This article contains spoilers for this season of Hannibal, as well as casting information for the next seasons of Glee and Grey’s Anatomy. This article originally ran on March 30th, 2014

Someone important died this weekend on NBC’s serial-killer drama Hannibal. That should come as no surprise, beloved actors are dropping like flies on TV these days, and the stakes are always high when Dr. Lecter is involved. In the shadow of larger recent shocks like those on The Good Wife or The Walking Dead, the death of a supporting character like investigator Beverly Katz may not seem like it should hit us quite so hard. But that character happened to be portrayed by Hettienne Park, an Asian female. So what? Does being a Korean-American woman on network television mean you should be bulletproof (or in this case, carving-knife-proof)? Certainly not. But given the lack of strong, female Asian characters on television, Park’s absence carries a weight outside the fictional world of Hannibal. Aware of the uproar surrounding her character’s death, Park commented on the more extreme outcry from the show’s fandom.

When you feel marginalized by the world at large, there's great comfort and empowerment in seeing someone you can identify with on the screen who isn't subject to cliches or stereotypes. When that gets taken away, you can feel like you've been f***ed over once again. And unless you've ever been hurt merely due to the color of your skin, what's between your legs, or who sleeps next to you at night, you probably don't understand that kind of pain.

Park’s not the only high-profile Asian female slated to depart a network show this spring. A lot of fuss has been made about Lucy Liu’s “well-rounded” character Joan Watson on Elementary. Perhaps rightfully so. But if we’re talking about Asian women who haven’t been subjected to cliches or stereotypes, then the original, impressive network star has to be Sandra Oh, who has been holding it down for 10 seasons on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. Through the show’s many sordid and soapy twists and turns, Oh’s Dr. Cristina Yang has remained one of the strongest and most nuanced characters. You could argue that a career-driven, hyper-intelligent, competitive doctor does play into a certain Asian stereotype, but you would only make that argument if you’d never watched Oh at work. She’ll be leaving the show at the end of this season. Who can blame her, really? Ten years is a long time to spend with one character. Though we do know it will involve the return of an old character, it’s unclear exactly what kind of send-off Yang will get in the next few episodes. One thing’s for certain, Grey’s Anatomy will be a lot less interesting, and the network TV landscape a whole lot blander without her.

Over on Fox, the powers that be have decided a reboot of sorts is in order for the flagging Glee. For the rest of the season (and in upcoming seasons), the action will transfer full-time to New York. Original characters like Rachel, Mercedes, and Kurt will take center stage, and three out of four of the show’s fictional graduating seniors will be headed to N.Y.C. to join them. The one exception? Original cast member Jenna Ushkowitz, who plays Tina Cohen-Chang, won’t be making the trip. That means the show that wears its diversity like a badge of honor will go from once having three Asian series regulars to having one. (Darren Criss, who plays Blaine, is part Filipino.) But that’s only the three Asian females to be leaving a major network show this season. What’s the big deal?