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Where would television be without its kill scenes? The deaths that sneak up on us unexpectedly often leaving us frowning and saying – ‘Would they really do that?’

Shake your head at six of the very best...

The Sopranos - Silvio kills Adrianna

Christopher’s fiancée Adriana was done for the moment she was caught in a trap and became a rat and then stupidly told Christ all about it, begging him to run away with her. In a haunting scene we saw a screaming Adrianna being dragged into the woods by Silvio, who had lured her there by claiming Christopher had tried to commit suicide. The last we saw of her, she was desperately crawling away. Then we heard two gunshots and knew it was...bye bye.

Right up to when the deed was done, some viewers hoped Tony ‘The Man’ Soprano would stop the hit because he was fond of her, but no. Hopes Adrianna was still alive were quashed when in the audio commentary from the actress for Season 5, she admitted Adriana was no more.

Dare to watch it again here.

The Wire - Omar Little and Brother Mouzone kill Stringer Bell

A show that will go down in history as one of the all time greats, The Wire’s success was down to the abundance of African American acting talent (remember Bubbles, Avon Barksdale and to mention but three?). But, few stood taller in the acting stakes than Omar Little, the greatest creation (in my opinion) in TV drama for many a year. Dressed like a post-apocalyptic warrior, Omar lived by a strict moral code.

It was fitting therefore that he featured in the best kill scene of the entire show - when he and the rather dapper Brother ‘bowtie’ Mouzone went after Stringer Bell. Both men had grudges against Bell. He’d told Omar that Brother Mouzone had tortured and killed his ‘boy’ Brandon. In retaliation, Omar had gone after Mouzone only to find out he’d been lied to. Omar and Mouzone unite and, after a desperate race through the building by Stringer Bell, they corner him. When Bell sombrely says, ‘It seems like I can’t say nutthing to change your minds,’ we know he’s done for. He’s hasn’t even finished calling telling them to ‘get on with it you mother fuckers’ and he’s already lying dead on the ground.

Maybe Omar’s death at the hands of a boy was more shocking, but in our minds the stick-up man’s swaggered into the sunset whistling 'The farmer wants a wife.’

Watch the whole thing unfold here.

The Shield - Shane kills Lem

When you’re labelled ‘the conscience’ of the Strike Team by Aceveda, you known you’re a goner, and that’s what happened to poor ‘Lem’ Lemansky in the Season 5 finale.

The man who wanted to bring down Vic and the boys, Kavanaugh (brilliantly played by Forest Whittaker) had planted a block of cocaine in his car so he could force Lem into wearing a wire. But the ever loyal Lem tipped Vic off and was going to be prosecuted for having the drugs. When Shane (brilliantly played by Walton Goggins, arguably the real star of the show) heard about Lem heading for prison, he feared his pal would snitch on the Strike Team, so he made sure he never spoke again by luring him to a meet and dropping a grenade into his car.

Those were real tears in Shane’s eyes, as the actor who played Lem is his best buddy in real life.

Lost - Sayid kills Ben

Lost was never short of shock killings and deaths. Remember Michael killing Ana Lucia and then Libby (who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time). So he could free ‘Other’ Ben?

Killing Ben appeared to be a recurring theme in the show. But Sayid was the only one who actually got the job done. That wouldn’t have been much of a shock but for the fact creepy Ben was only a little boy at the time when he was gunned down in Season 5, episode 10 after being conned into leaving with Sayid. Not even Sayid believing that by killing young Ben he could change the future seemed like much of an excuse.

Relive it here.

Dexter - The ‘Trinity Killer’ Kills Rita

Brilliantly played by John Lithgow, Trinity, as we all know, was Dexter’s S4 nemesis. Yet when he struck at the heart of Dexter’s happy family life, we didn’t even see it coming in the Season Four finale. With Trinity dead, Dexter thought he could live happily ever after - until he called Rita’s cell phone and it rang inside the house. He found her lying dead in the bathtub where she’d bled to death. Cry, sure - we bloody wept.

Click here to weep again.

Will there ever be a TV villain as vile and remorseless as Arthur ‘The Trinity Killer’ Mitchell? We hope not, as we still have nightmares.

ER - Dr Lucy Knight’s death at the hands of a schizophrenic

We were used to death on ER. Patients, after all, die all the time. What we weren’t prepared for was when one of the medics bit the bullet.

Blonde medical student Lucy Knight died after she was stabbed repeatedly by a schizophrenic patient in season 6, episode 13. As benefiting the show, she made it to the operating table where she was deftly worked on by Romano and Corday, only to die of a pulmonary embolism. Carter was also stabbed by the same assailant, but at least he lived to tell the tale. But not before we had the mournful sight of the pair gazing desperately at one another as they lay bleeding on the floor.

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