10 TV Characters NOBODY Expected To Die

6. Tanya McQuoid-Hunt - The White Lotus

How I Met Your Mother Tracy
HBO

The White Lotus' formula is elegantly simple: somebody dies - or in the case of the second season, multiple people die - at one of the lush White Lotus resorts, and the audience spends the season trying to figure out who it might be.

One of the first season's primary characters is Tanya McQuoid-Hunt (Jennifer Coolidge), the ditzy billionaire heiress who quickly became a fan favourite - enough that she ended up returning for season two, with more death seemingly taking place in her orbit.

The moment that Coolidge was confirmed to be the sole major character returning from the first season, it seemed clear that Tanya would be the series' overall protagonist, with most fans assuming that she was the single bulletproof character who would recur for as many seasons as the show lasted.

But creator Mike White exploited this assumption perfectly, as Tanya actually ends up dying in the season two finale, when while escaping assassins in a dinghy she slips, hits her head, and drowns.

It was a genuinely shocking moment that brilliantly defied audience expectations, assuring them that nobody is safe moving forward.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.