You know a TV death is sad when years later you can still get a lump in your throat just thinking about it.
These deaths are like that.
In some cases it's how the character went out that caused all the pain. The injustice of seeing such a great character meet a terrible end, or a heroic character going out beautifully.
In other cases, it is the reaction of everyone around the character that gets the wracking sobs going.
Either way, some of these ripped our (we, the collective, the viewers) hearts out. Which ones got to you?
1. Will Gardner - The Good Wife
As it is with many of the deaths on this list, it's not so much crying about the death itself that happens during these episodes, but it was impossible not to cry watching Diane and Kalinda dealing with the melee at the courthouse and trying to get in touch with Alicia. Will's body on the table, knowing nothing could be done. It was all horrific and unexpected.
2. Joyce Summers - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
This death happened just like in real life. It was completely unexpected. There weren't bullets or vampires. Joyce thought she was doing fine, but succumbed to a brain tumor while at home alone on the sofa. Buffy walked into the surreal situation, and we got to see a girl who is normally surrounded by death utterly floored by the reality of someone close to her dying of natural causes. "The Body" remains my favorite episode of the series.
3. Nate Fisher - Six Feet Under
Nate had a brain problem called AVM. He had it under control, and had just had surgery even, ensuring he was well. But he died due to post-op complications. Um. NO! That doesn't happen to our favorite television characters. That's too real. But coming from a show about death, would we expect less? The funeral afterward was another sucker punch. Of course, this was before we knew the finale was coming and we'd never hear Sia again without crying softly (or heavily).
4. Mark Greene - ER
Mark Greene suffered from cancer for a long time before he died, and his daughter was really suffering as well. He decided to spend the end of his life tring to make hers better by taking her to Hawaii where he grew up. Rachel eventually calls Elizabeth to come help her with him and while his family is on the beach and life carries on and he listens to that damn sappy version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, he dies. Seriously, reliving these on YouTube is killing me!
5. Allison Argent - Teen Wolf
It seemed like something was off with Allison long before she died, on a season that threatened to kill off one of the main characters. Nobody expected it to be Allison or Scott. They're going to find their way back to each other! Well, in her final moments, as she lay dying in his arms, she did tell Scott he was the only guy she every truly loved. Another truly shocking moment. The tighter lid the keep on the story, the more emotional the loss.
6. George O-Malley - Grey's Anatomy
Oh man. George made a major decision, to join the Army and do his doctoring there. So OF COURSE nobody would recognize him when a heroic man in uniform who had just been dragged by a bus after stepping in front of it to save a pedestrian was rushed in, barely alive. But when they figured it out? Holy tears batman. Sob much?