What can I say? Certain recent television drama events have inspired me to write this post, which lists five character deaths that were clearly done for shock value and/or because the writers had no idea what to do with the characters. Well, here’s what you could have done, guys…

This spoiler warning is mainly for the benefit of our international audience: beware of semi-recent spoilers for Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries and Once Upon a Time.

This isn’t a list of the most upsetting TV deaths, or even the most memorable. These are a selection of characters whose deaths I felt happened too soon, and which I think the series would have been better for keeping around. It’s also a bit of a negative list, I guess, but hey, we’ve all got things about our favourite shows we wish could have been different right? This is me trying to be a little creative!

#5: Cordelia, Angel

Whatever they felt about her character, most Angel fans would agree that Cordy’s death happened under completely ridiculous circumstances. I don’t subscribe to behind-the-scenes rumours, but I’m pretty sure it came out that somewhere, someone got upset about Charisma Carpenter’s pregnancy (or that she didn’t tell them right away), and that’s where the very ungrateful and convoluted storyline came from about Cordelia sleeping with Connor and giving birth to some demonic goddess – and, in a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of way, it was revealed that she was possessed the whole time so it wasn’t really her who did any of those things. To be fair though, they did bring her back for the beautiful ‘You’re Welcome’ episode, where the character got a somewhat more dignified sendoff. But the bottom line is that Cordelia died, and I’m still not over it.

So what would I have liked to see happen? Well for one, how about her not sleeping with Connor (or since we’re wishing for stuff, no Connor at all)?! When Cordy descended all in white with ridiculous hair, it marked the end of one of the best developed characters in TV history, and I would have rather done without the entire plot of her fake-ascending and working for TPTB. I say she either should have died nobly because she refused to give the visions up, or that her body was altered to accommodate the visions and that she continued to serve as Angel Investigations’ resident sarcasm machine. Why fix a plot device that isn’t broken? Could you imagine the riots of fun we could have had in season 5 with not only Angel and Spike trading verbal blows, but Cordelia too?! Angel was a dark show all around and character deaths were unavoidable, but I don’t think that any character managed to fill the void that Cordy left. The show needed Charisma Carpenter, and it was a little bit worse for losing her.

(Separate note: I know that Fred died not long after Cordy did, and that was sad too, but I just loved Illyria so much I couldn’t make myself undo her death. Sorry.)

#4: Sheriff Graham, Once Upon a Time

I had to include Graham, partially because his death inspired this list! While I understand the need for the show to raise the stakes, it worries me that the writers took the Lost route of spending an episode building a character up and making them super interesting only to then off them, solving the “problem” of where to take their character next. Especially since it was insanely predictable; at this point, killing off a character on TV is no longer edgy or risky, it’s disappointing and predictable.

Here’s what should have happened with Graham: he should not have remembered everything in the Fairytale world right away like that. The writers should have left it at the dreams of the wolf, and let him and Emma continue to develop an emotionally complicated relationship, in secret from Regina. Graham should have slowly started to become his own man, working against Regina even when she thought she still had full control over him, and Emma would be all like, “Oh no, I have feelings for Graham but I can’t let myself open up to anyone!” and have angst over that. Then we’d find out that Graham was also the Red Riding Hood huntsman, and we’d learn of a fairytale bond between him and Ruby – cue ambiguous love triangle (though Graham would be all about Emma, Lost already did the back-and-forth thing). And an interesting one, too, because while Snow/Charming is obviously True Love, in this case we’d want Graham with Emma, not Ruby! More drama, but obviously he loves Emma really.

There you go, at least two seasons’ worth of emotional drama that would allow us to explore Graham, Emma and even Ruby in depth, while drawing neat parallels to the David/Mary Margaret situation. And don’t even get me started on Graham getting caught up in Emma and Regina’s custody battle over Henry, and bonding with his girlfriend’s son. There was a lot of story to be told here, and it’s a shame that we’ll never get to see it.

#3: Shannon, Lost

There were a lot of deaths I could have chosen from Lost, but ultimately I decided to go with perhaps a more unconventional choice, because I really think Shannon’s potential path was the most interesting and could have been the most radical. When she died, Shannon had come a long way since the Pilot: she’d gone from a stuck-up, self-centered whiner to more self-sufficient, compassionate and brave (though miserable following Boone’s death). And I think, had she survived past season 2, Shannon could have grown to become one of the strongest female characters on the show – and the show desperately lacked one of those.

I see Shannon’s journey as mirroring Cordelia’s in some ways: she would take her sass and her confidence and she’d turn it into useful, admirable traits as she adapted in the impossible circumstances. When Jack, Sawyer and Kate were taken by the Others at the end of the second season it left a power vacuum, and I think this is where Shannon could have begun to truly prove herself. Sayid went off with Sun and Jin, which would have forced Shannon to finally face the world on her own, and eventually she would start going on treks through the jungle to hunt for whatever they were hunting that week, she would take an active stand on issues and she’d help make decisions.

While Kate, Sun and Claire were making decisions based on men and babies, Shannon would be the woman who would be acting on her own terms, without agendas or backstabbing, but purely based on what she felt was right. Like Sawyer, Shannon was portrayed in a negative way at the beginning, which would allow for her to develop in a very positive way over the whole series, and I think that the show needed her to do that. By season 4, Shannon would have been everyone’s favourite female character.

#2: Aunt Jenna, The Vampire Diaries

There was no reason for killing Aunt Jenna. Honestly, in The Vampire Diaries there’s rarely a reason for killing a character that doesn’t start with an ‘s’ and ends with ‘hock value’. Anna’s death was unnecessary, Vicki’s death was too soon, and Uncle John’s death gratuitous and pointless. But I particularly disliked how and when Jenna was killed because – and the writers have even admitted this – it was done purely because they had no idea what to do with her.

Sadly, these days most writers don’t seem to stop and think ‘hmm, okay, we’ve got this established character, let’s make them interesting’ (just look at The Secret Circle!), they just go, ‘yay let’s spike the ratings with a death and let it have very little consequence!’ Seriously, after having lost both her parents and half her friends and then her only parental figure left within the span of a few years, Elena should be in some kind of comatose state of shock and grief. It just ruins the show a little bit, the liberties they take with the concept of consequences. Aunt Jenna shouldn’t have died just because Plec and Williamson didn’t know what to do with her; they should have sat down and done something with her.

If they needed ideas, how about this: Aunt Jenna finds out about vampires. Aunt Jenna and Alaric work together to help Damon and co. fight Klaus and Stefan from the sidelines. Aunt Jenna grows some girlpower-balls and learns to fight because hey, Alaric can do it and not only men are strong. Aunt Jenna is cool and independent and human and fights to keep together and protect her family, Jeremy and Elena. Making them remember every once in a while that they’re children, and that they need a parent. Also, Jeremy and Jenna bond, and Jeremy has someone to talk to every one in a while. Really, personally I think it was more problematic to kill her off than it would have been to keep her around, because the fact that life just goes on without her like she never existed is just so annoying and makes everything feel a little more inconsequential.

#1: Jo/Bobby/Castiel/anyone else, Supernatural

I always thought that the Supernatural writers would one day realise what a hole they’d dug themselves into by killing off almost every person the brothers had ever cared about. Clearly, I was wrong, or they wouldn’t have just killed off the last one! But as much as I loved Bobby, honestly I’m just kind of numb to it after so long – and that is exactly the problem with excess character deaths.

I know that loads of you still love Supernatural and sure, I do too, but Bobby’s death ruined it a little for me. There’s nothing left to fight for now. Nothing in the show is ever going to be new again, because there is nothing on the line anymore: both brothers have died and come back multiple times, and we know that once they go for good, the show is over. There isn’t going to be a season with only one brother (or, if there is, that would just be completely stupid), but the show could go on without Bobby or any of the other recurring characters, and the tension from that is so, so important. Because otherwise, what’s the point of caring?

I feel like at this point in the series, we’re left with nothing. The end of the world already happened, the characters already died. The brothers already fought and made up a bunch of times. And that’s why they needed to keep someone around till the very end, anyone really that the audience felt invested in enough to worry about. I still say they should have kept Jo around, let her go to college or whatever but keep her as a semi-recurring love interest for Dean. That’s another thing this show lacks: engaging romance. No one cared about Lisa! And while it’s great that Supernatural doesn’t subscribe to traditional TV romance structures, we as an audience need some kind of emotional hook, some attachments between characters that we can share in. Whether it’s a will-they-won’t-they between Dean and Jo, a fatherly bond between Bobby and the boys or a tentative family-friendship with Castiel, we need something; something outside the Dean/Sam dynamic, which could also potentially create some drama between the brothers on an emotional level. I’m not so sure how the show will continue to engage us going forward without anything like that.

And that’s my list! There are loads more, but I felt strongly about these particular characters/shows and wanted to share my views with you. Thoughts? Suggestions? What character deaths have you been most angry about, or felt were the most pointless?