10 Most Disturbing Stargate Moments
2. Dr. Kate Heightmeyer Jumps To Her Death
A common trait in science-fiction is that death is rarely final. Added to this, deaths that occur with dreams (and we very much do not count the Nightmare series as science-fiction!) tend to last only as long as the dream lasts. Another thing is that, in the age before Game of Thrones, deaths of main and recurring characters were often treated with either skepticism (there's no way she died!) or with an undo button.
This was not to be the case with Dr. Kate Heightmeyer in Stargate Atlantis.
Heightmeyer was part of the original Atlantis expedition, and while she did not appear in every episode by any means, she did appear enough times to warrant a recurring status. Therefore, her final scene was a true shock to the audience.
Dr. Heightmeyer worked with Teyla and Rodney, along with Weir and several others throughout her tenure. She had established herself as a familiar face in the city. Teyla's was one of the last faces that she would see. Infected by an alien entity that feeds off its victims fears, she dreamed that she was trapped on the edge of a balcony. Kate was terrified of heights.
She pleaded to Teyla for help, though Teyla (in the dream) was prevented from helping by the alien. Kate then fell to her death, which caused her death in the real world. In the same way that Freddy Kruger has terrified audiences since the '80s, with the implication that it is impossible to hide from him in sleep, Dr. Heightmeyer's death was a horrible shock for the audience.