Don't talk to us about these, it's too soon! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most mind-scarring and emotionally devastating moments in TV.
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00:00I need to talk to her, Eli.
00:02Calinda?
00:03She's in the middle of the correspondent's luncheon.
00:05Eli, Will's dead.
00:10Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most mind-scarring
00:14and emotionally devastating moments in TV.
00:16No animated series, thank goodness.
00:18Major spoilers to come.
00:20For you, for a thousand summers.
00:27Number 20.
00:28Opie's death.
00:29Sons of Anarchy.
00:30You'd think that after going to prison for five years, and after his wife got killed,
00:34the writers would have given poor Opie a break.
00:36Instead, they did him dirty one last time.
00:46Keep it interesting, shithead.
00:48One of the members of the titular motorcycle club, Opie is Jax's childhood best friend.
00:53Struggling to get his life back together, helping the club against threats, and even
00:56avenging his wife Donna.
01:04His death in season five, at the hands of guards and jail going three-on-one with him,
01:07is beyond brutal.
01:09At least they gave him a chance to fight back.
01:11A small consolation.
01:17Number 19.
01:18Matt buries his dad.
01:19Friday Night Lights.
01:21Following a high school football team in a small town in Texas, this series covers some
01:25heavy territory.
01:26From racism, to poverty, to substance use disorder, quarterback Matt Saracen's relationship
01:31to his father Henry has always been strained.
01:34His father being in the US Army, and struggling with PTSD.
01:38It's just this video that my dad sent me a couple of Christmases ago.
01:44Matt, I sent you something in the mail.
01:46Hopefully by now you got it.
01:48As a result, Henry has always been distant with Matt, causing the latter to look up to
01:52Coach Taylor instead.
01:59I'm gonna walk you home.
02:00So Henry's death, and Matt having to bury his father, dashes any hopes for a reconciliation
02:05or even closure.
02:06Matt's speech at his funeral is heartbreaking, showing grace and forgiveness for his complicated
02:11late father.
02:12He went and did a job that not many people want to do.
02:21Because of that we all get to be here, and we get to grow up, and we get to have our
02:24birthdays.
02:25Number 18.
02:26Hussein's death.
02:27Orange is the New Black.
02:28A woman's prison isn't for the weak at heart, or even strong at heart.
02:37Hussein Washington was kind, good-natured, and prank-loving, helping her fellow inmates
02:42and nursing an unrequited love for her friend, Tasty.
02:45While Hussein's goodness was exploited cruelly by bad actors, things were looking up as Hussein
02:49moved on to a relationship with inmate Brooke.
02:52Dance with me.
02:55What are you, kind of music?
02:57Nobody's fact-checking that.
02:59True.
03:00So it was a shock that Hussein was accidentally sent to prison.
03:03So it was a shock that Hussein was accidentally suffocated by an officer trying to defend
03:08Suzanne during a peaceful protest.
03:10Her needless death was horrific enough, but it's Tasty's grief that really puts this
03:14on the level of traumatizing.
03:25Number 17.
03:26Human cello.
03:27Hannibal.
03:28Speaking of horrific, this series has plenty of skin-crawling moments.
03:32Of course, any series following psychologist-turned-serial-killer Hannibal Lecter is going to go into some
03:37creepy territory.
03:39Victim is Douglas Wilson, member of the Baltimore Metropolitan Orchestra.
03:43Brass section.
03:44Trombone player.
03:45The most gag-inducing and mind-searing one, however, has to be the one where a mysterious
03:49killer turns his latest victim into a cello, even playing the instrument inside of him.
04:03We won't go into details, but Will Graham's visualizing technique and the human cello
04:07playing is scarring enough.
04:09The murderous fiddler was eventually killed by Lecter, but the sound of his crimes will
04:13certainly haunt us.
04:21Number 16.
04:22Charlie's death.
04:23Lost.
04:24This mind-bending and twisty show about survivors of a plane crash living on an island could
04:28be hard to watch at times.
04:30But this death was one of the toughest to handle.
04:41In this huge ensemble cast, Charlie was one of the main characters, a musician in a rock
04:45band, sober for many years with a steady girlfriend.
04:48In this episode, Charlie manages to unblock transmissions sent to and from the island
04:53at the Looking Glass station.
05:01But just as he accomplishes this, Mikhail throws a grenade and floods the station.
05:05Charlie drowns, though not before warning the others of the betrayal.
05:09Charlie's acceptance of his fate and his heroic actions really bring out the waterworks.
05:14This is one trauma we won't get over.
05:31Number 15.
05:32Annaliese's baby died.
05:33waterworks.
05:34This is one trauma we won't get over.
05:36Number 15.
05:37Annalise's baby dies.
05:38How to get away with murder.
05:39How to get away with murder?
05:41How this series got away with even conceiving of this death is the real question.
05:51Viola Davis' Annalise Keating is a formidable defense attorney.
05:54In this flashback, Annalise gets in a car crash and must undergo a C-section to save
05:58her unborn child.
06:00Sadly, her baby doesn't make it.
06:07The sight of Annalise's grief and breakdown is nothing less than heartbreaking.
06:11Even worse, it turns out her employee Frank had been responsible for the car crash.
06:15So Annalise's blaming herself is the cherry on top of this very rotten cake.
06:27Number 14.
06:29Supernatural.
06:30Ah, Supernatural.
06:31A show with 15 seasons is sure to come up with some of the most searing, heart-wrenching
06:36moments in TV.
06:37But the most traumatizing has to be this season 5 episode.
06:50After a string of bizarre deaths, Sam and Dean quickly learn it's the work of one
06:54of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Famine.
07:05What are the bizarre deaths in question?
07:07It's couples eating each other on Valentine's Day.
07:10And no, it's not the fun kind of eating.
07:12If you have a strong stomach, great, we'll just be over there in the corner with the
07:15waste bin, scarred for life.
07:17Number 13.
07:18The murder of Jaehaerys Targaryen, House of the Dragon.
07:21This tale of a Targaryen civil war has a high body count, of course.
07:25And some truly grisly, stomach-churning moments.
07:34We haven't forgotten how Queen Emma's childbirth panned out, and we won't any time soon.
07:39But we think Jaehaerys' death by the blood and cheese complot is by far the worst.
07:43To avenge the death of Rhaenyra's son, Luke, Rhaenyra's uncle-lover Daemon orders a hit
07:48on Aemond.
07:54The mercenaries couldn't find Aemond, and instead opted to get rid of his son, young
07:58Jaehaerys.
07:59The mercenaries' idiotic fumbling, and the children in innocent slumber, makes this scene
08:04all the more horrific to watch.
08:12Number 12.
08:13The final scene, Six Feet Under.
08:14We're not crying, we just have something in our eye.
08:17Six Feet Under has always been a series preoccupied with death, literally opening with a scene
08:22about someone dying in some way.
08:23But the finale gives us everything and more.
08:33As Claire moves to New York City, we're shown a montage of milestones.
08:36Brenda remarrying, David and Keith finally marrying, and Durrell going into embalming.
08:41We also see how they die, most of them mercifully of ripe old age, except for Keith.
08:46So, how could you?
08:57This beautifully well-done montage has justly been called one of the best season finales
09:01of any show ever, an homage not only to the show, but to life itself.
09:06And yes, we're still crying.
09:15Number 11.
09:17The Handmaid's Tale.
09:18There's shows that begin with truly heavy and hard-hitting stuff, and then there's
09:22The Handmaid's Tale, based on the classic book by Margaret Atwood.
09:33This dystopian series begins with a nail-biting scene of June running away with her daughter
09:37Hannah, pursued by armed men.
09:39Just as it seems if they've hidden and evaded them, however, both mother and daughter get
09:43caught and separated.
09:53This scene's even harder to watch when you know what happens next.
09:56June's fate is to become a handmaid of the state, forced to bear sons for childless couples.
10:01It's a tale more chilling than most horror stories.
10:12Number 10.
10:13Mikey Throws the Fork.
10:14The Bear.
10:15There's dutch oven potatoes that burned the living shit out of me earlier.
10:19Did you just throw a fork at me?
10:22I did.
10:23Following Carmi Brisato and his coming into ownership of his family's Italian sandwich
10:27shop, this series has a lot of meaty scenes to sink one's teeth into.
10:31But this series' family struggles and troubles leads it into emotionally devastating territory.
10:37You see what you did, right?
10:38You already did that.
10:39You remember?
10:40You already bitched about the dutch oven.
10:41You see, you did that before.
10:42Michael.
10:43What are you doing?
10:44No, he started it, Uncle Jay.
10:45During a tense family dinner, Mikey repeatedly throws forks at Lee, his mother Donna's boyfriend.
10:50When Natalie accidentally sets off a high-strung Donna and Lee condescendingly suggests that
10:55they move on, Mikey throws a fork at Lee for one last time.
11:04What follows is an all-out brawl, complete with table-flipping and chaos.
11:09Dysfunctional families and their fork-triggering trauma have given us plenty already.
11:13Number 9.
11:14Laura Palmer's killer is revealed.
11:16Twin Peaks.
11:17Creators David Lynch and Mark Frost begged the executive producers not to make them reveal
11:21Laura Palmer's killer mid-season.
11:31While revealing the killer's identity so soon did suck away a lot of the juice of the
11:35show, it also gave us one of the most intense and blood-curdling scenes in all of TV history.
11:41It turns out that Laura's killer was her own father Leland, albeit with a creepy supernatural
11:45twist.
11:46He was possessed by Bob, an evil spirit.
11:57This spirit is the one that prompts him to kill Maddie, Laura's identical cousin.
12:02We're still very much in shock.
12:11Number 8.
12:12Shooting at Seattle Grey's.
12:13Grey's Anatomy.
12:14Grey's Anatomy is a series with plenty of traumatic moments and nightmare fuel to last
12:19us for decades.
12:20But this two-part finale for the sixth season is by far the most blood-curdling.
12:30The whole hospital is placed on lockdown when shooter Gary Clark kills Dr. Adamson and wounds
12:35Dr. Reed in cold blood.
12:37But these shockingly graphic deaths are not the end to Clark's reign of terror.
12:50Clark is on a revenge mission, seeking out Derek for letting his wife die, a revenge
12:54mission that only ends with his own self-inflicted undoing.
12:57It's a harrowing two-parter that we're still not over.
13:07Number 7.
13:08Negan kills Glenn and Abraham, The Walking Dead.
13:11Of course, this zombie post-apocalyptic horror series will have us horrified.
13:15Where to begin?
13:16For starters, Beth, one of the series' most beloved characters, dies during a hostage
13:20situation.
13:25But by far the most traumatic death sequence is Glenn and Abraham's.
13:29Captured by Negan's group, Rick and his team are forced to pledge servitude to him.
13:33Negan's sadism is total, as he demonstrates his iron rule over them.
13:40First he bashes Abraham's head, and then once Daryl tries to defy him, he goes for
13:44Glenn.
13:52It's no doubt these deaths that made Rick continue to defy Negan, and make us continue
13:56to need therapy.
13:57Number 6.
13:58When Rue hit rock bottom, Euphoria.
14:01One of the most controversial teen shows in recent years, Euphoria pulls no punches in
14:05its depiction of substance use disorder.
14:11When Rue's mother finds out her daughter has moved to Pills, she throws out Rue's
14:15suitcase, given to her by Lori.
14:17In response, Rue breaks down violently, panicking over the loss of merchandise, screaming at
14:21her mother, and breaking down the door.
14:30At last, she breaks down crying in the hallway.
14:32It's a masterful performance by Zendaya, and a harrowing portrayal of the dangers of
14:37substance use disorder, and we're still reeling.
14:44Number 5.
14:45Buffy finds her mother's body, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
14:48This classic teen vampire show had tons of horrific deaths, but by far the most shocking
14:53and mind-scarring death has nothing to do with vampires and other monsters.
15:03In this episode, Buffy returns home to her mother Joyce, just like any ordinary day.
15:08But this time, Joyce doesn't respond.
15:10Dead by a brain aneurysm, Buffy and the Scooby gang are left reeling from the loss of a beloved
15:15mother and mother figure.
15:26The fact that Joyce's death is all natural and random makes it worse.
15:30The body is lauded as one of the best episodes in TV history, and also one of the most emotionally
15:35devastating.
15:42Number 4.
15:44Concentration Camp Liberation, Band of Brothers.
15:47Created by Steven Spielberg, this miniseries follows the history of a US Army battalion
15:51fighting Nazi Germans in World War II.
16:01In this episode, the battalion liberates a concentration camp in Landsberg called Koffring.
16:06The depiction of the camp prisoners, weakened by the horrors of the camp, including starvation,
16:10is brutal as it is unflinchingly honest.
16:19The soldiers' shock is also hard to take.
16:21The miniseries took some historical liberties.
16:24In reality, it was a different military unit that liberated Koffring.
16:27But its portrayal of the conditions of these camps is all too real.
16:30Never forget.
16:38Number 3.
16:39Walt Watches Jane Die, Breaking Bad.
16:42It's bad enough to have someone die of substance use disorder.
16:45It's quite another to be the reason for said death.
16:55Walter White is an anti-hero at best, a villainous protagonist at worst.
16:59This episode includes one of his most horrific decisions yet.
17:03After finally giving the money to his partner Jessie and Jessie's girlfriend Jane, Walter
17:07arrives to find them passed out in a drug-induced stupor.
17:10Walter tries to rouse Jessie, but in the process inadvertently knocks Jane on her back.
17:23He begins to help her when she starts choking, only to change his mind.
17:27It's a terrible scene, all the more so when we see Jessie listening to Jane's voicemail
17:31over and over in his grief.
17:43Number 2.
17:44Dexter Finds Rita's Body, Dexter.
17:46The horror of this death is not so much the blood, although it is the stuff of nightmares.
17:51After a seasons-long cat-and-mouse game with the Trinity Killer, Dexter finally puts Trinity
17:55out of his misery.
17:57Right after he disposes of Trinity, however, Dexter comes home to a scene of nightmare.
18:08His wife Rita in the bathtub with his little son Harrison in the pool of blood.
18:12It's a scene that's the exact parallel of Dexter's own mother's death and little Dexter's
18:17rescue from the pool of blood.
18:23More to the point, Rita was one of the most beloved and innocent characters in the show,
18:27who didn't deserve such an end.
18:29That wound has still not healed for us.
18:50Number 1.
18:51The Red Wedding, Game of Thrones.
18:54One of the most shocking and horrifying moments in TV history is nothing new for book fans.
18:58Our condolences.
19:09But for mainstream audiences, it was the worst.
19:12We already had a taste of the betrayal to come for the Starks when patriarch Ned Stark
19:16got the axe.
19:17We were such summer children back then.
19:23The Starks suffer an even bigger betrayal at the wedding of Edmure Tully and Roslyn Frey.
19:27Unbeknownst to them, the Freys had allied with the Lannisters.
19:38They attack the Starks, killing both Robb, Robb's wife and unborn child, and Catelyn Stark.
19:43One thing is for sure, the reigns of Castamere is going to trigger the waterworks.
19:51Which other traumatic scene in a TV show had you hearing the reigns of Castamere?
19:55Let us know in the comments down below.