Why are they killing everyone off on TV these days?

There is a new trend on TV these days. Killing off characters. It happens all the time. I guess it is a way to get some bang for your buck and gets rid of actors who are a pain in the ass. So if you want a raise they just write you out and kill you off. It has happened before but it seems to happen all the time now.

It can be shocking when it happens. When they killed off Detective Carter on "Person of Interest" I have to say I was pretty surprised. She was an integral part of the show. The third most important character. The actress went on to star in the new hit music series "Empire" so she doesn't care. She even came back for one episode in a dream sequence so I guess it was an amicable parting.

Then they killed off Matthew in Downton Abbey because he wanted a big raise. So a convenient car crash was set up and that was the end of that. They didn't part on good terms so I really doubt we will see him again on the show. It was a bit of a shock at the time though.

They did it again with Nadia on Chicago PD. She was not a series regular but she was in a bunch of episodes and was a pretty popular character. She was an ex-prostitute and drug addict that one of the detectives took under her wing and mentored her to the point she was going to apply to be a cop. To see her kidnapped, tortured and murdered by a serial killer was a little jarring.

But that is the new trend on TV. Kill off characters in the most baroque way possible.

Is that Art imitating Life again?