10 TV Finales That Actually Killed Main Characters (2 of 6)

The Fishers — Six Feet Under

Six Feet Under was always about life, death, and mortality in general. In the final season, Nate dies quite early, giving us time to explore grief. The closing montage is devastatingly smart: a flash-forward that shows the deaths of each major character. Critics still cite that sequence as one of television’s boldest choices, as it turns the series into a meditation on living fully, knowing the end is coming.

Betty Draper — Mad Men

You don’t see Betty die on camera, but the finale makes the outcome obvious. In a world full of cigarettes, she’s the one who develops terminal lung cancer. After refusing chemo, she spends her last moments getting her affairs in order, arranging for her kids, and lighting one final cigarette. The scene is quiet and grim, giving us a perfect, fitting end for a woman who always kept a composed facade and watched life pass by.