Hint: Very few of them go the “Killing me softly with his song” route. So it goes:
by Jennifer Vineyard
We all saw Rick Grimes exit The Walking Dead after being impaled by a rebar, 
blown up by dynamite, and then whisked away by a helicopter for a future in Walking Dead movies. So, how does the show muddle on without its hero? How do a show’s writers plan for a big change like that? We consulted some of our favorite genre TV writers and showrunners — Phil Klemmer of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Erin Levy of Counterpart, Sera Gamble and John McNamara of SYFY’s The Magicians — about the art and science of killing off (and writing off) characters.
How does it feel to kill your darlings? Why do it?