Best Actor/Character Send-Offs (Primetime)

[Khan]

(Inspired from dragonflies' thread about actors and characters who left tv series with no or terrible exits.)

 

Feel free to offer your picks, but I think this one owns the thread...

 

Please register in order to view this content

 

[dragonflies]

I don't know if it can be considered "Great" but I thought ER did wonderful how they wrote out Mark Greene given AE wanted to leave.

[Faulkner]

I was coming to post this very thing. 

 

I thought the way Adriana was written out of The Sopranos was incredibly haunting and sad. Glad they didn’t brutalize her, but it was still horrifying.

[Soapsuds]

This was the best hands down even if it was a dream.

 

Please register in order to view this content

 

[Vee]

In lieu of 25+ year old SPOILERS, I will simply say Sheryl Lee and Ray Wise as Madeleine Ferguson and Leland Palmer in Season 2 of Twin Peaks. Still two iconic moments of television.

 

Also: Alison's goodbye to Billy in Season 5 of Melrose Place. And this:

 

Please register in order to view this content

 

[Khan]

I shouldn't have laughed at Brooke cracking her damn head and then drowning...but I did.

[slick jones]

Laura's death on KL. Her last words to Greg...

 

Please register in order to view this content

 

[I Am A Swede]

Even though I hated that it happened, I think Lady Marjorie's death on "Upstairs Downstairs" was beautifully written. She left to visit Canada with her brother and his new wife, and at the end of the episode her husband, Richard, asks his secretary to send her a message on the ship, which just happens to be the RMS Titanic......  The camera then zooms in on a portrait of Lady Marjorie as the episode comes to an end.

 

Jump to ca 48:00

Please register in order to view this content

 

[DRW50]

Laurette's last scene on China Beach.

 

Please register in order to view this content

 

Sadly they aren't around, as far as I can tell, but from St. Elsewhere:

 

In season 3, there had been a lengthy story arc about three firefighters admitted after a roof caved in on them. Of the three, the only one who was still alive at the end of the arc was the old man near retirement. The day he was discharged, his wife, children and grandchildren were there to greet him. As a thank you and goodbye, he gave Bobby Caldwell (Mark Harmon) his helmet as he wouldn't need it anymore. 

In the next season, Bobby learned he had HIV, and decided to quit his job and enjoy what was left of his life. His last scene was walking down the corridor, with that old fireman's helmet in his hand. That always got me. 

 

Another one I was fond of was Phil (Denzel Washington), who had endlessly, endlessly vacillated about medicine and St. Eligius. After he reconciled with his ex (Alfre Woodard), he decided to do what he'd wanted for a long time and quit. His last scene was, as the elevator doors closed, flicking his badge at the desk nurse. On paper it makes him sound like an [!@#$%^&*], and Phil kind of was an [!@#$%^&*] a lot of the time, but the way it was done onscreen wasn't about anger or resentment - it was about release, freedom. And St. Elsewhere was such a dark show, a moment like that truly stood out.  

[dragonflies]

I think Carol Hathaway from ER got a really good exit and pay off for the Doug/Carol fans who waited for them to reunite as well.

[YRBB]

 

+1