TV’s 7 deadly scenes: Last words from some of the dearly departed
Death comes to us all, but not every TV character who dies on a show gets a juicy exit line. Sometimes, they just … lie down and don’t get up! Still, each of these seven exits from the last TV season left viewers — and the actors in the scenes — gasping with emotion, improvising and sometimes needing safe words. Obviously, if you’re not caught up on your favorite shows, there are spoilers ahead.
“The Last of Us”
RIP: Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett)
Going down: Faced with a degenerative disease amid a fungal-based apocalypse, Frank enjoys one last meal with longtime partner Bill and drinks a glass of wine laced with pills to end his life. Bill then also takes the concoction, and they go to their bedroom to await the end.
Final words: “One of the greatest gifts I’ve had in my many years of work as an actor is getting to play that moment where I have my own glass of wine with a lethal dose to match Frank’s, and to communicate that to him by quaffing it in a loving gesture and looking him in the eye,” says Offerman, who like Bartlett spent more than three hours in the makeup chair with aging makeup. “That final dinner is something I will relish for the rest of my years.” Bartlett, whose character used a wheelchair in the episode, adds, “It’s a really delicate scene, and there’s something about not being able to be really animated that meant Bill and Frank — and Nick and I — were very connected.”
“Succession”
RIP: Logan Roy (Brian Cox)
Going down: While on a private jet, media mogul Roy collapses and can’t be resuscitated, as details of his condition and death are relayed to his children via cellphone.
Final words: Playing a dying man on the show “was a bit like being a spare p— at a whore’s wedding,” says Cox, who lies on the floor on a cushion and is barely seen in the episode. “You’re done, but there are still things going on. The hardest thing for me was to keep the secret [of Logan’s death]. I think it’s foolish on their part [to kill him off], but I’m not angry. They need to wrap it all up. But once you get rid of the protagonist, you’ve got a void to fill.”
“The White Lotus”
RIP: Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge)
Going down: Realizing her life is in danger from a group of friendly men she’s made while vacationing in Italy, Tanya tries to escape from the yacht they’re all on and falls awkwardly into the ocean, drowning.
Final words: “I begged Mike [White, creator] to let me do the stunt, but it was a cold night, the water was freezing and the stuntwoman had training in commedia dell’arte, and Mike wanted something comical,” Coolidge says. “He was trying to tell this story that paralleled an Italian opera, so it would have been weird if I’d lived. I’ve had a lot of people come up to me [since] and say, ‘I don’t think you’re dead.’ I thought I was dead.”
“Yellowjackets”
RIP: Natalie (Juliette Lewis)
Going down: The adult Yellowjackets gather at Lottie’s compound and agree to “hunt” a selected member, something they once did in the wilderness. Misty goes after one of Lottie’s disciples with a poisoned syringe — but ends up stabbing Natalie, who stepped in to protect the disciple.
Final words: “We were determined to capture the sudden, brutal nature of the killing that has been such a hallmark of ‘Yellowjackets,’” producer Drew Comins writes in an email. “Although her death was an accident, it has deep significance for Natalie’s character, given that she cheated fate all those years ago in the wilderness…. Juliette handled the moment like a total pro, and her performance was achingly human. Everybody was heartbroken to witness Natalie’s demise, but this is ‘Yellowjackets,’ and tomorrow is promised to no one.”
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“House of the Dragon”
RIP: King Viserys Targaryen (Paddy Considine)
Going down: Aged and suffering from flesh-eating leprosy and arthritis, Viserys succumbs in his bed as his second wife attends to him.
Final words: “As he finally passes he says, ‘My love,’ as if his [first wife] has come to help him pass over,” says Considine, who improvised the line and the reaching gesture that accompanied it. “It made sense to me that in his dying moment he’d see the face of the person whose death he never got over, so he’s redeemed in a sense. It was about playing dignity through the horror, like John Hurt in ‘The Elephant Man.’ I miss the guy.”
“Poker Face”
RIP: Sterling Frost Jr. (Adrien Brody)
Going down: A casino owner trying to impress his rich daddy, Frost runs afoul of Charlie’s lie detection capabilities and throws himself off his high-rise hotel office balcony.
Final words: “It was relatively painless [to shoot],” Brody says. “They had to do a series of wire work and pulleys, but I was in good hands. We only had to shoot this once. I love [director/writer/series creator] Rian Johnson; this was an interesting bit, really well-written and really starts the show.”
“1923”
RIP: Sister Mary (Jennifer Ehle)
Going down: Native American student Teonna exacts revenge on her abusive teacher Sister Mary one night, bludgeoning her in her bed with a bag of Bibles, strangling her and then branding a red-hot ruler onto her face.
Final words: “There was a point where Aminah Nieves, the actor playing Teonna, was straddling me and I had a cloth in my mouth and she was strangling me — so we had to have a safe word,” Ehle says. “There was one point where I thought they were going to say ‘cut,’ and I think Aminah could see in my eyes that we had to stop. The biggest challenge during all the struggling was to keep my head in frame.”
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