The most heartbreaking TV deaths of 2025 won't be forgotten
- - The most heartbreaking TV deaths of 2025 won't be forgotten
Bryan Alexander, USA TODAYDecember 26, 2025 at 9:00 AM
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On New Year's Eve, we sing, "Should old acquaintance be forgot." But we never forget the biggest TV deaths of the past year.
Ned Stark (Sean Bean) lost his head on "Game of Thrones" in 2011. That still hurts. Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) departed "Grey's Anatomy" in a 2015 car accident we're still dissecting. The brutal 2024 death of "Yellowstone" cornerstone John Dutton (Kevin Costner) lasted so long in the second half of Season 5 that it almost spilled into 2025.
But 2025 had its own traumatic televised casualties. Here are the most significant TV deaths of the past year.
And once more in 2025! Spoiler Alert for any 2025 show you haven't seen.
2025 was a brutal year for TV deaths.7. Marge lives, but church organist Alice Glick played her final note on 'The Simpsons'
Despite internet rumors, Marge Simpson did not die in 2025 on "The Simpsons." But longtime church organist Alice Glick, who started in 1991's Season 2 (when the first George Bush was president), croaked.
Rest In Peace Mrs. Glick!#TheSimpsonGoats #TheSimpsons #SimpsonsForever pic.twitter.com/77bj0O9VQi
— ᥴꪖꪑᦓꪮꪀ 🎅 🎄 🎁 (@Cambone88) November 18, 2025
The Nov. 16 episode of Season 37 opened with Mrs. Glick suddenly collapsing in church during a Reverend Lovejoy sermon. Executive producer Tim Long succinctly confirmed the demise of the character once voiced by late Oscar-winner Cloris Leachman, saying Mrs. Glick was "dead as a doornail."
Robbie (Tom Pelphrey) sees death coming in Episode 6 of "Task."6. Why did Tom Pelphrey's Robbie have to die in 'Task' Episode 6?
Soulful Tom Pelphrey broke 2020's heart with his TV murder (at the behest of his sister!) as troubled Ben Davis in Netflix's crime drama "Ozark." Pelphrey did it again as single dad Robbie Prendergrast in HBO's "Task," a good-hearted sanitation worker who robbed drug houses and criminals who really deserved it.
Cornered, life-beaten Robbie's death was inevitable. But the fatal stab wound delivered by Dark Hearts toughie Jayson (Sam Keeley) was all the more tragic because the motorcycle gang member had already killed Robbie's brother, Billy (Jack Kesy). Hitting viewers with the death in Episode 6 of the seven-episode HBO series was especially tough. We thought we had more time with Robbie.
Pelphrey, you're on TV-death probation until 2028.
Liv Hewson as Teen Van and Lauren Ambrose as Van in "Yellowjackets."5. Van's 'Yellowjackets' death was the cruelest Season 3 cut
"Yellowjackets" Season 3 was a full-on bloodbath. But no death hurt as much as Van (Lauren Ambrose), even though the adult plane crash survivor was on borrowed time with terminal cancer. Van made the moral choice not to stab fellow survivor Melissa (Hilary Swank) to cure her cancer through supernatural forces — only to have Melissa fatally plunge the knife into Van's heart. Cue the Radiohead tear-jerker "Exit Music (for a Film)" needle drop showing flashbacks to Van’s teen self (Liv Hewson) and then both Vans talking on the fatal plane. After all that Van and rekindled lover Taissa (Tawny Cypress) had been through, we hoped those two were endgame.
Alex (Julia Schlaepfer) thought she was going to die in the snow in "1923." But Spencer Dutton saved her. And then she died.4. British socialite Alexandra gave the ultimate Dutton death in '1923'
For most of "1923" Season 2, plucky and pregnant Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer) traveled across oceans and continents to reunite with her hunky American husband, Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar). After ships, trains and a fatal, final car ride, Alex escaped her snowbound car, leaving her frozen stiff fellow travelers. Fighting off death herself, frostbitten Alex reunited with Spencer along snow-covered train tracks in the April two-hour series finale (shot in Texas summer). Doctors wanted to amputate her blackened limbs to save her. But Alex refused to ensure the birth of her premature son, named John Dutton (who might just be the grandfather to Kevin Costner's John Dutton). With the drama dial frozen stuck at 11, Alex died with her heartbroken husband lying next to her.
Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins) carries his young, dead love Chelsea (Aimee Wood) in "The White Lotus."3. 'White Lotus' star couple's death was harder to swallow than poison pina colada
The fevered discussion around Season 3 of HBO's "The White Lotus" (well, one of them) was which one of the luxury resort's characters was going to die in Thailand and how. Tortured Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins) was high on the hit list due to his reckless quest to avenge his father's death like a floral shirt-wearing Inigo Montoya. Likewise, Rick's sunny, younger girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) was a distinct possibility. But to have Chelsea killed in the finale shootout crossfire, AND then heartbroken Rick — fully aware of the damage he had wrought — was as hard to swallow as a poison pina colada.
Bobby (Peter Krause), a main character for all eight seasons of "9-1-1," meets his demise to the tune of Hozier's "Work Song."2. We're calling '9-1-1' about Bobby Nash's death
As the steady fire captain of the 118, Bobby Nash (Peter Krause) wasn’t just the "9-1-1" central leader for eight seasons — he was the show’s conscience. Nash evaded pirates, snipers and killer bees before heroically succumbing to a lethal virus in the April 17 ABC episode. Nash went out like a hero, saving his fellow firefighter, Chimney (Kenneth Choi) and making sure his crew was safe. He had one last conversation with his wife, Athena (Angela Bassett), who wept as they touched hands through a glass partition.
2025 was a brutal year for TV deaths.1. Joel's death in 'The Last of Us' was a national seismic event
The millions who played "The Last of Us" video game knew about Joel Miller's death. But the bulk of the unsuspecting TV-watching world had zero idea that the killing-machine with a heart (Pedro Pascal) would die, much less in Episode 2 of Season 2 of HBO's smash series. And it was the brutality of it all, beaten to death with a golf club.
Vengeful Abby Anderson (Kaitlyn Dever) teed off on Joel to avenge her dead father in a torturous, soul-destroying scene after Joel had saved the lives of Abby and her group. The beating ended with a final execution in front of his surrogate daughter, Ellie (Bella Ramsey). "The Last of Us" is forever changed with Ellie seeking revenge. Contributing: Clare Mulroy, Patrick Ryan, Brendan Morrow.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2025’s Most Heartbreaking TV deaths, up to 'The Last of Us'
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
