Features TV

AP2HYC TV AWARDS 2016 | Best Death

The 2015-16 television season brought with it already beloved superheroes, as well as a slew of new comic-inspired shows. To celebrate another year of awesome, nerdy, super television, AP2HYC is hosting our second annual TV Awards! Be sure to cast your votes in each category, and check back to find out which shows and characters were victorious!

As many lives as our favorites may save, they just can’t save them all. Death is synonymous with the comic-superhero genre and the 2015-16 television season didn’t hold back in the slightest where this particular thing is concerned. Both villains and heroes alike bit the bullet this year and, while every death that occurred onscreen had a significant impact, the following are the most memorable of the season.

Unknown (The Walking Dead)

Best Death- TWD

The Season 6 finale of The Walking Dead led to a massive outcry from fans who had been teased a, “major death,” at the hands of new villain Negan. While the show made good on its promise to kill off a major character… we still don’t actually know which fan-favorite met their demise. Switching to first-person POV just as Negan’s trusty barb-wired baseball bat, Lucille, came crashing down on the victim’s skull was a bold move and ended the season on a major cliffhanger. Perhaps no death was talked about quite as much as this one and caused such a division between fans who loved and hated the ending.

Speculation as to who was killed has been running rampant since the finale aired, with fans picking apart everything from the audio of the scene to the order of Negan’s, “eenie, meenie, miney, mo,” game. Any death that can cause such investigation has to be a good one. –Silje Falck-Pedersen

Kilgrave (Jessica Jones)

Best Death- Kilgrave

Viewers waited an entire season to see the sinister and sadistic Kilgrave to meet his end at the hands of the tormented titular character. His disturbingly gleeful use of his powers made him a villain that audiences instantly rooted against, meaning his death was one that was universally appreciated. Having spent an entire season with Jessica, learning of the atrocities she experienced kudos to Kilgrave and his mind-control, by the time the two once again came face-to-face in the finale, everyone was hoping it would be for the final time. Though it initially seemed as though Jessica might have once again come under the control of Kilgrave, the, “I love you,” directed towards Trish caused instant whoops and hollers. Because with those three words, we knew that Jessica had won and Kilgrave was done for.

While some felt that his quick death was anticlimactic, I was happy that it lacked the grandiose treatment that many were expecting. He was a monster through-and-through and deserved nothing more than what Jessica delivered to him. –Silje Falck-Pedersen

Elektra (Daredevil)

Best Death- Elektra

Listen, if someone in a superhero show professes their love and vows to hang up their literal or metaphorical cape for good, you know something bad is about to happen. Such was the case for the ill-fated Elektra Natchios who, after hearing Matt say those three little/enormous words, was killed in a rooftop battle atop Hell’s Kitchen. Though a complete and utter badass, Elektra couldn’t quite beat The Hand assassins that she was up against, dying in Matt’s arms after sacrificing herself to save him and using her last breaths to confess that she now knows, “What it feels to be good.” The death was a poignant one, particularly due to its timing, and understandably hit the devil-in-red like a bullet train.

Though… who knows if Elektra’s death was really a death at all. The final scene showing Elektra’s body in The Hand’s stone urn makes it seem very likely that we haven’t seen the last of Ms. Natchios. –Silje Falck-Pedersen

Lincoln Campbell (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Best Death- Lincoln

Alas, the vision of the future that viewers saw in the midseason premiere, depicting the death of an Agent, was not a ruse or misinterpretation. Lincoln Campbell was the fallen agent that was so cruelly teased for weeks leading up to the emotional Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. finale that left the Inhuman sacrificing himself for Daisy. The moment was far more bitter than sweet; however, there was something deeply poetic about a lost boy finding purpose in his last moments of life. Always struggling to fit in, Lincoln had a moment of epiphany when realizing that he could prevent Daisy’s death by taking her place in the doomed QuinJet.

The newest Agent’s final goodbye was a tragic thing to watch, his cut-off declaration of love causing more than just Daisy to break down in tears, but the peacefulness he seemed to find while overlooking the universe made Lincoln’s death a heroic and memorable one. –Silje Falck-Pedersen

Grant Ward (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Best Death- Grant Ward

Very few television shows kill off one of the original characters midway through a season, but Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. did just that when resident baddie Grant Ward met his demise during a (kind of) one-way trip to Maveth. Ward is a character who seemed to cause more conversation, onscreen and off, than any others, with some people hoping for redemption and others feeling that he’d done too much wrong to ever right. Murdering Coulson’s new girlfriend in cold-blood seemed to be the final straw, prompting the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director to use his fancy robotic arm to crush Ward’s chest and leave him on the desert planet without a backwards glance. The death was arguably a long-time coming. Ward wore more hats on the show than most, seemingly becoming worse each season, and fittingly found the, “closure,” he had been searching for.

As it turns out, his death wasn’t as permanent as most were expecting, as the body of Grant Ward became the newest vessel for the Inhuman baddie Hive and returned to Earth to continue causing chaos for S.H.I.E.L.D. –Silje Falck-Pedersen

Earth-2 Joe West (The Flash)

S2-E13-Earth-2-Joe

Barry’s journey to Earth-2 was an emotional roller coaster, nicely foreshadowed by Earth-2 Wells’ warning right before he makes the trip. Perhaps the most intense moment of all was the death of Earth-2 Joe West. His deathbed speech about saying a little prayer for Iris before each number is heartbreaking (even if he is turning up the “smell-the-fart-acting”). A truly human moment in the midst of all this running around. –David Molofsky

Henry Allen (The Flash)

Flash-Zoom-Kills-Henry-Allen

This death juxtaposes nicely against Earth-2 Joe’s, as Barry witnessed the loss of two father figures this year (although this one was actually his father, so a bit more impactful). Zoom had begun to lose a bit of his scare factor, what with the heroes nearly taking him down without Barry, and we as an audience needed to see him do something truly horrifying to reestablish his power.

Henry’s death purposefully recalls the death of Barry’s mother – in fact, it’s a virtual recreation of that scene. It’s heartbreaking in so many ways and, as the final moments of the season reveal, will likely have a lasting impact on the future of the series. – David Molofsky

Laurel Lance (Arrow)

arrow-death1-1200x674

Right from the season premiere, we knew someone was going to die on Arrow this season. At one point or another, nearly every major character seemed like they would wind up in that Chekhov’s grave, but ultimately, it was Laurel who wound up dying.

One of the most clever things about this death is that it played like a fake-out, with the writers convincing the audience that it would in face be Quentin Lance who would die and Laurel would actually survive being stabbed by Damien Darhk. No such luck. – David Molofsky

Which death of the 2015-16 TV season do YOU think had the biggest impact on characters and viewers alike? Be sure to cast your vote and let us know on Twitter by using #ap2hycTVAwards!

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED. CHECK BACK TO SEE WHO WAS VICTORIOUS!

About the author

Silje Falck-Pedersen