The Most Heartbreaking TV Character Deaths of 2023

Watching TV is an emotional experience. We grow to love characters like they are our own friends or family, so when an unexpected or heartbreaking death occurs, it cuts deep. Even with historic Hollywood strikes taking up the summer and a huge chunk of the fall, there were still some very painful deaths on our favorite TV shows.

So grab your drink of choice, and let's pour one out for these amazing characters that we lost this year. (Oh, and maybe grab a box of tissues because it can really hurt to remember how we lost these beloved characters.) Spoilers ahead!

Lenore from The Fall of the House of Usher: Almost every character met their demise in Netflix's adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe, but most were not precisely sympathetic. The superrich Ushers made their fortune in deadly pharmaceuticals, which made them loathsome enough, plus siblings Roderick and Madeline bargained away their bloodline to secure a life of extreme privilege. Their assured doom did prove to be unfair when it comes to granddaughter Lenore, however, as she was truly kind and didn't fit in with her lot. Even Verna, who had to deliver every Usher's death sentence, gave her a mercifully painless and quick end. Even so, it was a gut punch to realize the youngest, kindest Usher family member was sealed to the same fate as the rest. — Amanda Bell

Billy from All American: The most painful TV character deaths are the sudden ones. There was no reason to expect we'd have to say goodbye to Billy Baker (Taye Diggs) on All American. He'd been a key mentor and father figure for almost all of the young cast on the show. Billy died a hero, saving one of his students from a school bus crash. He'd just made the decision to stay at South Crenshaw instead of taking the head coach gig at Golden Angeles University. His death left Spencer (Daniel Ezra), Olivia (Samantha Logan), Jordan (Michael Evans Behling) and the entire vortex spinning. Billy's death forced all of the kids to grow up and signaled a new era of the show where they truly step into their adulthood without their primary mentor.

Peter on The Great: Peter (Nicholas Hoult) was also an unexpected loss on The Great. He's perhaps the most beloved character, and to see him literally go through the ice was a devastating blow to the fans. It felt impossible to imagine what a fourth season of the show would look like without him, but it turned out that The Great ended with Peter's death and the immediate fallout, so fans were dealt two devastating blows back to back. He was so offensive and silly, but he made us love him anyway. We'll miss him as much as we miss this raunchy, hilarious show.

Sam and Henry on The Last of Us: There were a lot of painful deaths in The Last of Us, but none of them hit as hard as Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Kevionn Woodard). The brother pair went through so much to survive in Kansas City, and we hoped that they would make it out west with Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pescal). However, when Sam was turned, Henry had to take him out and then couldn't live with the guilt. He immediately died by suicide in one of the most heartbreaking scenes of a season of television that was 95% heartbreak. To add salt to the wound, it also was the first death that caused Ellie to shut down emotionally. Watching our hero turn cold for the first time just made Henry and Sam's unnecessary sacrifice that much harder to stomach.

Cristobal on Barry: If we're going to talk about unnecessary deaths, then we have to talk about Cristobal in the final season of Barry. This man survived torture and multiple raids, but it was the love of his life that was his ultimate undoing. Hank (Anthony Carrigan) had Cristobal murdered when Cristobal wouldn't return to a life of crime after the duo attempted to go legit with a sand empire. Hank couldn't let Cristobal walk away with everything he knew about their empire so he as murdered by the Chechnians just moments after walking out of the house. Hank carried the guilt of the death until his bitter end in the finale, but if he had just stuck with the original plan maybe both he and Cristobal could have died peacefully in their old age together. We were really rooting for them and it broke our hearts to see their love story end so tragically.

Gabriel on 9-1-1: Lone Star: The death of Gabriel Reyes (Benito Martinez) makes the list not because we were so attached to him specifically, but what his death means for Carlos (Rafael Silva) going forward. "A part of Carlos definitely died with Gabriel that night. That innocence was stolen away," Silva told The Messenger after the Lone Star finale in which Gabriel was murdered. The actor also teased what losing his father means for Carlos going into the next season, saying, "So I think Carlos lives in a world now where — whereas before Carlos had his two parents, and he was just trying to do his best by and honor his job — now someone has actively hurt him. He has actively stolen one of the most important people in his life growing up, and I think Carlos is only going to try to honor his father." We know it's going to be a tough road for Carlos, but we're still supporting him.

Who was the most heartbreaking TV character death for you in 2023?