Spoiler alert! Zena Jarjis and Katie Thomas look at the most excessive TV deaths…
Freddie- Skins
The finale of season four of Skins shocked us with the death of Freddie McClair, who is brutally beaten by love interest Effy’s counselor John Foster. A favoured character of the show, viewers were left reeling after Freddie is attacked with a baseball bat. Blood splattering against a window told us we wouldn’t be seeing Freddie again.
Michael- Prison Break
When his convoluted plan to break his wife, Sarah, out of prison goes wrong, Michael realises that the only way to escape is to create a power surge, and to create the surge, Michael has to die. His final heroic action sees him blow himself up as Sarah flees the prison. But a twist ending reveals the true reason for Michael’s sacrifice: a brain tumour meant that he would only have a few weeks to live anyway.
Edie- Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives has had its fair share of ridiculous deaths, but Edie Britts is particularly memorable. After swerving whilst driving to avoid hitting another character, she crashes into a utility pole – a puddle of water below the pole is electrified by the leakage, Edie is electrocuted and that’s the last we ever see of her.
Nikki & Paulo- Lost
When the producers of Lost realised that viewers hated Nikki and Paulo, they were quick to axe the couple. Nikki and Paulo are bitten by spiders whose venom causes paralysis. The other characters, not realising the effect of the spiders’ venom, mistake this paralysis for death. Nikki and Paulo are buried alive, completely aware of what is happening to them but unable to do anything about it.