ABC, CW, CBSGrey's Anatomy. The Vampire Diaries. Revenge. What do all these shows have in common? They had one of their main stars leave the show this season. And all handled the exit in wildly different ways, with TVD being the latest.
Nina Dobrev's final episode on the CW series aired on Thursday night after she announced she was leaving in April after playing Elena Gilbert for six seasons.
Of course, a TV star making a public exit from their show is nothing new. (Hi, Charlie Sheen!) And it can happen for a variety of seasons. The actor could want off the show, or has to go because of unforeseen circumstances. And in those cases, the showrunners must simply decide the hardest thing of all: HOW do you write out a beloved character?
What storyline do they choose? When and how?
Over that, they do have power. They do have choices. And so we also have the power to have some very real opinions about those choices.
Below, we have a look at the best and worst ways TV shows have handled exits of beloved TV characters, who had to be written out for a real-life reason, and grade how well (or poorly) it played out.