Grey’s Anatomy It’s not the only show that killed off a major character in 2026 — and many of those fictional deaths still upset fans.
During the March 2026 episode of the ABC series, Lucas (Niko Terhoand Simone (Alexis Floyd) were providing Katie (Samantha Marie Ware) for hospice care at home as her health deteriorated.
Lucas and Katie became closer as they remembered what would have happened between them if he hadn’t gotten sick. He finally died while he was in the hospital receiving other necessary supplies, which prevented him from saying goodbye.
At the beginning of the month, Yellowstone‘s spinoff The Marshals fans were surprised by revealing that Monica (Kelsey Asbille) died off-screen after a battle with cancer.
“Kayce had a great ending in Yellowstone,” the showrunner said Spencer Hudnut he told TVLine at that time. “His dreams finally came true. When we were trying to figure out how to explain the next chapter in Kayce’s story, it felt like he really needed to be shaken up in that. Unfortunately, tragedy often gets to Kayce, so something bad was going to happen to him somehow. It just happened to be Monica.”
Keep scrolling for more sad TV deaths in 2026:
Leon Vance (‘NCIS’)
After opening NCIS since 2008, Rocky CarrollA fan favorite character was killed off in the 500th episode. Vance was shot by CID before succumbing to the fatal wound.
NCIS sent Vance up with a montage of him through the years with Gibbs (Mark Harmon), Tony (Michael Weatherly), Experience (Cote de Pablo), Ducky (David McCallum), McGee, Abby (Pauly Perrette), Bishop (Emily Wickersham) and the current NCIS team.
Katie (‘Grey’s Anatomy’)
Season 22 is designed for Katie (Samantha Marie Ware) died after being diagnosed with stage II stomach cancer.
Erin (‘FBI’)
Zeeko Zaki and Missy Peregrym in ‘FBI.’
Bennett Raglin/CBSDuring the March 2026 episode of the hit CBS show, Maggie’s (Missy Peregrym) first arrest – serial killer Ray DiStefano (Matthew Rauch) – kidnapped his sister, Erin (Adrienne Rose Bengtsson). Maggie spent the episode trying to save her sister – only to find her dead in the back of DiStefano’s truck.
Monica (‘The Marshals’)
March 2026 episode of Luke Grimes‘ Yellowstone spinoff revealed that Kayce Dutton’s wife Monica (Kelsey Asbille) previously died after developing cancer from toxins dumped on the Broken Rock reservation.
Preston and Paul (‘The Madison’)
Taylor Sheridana new Paramount+ show premiered with Preston (Kurt Russell) and Paul (Matthew Fox) killing as a way to fix the story.
9-1-1 isn’t the only show to kill off a major character in 2025 — and many of those fictional deaths still upset fans. The ABC drama let us see what happened when April’s episode ended when Bobby’s Peter Krause was secretly infected with a rare and deadly virus. As viewers experience the […]
John (‘Bridgerton’)
Hannah Dodd as Francesca Bridgerton and Victor Alli as John Stirling.
Liam Daniel/NetflixFans of the Julia Quinn book series know that John (Victor Alli) will die in his sleep on the Netflix show. This will then pave the way for Francesca (Hannah Dodd) to find love with his cousin, Michaela (Goodbye Baduza), in season 5.
Eleven (‘Stranger Things’)
During the show’s series finale (which aired in December 2025 but was all we could think of going into 2026), Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) survived several near-death experiences while fighting to destroy Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). Eleven was finally able to confront – and kill – Vecna once and for all, but he never returned to Hawkins. Instead, Eleven stayed in the Upside Down to make sure her friends survived and weren’t constantly in danger because of her presence.
A time skip at the end of the episode showed that Eleven was presumed dead. Mike (Finn Wolfhard), however, suggested another scenario where he survived and disappeared to live his life outside of Hawkins.
