Killing off a major character isn’t something that is done lightly; it changes the whole show and in most cases angers a whole lot of fans. There are a lot of reasons for killing off a character: moving a plot forward, finishing off old plot lines or spicing things up, but there’s always the risk that it will put an end to the show too. Surprisingly, there are some that make it out afterwards unscathed or better for it and this article is dedicated to those. There’ll be spoilers in here – obviously!
Homeland – Nicholas Brody
It seems almost unbelievable that Homeland could survive without Nicholas Brody. The whole plot revolved around the ex-P.O.W. being a possible terrorist sent back to the USA with an ulterior motive. After the revelation that he actually was a terrorist, and the lead C.I.A. investigator falling in love with him, the Brody storyline was getting old and at the end of the third season Brody was killed off. Surprisingly, his death may have been the best thing to happen to the show as the fourth season arrived with a brilliant and fresh story line.
House of Cards – Zoe Barnes
Zoe Barnes was a journalist on House of Cards investigating the mysterious death of Peter Russo. Although the death was ruled as a suicide, Zoe dug deeper and found out that Vice-President Frank Underwood (the shows main character) was involved. Despite deleting the evidence she had, Frank still thought of her as a threat and pushed her under an oncoming train, much to the surprise of the audience. The show went on perfectly fine without Zoe and Frank even made it to President.
Game of Thrones – Ned Stark
These days few people are surprised when a main character kicks it in Game of Thrones but back in season 1 we were all unprepared for what was to come. The first season followed Ned Stark investigating the death of his brother-in-law by those pesky Lannisters. Being the naive watchers we were, we all thought “good will prevail over evil” and Ned would be fine -but our hopes were very much cut short by a sharp axe. Although Ned Stark was one of the main characters, the show lived on without him and went on to kill even more of our favourite characters.
Downton Abbey –Matthew Crawley
The death of Matthew Crawley in the 2012 Christmas special of Downton Abbey was so unforeseen that it left all who watched it completely stunned. Most of the episode watched Matthew’s wife Lady Mary giving birth to their son. Many thought that it’d be Mary who died, suffering the same fate as her sister and dying in childbirth. It was to be Matthew that died though, only a few minutes after seeing his baby. His car veered off the road as he swerved to avoid an oncoming lorry only to die moments later. The show is still carrying on today though, becoming one of the most popular period dramas in existence.
So that’s part one killed off, expect more heartbreaking, gut-wrenching major character deaths to come in the next part. Of course these dramatic masterpieces are best watched on a good TV, so if you’re interested in upgrading yours check out our fantastic range of cheap TVs to get one without breaking the bank. If you’d like more information about our products don’t hesitate to contact us on 0121 327 3273 and a member of our team will be there to help.
