# Needless Movie/TV Deaths **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2018, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-movie-tv-deaths/814173 "2018-05-14T23:31:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-movie-tv-deaths/814173/61 "2018-05-23T08:24:30Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > …So here’s another one, for the same reason: Cait’s murder in NCIS. I thought Sasha Alexander was very good in that part, and I couldn’t stand her replacement. And all because the show was too much work (if I remember correctly). Then she ended up on another weekly cop-type show. I don’t get it. I believe Rizzoli & Isles had 13-episode seasons, which is probably easier to manage than the standard 22-episode broadcast network season. Just guessing… ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-movie-tv-deaths/814173/62 "2018-05-23T08:29:12Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > I saw no good reason for death of Mrs. Landingham on **The West Wing**. It didn’t further the story at all. The actress wanted to take a part in another show. So they killed off the character, rather than having her quit. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-movie-tv-deaths/814173/63 "2018-05-23T08:44:00Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I thought killing off Lady Sybil and Matthew in one season of Downton Abbey was a little excessive, but if someone wants to leave the series there aren’t too many options. The death of Matthew was particularly weak. After they’d gone to the trouble of having him dramatically stand up out of his wheelchair in a burst of spontaneous healing earlier that season. Sybil’s death was OK, as it allowed the opportunity to work the Spanish Flu epidemic into the story line. Not to mention driving a wedge between Cora and Sir Robert - she accused him of being slow to bring in the trusted family doctor, because Robert was afraid of offending his titled associate (also a doctor), who said Sybil would be fine. Cora was right about that. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-movie-tv-deaths/814173/64 "2018-05-23T15:22:31Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Another star trek one: The death of Commander Tucker in the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise. He lives on in the novels. His death was a ruse. Malcolm’s former commander in Section 31 recruited him to infiltrate and report back on the Romulans. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-movie-tv-deaths/814173/65 "2018-05-23T18:15:03Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Death in the real world is pretty random and needless; why should popular entertainment treat it differently? Because IRL nobody kills you out of spite because you want out of your contract. Um, except among your patients. 😉 > [@DrDeth](#): > > They can go on tour, join the army, be posted overseas, go to live in The City, etc etc. They can go live on a farm upstate! I double dead dog dare a writer to go that route. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-movie-tv-deaths/814173/66 "2018-05-23T18:18:52Z")
> [@LLCoolL](#): > > Sybil’s death was OK, as it allowed the opportunity to work the Spanish Flu epidemic into the story line. Not to mention driving a wedge between Cora and Sir Robert - she accused him of being slow to bring in the trusted family doctor, because Robert was afraid of offending his titled associate (also a doctor), who said Sybil would be fine. Cora was right about that. Not much a 1920’s doctor can do vs the Spanish Flu, no matter how good he is. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-movie-tv-deaths/814173/67 "2018-05-23T18:38:20Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > He lives on in the novels. His death was a ruse. Malcolm’s former commander in Section 31 recruited him to infiltrate and report back on the Romulans. Hmm, interesting! And yet I don’t think he’d blend in too well in Romulan society… ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-movie-tv-deaths/814173/68 "2018-05-23T21:39:57Z")
> [@LLCoolL](#): > > Sybil’s death was OK, as it allowed the opportunity to work the Spanish Flu epidemic into the story line. Not to mention driving a wedge between Cora and Sir Robert - she accused him of being slow to bring in the trusted family doctor, because Robert was afraid of offending his titled associate (also a doctor), who said Sybil would be fine. Cora was right about that. Sybil didn’t die of the flu, she died of eclampsia after birthing baby Sibbie. The trusted family doctor was there and flat told them what it was, the “best” obstetrician in England that Robert brought in under the aegis of giving his daughter the best possible care was the one who handwaved it off. Lavinia, Matthew’s fiancee, was the one who conveniently died of flu in order to leave the way clear for him to marry Lady Mary. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-movie-tv-deaths/814173/69 "2018-05-23T22:00:26Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Johnathan Kent in _Man of Steel._ Sure, according to canon, he’s supposed to die eventually (traditionally, from a heart attack), but he could have totally run across and into the shelter along with everybody else and not get killed by the tornado. I like dogs as much as the next person, but anyone in that situation who runs back to save their dog and loses their own life is a bloody idiot. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-movie-tv-deaths/814173/70 "2018-05-24T10:25:51Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Sybil didn’t die of the flu, she died of eclampsia after birthing baby Sibbie. The trusted family doctor was there and flat told them what it was, the “best” obstetrician in England that Robert brought in under the aegis of giving his daughter the best possible care was the one who handwaved it off. > > Lavinia, Matthew’s fiancee, was the one who conveniently died of flu in order to leave the way clear for him to marry Lady Mary. You’re right, I got some of the stories mixed up in my head. Getting old… sigh… ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-movie-tv-deaths/814173/71 "2018-05-24T11:27:44Z")
I don’t know why Maude Flanders had to die. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-movie-tv-deaths/814173/72 "2018-05-24T12:44:38Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > I saw no good reason for death of Mrs. Landingham on **The West Wing**. It didn’t further the story at all. If you think that, [you weren’t paying attention](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Cathedrals). The death of the Meg Ryan character in _City of Angels_ (a literal truck ending) came out of nowhere just to lay the irony on with a trowel. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-movie-tv-deaths/814173/73 "2018-05-24T19:26:08Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > If you think that, [you weren’t paying attention](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Cathedrals). > . Nope, still pointless. Yes, they tried to make it not pointless, but a alive Mrs. Landingham could have given the same sage advice, rather than a hallucination, which makes us doubt if the President is sane. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-movie-tv-deaths/814173.md?page=3)