, True Blood

HBO

This is where things start to feel oddly personal. Tara had been around since the beginning as Sookie's BFF. She'd been a source of badassery, smack talking, and ass kicking. She got herself a hot vampire master/girlfriend. Everything was going right until it all went so, so wrong.

Grief Rating: Someone please sedate me.

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7. Tara Maclay, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

20th Century Fox Television

Whew, right through the heart with this one. Literally, she was shot in the chest. Willow and Tara will forever be one of the greatest (and actually canon) loves of our time! This is why we cannot have nice things and there are probably still group texts talking this one out.

Grief Rating: Happiness doesn't exist.

8. Delphine, Orphan Black

BBC

It's like you're crying but also unsure if you should be? Until the next season starts we can still unabashedly cling to that small shred of hope that le petit chien Delphine is alive and well — instead of being shot dead in that major cliffhanger at the end of Season 3. Ahem, let us pray.

Grief Rating: I am feeling a lot of things and I'm very confused.

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9. Naomi Campbell, Skins Fire

Channel 4

Sort this death under the "No Happy Endings" folder in your growing collection. It's like they knew giving a character cancer would give us all Dana PTSD! The only real solution is to pretend this series reboot never happened and go back to the better "Naomily" times by re-watching the original episodes. Denial? Yea, that sounds good.

Grief Level: I think I just flat-lined, check my pulse.

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10. Commander Lexa, The 100

The CW

I have a feeling this will be remembered as the big one. The shocking twist that wasn't just talked to death (pardon the pun) on group texts, but actually caused fans to take matters into their own hands and say: Enough is enough. Sadly it's too late to take back our Commander Lexa's fate. Though there's enough Clexa fan fiction to last for years!

Grief Level: I feel nothing anymore — except for really, really pissed off.

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11. Dana Fairbanks, The L Word

Showtime

There were a ton of characters on The L Word we wouldn't have missed — sweet, sweet Dana was not one of them. She was the type of character you fell in love with on the spot, maybe because she was so... normal? You could easily see yourself reflected in her perfect awkwardness. She acted as the heart and anchor of the series when everything else was so over the top. Eventually even this pure cupcake was ripped from our lives — proving, ultimately, that none of us deserve happiness.

Grief Level: SOUND THE ALARM, THIS IS THE END OF DAYS.

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12. Jenny Schecter, The L Word

Showtime

*Spits out water*

JUST KIDDING, just kidding. Turns out, not all characters are necessarily missed.

To all the future queer characters on our screens, good luck out there.

Which loss are you still not over? Sound off in the comments below!