When TV Deaths Backfire: 15 Characters Who Didn’t Need to Die
An opinion-driven list arguing that 15 high-profile TV character deaths—Cordelia in Angel, Susan Ross in Seinfeld, Lucy Knight in ER, Rita Morgan in Dexter, Maude Flanders in The Simpsons, Logan Echolls in Veronica Mars, Tara Maclay in Buffy, Missandei in Game of Thrones, Michelle Dessler in 24, Andrea Harrison in The Walking Dead, Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey, Derek Shepherd in Grey’s Anatomy, Commander Lexa in The 100, Bobby Simone in NYPD Blue, and Eddie LeBec in Cheers—felt unnecessary or poorly executed, often due to shock value, rushed storytelling, or behind-the-scenes turmoil, rather than genuine narrative need, and sometimes erasing character arcs or undermining the series
