Art has a way of weaving its way into our hearts and tugging on the strings, urging us to experience real, deeply human emotions while we consume fictional stories. Readers, of course, are no strangers to this, and recent years have also seen an influx of intensely personal stories on big and small screens alike. Joy, fear, confusion, excitement, and pain all resound through our favorite narratives, and we tend to seek out stories with impactful emotional messages.
Among those emotions, sadness is often the hardest to get right. There’s a fine line between pandering to an audience and offering a genuine moment that allows us to feel sadness and connect it to our own lives, hopefully without whisking us away to another story beat before we get a chance to reconcile what has happened.
Below, I discuss five TV episodes that strike that balance, giving viewers an outlet to experience sadness and empathy for the characters involved and connect with stories on a personal level. It’s okay to cry, of course, and these narratives will ensure that you do…
Futurama — “Jurassic Bark”
You know it. You love it. You sob like a baby when you watch the final sequence. When I first showed my wife “Jurassic Bark,” she turned to me with glistening eyes and in a meek voice asked, “Why they do this?” We sat in the sadness for a moment before seeking out our two cats to shower them with love and scritches.
Futurama may be best known for its sci-fi antics and pithy one-liners, but it also delivered the single saddest scene I’ve ever witnessed on TV. Philip J. Fry urges Professor Farnsworth to clone his long-lost dog, Seymour, after finding his fossilized form. But when the Professor reveals Seymour was preserved at 15 years old, Fry realizes the pup lived for 12 years after he disappeared into the future. Why wake Seymour from his slumber when he lived a full life after Fry left?
Then, “Jurassic Bark” delivers an emotional gut-punch so strong I sob every time. Seymour, now without his best friend Fry, sits outside Panucci’s Pizza waiting for his companion. Connie Francis’ “I Will Wait For You” kicks in, offering a melancholy soundtrack for the scene to come. We watch Seymour grow old as seasons change and years pass while he sits, waiting patiently for Fry. The city street changes around Seymour, and he becomes an old mutt, futilely awaiting the return of his lifelong friend.
“Jurassic Bark” makes me well up every time. It was instantly my first choice for this article, and I imagine it was likely your first thought after you read the headline. I appreciate the final scene and the episode that precedes it because no other TV show has captured the sense of unconditional love and companionship our pets bring us as well as these 22 minutes manage to do. Those who know the pain of a pet’s loss will shed an involuntary tear for Seymour and Fry. Personally, I always think of Baloo and Iroh—my feline companions—when I watch this episode. I let loose some tears for the eventual pain I will suffer at their loss, but I also shed tears of appreciation for the joy they bring me on a daily basis. The Futurama team knows the special, irreplaceable love and loyalty given to us by our pets, and “Jurassic Bark” remains the single best portrayal of this bond I’ve ever seen.
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood — “An Alchemist’s Anguish”
Episode FOUR?! Are you kidding me?!
I first watched Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood at the incessant prodding of my best friend. Credit where it’s due, it quickly became one of my favorites.
Little did I know that a peppy Nina Tucker and her dog Alexander would stroll into my life brimming with joy. Or that Nina Tucker’s entrance into my orbit would only result in the visceral rending of my soul into one billion pieces just 22 minutes later.
“An Alchemist’s Anguish” isn’t as widely known and discussed as “Jurassic Bark,” so I won’t proffer any outright spoilers here. But I will speak to the emotional anguish pervading this sublime TV episode.
Sometimes the monsters we create can’t hold a candle to the maliciousness residing in the hearts of our most villainous fellow humans. No matter how hard we try, we can’t help everyone. The Elric brothers learn this lesson (and then some) in “An Alchemist’s Anguish,” bringing the episode to a heart-wrenching and, frankly, unbearably sad climax. Yes, it makes me cry. Tears for the loss of innocence, and an ugly sob for the vicious deeds some human monsters are willing to reap upon the world.
Moreover, “An Alchemist’s Anguish” sets the stage for the remainder of the FMA series. Nobody is safe. Innocent people don’t always get the good fortune they deserve. Nina Tucker suffered for no reason at all, save for the circumstances she was born into.
This wasn’t the only time Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood made me cry, but it was the first, and it certainly hurt the most. Watch it with caution, or at the very least be prepared for the emotional onslaught this episode delivers.
Bonus: If the heart-rending Nina Tucker episode is your jam, I highly recommend the anime Made In Abyss. Season 1 ends with a tragic climax that rivals “An Alchemist’s Anguish.”
Scrubs — “My Screw Up”
I’ve watched Scrubs in its entirety three or four times, and have decided to leave the show in my past. I find the characters now feel grating to me upon rewatching, though I always appreciated the meaningful stories and messages the sitcom was willing to explore.
One episode always sticks with me, however; it’s immune to my rewatch fatigue: “My Screw Up.”
Dr. Cox wallows in the throes of denial, insisting that he’s preparing for his son Jack’s first birthday party. Throughout the episode, though, we receive subtle hints that all is not as it seems. Dr. Cox is on call for incredibly long stretches, and his colleagues’ concern for him is apparent in every interaction. He has chats with Ben, his best friend and pseudo-brother-in-law, played with equal parts joviality and a sense of underlying sadness by Brendan Fraser.
Without giving too much away, the final reveal shows us that Dr. Cox was indeed mistaken about the day and the event he’d been anticipating. It draws on events from previous guest appearances and storylines, bringing one character’s arc to a devastating conclusion, leavened with just a dash of hope.
“My Screw Up” deals with loss, grief, and denial in terms that feel real and relatable. Dr. Cox’s struggle is universal in a way, familiar on some level to everyone who has experienced a trying time or the loss of a loved one. The reveal of the episode’s twist summons the waterworks for me every time, both on behalf of Dr. Cox and for the family members to whom I’ve said my final goodbyes.
BoJack Horseman — “Nice While It Lasted”
I watched “Nice While It Lasted” when it first released in January 2020, blissfully unaware—as we all were—of the real-world events soon to come. Turns out, BoJack Horseman’s final episode would remain a tear-inducing commentary on relationships that have served their purpose and deserve, for the sake of all involved, to end.
The tearjerker moment in question here is the very final scene. Diane and BoJack sit atop the roof at Princess Carolyn’s wedding and endure an awkward catch-up. They leave a lot left unsaid, and the show’s final moments settle into an uncomfortable silence between the two characters, beautifully soundtracked by Catherine Feeny’s “Mr. Blue.”
I cry for BoJack here, because he’s finally learning that his toxicity can bring relationships he values to an end. I cry for Diane, because she values BoJack for his efforts to recover but learned, in the end, that their friendship doesn’t fit into her ongoing journey of finding herself and constantly improving. I cry for myself, because watching “Nice While It lasted” reminds me that my past can shape my present, but it doesn’t have to define me. The mistakes of yesterday can serve as opportunities for bettering myself, rather than reasons to tear myself down.
The silence of this final scene, broken only by the backing track, tells us that some things are meant to end—better if they end, even. “Nice While It Lasted” offers a blank canvas, beckoning the tears to splash across it; sad, but also cathartic. The lessons packaged within the incredible run of BoJack Horseman all culminate in a single, reflective moment, and it hits the mark every time.
Avatar: The Last Airbender — “The Tales Of Ba Sing Se”
Here we go. Any time I need a good cry, I tea up (pun intended) “The Tale Of Iroh” and prepare for the waterworks.
Uncle Iroh wanders the streets of Ba Sing Se, content to exist within a society that doesn’t want to impress its culture on the rest of the world (though, to be fair, Ba Sing Se does have its fair share of issues). He calms a crying child with a silly song, teaches local children when to own up to mistakes or when to run away, and offers a helping hand to a would-be mugger who’s better served by an honest and sympathetic conversation.
Then, after we see Iroh offer the best parts of himself to others, he climbs a hill adorned by a lone tree overlooking the city and holds a modest vigil for his son, Lu Ten.
“Leaves from the vine, falling so slow
Like fragile, tiny shells, drifting in the foam.”
He sings, the lyrics an ode to his fallen child, lost to the violence of his homeland’s genocidal war.
“Little soldier boy, come marching home
Brave soldier boy, comes marching home.”
He sings the final words teary-eyed, the melody faltering as it fades. Iroh ends the vigil by wishing a happy birthday to his late son, and I cry and cry, even after the story ends.
Iroh’s tears are equal parts sadness for Lu Ten’s loss and for Zuko’s current path. After losing his son by blood, Iroh invests himself in the growth of Zuko, becoming the caring father the prince never had. Iroh knows Zuko is lost in a way, but he isn’t beyond the hope of recovery. Zuko is Iroh’s second chance, his opportunity to prove he can shape the world around his belief in hope, the power of goodness, and humility.
This scene glows with an emotional brilliance I’ve rarely seen replicated. Iroh’s vigil for Lu Ten summons a wellspring of feelings, all mixing together to create an effortlessly beautiful moment.
***
Are there scenes that make you tear up every time you watch? Scenes I’ve missed that pack an emotional punch or offer a powerful emotional statement? Feel free to share them below in the comments.
Cole Rush writes words. A lot of them. For the most part, you can find those words at The Quill To Live or on Twitter @ColeRush1. He voraciously reads epic fantasy and science-fiction, seeking out stories of gargantuan proportions and devouring them with a bookwormish fervor. His favorite books are: The Divine Cities Series by Robert Jackson Bennett, The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, and The House In The Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune.
It’s the “Vincent and the Doctor” episode that gets to me every time.
Jurassic Bark is a classic tearjerker but have you ever seen the episode with Fry’s brother & the clover?!? I SOBBED. Anyway, great list
As always – The Body episode from Buffy. We are all Anya as she tries to understand why Joyce won’t enjoy fruit punch or eggs or brushing her hair again.
Bojack Horseman is my favorite show and will remain that way forever. Where Nice While It Lasted drives home how a lifetime of mistakes and trauma can cause someone to feel shelled out and unsure of whether they will ever be ok, The View From Hallway Down, the prior episode will haunt me forever. The series long build up and final payoff to the horror of what can happen when you die, Secretariats poem and then insistence that he doesn’t want to be there anymore….this show just captures the human condition and experience better than any other I’ve seen
Anya’s breakdown on The Body, as noted above.
Also, Over on Angel, Darla’s alley scene when Conner is born gets me every time.
@3 – An episode best watched just the once. Way too real.
I quit Futurama after Jurassic Bark, screaming, “You’re dead to me, Fry! How COULD you?!”
The episode “White Tulip” from FRINGE. I cried for ten minutes after it ended and wept so hard I couldn’t breathe, alarming the living daylights out of my partner.
“The Tale of Iroh”, underscored with the additional gut-punch that it is dedicated to Mako, Iroh’s original voice actor, who had passed away, is one of the greatest moments of television I’ve ever seen.
But I think I would add to this particular list Adventure Time’s “I Remember You,” where we learn the true origins of the Ice King and his history with Marceline and there’s a scorcher of a song that sums it all up at the end. That one kills me every time.
I may be the only one thinking this, but Adric’s death in Earthshock.
I would like to second Vincent and The Doctor. All I need do is watch that final scene and just ugly cry all night.
Kosh’s death scene in ‘Babylon 5’ made me cry afterwards.
In ‘Quantum Leap’, Al always had a wisecrack for every situation. Then in the episode ‘MIA’, Sam discovers the pain and hurt Al has been carrying with him for a long time. *snuffles*
I would like to third ‘Vincent and the Doctor’ and also ‘The Body’.
While The Body is more universally crushing, the Buffy moment that always gets me is the end of Becoming Part 2 where she realises what she has to do at the worst possible moment.
“Sleeping in Light” – Babylon 5
When I first watched this episode it crushed me. Now, I find the series as whole one massive tearjerker because most of the cast are gone.
I’ve never seen that episode of Futurama, but just reading a summary made me tear up.
For Star Trek, “The Inner Light” (TNG) and “The Visitor” (DS9) both make me teary every time
“The Tale of Iroh” wrecks me every time. It was so wonderful and poignant and sad and yet also really, really tonally disjointed to the general theme of the show.
As others have said, Buffy had many such episodes with The Body being the biggest gut punch of them all.
Not a TV show but I have to give a shout out to the Korean movie Castaway on the Moon. Why? Because it’s not tears of sadness (well there is a scene later that will do that too) but tears of outright joy and triumph just from watching a man eating a bowl of noodles. One of the greatest scenes ever filmed and why it ranks as possibly my favorite movie.
@9, Let me add “Simon and Marcy” to your “I remember you”. That Cheers theme song, that Primordial!PB.
And though I haven’t seen the full episode in a while, I did recently rewatch the “Hold the Door” scene from GoT, and uh, yeah, still not over it.
I’ll also see Vincent and the Doctor and raise it The Girl in the Fireplace. Oh my gosh, it will never watch that episode in company.
The ‘Not Penny’s Boat’ scene with Charlie on LOST
I binged the last eight episodes of Bojack right after I watched the season finale of the Good Place. Let me tell you that is a brutal combination.
One Piece will make you feel ridiculous over the things you end up tearing up for.
Teju Cole is a kind of realm. He has written three books—two exceptional novels and the volume of essays to be considered here
One of the best parts of the (first) Futurama return and “Bender’s Big Score” was the way they fill in the gaps there.
You definitely need to watch them in the right order to really get the full appreciation, but I’m totally okay with what they did in the later episodes.
Steven Universe, being the sort of show not afraid to take a sledgehammer to the viewer’s emotions on occasions, has its fair share of sniffling moments. One that always gets me is the wordless sequence at the end of Bubbled where Steven, having gone through a particularly tough day returns and shares a tearful embrace with the Crystal Gems. The moment where the usually stoic Garnet removes her sunglasses to reveal that she’s just bawling was really striking.
Glee, The Quarterback.
The fact that Corey Monteith was literally dead. Lea Michele singing “Make You Feel My Love.” Naya Rivera singing “If I Die Young” and breaking down and running from the room – and dear gods the terrible irony of that today.
Chris Colfer: “That doesn’t matter,” “Everyone wants to talk about how he died too, but who cares?” “One moment in his whole life — I care more about how he lived.”
Matthew Morrison collapsing, wracked with sobs at the end as he clutches Finn’s letter jacket.
My wife and I cried for the entire show and for who knows how many minutes after it ended.
The power of Vincent And The Doctor is that not only did I cry when I watched the episode, but I did in real life. The Musee D’Orsay in Paris is where some of Van Gogh’s paintings are in real life. Seeing the sign for them already had me blinking back tears. Unlike in the episode, the room in which they are kept is actually pretty dark. That made me feel a little better as I wept in front of his self portrait. Part of it was remembering the episode, the other was from the real life pain the man himself lived with- until he couldn’t.
Jurassic Bark can make me cry just seeing a screen shot of Seymour waiting in front of the pizza parlor.
The Bojack episode that gets ME is “Stupid Piece Of Shit”. If you live with a brain like that, you know it Never goes away. And that makes Hollyhock’s question and Bojack lying about it all the more haunting and tear jerking to me.
Old Yeller scarred me for life. To this day I refuse to read or watch anything starring a cute animal unless assured the animal lives. The human characters can drop like flies as far as I’m concerned but the dog or cat must live!
@28 I saw Old Yeller in 1959 when I was six years old. No movie since has made me cry that hard.
I’ve cried during “The Visitor” (DS9) and “The Offspring” (TNG). Various episodes of Battlestar Galactica (2000’s), ER, Six Feet Under, and Southland, have also engaged my waterworks aplenty.
Farscape: The Way We Weren’t. If you’ve seen it, you know. If you haven’t, check it out.
I forgot about “The Door” on Game of Thrones. Grab the tissues.
Second “Sleeping in Light.” Ivanova’s speech wrecks me every time I hear it. Also the end credits for that episode.
Kosh’s death stunned me at the time. B5 had more OMG moments than any show I’ve ever seen.
“Vincent and the Doctor” – second it, third it, however many – yes!
The 12th Doctor’s regeneration tears me up so much. I loved Capaldi so much in that role.
The closing scene of The Americans. Okay, it’s not genre except for maybe all those brilliant, silly disguises they wore. That scene is so beautiful, so Russian.
But the one that ruins me is the Meg Ryan’s death scene in City of Angels. I dated someone that left behind a mixtape for me with a line from that scene in her personal effects. I can’t watch a movie with Meg Ryan or Nicholas Cage in it because of that tape.
@10: You’re not the only one.
I followed 4 of the series above and indeed, they still make me teary eyed even just remembering those scenes.
However, the longest scene that just kept making me cry is Koro Sensei’s final roll call in Assassination Classroom. Did they have to drag it out for so long and still hit you with a final gut punch and heart break at the end of it with an emotional song? Yes, and it was worth it. Beautiful series.
The Angel episode Hero. “Is that it? Am I done now?”
Also, “The Tale of Iroh” was sad enough. Then, I read someone point out how we are watching Iroh raise a boy in the episode. He starts with a small child who needs to be comforted, followed by playing with the older boys but also teaching them life lessons. Then, he talks to a young man who needs to be helped to get his life back on track. It’s only after all that that he sings by the grave of the boy who died.
The Van Gogh episode of Dr. Who. Also, The Parting of Ways and The Doctor Dances. Wow, now I need to go rewatch some Dr. Who and have a good cry.
I can’t believe the E.R. episode “On the Beach” (Season 8, Episode 21), and the Death of Dr Mark Greene wasn’t mentioned.
I saw that episode literally yesterday and it still rips my heart out each time. I spent 8 years with Mark Greene and the rest of E.R.’s cast, and Mark felt like a friend. He still does. It was damn near as bad to watch him pass away as it was my Dad. But of course I will see Mark die over and over if I continue to watch E.R. reruns.
Game of Tones from Futurama. Fry and his mom and the gift of Nibbler. Along with Jurassic Bark, I cannot rewatch.
Whenever You’re Ready, the final episode of The Good Place. Eleanor and Chidi’s goodbye.
I have literally never made it through Tales of Ba Sing Se without crying.
There are two episodes I do not watch whenever I go through a rewatch of ST:TNG. The first is Code of Honor because it’s racist and horrible. The second is The Offspring, because it is the most gorram heart-wrenching thing out of what I’ve watched in Star Trek, and given the sheer number of tear-jerkers in Deep Space 9, that’s a hell of an achievement.
“The Monster and the Rocket,” season 2 of The Expanse. “Only 52” always gets me.
The last two episodes of the Good Place for me. (Plus Jurassic Bark)
Doctor Who’s had several emotional episodes, and I loved the happy tears from Vincent and the Doctor, but the one that makes me ugly cry has to be Doctor Donna in Journey’s End. That ending leaves me absolutely wrecked every time.
The Good Place: “Memories You May Have Forgotten” ALWAYS, and the last two episodes as well.
The finale of Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day makes me sob. Even after I have watched the show 4 times now.
Non genre but speaking of E.R. (above @38), try “Love’s Labor Lost” from Season 1 – if you dare. Pregnant woman is in the ER and, with no obstetrics folk available, Mark Greene proceeds forward with delivering the baby. Devastating beyond belief. Episode won the screenwriting Emmy and deserved it. Holy shit.
And the big one for Game of Thrones – “Baelor” from Season 1.
I’m gonna admit I haven’t seen any of these. I have been spoiled on most of(?) the details of An Alchemist Anguish, though. (when will i watch either FMA…)
Seconding The Quarterback, Old Yeller’s ending, and Not Penny’s Boat (f r i c k). The Constant also made me cry, but with mostly tears of happiness.
Back to sad: the finales of Zankyou no Terror/Terror in Resonance and Madoka Magica. oh my GOD T_T And most recently, the Season 2 episode of Fringe, “Peter”. As well as “Jacksonville” right before, though not nearly to the same extent. Still my favorite TV show (barring anime/cartoons *sweating*) out of everything I’ve seen and it’s only my first time rewatching it.
Yes to many of these, and I would have to add “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” from The X-Files to my list. Peter Boyle’s performance is stellar.
GoT spoilers, although I think most people have seen the show. I don’t recall the names of the episodes at this point, but the episode where Cersie blows up the Sept in GoT and Tommen throws himself out the window. Also the awful last episode when John has to kill Dani. Also when Ned kills Lady.
@36 Ellyne – Hero is a great shout. It’s not a perfect episode (clunky Nazi allegories, yay!), but “Am I done?” gets me every time. I’d also add “I Will Remember You” also from Season 1 – Angel gets his perfect day and wish coming true only to have to reverse it and he’s the only one who remembers that brutal transition from “I won’t forget, I won’t forget, I won’t forget,” to “We should just try and stay away from each other.”
The Body from Buffy’s been mentioned a few times and that makes me cry twice guaranteed – if I’m not in tears throughout the CPR scene, Buffy breaking on “We’re not supposed to move the body!” finishes me off. And, of course, Anya’s speech. Less often mentioned is the episode afterwards, Forever, and the fight between Dawn and Buffy. The way SMG’s voice breaks at “Who’s gonna take care of us,” is heartrending.
So much quality writing by Whedon; such a shame he turned out to be awful.
Bye Bye Butterfree :(
I have watched ‘Jurassic Bark’ exactly once. It broke me. I re-watch Futurama all the time, but have to skip that episode.
I agree with Vincent and the Doctor. But the episode that really kills me is ‘The End of Time: Part 2’, and in particular, Wilfred. The salute at the end, in addition to all the other goodbyes, just puts me over the edge every. single. time.
I love seeing ‘Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose’ mentioned, that was such a brilliant performance and I still cry at the end of that one.
The West Wing 3rd season finale: “Posse Comitatus”–it’s Mark Harmon’s last episode as Secret Service Agent Simon Donovan. Donovan is assigned to protect C.J. Cregg, who has a stalker. They’ve gradually become close, and in this episode, seem on the verge of beginning a relationship as the stalker is arrested, leaving C.J. no longer in need of personal protection. But Donovan stops in a bodega for a snack and, as Jeff Buckley sings “Hallelujah,” he captures a man robbing the place. The thief’s partner shoots and kills Donovan–I tear up every time for the senseless waste, for what might have been.
Later, President Bartlet runs into his opponent, Governor Ritchie, at a play they’re both attending. He tells Ritchie about losing Agent Donovan, and the response is not what a compassionate, caring person would give, followed by a nasty screed at Bartlet.
Bartlet just looks at him, determined, and says, “In the future, if you’re wondering, ‘Crime. Boy, I don’t know.’ is when I decided to kick your ass.”
It’s a killer episode all around.
“Halt and Catch Fire” ― if you watched the show, you know the episode (and its aftermath). If you didn’t watch the show, you should.
@53: Many of the regenerations are poignant. The one that got me the most was Matt Smith’s regeneration. When I watched it when it first aired, I did NOT expect that cameo. I should have, but those last four words … even now just thinking about that scene my eyes start tearing up. That, Vincent and the Doctor, and Doomsday are the three that get me every time I watch them.
Corridors – She-ra
My first take:
1. Doctor Who, “Vincent and the Doctor”
2. Babylon 5, series finale, season 5 episode 22: “Sleeping In Light”
3. The Good Place, series finale, season 5 episode 13: “Whenever You’re Ready”
4. The Magicians, season 4 episode 13: “No Better To Be Safe Than Sorry” (the death of Quentin)
5. Futurama, season 4 episode 7: “Jurassic Bark” of course
I might be completely on my own with this one, but the Season 4 finale of The Magicians utterly broke me. I still can’t listen to Take On Me without getting a lump in my throat.
It was, to me, the perfect place to finish the entire show, but they went back to it for some unknown reason. Somehow that makes it hurt even more.
ST:TNG “The Inner Light” (aka “Picard Learns to Play the Flute Because Climate Change”) always always ends with me in tears.
Station Eleven “Goodbye My Damaged Home” definitely broke me.
The Magicians, season 4 finale, No Better to Be Safe Than Sorry.
Did it induce a sobbing-based migraine? Why yes, it did.
@38 Every time I hear the Hawaiian version of “Over the Rainbow”, I tear up thinking of Dr. Greene’s death. Absolutely amazing episode.
“Tales of Iroh” is my favorite Avatar episode even though it makes me cry every time I watch it. So much emotion in so little time!
A Hole in the World
Angel: Season 5, Episode 15
Fred: “Please, Wesley, why can’t I stay?”
@58 No Better to Be Safe Than Sorry broke me, and I think I’ve been a different person since seeing it. The entire show is a tearjerker in its own zany way.
Also Buffy: ‘Normal Again’
Fie on all of you mentioning old “ER” episodes I haven’t thought about (and cried over) in decades. Fie.
Also “West Wing” mentioners. Because if you can get through “Posse Comitatus” without crying, I fear for your humanity, but if you can finish “18th and Potomac” without weeping, I fear for your eternal soul.
(And as I am one who tends to cry more when I am angry and helpless than when I am sad, the whole second half of “Commencement” makes me just leak tears in that “tense, nauseated, and furious” kind of way.)
The middle six episodes of Violet Evergarden ripped me apart each episode, absolutely breaking me and leaving me sobbing.
Jason’s final goodbye to Janet. (The Good Place)
:”Not a girl”.
The X-Files, “One Breath”
Sleeping In Light for me as well. I begin to cry at Sheridan and Delen’s goodbye — The brightest star in my sky — and it just gets worse until the docking station an its great doors goes. Heck, I’m damp now.
Did you think we had forgotten you?
Great ones all around. Special thanks to everyone discussing The West Wing, my favorite show ever, on a genre website :-) And thus making me cry.
I’ve only recently plowed through this show and don’t know all the titles, character names, or actors, but “Ghosts” (both the original and the American remake) has some great tear-jerking moments amidst the silliness. The episode that stands out for me (in both series) is the one in which the arrow-necked 80s camp counselor’s family comes for a visit. I won’t say any more, but the last scene is sobby perfection.
When my late mother saw “Vincent and the Doctor”, she didn’t cry, but at the end of the episode she said, “I’m glad I saw that.” Such a simple, straightforward remark, and yet I don’t remember her ever saying that about any TV episode or movie, no matter how much she loved them.
@62/MaddieSedai: That version of “Over the Rainbow” is also in the series finale of the British version of Life on Mars, another highly emotional episode.
As for West Wing episodes, how about “Two Cathedrals”? And a personal favorite of mine: TaleSpin: “The Old Man and the Sea Duck”, a story about “funny animals” which would have been worthy of inclusion in the original Twilight Zone series.
I feel exactly the same about “Scrubs.” I rewatched it through 3 or 4 times, then current events rendered it almost unwatchable. But that episode. I rewatch that at least once a year. One of the most amazing moments of television.
And then there’s “The Good Place.” The first and last episodes of Season one. Chilling in the dot of the i. My heart.
The last episode of “Community.” The double hug.