12 Shocking TV Deaths You Never Saw Coming

Killer twists.

The Walking Dead Negan
Gene Page/AMC

Death is an inevitable part of life, and in the modern age, it's becoming an increasingly inevitable part of television too.

Back in the day, fans could tune into their favourite shows safe in the knowledge its most beloved characters will live to see another episode, but that's no longer the case.

In recent years, high death tolls have become cool, so there's no telling who will be ripped apart by Wights or take a barbed wire-covered baseball bat to the head next.

Not all small screen fatalities have the same impact. Some you see coming a mile away and take the necessary steps to prepare for, but others land out of nowhere, and these are typically the ones which pack the biggest gutpunch.

Whether it's a comedy, period drama or fantasy epic series in question, these killer twists have the potential to change the course of a series, spark fan revolts and steal the headlines across the entertainment industry.

From the continent of Westeros to Rick and Daryl's zombie-infested world, here are the TV deaths you never saw coming. Spoilers ahead...

12. Debra Morgan (Dexter)

The Walking Dead Negan
Showtime

Dexter fans were widely expecting the series to end with their favourite serial killer either behind bars or on the wrong end of a lethal injection, but season eight's finale threw them a wicked curveball.

The show's penultimate fatality was one nobody saw coming, the protagonist's sister Debra Morgan, who dies in hospital from complications related to a gunshot would.

Dexter's writers were particularly cruel with Deb's fate, luring viewers into a false sense of security by having the doctors who treated her offer a positive prognosis. One depressing twist later and a post-surgery blood clot has left her braindead.

Although Oliver Saxon, the man behind the shooting, received payback in the form of a pen to the neck, there's a lingering sense of injustice around her passing, and it still stings today. Why couldn't it have been Dexter or Hannah McKay, both of whom were responsible for untold bloodshed, instead of poor, innocent Deb?

One thing's for sure, though, killing off somebody else instead would only have been less shocking and gut-wrenching.

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Contributor

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