Emmett – Chuck
Although Chuck was about an NSA/CIA black ops team that went on dangerous missions every week, it was pretty much well known for being primarily an action-comedy. There weren’t a huge amount of character deaths, and we always thought that whatever happened, Chuck, Sarah, and Casey would probably be safe. Some of the most clever aspects of the show were when they blended elements of the spy world with the more pedestrian life at the Buy More, but regardless, we weren’t expecting the serious events to happen in the Buy More world.
That’s why it was such a shock when Store Manager Emmett was coldly gunned down by a hit man he unwisely mocked. He was shot in the forehead and left for dead out by the dumpsters, with remarkably little fanfare. Sure, it was something that we’d all be secretly hoping would happen since Emmett’s very first episode, but we never thought it would actually happen. Maybe if we were lucky he’d get shipped off to Hawaii like Harry Tang, but shot? Never. Tonally, it was a major departure from what we were used to seeing on Chuck, and it served as proof that they weren’t pulling any punches.
Nikki – Misfits
Misfits is a show about a group of youthful offenders, who find themselves superpowers after a freak lightning storm. While it was always theoretically possible that one of our unconventional heroes could die, it never seemed particularly likely. After all, Nathan is functionally immortal and Curtis can go back in time. Not exactly characters that seem likely to be killed. Oh, how wrong we were. There’s carnage all around, but the central group of Misfits were survivors…at least for the first couple of series. But then they decided to sell their powers to a shady dealer, and all the rules changed.
They’re not the all-powerful antiheroes anymore, and while they’re glad to be free of the perceived burdens of their abilities, they’ve forgotten what it feels like to be vulnerable. So they get sloppy. When a robber threatens them at gunpoint, Nathan tries to fight back, resulting in the death of Nikki. She dies quickly and pointlessly, and although she wasn’t a main member of the cast, her death serves as a harbinger of things to come. In the next season, Misfits start dropping like flies, but Nikki was the one who shocked us into remembering that they could actually be killed. Real, permanent deaths, not like Future Simon or Nathan’s stint in the coffin.
