Shocking TV viewers these days is harder for a variety of reasons, and that is true of even major character deaths. Audiences may be tipped off by internet leaks and rumours — or, in this intellectual property-driven age, by source material. Millions of Game of Thrones watchers were floored when the 'Red Wedding' episode aired on HBO in 2013; millions of George R.R. Martin readers were not. But for the many viewers of HBO series The Last of Us who haven’t played the video games, Sunday’s episode most likely came as an immense shock, New York Times reported.
(The second episode of Season 2 is drawn from events in the video game sequel The Last of Us Part II, from 2020.) As when Rosalind (Diana Muldaur) fell down the elevator shaft in L.A. Law or when Omar (Michael K. Williams) was killed by a child in The Wire, the death of Joel (Pedro Pascal) was jaw-dropping. It felt in some ways like a throwback.
It remains to be seen how Joel’s death will change the complexion of the show, but it will be fundamentally different without him. As we ponder how that might take shape, we look back at some shocking character deaths that changed everything.
THE SOPRANOS - Season 5, Episode 12 (May 23, 2004)
The Sopranos wasn’t reluctant to dispatch characters — the mob world is dangerous, and people get whacked. But Adriana La Cerva (played by Drea de Matteo) wasn’t expecting to die — at least not until she found herself on a one-way drive with Silvio Dante (Steven Van Zandt) and started to realise what was about to happen. By then, it was too late. Compared with the show’s other characters, she was collateral damage — mob-adjacent but not really a criminal, even if the FBI had made her think otherwise when it tricked her into turning informant. What made her death scene especially moving was the camera’s drift into the sky as we heard (but didn’t see) the gunshots. It felt like not only her death but also the death of hope itself.
GAME OF THRONES - Season 1, Episode 9 (June 12, 2011)
Readers of Martin’s books were not surprised when Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) called for the head of Ned Stark (Sean Bean). But non-readers definitely were, having been set up for the biggest of rug-pulls — not least because Bean had figured so prominently in the marketing of the series, as if he were the star. It seemed certain that he would escape a bloody fate. But poor Ned was shocked when his plea bargain was betrayed, and viewers soon realised that his story was only a prelude to the war to come. Such seemingly out-of-nowhere deaths of beloved characters became one of the show’s signature moves, demonstrating over and over that no one was safe.
BREAKING BAD - Season 5, Episode 14 (Sept. 15, 2013)
Martin once wrote that Walter White was “a bigger monster than anyone in Westeros.” There is also an argument to be made that Walt’s brother-in-law, Drug Enforcement Administration agent Hank Schrader (Dean Norris), was the true hero of Breaking Bad. When Hank was executed, it was devastating. The two men’s positions reversed so rapidly: from Walt in handcuffs, spitting at Hank, to Walt begging and bargaining the neo-Nazis for Hank’s life, wrestling with his own culpability. But Hank won’t beg. He accepts his fate with dignity. Walt is the one who breaks.
THE WALKING DEAD - Season 7, Episode 1 (Oct. 23, 2016)
Any adaptation of a popular book will inevitably run into the problem of what to do with the death of a major character. Should it be foreshadowed? Should there be fake-outs? Should there be cliffhangers? Why not all of the above, if you’re dealing with one of the most shocking deaths in the Robert Kirkman zombie comic The Walking Dead. The sixth season finale, 'Last Day on Earth,' made it obvious that someone would die at the hands of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his barbed bat, but who? Fans were left in suspense for a grueling seven months after that tease, only to discover that, yes, Glenn (Steven Yeun) was indeed a goner, just as he was in the comics. Ratings started to drop after this, suggesting that perhaps all the hype may have backfired.
SUCCESSION- Season 4, Episode 3 (April 9, 2023)
You can’t have a succession without someone either stepping down or dying, so the idea of Logan Roy’s death was always in the background. (He nearly died in the pilot.) But Logan (Brian Cox) managed to hang on, continuing to outmaneuver his adult children, each of whom wanted his throne or power of his or her own. Finally, though, Logan collapsed in the bathroom of his private jet. As he received heart compressions, the audience was mostly with Logan’s children Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) as they tried to say goodbye on the phone. For these three, what was once theoretical had became painfully real, and the remainder of the series was all about the aftermath.
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