Some characters hold special places in the hearts of fans! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the major character deaths that had a negative impact on a show’s quality and reputation.
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00:00 It can't be that bad.
00:01 It could be. You don't know.
00:03 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the major character deaths
00:07 that had a negative impact on a show's quality and reputation.
00:10 They don't get to choose.
00:12 Number 20. Bobby Singer - Supernatural
00:16 Let's be honest, Supernatural was already going downhill by season 7.
00:20 The show was intended to end with the season 5 finale, Swan Song,
00:24 and for some fans, that remains the definitive and canonical ending.
00:27 "It's easy for you to say, he brought you back. But what about Sam?
00:31 What about me, huh? Where's my grand prize?"
00:34 But the show kept chugging along, and we got the unfortunate death of Bobby Singer
00:37 in the 7th season episode, Death's Door.
00:40 The gruff father figure was a huge fan favorite, bringing some much-welcomed levity and warmth.
00:44 His death wasn't entirely necessary, and they just kept bringing him back anyway.
00:48 So really, what was the point?
00:50 "Most of the time, cases like this, they die."
00:54 "Right now, it comes down to him. I'll keep you updated."
01:02 It seemed like Supernatural had no idea what to do with Bobby, or itself for that matter,
01:06 and for many, it was further proof that the show should have ended earlier.
01:09 Number 19. Love Quinn - You
01:12 The little Lifetime to Netflix show that could, you, is sort of like Dexter,
01:16 portraying a serial killer who meets a woman and falls in love.
01:19 In this case, that woman is Love Quinn.
01:22 "Love. It's my name, I mean."
01:24 "No."
01:26 "Cool. It's nice to meet you, Love."
01:28 "No way."
01:28 "Yeah. I'll see you in the break room, then, Will."
01:33 Love is quite similar to Joe, her kind and caring exterior hiding a sociopathic reality.
01:38 Fans loved her complexity, and the interesting dynamics she shared with Joe,
01:42 which made it all the more painful when Joe killed her off with a dose of aconite.
01:46 "I'm sorry it had to come to this."
01:47 "Did you really think that I wouldn't start to wonder?"
01:52 "Oh, I thought you were growing in the garden."
01:56 Many people couldn't believe that Love was dead, and some questioned if it was permanent,
02:01 perhaps fearing what the show would become without her. Indeed, you seemed to peak with
02:05 her death, as the reception to season four, and Love's replacement, Kate, was rather lukewarm.
02:10 Number 18. Laurel Lance, aka Black Canary - Arrow
02:14 It took fans some time to warm up to Laurel Lance, but once they did,
02:18 they didn't want to let her go. Well, they were forced to do just that when it came to season 4's
02:22 1159. Laurel is stabbed by Dark and dies in the hospital, which prompted a fierce backlash from
02:28 the fans. "I want you to give your father a message from me. I want you to tell him...
02:34 I'm a man of my word."
02:39 Neither they nor television critics were happy with the decision, arguing that Black Canary
02:44 was underutilized and that with her death, the show was losing a major source of its heart.
02:48 Furthermore, some criticized the handling of the death itself, mad that Laurel died without much
02:53 of a fight. "Let her go." "What?" "I need you to let her go so I can do my job. Now leave!"
02:59 Season 4 is widely disliked among the Arrow fanbase, with Laurel's death being a major
03:04 reason for their harsh criticism. Number 17. Chef - South Park
03:08 Sometimes, behind-the-scenes drama gets in the way of a good show. Case in point,
03:12 South Park. Chef was a widely beloved character, often praised for his intelligence and the
03:17 hilarious - and often inappropriate - advice he doles out to the children. "Uh-uh. You children
03:22 are gonna get me in trouble with the principal again." But voice actor Isaac Hayes left the show
03:26 in 2006, claiming that it had grown bigoted and intolerant of others. But the truth, relayed by
03:31 Hayes' son, is that others made the decision for him after he had suffered a stroke. Regardless,
03:36 the gruesome death of Chef was a major blow to South Park, and while the show continued long
03:41 after his departure, it was never quite the same. "I'm gonna remember Chef as the jolly old guy who
03:45 always broke into song. I'm gonna remember Chef as the guy who gave us advice to live by."
03:51 Number 16. Curtis Donovan - Misfits This one can't all be blamed on Curtis,
03:56 as his departure just ended up being the straw that broke the camel's back. Misfits follows
04:00 five delinquents who end up getting superpowers after being struck by lightning. "So, what happens
04:05 now?" "Is this it? We're gonna be like this forever?" "What if we're meant to be like superheroes?"
04:12 "You laugh at superheroes." Boosted by a terrific cast and some brilliantly dark writing, viewers
04:20 quickly became enamored with the gang. Then, they started to drop like flies, with Alicia Daniels'
04:25 departure being a particular downer. By season four, Curtis was the only original character left,
04:30 surrounded by newbies that were not fun enough to carry the show on their own. The writing remained
04:34 great, but it was hard to feel invested once the entire gang disappeared. "You shot my head."
04:38 "Curtis shot you. We shot each other. At least that's how it's going to look."
04:48 "No!" Number 15. Marissa Cooper - The O.C. There is nothing worse than a meaningless death,
04:55 especially when it comes completely out of nowhere. "I know, that's what I thought."
04:58 In its first year, The O.C. proved to be a massive hit, but was in decline just two years later,
05:03 showing that they were truly out of ideas. The writers decided to spice things up by axing off
05:07 a main character. Marissa drew the short straw and bowed out after a tragic car accident. Sure,
05:12 the moment served its purpose. "Marissa." "Marissa." It shocked viewers so much that
05:21 they forgot to tune in for season four. Number 14. Dan Connor - Roseanne
05:26 It's amazing how quickly the reputation of Roseanne turned. The show was a beloved
05:30 cultural institution, but the ninth season was widely panned, as was the series finale,
05:35 Into That Good Night. "Honey, I wasn't talking about the pizza. I was talking about, you know,
05:39 all of us being together like this, you know, just being here together." "Yeah, I like that."
05:45 It reveals that the events of the controversial season were made up by a depressed Roseanne,
05:49 who had been imagining a happy life as a coping mechanism. In reality, the Connors did not win
05:54 the lottery, and even worse, Dan had actually died following his heart attack in the wedding.
05:58 The deception was not received well, and neither was Dan's sudden death. "When you're a blue-collar
06:03 woman and your husband dies, it takes away your whole sense of security. So I began writing about
06:11 having all the money in the world, and I imagined myself going to spas and swanky New York parties,
06:16 just like the people on TV." The tenth season brought Dan back and looked to undo the damage
06:20 of its predecessor, but Barr ruined it by posting racist remarks on Twitter and getting the show
06:25 cancelled. Number 13. Lance Sweets - Bones These types of procedural shows don't often kill main
06:32 characters, but Bones is the rare exception. Despite being introduced in the show's third
06:36 season, Lance Sweets fit right in and quickly became a fan favorite. "Agent Booth, are you
06:40 listening?" "What?" "The judge will call when the warrant is issued. Booth, pay attention." "What?
06:45 I'm in the middle of an investigation. I get distracted." "Oh, so it's not my investigation
06:48 too?" "It's too early in the morning for this." "No, no, no, this is good. Let's talk about
06:51 conflict." In no time at all, it was like he was always there, but we took his presence for granted,
06:56 and he was shot by Navy SEAL Kenneth Emery in the tenth season premiere, The Conspiracy in the
07:00 Corpse. Sweets bleeds out in a parking garage, telling Booth and Bones that the world is a good
07:05 place. "The world is a lot better than you think it is. It's... I don't know." He was the only
07:12 major character to die, and his death was a major blow to the series. It would continue for two
07:17 more seasons, but it was never the same without Sweets. Number 12. Derek Shepard, Grey's Anatomy.
07:23 This medical drama belonged to one man, and that was Patrick Dempsey. "Look, I'm gonna go upstairs
07:27 and take a shower, okay? And when I get back down here, you won't be here, so, um, goodbye, um..."
07:36 "Derek." "Derek. Right, Merida." The character of Derek Shepard was enormously popular,
07:45 known far and wide for his sex appeal, fun bromance with Mark Sloan, and romantic relationship with
07:49 Meredith Grey. And while George O'Malley's death was certainly devastating, it was nothing compared
07:54 to Derek's. Derek is hit by a truck in season 11's How to Save a Life, and is later pulled
07:59 off life support by Meredith. While the performance of Ellen Pompeo was widely praised, Derek's death
08:04 received a mixed response. "Derek." "It's okay." Some praised the unpredictable nature of the
08:16 death, but others criticized the handling of Derek's departure, and questioned the future
08:20 narrative direction of the show. Number 11. Lexa, The 100. In the first few episodes,
08:26 this CW post-apocalyptic drama felt like a poor retelling of Lord of the Flies. "Mom? Mom? What's
08:33 going on? What is this? They're killing us all, aren't they? Reducing population to make more
08:39 time for the rest of you." This changed with the introduction of the Grounders, humans that
08:44 survived the end of the world. They were not only the most entertaining part of the series,
08:48 but the main characters became considerably more interesting once they started developing
08:51 relationships with them. The Grounders' commander, the complex Lexa, was introduced in season 2,
08:57 and quickly became one of the best characters on the show, before being done in by a stray
09:01 bullet a year later. This unexpected and anticlimactic death zapped the energy from
09:05 season 3, which took The 100 a whole year to recover from. "You were right, Clark.
09:10 Life is about more than just surviving." Number 10. Son and Jin, Lost. ABC's complicated series
09:21 didn't hesitate to kill off beloved characters, so this one was far from a surprise. "Son?
09:29 Jin? Jin? Son?" Spending eons apart before finally reuniting in season 6, the couple ended up stuck
09:41 in the sinking Dharma submarine. As the vessel filled with water, Jin decided to drown alongside
09:45 his trapped wife, repeating that he will never leave her alone again. Admittedly, this tragic
09:50 moment did lead well into the series finale, but it killed off two of the only remaining major
09:54 characters. As the couple was still part of the alternative timeline, this felt like a cheap
09:58 attempt to tug at our heartstrings. "I love you, son." "I love you." Plus, did Jin forget that he
10:07 had a daughter waiting for him? Number 9. The Mother, How I Met Your Mother. Some deaths are
10:12 so stupid or unnecessary that they retroactively hurt the entire show. "Oh no." "Yeah." Following
10:19 a rather subpar season, the finale of How I Met Your Mother felt more like a slap to the face
10:24 than a satisfying climax to nine years of content. Ted finally finishes his story about how he met
10:29 his children's mother before revealing that she died and he wants to date Robin again. Yes,
10:34 you heard it right. Ted decided to explain in excruciating detail every single woman he dated
10:39 to his children who had recently lost their mother. Frankly, that is just not good parenting.
10:44 "This is a story about how you're totally in love with Aunt Robin." Number 8. Poussey, Washington.
10:50 Orange is the New Black. Based on Piper Kerman's memoir of the same name, Orange is the New Black
10:55 starred an ensemble cast of terrific characters, including the gentle Poussey Washington. "I came
11:00 to ask about, like, I still got some time left here, but I'm getting out eventually, and it feels
11:06 like it's time to start focusing on that." A mainstay of the first four seasons, Poussey was
11:10 arguably the sweetest character on the show, and she became widely beloved within the fanbase.
11:14 Unfortunately, she meets her demise at the end of the fourth season, when she's suffocated by C.O.
11:19 Bailey. Her death was met with immediate outrage, not just by the fans, but by the cast members as
11:24 well, who disagreed with Jenji Kohan's decision to kill off such a beloved character. Their worries
11:28 were well-founded. Poussey's death brought upon the divisive plot of season five, which is usually
11:33 regarded as the show's weakest. Number 7. Jimmy Darmody, Boardwalk Empire. An HBO series where a
11:39 main character is killed off? Why, we've never heard of such a thing! "Is that what this is?"
11:45 Boardwalk Empire seemed destined to be the new Sopranos, before shooting itself in the foot at
11:49 the end of the second season. Jimmy's death was inevitable, as the wounds left by his time
11:54 fighting during World War I never really healed, but it still hurt like hell when it finally
11:58 happened. After failing to take out his mentor in a botched assassination attempt, Nucky got
12:02 his revenge by blowing Jimmy's brains out. "I am not seeking forgiveness." The series subsequently
12:11 ran for a couple Jimmy-less seasons, and was not better for it. Number 6. Brian Griffin, Family Guy.
12:18 Viewers do not seem to agree about when Family Guy lost the plot. Some say that it was around
12:22 season eight, others believe that everything after its revival sucks, and a few would go as far to
12:26 say it was always terrible. "Wait a minute, yeah, yeah, this is all coming back to me. You know,
12:32 this is actually not too bad a piece of work." By the time season 12 started, nothing Seth
12:37 McFarlane cooked up could possibly surprise us, except maybe killing one of the Griffins. So Brian
12:42 got hit by a car and went to doggy heaven. The surprisingly poignant episode hit home for anyone
12:47 who ever lost a pet, but two episodes later, Stewie goes back in time and saves him, making
12:51 the whole thing pointless and manipulative. Number 5. Charlie Harper, Two and a Half Men.
13:01 Someone please explain to Chuck Lorre the difference between fiction and reality. After
13:05 a falling out with Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men lost its leading man and had to bring in a
13:09 replacement in the form of Ashton Kutcher's Walden. "Alan, I think I should go back to my hotel."
13:15 "Nuts, we're doing great." Despite Kelso's best efforts, Walden and Alan failed to replicate any
13:21 of the chemistry seen between the two brothers. To be fair, Lorre's decision to spend all of
13:26 season nine pissing on Charlie's character to get back at Sheen certainly did not help. Adding
13:30 insult to injury, they drag Charlie back in the series finale to once again kill him off in a
13:34 pathetic fashion. "Winning." Number 4. Daenerys Targaryen, Game of Thrones. Let's be honest here,
13:45 Game of Thrones collapsed harder than the Red Keep. The complaints concerning season eight are
13:50 many, including its treatment of certain beloved characters. For example, Jaime Lannister reversed
13:54 his character arc for no discernible reason and died embracing Cersei in King's Landing,
13:59 but that was nothing compared to Daenerys' storyline. Her rapid heel turn from hero to
14:03 villain was universally criticized, with most arguing that it was poorly and ineffectively
14:08 handled. And her death at the hands of Jon, while thematically satisfying, was also quite clunky.
14:13 "We do it together. We break the wheel together." It was one of many blemishes on the show's final
14:22 season, and a major reason for its infamously negative reception. Number 3. Glen Rhee,
14:28 The Walking Dead. We commend this show for having the guts to kill off Glen,
14:31 but it was not the right move. "But I'm a man of my word. First impressions are important."
14:39 Glen met his demise at the start of season seven, getting viciously beaten by the psychotic Negan.
14:44 The scene was met with a mixed response. While some praised its devotion to the source material,
14:48 others hated that they killed off Glen and criticized the excessive violence of his beating.
14:53 Regardless of personal opinion, the scene is considered a major turning point in the show's
14:57 quality, and both critical reception and viewership rapidly plummeting after Glen's departure. What
15:02 faithful viewers remained were outraged the very next season, when Carl Grimes took his own life
15:06 after getting bitten. "I love you, dad." Number 2. Maude Flanders, The Simpsons. Alone Again,
15:14 Natura Diddly is not the worst Simpsons episode ever, but it is one that has arguably the worst
15:19 impact. "Ooh, a bobby pin!" "Ow!" Maude Flanders was hardly anyone's favorite character, but she
15:26 served as an able enough straight woman to the countless insane characters that populate
15:30 Springfield. Unlike everything that came before it, her death could not be reversed or ignored.
15:35 It changed The Simpsons forever. "In many ways, Maude Flanders was a supporting player in our
15:41 lives. She didn't grab our attention with memorable catchphrases or comical accents."
15:49 Ignoring that Homer is at his absolute jerkiest during this episode, her departure ruined Ned's
15:53 character, as he became a caricature of the person he used to be. "He even goes on dates in the same
15:58 episode Maude dies! Have some class, man!" Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel
16:04 and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for
16:09 occasional videos or all of them. If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings
16:14 and switch on notifications. Number 1. Rita Morgan, Dexter. Dexter, the show and character,
16:23 lost everything when he found Rita lying motionless in their bathtub.
16:26 "It's okay. Life doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be lived." During the climax to a
16:36 season-long storyline, which saw the serial killer in a battle of wits and body parts with John
16:41 Lithgow's Trinity Killer, Dexter arrived home to find the family life he had worked so hard to
16:45 build shattered. The episode itself is damn near perfect, but Julie bends his departure through
16:50 the series out of balance. "Oh, and I know you're not into this stuff, but the moon tonight is gonna
16:55 be amazing. So take a moment. You deserve it. We love you. Bye." She was the fire to Dexter's ice,
17:03 and together they formed the heart of the show. Despite trying to replace her time and time again,
17:07 Dexter continued to fall short. Did you stop watching after these deaths?
17:11 Let us know in the comments below. "Are you ready?" "No, but go ahead."
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17:31 [Music]