9 Most Unnecessary TV Deaths of 2018

For unconditional lovers of television, nothing is more painful than seeing a fan-favorite character dying for what feels like no good reason.

Character deaths don’t happen out of the blue. Usually the story takes writers to places where they must let go of a character, or an actor requests to be taken of their contract and death seems like the only feasible way to say goodbye.

But other TV deaths just seem to happen, with no warning, no indication as to the reasoning behind it and, much like real life, it can’t be explained.

In 2018, TV fans have seen quite a few frustrating deaths, from a household name on Fear The Walking Dead to everyone’s favorite villain on Empire. Scroll through to see some of the worst TV deaths (so far) this year.

Agent Clayton Reeves, NCIS

After weeks teasing Abby Sciuto’s (Pauley Perrette) heartbreaking exit from the series, it turned out to be Clay Reeves (Duane Henry) who left the show after getting shot to death during a robbery.

The death, which apparently was prompted by Henry’s unhappiness on the show, is what inspired Abby to leave the team and start working on a charity in Reeves’ name. Not the best way to exit a character, and not really fair to Clay Reeves either.

Madison Clark, Fear the Walking Dead

Unlike many main characters from the AMC franchise, series star Kim Dickens was not a part of the decision when it came to the shocking death of her character.

Despite her being No.1 on the callsheet, Dickens admitted she was “heartbroken” and “devastated” when the producers told her about her fate on the spinoff series. The sudden death left fans broken-hearted, and opened up a conversation about how characters played by women over the age of 40 are treated on TV.

Quentin Lance, Arrow

Fans of the superhero series were shocked when it was announced Paul Blackthorne would leave the series after season six. However, when Quentin Lance gave up his life to save Earth-2 Laurel, the ending to his character felt like a copout. 

Hayley Marshall-Kenner, The Originals

The Vampire Diaries spinoff series is pulling out all the stops during its final seasons, proving no character is safe.

But after six seasons of watching this character grow and become a fan-favorite, she deserved better than sacrificing her life to stop a random vampire that fans never believed to be a Big Bad in the first place. 

Anika Calhoun, Empire

“Boo Boo Kitty” was one of the Fox family soap’s most compelling and interesting characters, and despite the writes not being aware of it, she was so much more than a thorn on Cookie’s (Taraji P. Henson) side. Also her random death after being drugged was lazy, and left us wanting justice for Anika. 

Gabriel, Supernatural

The archangel’s fight with Michael did help the Winchesters escape, but this death didn’t really do anything other than take away one more beloved supporting character from the long-running series.

David Rosen, Scandal

We get that on a series as dramatic and twisty as Scandal, the final death had to be one that hurt, but did it have to be the only person who kept his White Hat on for the entirety of the show? Plus why did Abby have to end up sad and in mourning.

Scandal did a lot of things right for their series finale but David Rosen deserved better.

Charlotte Richards, Lucifer

After being the vessel to Lucifer’s mother, fans had gotten close with the real person inside before she was killed by a bullet meant for someone else. A tragic, yet unnecessary end.

Sharon Raydor, Major Crimes

This death technically happened at the end of 2017 but we are still not over it. After six seasons leading the TNT police procedural, Mary McDonnell’s character was killed off of a fast-acting heart condition and given a LAPD funeral, leaving her son and male co-workers to capture her biggest enemy in the final episodes of the series.

McDonnell’s name was also taken out of the opening credits immediately after her death, a fact she later revealed she did not know would happen.