WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the White Lotus season 3 finale
TV shows kill characters off all the time. Sometimes the death has been a part of the planned story all along, other times it’s been specifically orchestrated to make way for an actor to leave the show.
No matter the reason behind a creator’s choice to kill off a character, it’s basic fact there are just some TV deaths that stick with you for years to come.
Just last night The White Lotus finale aired, killing not one but two of this season’s favourite characters.
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Aimee Lou Wood’s Chelsea and Walton Goggins’ Rick both died in a heated shoot-out, floating to the top of the water in a yin-yang position symbolic of their relationship, leaving fans of the show absolutely devastated.
It was one of those deaths that was so heavily foreshadowed, fans thought it was far too obvious to actually happen, making it even more gut-wrenching when we saw Chelsea lying behind Rick as she bled out from a gunshot wound.
Despite the devastation currently felt around the world, the loss of Chelsea and Rick will probably go down in history as just another TV death.
Just hear me out, OK?
We’re all feeling it right now and sure, it’s probably a bit too soon to be dismissing the loss of this generation’s greatest star-crossed love story, but as sad as it was, there’s plenty of sadder TV deaths.
Soon, everyone will have forgotten about Chelsea and Rick as the cultural zeitgeist moves on from The White Lotus obsession, patiently awaiting any news regarding the fourth season.
But there are some TV deaths fans have simply never moved on from, and probably never will.
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The kind of TV death where you can watch the episode on repeat and it never fails to make you snotty sob.
We’re talking the deaths that stick with you forever; the ones that left you with a pit in your stomach for weeks after first watching the episode.
So, to soften the blow of the loss of Chelsea and Rick (which, of course, we’re all feeling very deeply right now) we thought the best thing to do was to compile a list of the actual saddest TV deaths of all time to help remind ourselves that hey, it could’ve been worse.
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A disclaimer before you keep reading, though: the following does contain spoilers for several TV shows, so if you see the name of one you’re currently watching please just scroll to the next.
Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
A Country Practice
Molly Jones’ death is remembered by many as the saddest death in Aussie history.
Fans fell in love with the character, and when she was diagnosed with leukemia they knew it was sure to come to a tragic end.
Lying on the couch, watching her partner Brendan play with their daughter Chloe, Molly gave in to her illness – and decades later, fans of the show still haven’t recovered.
Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones fans probably thought they had grown immune to tragic deaths by the time season six rolled around.
We’d lived through the Red Wedding and Ned Stark’s execution, but it was the death of gentle giant Hodor that fans still haven’t quite gotten over.
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Hodor died fulfilling his destiny. Fans had always believed the only word he was able to say being “Hodor” just meant it was his name.
But when he was killed by White Walkers as he held the door to save Bran’s life, we learned all along his life had been leading up to the moment he was needed to “hold the door”.
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One Tree Hill
Anyone who’s watched One Tree Hill will tell you Keith Scott’s death shook them to to the core.
The nobility of Keith’s death is part of what made it so heartbreaking. He attempted to stop a suicide, almost managing to talk Jimmy down until he decided to pull the trigger.
But when Keith went to pick up the gun to stop it from causing any further harm, his brother Dan appeared and shot him.
The worst part? After finding out about Keith’s death, his wife Karen learned she was pregnant.
Grey’s Anatomy
Grey’s Anatomy is a show riddled with devastating deaths, but most fans agree there’s one in particular that’s stuck with them over the years.
The season eight finale saw the plane carrying fan-favourite couple Lexie Grey and Mark Sloan come crashing out of the sky.
Lexie was trapped and Mark, unable to save her, confessed that they were “meant to be” in her dying moments.
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Mark, along with the other survivors, was taken to the hospital with seemingly non-fatal wounds but when the start of season nine rolled around he also succumbed to his injuries.
Offspring
If you had any form of social media in 2013, you’ll have some recollection of Dr. Patrick Reid’s death.
Offspring was a huge hit here in Australia and fans quickly fell in love with Asher Keddie as Nina Proudman.
So, when her on-screen partner and father to her unborn child, Patrick, was hit by a car, later dying in hospital, fans did not handle it well and social media was flooded with a wave of national grief.
Dawson’s Creek
During the series finale of Dawson’s Creek, Jen Lindley collapsed on the dancefloor at a wedding, later dying of a fatal heart condition.
But the real gut-wrencher came in the form of a prerecorded video she had made for her daughter, saying her final goodbyes.
The OC
The season three finale of The OC still lives on as one of the most shocking pieces of TV ever to air.
When Ryan Atwood and Marissa Cooper are intentionally run off the road by Marissa’s ex Kevin Volchok, Marissa is fatally injured.
Ryan manages to pull her from the crash but she dies in his arms with the burning wreckage in the background.
We’ll never be able to listen to Hallelujah the same way again.
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The Last Of Us
It’s one of the newer shows on the list, but it’s no less heartbreaking.
Viewers were shocked when the third episode of what is essentially a zombie show delivered a heartbreaking queer love story.
Bill and Frank find each other during the apocalypse and live out their days together.
So when Frank tells Bill that today will be his last day, asking his life partner to crush up pills to put in his wine with dinner, and we find out Bill had decided to poison his own drink too – unable to stand the thought of living without Frank – audiences around the world wept.
Home and Away
To celebrate their first anniversary, Shane and Angel Parish went on a trip with their son Dylan.
But because of an infected cut, Shane quickly began to feel unwell and collapsed as Angel screamed for help
He died from septicemia, a blood infection originating from the cut, and when Angel welcomed their daughter several months later, she named her Shane in his honour.
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