 Tessa 's death occurs in the fourth episode of the second season ; " The Darkness " . The creative staff decided Tessa would die in a random <unk> incident . Tessa 's death played no role in the episode 's main storyline . It was not formulaic ; the writers wanted to shock the audience . Abramowitz said that " ... it would have been easier to kill her off in the episode , " but the writers " ... wanted it to be a surprise and show how shocking [ Tessa 's death ] was to [ them ] . " Horvath said that " ... losing a loved one to a random act of violence isn 't something that only happens to television action heroes or Immortals or people in another type of life , it happens in the real world <unk> totally unexpectedly , at a moment that makes no sense dramatically . " Tessa 's death scene shows MacLeod kneeling next to Tessa and <unk> her , then Richie reviving and speaking with MacLeod . 
