19 Shocking Death Scenes We’ll Never Recover From

16. Rosalind Shays on ‘L.A. Law’

Rosalind Shays was a bit of a loathsome character, but as soon as she seemed to clean up her act and find love with Leland, she fell down an elevator shaft. It was so unexpected, random and out-of-the-blue, fans couldn’t believe it.

17. Mrs. Landingham on ‘The West Wing’

Mrs. Landingham was the secretary to President Bartlet, and an entertaining one she was. But then the first new car she had ever owned crashed and killed her. Isn’t it ironic (at least in the Alanis Morisette definition of irony).

18. Joyce Summers on ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’

Buffy was another show where death was pretty common, but nothing hit as hard as the moment when Buffy cames home to find her mom, Joyce, dead from a brain aneurysm. It was totally unexpected. They shot Buffy’s phone call to 911 in an uninterrupted five minute take with no musical score to make it feel real. Cue the waterworks.