History TearJerker / LiveActionTVGToL

** Karen admitting to ex-boyfriend Jagger that she had been sexually abused as child, felt unworthy of love, and that ''that's'' why she pushed him away and broke up with him.

** Karen admitting to ex-boyfriend Jagger that she had been sexually abused as child, felt unworthy of love, and that ''that's'' why she pushed him away and broke up with him always got to me.

** Watching Edward and Lila walk off together when Edward dies is both tearjerking and heartwarming.
* The reunion of the Spencer siblings and the events that separated. If you can watch Anthony Geary's anguished performance in this storyline and not feel something, you are not human.

* When Evan Wright says goodbye at the end. Oh man, the feeling of "it's better left unsaid" because what they'd been through together meant there was just way too much to put into words completely laid me out. It was also that, even though he'd become accepted by the Marines as a friend, he's NOT one of them - he's the odd one out.

* Kamen Rider Kiva was always a serious show that could tug at the heartstrings, but when [[spoiler:Mio]] died, my eyes definitely watered for her. The ending of the episode was horribly sad when she [[spoiler:shattered]] in Wataru's arms. Even more heart wrenching is how she died. [[spoiler:Originally, it appeared that she had done a DivingSave to save her husband, Taiga. Later on, Bishop revealed he killed her, seeing Mio as a hindrance.]]

* While [[SoapOpera soap operas]] in general are liable to have a few tearjerkers mixed in with all the {{Narm}}, one would be hardpressed to find a span of time more rich with tearjerkers than 1994-1995 on ''Series/GeneralHospital''. In those two years, you had Monica Quartermaine's breast cancer, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hYFIAqKde8 Stone and Robin's HIV/AIDS]] and perhaps the most tearjerking story ever on soaps, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX7IswtuTas&feature=related BJ's heart]]. Dominique's death in 1993 after hearing her unborn baby's heartbeat (carried by surrogate Lucy) was another good one.
*** * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-PabjzhVGM Try watching this without tearing up]]

* Some may say it's a direct lift from ''Series/TwinPeaks'', but the whole scene where [[FirstEpisodeSpoiler Rosie's body]] is found it's heartbreaking in its own right, especially with Mr. Larsen arriving on the scene. "Is that my daughter?"

* The Chilean TV series "Los Archivos del Cardenal" ("The Files od the Cardinal"), narrating the struggle of the "Vicaria de la Solidaridad" ("Vicary of Solidarity") during the terrible Chilean dictatorship, is the perfect mix of TearJerker and horror. Maybe the names and some circumstances were changed to protect sensitibilites of the victims and their families, but the emotional impact is devastating.

-->'''Geoffrey''': Do You Like Toys? Well, I don't have them! (Voice breaks down) Because we are bankrupted! (Sobs Hysterically)

[[folder:The Golden Girls]]
* The GrandFinale, for sure.
* The second half to the end of the episode where the girls stay in a homeless shelter for the night, looking for a misplaced lottery ticket worth $10,000. They do find it but give it away to help the needy, having briefly experienced and lived as they did (and talked to some people, one of which was one of Sophia's friends and a big Tear Jerker of its own).
* Rose's heart attack, particularly the scenes where her other three friends decide that they will take care of her, and each other, no matter what happens to them in the future.
* Blanche's reunion with her husband, which turned out to be AllJustADream. In fact, it was a dream that she had already experienced several times, but she always woke up ''just'' before she was able to hug him. In this (presumably final) time, she did, finally moving on from his death.
* The end of the episode where Sophia successfully convinces a friend not to commit suicide.
* Phil's death (Sophia's son, [[TheGhost who was often referred to in the series but never actually seen]]). Watching Sophia, normally the most stout and strong-willed of the four girls, completely break down when it finally sets in to her that her son is gone is nothing short of heartbreaking. Here's the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXLcSRoGB38&feature=related clip]].
* Blanche weeping over her father's death after spending the past several hours in complete denial of it.

[[folder:Gossip Girl]]
* Blair reading the letter she wrote to Serena.
* Chuck coming to Blair to break apart in her arms and perhaps get some comfort after the death of [[spoiler:his father]]. Also the scene earlier in the episode when Blair finally tells him she loves him, and he just drives off.
** In the following episode when Chuck has mocked Blair for her love for him (this after he's left her in the middle of the night and disappeared for a month) and she breaks down crying in front of her mirror.
* Blair confessing her love for Chuck once again in the season two finale, and him just walking away.
* The hospital scene in ''The Debarted'' when Chuck has to deal with his emotions after his father's death (and Blair has to help him stand).
* Chuck finally going to see Lily after she's been [[spoiler:diagnosed with cancer]].
* Eric telling his father that he doesn't want him in his life.
* Blair breaking apart crying alone in her room after Chuck [[spoiler:traded her to Jack for the Empire hotel]].
* Chuck letting Blair go in the season four finale. Their entire conversation was heartbreaking and the look on his face as she walks away was just too sad for words.
* After months of not being able to feel anything, neither physical nor emotional, Chuck finds out [[spoiler:that Blair is pregnant and that Louis is the father. The episode ends with Chuck crying on his bed, comforted by the dog he got in the same episode.]] The writers cried, some of the actors cried...
* Chuck visiting Lily after Dan's book has been released, lamenting his loneliness and saying he doesn't want to end up like Charlie Trout, his character in the book.
* Everything after the accident in Season 5. Blair losing the baby, praying just for Chuck to be alive, and eventually deciding that she can't be with Chuck if there's any chance he'll be the one punished for it. Chuck's confusion as he desperately searches for a reason why she abandoned him and her constantly-about-to-break-down expression just breaks your heart.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Great Teacher Onizuka]]
* The live action ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'' episode where Tomoko pours her heart out during the public speaking part of the competition.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Knight Rider]]
* In the original series, the death of [[spoiler:Stevie Mason]] never fails to draw a few sniffles.
** Screw that, then entire episode The Scent of Roses. The whole thing was effectively an exercise in ripping Michael’s guts out.
* The episode where a teenage girl is asked to help find a treasure left to her by her father before his death (which the bad guys are after as well). She hated her father all her life, while others idolised him, feeling pushed aside, and agrees only reluctantly. In the end it turns out that [[spoiler: the treasure her father left her is a beautiful, but monetarily worthless hoard of crystal/stone compounds in a cavern – a beautiful sight reserved only for her, and which had no cash value to him whatsoever. He loved her more than money after all.]]
* Given that one of the actors is a ''sentient car'', the scene in ''Knight of the Drones'', where a completely [[WhamEpisode smashed up via missile launcher]] KITT weakly asks Bonnie why it’s so dark outside and she tells him [[BlatantLies that it’s night]], is far more moving than it has any right to be. Bonnie is sometimes jokingly referred to as KITT’s mother, but in this scene, you can’t help but buy it.
** In fact, ''any'' episode that features KITT being busted up (which happened every time they [[TrashTheSet wanted to do a design revamp]] and thus, fairly often). Everyone worries about him as much as they would a flesh and blood teammate. On one occasion Michael even spends countless hours waiting around outside of the repair lab emergency room after KITT gets drowned in acid.
* The death of [[spoiler: Devon]] in the Knight Rider 2000 movie, complete with flashback to the first ever episode.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Glee]]
* When Will leaves Glee to go become an accountant and then returns after hearing the Glee kids singing Don't Stop Believing.
* When Quinn found out about her pregnancy.
* The club performing "Keep Holding On" in Throwdown in support of Quinn, particularly when she lets out one sob at the very end just before the credits start up.
* "Wheels".
* When Quinn's parents kicked her out of the house in Ballad.
* Kurt's sad face/crying is enough to induce this.
* Will finding out about Terri's fake pregnancy.
* The entire "Smile" montage. The looks on Will and the club members' faces combined with the beautiful, yet sad music make it impossible to keep from crying.
* Finn finding out he's not the father of Quinn's baby.
* That scene at the "wedding" in Sectionals.
* The whole episode, "Home". Especially when Kurt sang "A House is Not a Home", coupled with his broken expression at the end.
* Kurt singing "Rose's Turn" in Laryngitis.
* Rachel and [[spoiler: her real mom]] singing "I Dreamed A Dream" in Dream On.
* Everything involving Artie in the episode Dream On.
* "To Sir With Love" from Journey. Yeah. If you were not at least choking up you have no heart.
* When New Directions came in [[spoiler: last place]] at regionals. We've all been there at one point or another.
* Kurt singing "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" in Grilled Cheesus.
** The scene where Jean asks Sue if she wanted her to pray for her and she accepts.
** And the part with [[spoiler: Kurt's dad holding his hand after waking up from his heart-attack coma]].
*** "I don't believe in God, Dad. But I believe in you, and I believe in us. ''That's'' what's sacred to me."
*** "Dad, I'm here. I'm not going ''anywhere''."
* The wedding speeches of Burt and Carole.
* Kurt announcing his transfer, and giving Mercedes one sorrowful look before he walks out of the room.
* "You said you'd NEVER breakup with me!" "... I never thought you'd make me feel like this."
* Finn's speech to Rachel at the Christmas tree lot. Poor guy.
* How distraught Karofsky looks after he kisses Kurt breaks my heart.
* Santana finally working up the nerve to tell Brittany that she loved her, only to be turned down in favor of Artie. A case of [[AlasPoorVillain alas poor]] AlphaBitch.
* Quinn telling Rachel that she is the one that Finn is going to chose. It is the sadest "I am going to win"-speech ever.
-->'''Quinn:''' Do you want to know how this story plays out? I get Finn, you get heart-broken. And then Finn and I stay here and start a family. I'll become a successful real estate agent, and Finn will take over Kurt's dads tire shop. You don't belong here Rachel, and you can't hate me for helping to send you on your way.
-->'''Rachel:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint I am not giving up on Finn. It is not ov...]]
-->'''Quinn:''' Yes it is! You are so frustrating! And that is why you can't write a good song; because you live in this little school girl fantasy of life. Rachel, if you keep looking for that happy ending, then you are ''never'' going to get it right!
** ''Especially'' when you consider her determination to get out of Lima and do something great with her life, even during the pregnancy plot. She went through absolute hell to get her life back, and just when things were looking up, a new wave of drama came up. And now, here she is, [[IceQueen Quinn Fabray]], finally battered and broken to the point where she has finally given up all her ambitions and is resigned to the fact that she's not going to amount to anything particularly great in life.Quinn has spent quite a bit of time being a bitch this season, but...
* Will talking to Emma in "Rumors" about how he doesn't want to leave the kids and her behind because they've done so much for him and he needs them as much as they need him, but then saying how ''badly'' he wants to go with April. There's something about the idea that Will's dreams and opportunities are passing him by, but he wouldn't even consider going because the glee club means so much to him. It's both heartwarming and heartbreaking.
* Kurt [[spoiler: getting voted ''Prom Queen'' with Karofsky as King]] as a humiliating, sadistic joke. Eventually he refuses to let it get him down and turns it into awesomeness, but still--teens are [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] ''[[TeensAreMonsters monsters.]]'' And the worst part? Prior to this, the fandom absolutely ''[[FunnyAneurysmMoment loved]]'' the idea of [[spoiler: Kurt and Blaine]] being voted Prom King/Queen as a gesture of acceptance. [[TearJerker Ryan Murphy, you bastard.]]
* Karofsky's tearful apology and [[spoiler: saying 'I can't' softly to Kurt at Prom and walking away.]]
* [[spoiler: Jean's funeral]] because of the scene's multitude of similarities to the deaths and funerals of people he cared about just as much as [[spoiler: Sue cares about Jean.]]
* The performance of Fix You in Asian F is a tearjerker and [[HeartwarmingMoment heartwarming]] especially the image of Emma as a girl praying.
* Bieste...just....Bieste. And in "Props," when her douchecanoe husband says "Who's going to love you now?" She says "Me." Awesomeness, indeed.
* The entirety of "Goodbye". If the seniors singing their goodbyes to the underclassmen and vise versa, [[spoiler: Kurt and Finn's rejections from their respective dream schools]], the graduation ceremony, and the [[spoiler: [[PortmanteauCoupleName Finchel]] break up]] didn't get to you, congratulations. You're a cyborg.
* EVERYTHING about "The Break-Up"
* EVERYTHING in "The Quarterback". Made even worse because for most of the cast, it was [[RealLifeWritesThePlot their real reactions to Cory's death]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Grey's Anatomy]]
* End of season two, [[spoiler:Denny's death and Izzie curled up next to him on the hospital bed.]]
* Season 3. The 'woman with two uteruses' subplot in the episode "Let The Angels Commit"
* "Damage Case", where an intern from a rival hospital causes a car crash and [[spoiler: severely injures a pregnant woman, who dies from her injuries.]] The scene where the intern [[spoiler: begs the woman's father to forgive him]].
* "Into You Like a Train"...
--->"Can I ask you something? ...Do you believe in heaven?"
--->"I do... Don't you?"
--->"...I want to."
* End of season 5 where they find out that it was [[spoiler: George]] who was [[spoiler:hit by a bus after pushing a girl out of its path]] and [[spoiler: he dies]]. Or when Meredith and Derek give their hospital wedding to [[spoiler: Izzie and Karev]].
* That episode where Molly from TheUnit was guest starring as a patient whose sister thought she was having serious hallucinations about [[spoiler: falling in love with a man she met on a cruise and planning to marry him]]. Her sister did not believe her and kept chalking the halluncinations up to the brain tumor that Molly's had for a while. Derek was the only one who really believed her. Molly has the surgery and she dies but what made this a true tearjerker was when [[spoiler: the man actually shows up at Seattle Grace and tells Meredith and Molly's sister that he and Molly really met and fell in love and was going to get married as soon as she got better]].
* In season 2, ''Break Through''- When Meredith's DNR patient that she intubated by accident dies, she quickly leaves the room and goes to hide in a supply closet to have a quiet little panic attack. Derek, who is currently back with Addison, follows her and manages to calm her down enough for her to choke out, "I.. I can't- I don't- ''I don't want my mother to die alone!''" When you find out later just what kind of hideously abusive childhood Meredith had, the fact that she has any shred of affection for her mother at all, much less to this point, it makes it all the more heartbreaking.
* Dear God, the episode where Eric Stoltz's character [[spoiler:is executed]], along with the storyline about the kid who needed a kidney and would have gotten it from the serial killer had the killer not had surgery. The scene where his mother is getting ready to say goodbye... And one of the final scenes where [[spoiler:one of the female doctors broke down in tears, ashamed of herself for earlier trying to stop the surgery on the serial killer so the kid could have his kidney, and starts praying for forgiveness...]] Damn you, Grey's Anatomy. Just... damn you.
* In season 5 there is an episode with a little girl who is terminally ill and there is nothing left they can do for her but her father just keeps on fighting for her and trying to raise money to take her to Mexico and get her some special treatment. Eventually she [[spoiler:dies in his arms while he tells her how beautiful Mexico is.]]
* Seeing [[spoiler:Charles Percy]] die in Bailey's arms.
** Dear God most of that season's finale. [[spoiler: [[SassyBlackWoman Bailey]] crouching in terror under a bed]]
* So many of the scenes between Cristina and Owen in Season Five, but especially the scene when he's having the panic attack and the scene when he's in the shower and describes how his best surgery involved lying on top of a guy to apply pressure to the wounds and slow the bleeding for two hours in order to save him. He tells Cristina that the guy wrote a letter thanking him... and then killed himself.
* ''The bomb episode''. Every single moment of it, whether invoking sad tears (when Derek finds out that it's [[spoiler:Meredith holding the bomb, followed by his patient promptly flat-lining]], [[spoiler:almost everyone leaving Meredith alone in the room]], or, you know, [[spoiler: ''the bomb going off'']]) or happy ones (Bailey's [[spoiler:baby being born and being named after George]]), the entire episode is ''made'' of this trope.
* When George's mom comes to the hospital and Callie tells her about Arizona and Sofia.
* After a 39 hour day when Meredith goes to answer the door expecting the pizza delivery and it is [[spoiler:the social worker holding Zola. "She's yours."]].
* [[spoiler: Lexie's death]] in the season 8 finale. The whole episode is a downer throughout given the predicament of Meredith and the others, but that scene... ah, geez...
* [[spoiler: Mark's death, in the season nine premiere.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]
* Right from the start in "The Wrong Path." Hercules' wife and children are murdered by Hera... in front of him... before the opening credits. Before setting out to settle the score with Hera, Hercules buries his family and grieves.
* "The Other Side": While on a mission to the Underworld, Hercules is briefly reunited with his family. Though overjoyed to see his loved ones again, Hercules knows full well this is only temporary, which clearly gnaws at him. Additionally, his family is unware they're dead, so the big guy has to carry this load by himself. And what viewer couldn't be moved by:
--->'''Ilia''': Daddy, I missed you.
--->'''Hercules''': I missed you, too, Ilia. I missed you all so much.
--->'''Ilia''': Are you crying, Daddy?
--->'''Hercules''': ...No, the wind just blew something in my eye.
* "Judgment Day": Hercules is framed for the murder of his second wife, Serena, by Ares. Though Hercules clears his name, Serena is still lost. The big guy blames himself for what happened to Serena, and viewers can't help but feel for him.
** The end of the Serena arc is almost as sad. Herc is able to save her through time-travel, but in the new reality, she's married to someone else, and only Hercules and Autylocus (who went to the past with him) remember his second marriage at all.
* "Twilight": Hercules' mother is dying. He struggles to save her, but even though he accepts that it's her time, he is no less saddened by this turn of events - particularly as he, Iolaus and Jason are there as she dies. The 3 heroes being on the edge of tears and not outright bawling is an accomplishment.
* Iolaus died several times. While fans may mock the repetitiveness of it, in-show it was always treated seriously. Hercules always grieved over losing his best friend and never took for granted the possibility that Iolaus could come back. It's a testament to the actors that Iolaus' death was moving, whether it be the second or third time viewers had seen it.
* Strife's death in "Armageddon Now, Part 1." You know it's bad when even ''Ares'' expresses regret over it and anger at Callisto for doing it.
-->"He wasn't so bad. He-he tried real hard. He was just no good at his job. You didn't have to do this!"
* The end of the flashback in "Twilight," in which a young Hercules returns home from his first war.
-->'''Hercules:''' This belonged to a friend of mine - a kid about my age. I had to watch him die to realize you were right, Mother. There's no glory in war.\\
'''Alcmene:''' For every boy that's not coming home, one hundred more will and that's because of you.\\
'''Hercules:''' Then why do I feel like I failed?

[[folder:Heroes]]
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' - the ending of "Company Man". "I love you, Clairebear... (to Haitian) Go deep."
** When Sylar is all but begging for his mother to tell him it's okay if he's nothing special, even sader is that he's actually begging for her to tell him he can stop killing people and that he doesn't have to destroy New York.
** Also the scenes in 'Cautionary Tales' between [[spoiler: Hiro and his dad]]. Especially the part where [[spoiler: Hiro meets himself as a boy: 'There are some things even Tazeko Kensei cannot change'.]] It didn't provoke actual tears, but it came very close.
** The final scene between Hiro and Yaeko.
** Any of the scenes involving Micah in season 3, episode 3. [[spoiler: Niki is dead, and Micah meets Tracy, who looks exactly like her.]]
** Virginia Gray's death.
** Isaac's death. Even though it was strongly foreshadowed at, and showed signs of possibly being prevented thanks to Hiro's attempts to change the future where New York got nuked, it still didn't lessen the impact. "I finally get to die a hero".
** And for that matter, Charlie's death and Hiro's failed attempts to save her from getting Sylared also qualify.
** One of the saddest elements of the entire series for me was [[spoiler: Stephen's story. Imprisoned by the Company for years because of a killing he perpetrated accidentally when he lost control of his ability to create vortexes, he escapes, dodging company pursuit in an effort to meet up with his family. However, when his wife fails to come to a meeting he arranged, Noah ambushes him, and, holding a gun to his head, threatens to imprison him again unless he uses his ability to kill Sylar. However, Stephen refuses to be a monster, and, with nothing left to live for, kills himself by entering one of his own vortexes.]]
** The online tie-in ''[[http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/novels/downloads/Heroes_novel_104.pdf Dreams Until Death]]''. Two random {{Red Shirt}}s Sylar takes down in seconds in the series were deeply in love (and, if you've read the rest of the tie-ins, were characters you might be invested in), and have a [[TheFinalTemptation dream about what their life together would have been]]. No ''way'' he's coming back from the MoralEventHorizon, redemption arc be damned!
** HRG and Claude's confrontation on the bridge during "Company Man." Especially the way it ends.
** "First you show me that I can be harmed by no weapon, and then you cut me deeper than any blade possibly could." He was evil but boy did Adam get the shaft hard.
** Hiro, regressed to the mind of a 10-year-old, traveling back in time and getting one last reunion with his mother.
** The end of season 1. [[spoiler: Nathan flying in at the last second and saying "You saved the cheerleader, so we could save the world." Then flying off with an out of control nuclear Peter afterwards exploding in the sky]]
** In "Cold Snap": [[spoiler:Daphne Millbrook's death.]]
*** This one.
-->[[spoiler: '''Daphne''': Do one more thing for me?]]
-->[[spoiler: '''Matt''': Anything.]]
-->[[spoiler: '''Daphne''': Fly me to the moon.]]
** "Five Years Gone," especially the exchange between Future!Peter and Ando.
--> Peter: You know how he used to be, full of hope and optimism?
--> Ando: That's the Hiro I know.
--> Peter: Went away the day you died. Between you and me, I think that's why he's so obsessed about changing the past. He wants to save you.
* The season 3 finale, despite the FridgeLogic involved in the death (where's Claire's blood?). Not the death itself, but the sequence of events that framed it.
** 1. Fight in which [[spoiler: Nathan]] dies.
*** [[spoiler: By the time Nathan was discovered, he was long past the point where Claire's blood could have helped him. On the other hand, Bob & Mohinder were able to promptly treat HRG after he was shot.]]
** 2. Commercial break.
** 3. [[spoiler: Angela]] hunting down Matt to tell him that if he doesn't come with [[spoiler: her, Nathan]]'s going to die.
** From then on until they found the body were the most gut-wrenching 15 minutes. The only sounds out of her mouth for the rest of the episode were horrified whimpering and "[[spoiler: Mama]] needs to go VisualNovel/SchoolDays on Sylar's ass."
** Matt's reaction to what [[spoiler:Angela and HRG]] are asking him to do and his reaction afterward to what he's just done, showing that he's ''still a good man''.
* Jeremy Greer. God in Heaven, Jeremy Greer. [[spoiler: He accidentally kills his parents with his power to control life and death]]. Bennet and Tracy attempt to make a cover story for him, but the SmugSnake of a sheriff lets circumstantial evidence decide everything. When Bennet and Tracy do get him out, [[spoiler: an irate neighbor attempts to kill Jeremy as justice. Jeremy, not believing he can ever find a place for himself, kills the guy and refuses to heal him, despite Bennet begging him to]], causing the cops to re-arrest him. After they bring him in, a deputy takes him out back, [[spoiler: tells him there's no room for freaks in his town, chains him to a truck, and has Jeremy dragged through the streets until he dies.]] The sheer unfairness of it all.
* [[spoiler: Nathan's final death scene]]! It's amazing how, despite how many times [[spoiler: they killed off the character]], they still manage to make it so moving this time... [[spoiler: And Sylar taking control of the body and walking away while waving to a tearful Peter is just the icing on it all]].
* [[spoiler: Nathan's funeral]] at the end of Upon This Rock. Pass the tissues please. And the part with [[spoiler: the fighter jets flying overhead and Peter's little smile as * one of the fighters breaks away* , as if it's Nathan saying goodbye...]] BAWWWWWWWWWW!!!
* The scene where Claire talks with the Haitian after he's mind wipped Zach. Mostly due to the devastated look on Claire's face and her sobbing plead for the Haitian to "give him back".
* [[spoiler:Joseph's murder at Samuel's hands]] in ''Thanksgiving.'' The look of horror on Samuel's face as he realizes what he's done sealed the deal of Samuel becoming the [[EnsembleDarkhorse favorite character]] of many.
* What happened to Future Syler's little boy. It's just so horrible. [[AlasPoorVillain Poor, poor Sylar.]]

[[folder:Higher Ground]]
* The end of the ''Series/HigherGround'' episode "Innocence" where [[spoiler: Peter's previously estranged father dies, in the midst of a recollection of their visits to Central Park, with the words "I love you too, son" on his lips.]] If ''that'' doesn't get you, the episode's last shot of a 7-year-old Peter muttering "'bye, dad" as his father strides in slow-motion across a bridge ''will''.
** The end of "Daised (sic) and Confused", when Daisy opens her father's photo album, and finally grieves for her dead mother, after spending the entire episode resenting her and blowing up at her father (and showing up at the funeral in the very Goth getup that led her to the school in the first place).
*** How is "Exposed" missing? The scene in which [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuxvEtW7BPE#t=3m13s Scott confronts Shelby in the woods]] and she loses it is heartbreaking.

[[folder:Home and Away]]
* Leah breaking down after Dan's death.
* April's entire OCD storyline, especially the scene where Bianca confronts her.
* Charlie's death
* Bianca's scenes when she's suffering post-partem psychosis.
* Any scene where Dexter or April cry.

[[folder: How I Met Your Mother]]
* ''[[Series/HowIMetYourMother HIMYM]]'' is usually one of the happiest shows around... but dammit, it can [[TearJerker make you cry like a baby]]:
** The ending of ''Come On''. Seeing Ted arriving home so happy only to find Marshall sitting on their building's doorsteps, in the rain, holding Lily's engagement ring.
* Lily telling Ted she's having doubts about marrying Marshall and telling him why she wants to go to San Francisco in ''Milk''. Aly's acting in that scene is perfectly heartbreaking.
* Near the end of season 3 there was a subplot: Ted decides to "dump" Barney and Neil Patrick Harris decides to break our hearts for the next 3 episodes. Finally resolved with heart-warmth, but terrible while it lasts.
* The ending of ''Benefits''. That is all. Damn you NPH!
---> '''Robin''': He can't separate the physical from the emotional. He's all like...
---> '''Barney''': I love you.
---> '''Robin''': (misunderstands him and thinks he's talking about Ted) ... exactly! He's not like you, you know?
** ''Definitely'' seconded. Just the look on his face while Robin remains oblivious...
* Ted and Lily's extremely tense screaming match in "The Front Porch" after Ted realizes that Lily broke him and Robin up. Even though everything's forgiven in the end, it was like watching your parents fighting and threatening divorce.
* Ted's speech to Stella in ''As Fast As She Can'', about how he wants what Stella and Tony and Lily and Marshall have, but is tired of looking and waiting.
---> '''Ted''': Okay, I'm gonna say something out loud that I've been doing a pretty good job of not saying out loud lately... what you and Tony have... what I thought for a second that you and I had... what I ''know'' that Marshall and Lily have... I want that! I do. I keep waiting for it to happen and waiting for it to happen, and... I guess I'm just, uh... I'm tired of waiting. And that's all I'm willing to say on that subject.
---> '''Stella''': (...) I know that you're tired of waiting and... you may have to wait a little while more, but... she's on her way, Ted! And she's getting here ''as fast as she can''.
---> '''Ted''': (smiling softly) Goodbye, Stella.
---> '''Stella''': (near whisper) Goodbye, Ted.
* The ending of "Bad News" where [[spoiler:Marshall learns that his dad had a fatal heart attack.]] The look on Lilly's face ''alone'' was enough to make you cry. Then you notice that Marshell is trying to be strong and failing.
---> '''Marshall''': (breaking down in Lily's arms) I'm not ready for this.
** Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan both REALLY sold this scene. It's [[MoodWhiplash very]] [[TruthInTelevision sudden]], and it hits hard.
* Marshall's breakdown [[spoiler: outside of his father's funeral]] in "Last Words." Brings out all the emotions that run through a person in that circumstance.
* Barney's emotional meltdown at the basketball hoop in the end of 'Legendaddy'. He has very recently had his father (who abandoned him when he was six) come back into his life and try to reconnect with him. Barney was hoping his father, Jerry, would be a hard-partying roadie who wasn't capable of being a father, since this would justify him abandoning Barney. However, Jerry has turned out to be a loving dad with two children, including a boy named 'Jerome Junior'. Barney can't handle this, and it culminates into him trying to yank JJ's basketball hoop off the garage so he could have at least some souvenir of a childhood he never got to have. Particularly heartbreaking is this exchange:
---> '''Barney''': You're ''lame'', okay? You're just some lame suburban dad.
---> '''Jerry''': Why does that make you so mad?!
---> '''Barney''': (finally losing it) ''Because if you were gonna be some lame suburban dad, why couldn't you have been that for me?!?''
* At the end of 'Change of Heart', when Lily has finally convinced that Barney has actual feelings for Nora, he shows up where she is having brunch with her parents, and the scene goes on to show him going inside, apologizing for telling her he wasn't interested, and being introduced to her parents. Alas, it's just an imagination spot, and the look on his face when it pans back to him standing out there and giving up is just heartcrushing. To top it off, just after he walks away, Nora looks up and has missed him, also with a look as if she wished he were in there.
* In "The Exploding Meatball Sub", when Lily is about to head off to Spain because supporting Marshall through his oblivious insistence on quitting his job and taking up ridiculous projects while volunteering for the NRDC is driving her crazy. Ted is rightly appalled, furious, and clearly terrified (for although he doesn't mention it, the memory of Lily breaking for San Fransisco is clearly in the forefront of both his and the audience's minds), until in the middle of Lily's rant, she breaks down into tears and confesses that she's afraid that Marshall doesn't want to have a baby with her anymore. Ted's demeanor immediately dissolves into tenderness with a soft "Oh ''Lil''..."
* At the end of 'Tick, Tick, Tick...'
---> '''Future Ted''':...for Barney, the second that would never end was this one..."
** [[spoiler:After realising that Robin has chosen Kevin]] the look on Barney's face is absolutely '''heartbreaking'''. Then the icing on the cake? [[spoiler:Watching him clean up the bedroom he had decorated with rose petals and candles.]]
* In 'Symphony of Illumination' [[spoiler:Robin is narrating the episode to her and Barney's future kids. Until she finds out she can't ever have children. "So I can't have kids. Big deal. This way, there's no one to hold me back in life. No one to keep me from travelling where I wanna travel, no one getting in the way of my career. If you wanna know the truth of it, I'm glad you guys aren't real." And the kids fade away.]]

[[folder:The Inspector Lynley Mysteries]]
* When [[spoiler:Barbara Havers is shot in the abdomen, throwing herself in front of a bullet to save someone else]]. Even though [[LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt you know they wouldn't really do it]], ''Lynley'' doesn't know, and his reaction is absolutely heartbreaking.
* [[spoiler:Helen's death]], Lynley's face, and Barbara doing her level best to save her. Just... ouch.

[[folder:Inspector Morse]]
* ''Series/InspectorMorse'' ''The Remorseful Day'' The last few scenes where Lewis is saying goodbye.

[[folder:It Aint Half Hot Mum]]
* In the last ever episode of ''Series/ItAintHalfHotMum'', the war is over and the men are demobbed. As Sergeant Major Williams struggles to make conversation, the viewers and Concert Party realize that the army was his life; he has nothing to return to as a civilian. Gunner Parkin invites Sergeant Major to dinner where he can see Parkin's mother (his former love) again.

[[folder:I Survived]]
* Most episodes are this, but some really stand out. Like the story of Jonathan Metz, who ventured into his basement to clean it, only for his arm to become trapped behind his boiler. For three days, he languished there while his pet beagle Portia wandered around upstairs, hungry and confused as to why he had disappeared. When he noticed that her barking fits were getting shorter and less frequent, coinciding with his own weakening state, he realized that they were ''both'' going to die if he didn't get free and resolved to cut off his arm. The episodes epilogue established that the man had recovered, married his girlfriend, and . . ."Jonathan's dog Portia also survived."

[[folder:Jin]]
* Many many scenes - at least one per episode.
* [[spoiler:Ogata-sensei's death and the preceding conversation]] in episode 7.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Joan Of Arcadia]]
* The scene from ''Series/JoanOfArcadia'' when [[spoiler:Judith dies just after watching Joan juggle in "Friday Night." And the subsequent reactions to her death, especially Friedman reading Hamlet.]]
** Watching "Death Be Not Whatever" and "Jump" scenes involving Rocky
** The episode "Silence", in which Joan is diagnosed with Lyme Disease and begins to think that her contact with God is just a hallucination. The scene where she is pleading with all the avatars of God to tell her something, and they just look at her in silence...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:{{K-9}}]]
* In the finale of season 1 "Eclipse Of The Korven", [[spoiler: K-9 destroys the Korven, burning out his power core, and because he had his regeneration circuit removed in the previous episode, he could not repair himself, killing him. His regeneration circuit does manage to home itself back to him, and revives K-9.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Law And Order Criminal Intent]]
* ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'', episode ''Magnificat''. Det. Goren's interrogation of Paul Whitlock, whose wife [[spoiler: (based on Andrea Yates) is being charged for the murder of three of their sons in an attempted murder-suicide.]] You can view the clip [[http://thereelvincentdonofrio.com/clips/loci_clips/s4/magnificat.wmv here.]]
** Also, the ending of ''Semi-Detached''. You really must watch the episode to appreciate ''why'' it's so sad.
--> '''Nelda''': Don't you care about me at all? I know you do, I saw it.
--> '''Goren''': I didn't mean for you to see it.
* The season 5 episode "In the Wee Small Hours," Detective Eames's testimony. The phrase "acquired taste" still makes some hardcore fans cry.
** Goren's mother is schizophrenic, and has lymphoma. ON her last day alive, Bobby must find out from her whether or not her old lover, who turned into a serial rapist and murderer, was his biological father. She admits to never knowing for sure. His look of devastation will break your heart. In the same scene, he tries to calm her and she starts flailing on him weakly. It's really the saddest moment of the whole show, this poor woman beating up on her big, strong son in helpless anger, and he the one who loves her the most in the world. . .
* Goren and Eames's final scene in the season nine opener. They have the most heartbreaking conversation, [[spoiler: ending in an AnywhereButTheLips kiss. Eames accepts the captaincy, on the condition she has to fire Goren. She does so, but then lays her badge and gun on Ross's old desk and quits herself because she can't imagine working without her beloved partner.]]
--> ''You're the best. You always will be.''
* An episode which circled around five kids (three black, two latino), who all grew up in the neighborhood. The latino children fell on hard times whereas the african american children were well on their ways to better lives. One day, the elder latino child came up to the children and killed two of them, wounding the third. His own brother was later killed in the episode as well, and the wounded child later died of her wounds. Five dead children of their neighborhood, all killed over something so...senseless. It really got to Detective Logan.
--> '''Det.Logan:''' You know, I've consulted countless grieving parents over their losses before, but every once in a while, there's that one case that just...just...

[[folder:Law And Order UK]]
* "Unloved" Steel's efforts to comfort and help a 13-year-old boy who's just pleaded guilty to murder after swallowing his barrister's argument that his genes made him a killer.
* "Alesha" Matt struggling to hold back his anger and his tears when he talks to Alesha after her rape. It's especially poignant considering that he spent the first half of the episode freaking out over her initial complaint (that her doctor had touched her inappropriately), but now needs to put his feelings aside in order to be there for her.
* Alesha begging James to prosecute her rapist:
--->"You're always saying we should fight for the victim. I'm the victim. (Tearfully) Fight for me."
* "Confession":
** Ronnie keeping hold of Matt at the crime scene
** Matt knocks on his friend's door. His wife Mel opens it and is initially happy to see him, but almost immediately breaks down (we can't see his face, but she can and instantly realizes what's happened) and Matt simply steps forward and wraps her in a bear hug, clearly trying to comfort himself as much as her.
** The end scene in the church where a weeping Matt admits that he genuinely doesn't know whether or not he was abused (after spending the entire episode denying it altogether), and Ronnie understanding that he needs to be alone after assuring him that he's done nothing wrong. "I'll be outside when you're finished."
* The final minutes of "Deal", especially considering how it's resolved in the following episode. . .
* Just about every scene in "Survivor's Guilt":
** Natalie just barely keeping it together before finally breaking down in the privacy of her office, Angie's subdued, somber demeanor, Alesha sadly gazing at Matt's empty chair, then later correcting herself to use the past tense when referring to him—". . .is a police officer. (pauses, then continues tearfully) Was a police officer"
** But the best moments went to Ronnie:
*** His stunned, shell-shocked demeanor throughout the entire episode, from the very beginning at the crime scene and his haunting description of the events while confiding in his AA group.
*** Comforting Matt's sister, who sadly admitted that she always knew this day would come.
*** Wandering around Matt's now deserted apartment, absently petting his cat and telling it, "Yeah, I miss him too", clearly struggling with the temptation to drink, as evidenced by the way he stared at the beer bottles for seemed like an eternity.
*** Initially blasting Matt's killer for his actions, then actually empathizing with him when he learns his motive (misplaced vengeance over the death of his brother) and finally reaching out to him with words that clearly referred to himself—“When someone you love dies, the hardest thing is to be left behind. You’d do anything to bring them back. You’d take their place.”
*** Reaching out to the gunman's mother the same way, "The police officer, who died? His name was Matthew Devlin. And he was like...my son."
*** A deleted scene from the ending, where he's seen walking off with the abovementioned cat—now his cat. The symbolism is both powerful and poignant—he knows it's time to get on with his life, but he'll never forget him.
*** Even the gunman himself. After furiously denying having any guilt over killing Matt, he finally breaks down after Ronnie pinpoints the exact reasons for his actions, as stated above, and the impact of what he's done finally begins to sink in. By the episode's end, he manages to work up the nerve to tell Matt's sister with genuine remorse, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I took your brother away from you."
** "Tremors": learning that Ronnie's estranged daughter named her son—born the day Matt was killed—after him. Sadly, he remains estranged from his youngest daughter, despite the tentative reconciliation with the older one.
** "Hard Stop": DI Wes Leyton is killed, meaning Ronnie has to go through the loss of a partner/friend AGAIN. It's no wonder this one nearly breaks him once and for all--to the point where he actually buys a bottle of vodka before working up the nerve to walk out of the store without it. The episode ends with a voiceover of his farewell letter to him, "I won't say "goodbye", just. . ."see you around, mate.""
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Los Archivos del Cardenal]]
* The Chilean TV series "Los Archivos del Cardenal" ("The Files od the Cardinal"), narrating the struggle of the "Vicaria de la Solidaridad" ("Vicary of Solidarity") during the terrible Chilean dictatorship, is the perfect mix of TearJerker and horror. Maybe the names and some circumstances were changed to protect sensitibilites of the victims and their families, but the emotional impact is devastating.
[[/folder]]

Alesha begging James to prosecute her rapist:

* The first half of the KenanAndKel episode where Kenan has to move away. It's the slowed down theme music that does it. Also, in the 2nd half of that two-parter, [[CatchPhrase "... Kel loves orange soda."]]

[[folder:Life After People]]
* At the end of the original documentary, it's speculated that while apes may one day achieve a human-like mastery over the environment, the ability to [[NavelGazing look outside one's self and contemplate your place in the cosmos]] was an evolutionary accident that will likely never be repeated. Ultimately, it doesn't matter whether anything from the time of humans survives...because even if it does, there will be no one to talk about it.
-->'''Narrator:''' And so, like an abandoned village on a global scale, the Earth will move on without us. There was life before us, and there will be [[TitleDrop life...after people.]]
* Then there's the closing perspective on humankind's "reign" over planet Earth: if the Earth's 4.5 billion year existence were condensed into a 24 hour period, man's time on the planet would be ''half a minute long''. And the 10,000 years it would take the earth to wipe out nearly all traces of our existence? ''A fraction of a second''. WeAreAsMayflies, indeed.
* The InferredHolocaust of millions of domestic animals that won't be able to make it outside.
** The seeing-eye dog that continues to follow its daily routine [[LoyalAnimalCompanion as if its master was still there by its side]]. The poor thing continues to adhere to its training, ignoring the instinct to raid the cupboards in hunger while it waits for a feeding that will never come. Well-trained dogs will do this almost to the point of ''starvation''.
* The destruction of mankind's greatest works of art. It's not easy to watch the Mona Lisa rot away and the dome of the Sistine Chapel crumble to dust.
[[/folder]]

* Sergeant Brad Colbert in ''GenerationKill'' has a [[HeroicBSOD really affecting moment]] when he realises that a Marine under his command [[spoiler:has shot a young Iraqi boy]]. The fact that Colbert's nickname is "Iceman" for his usually detached and cool attitude

* Some may say it's a direct lift from ''TwinPeaks'', but the whole scene where [[FirstEpisodeSpoiler Rosie's body]] is found it's heartbreaking in its own right, especially with Mr. Larsen arriving on the scene. "Is that my daughter?"

* ''InspectorMorse'' ''The Remorseful Day'' The last few scenes where Lewis is saying goodbye.

[[folder:Law And Order]]
* ''Series/LawAndOrder'' had one with Lennie Briscoe in Season 8. His daughter gets arrested for drug possession and is forced to testify against her dealer, and after his acquittal she ends up murdered. He goes to the crime scene and has to be restrained from cradling her body by his partner. To see this gruff, world-weary homicide detective on the verge of sobbing just makes you ache.
-->'''Lennie''': "She was my baby, Rey. What am I gonna do?"
-->'''Rey''': "You're going home with me, partner."
* In the season 9 episode ''Refuge, Part 2'', Abby breaks down in the courtroom after Carlton Radford is convicted, knowing it will help [[spoiler:bring down the Russian mobsters who killed her friend, Toni Ricci. She later mails a copy of the verdict slip to Ricci's parents.]]
* As Rey Curtis prepares to leave the squad to care for his dying wife, Lennie gives him a goodbye hug:
-->'''Lennie''': Anything, Rey. I don't care what time it is. Just pick up the damn phone.
* In the season 3 episode ''Mother Love'', a former honor student turned crack addict has been shot dead. The trail leads first to her dealer/boyfriend, but there is no evidence to link him to it. Stone and Robinette discover that the girl had stolen from her family, including bearer bonds from her grandmother, to support her habit and suspicion falls on her father. Ultimately, they discover that it was her mother who had killed her. Performed by the incomparable Mary Alice (the Oracle in [[Film/TheMatrix The Matrix Revolutions]]).
-->Virginia Bryant: "I looked at her, it was so hard. Those little lines of blood in her eyes, her hands full of holes. My baby... It was so pitiful. She gave me the gun. She begged me, 'Mama...put me out of my misery. Do it for me...please.' I...I gave up. I gave her what she wanted. I killed my baby."
* In the Season 10 "Endurance", a mother has been put on trial for murdering her son, who suffered from severe physical and mental health problems which had obviously taken their toll on her. Upon his cross-examination, [=McCoy=] inadvertently prompts the mother to break down on the stand and admit that she had watched him have what she thought was a fatal seizure, unable to bear saving him only to force him to endure the pain and suffering he was forced to live through, and actually attempted to kill herself with her son's pills so that they would both die together before coming to her senses. The woman's tearful breakdown as she insists that she couldn't bear to see her son suffer any more is so affecting that even the hard-assed, seen-it-all-before [=McCoy=] looks shaken by it. [[spoiler: And notably, it marks one of the few times he deliberately enables a technically guilty party to receive a lighter sentence]].
** There's a similar episode where he's cross examining a pediatric oncologist who killed a man who had conned her out of money by claiming he could speak to the dead. The woman breaks down and begins babbling uncontrollably and [=McCoy=] is shocked to realize that for once, the accused wasn't presenting a bullshit defense. Years and years of watching children die despite her best efforts had taken it's toll on her, and this man scamming her was the final blow.
* The ending of Season 4's "Mayhem". A very socially awkward but endearing man is on trial for a string of brutal murders - he's unable to provide an alibi but both the detectives and prosecutors feel he didn't do it. Eventually, his mother reveals [[spoiler: his alibi - he's actually gay, and was seeing his lover when the murders took place, however he didn't tell the police because he didn't want his mother to find out. However, his mother already knew, but had never told him because she didn't want to embarrass him. The obviously relieved detectives go to the prison where he's remanded to get him released - only to find out he was just killed by another prisoner.]]
* The season 6 episode "Aftershock". [[spoiler: Claire Kincaid getting killed in a car accident]]
* The Season 7 finale, "Terminal." Adam has been unavailable throughout much of the episode and not quite up to his usual DeadpanSnarker standard when he is around, because his wife is dying in the hospital. The final scene is [[spoiler: him alone in the hospital room with her when she finally dies.]] He begins to cry.
* [=McCoy=] is trying a man for killing several people while driving drunk. [=McCoy=] is [[KnightTemplar going further than usual]] in his pursuit of justice. Everyone is telling him to [[WhatTheHellHero back off]], because Jack lost his lover to a drunk driver. Then the defendant breaks down and begs for forgiveness, and [[HeelRealization Jack realizes]] what he's doing. A defendant in tears and Jack pausing over a sheet of paper shouldn't be that evocative...
[[/folder]]

* "Unloved": Steel's efforts to comfort and help a 13-year-old boy who's just pleaded guilty to murder after swallowing his barrister's argument that his genes made him a killer.
* "Alesha":
** Matt clearly struggling to hold back his anger and tears when talking to Alesha after her rape and his similar demeanor when reviewing the tape of her attack (he very noticeably stands far away from the TV and turns his back so as not to see it, but still cringes at what he hears) and during the trial. It's especially poignant when you recall that he spent the first half of the episode [[BerserkButton flipping out]] about her initial complaint that her doctor had touched her inappropriately, but now knows that he needs to put his feelings aside in order to be there for her.
** Alesha begging James to prosecute her rapist:
--> "You're always saying we should fight for the victim. ''I'm'' the victim. (tearfully) ''Fight for me''".
* "Confession"

** Pete's widow breaking down the minute she opens her door and sees Matt there
** The end scene in the church where Matt tearfully admits that he genuinely doesn't know whether or not he was abused (after spending the entire episode denying it altogether), and Ronnie understanding that he needs to be alone after assuring him that he's done nothing wrong. "I'll be outside when you're finished."
* The end of the episode "Deal". Just. . .watch it. It is ''that'' wrenching that one cannot accurately describe it.
* Every scene in "Survivor's Guilt":
** Natalie struggling to keep it together before finally breaking down in the privacy of her office, Angie being all subdued and somber, and Alesha crying as she corrected herself to use the past tense when referring to Matt, "WAS a police officer."
** But the best moments went to Ronnie--his stunned, shell-shocked demeanor at the crime scene, consoling Matt's sister (who tearfully admitted that she always knew she would hear this news someday), his wandering around Matt's now-deserted apartment, struggling with the temptation to drink, petting Matt's cat and quietly telling it "Yeah, I miss him too", his simply asking Matt's killer "Why?", actually empathizing with him (the man was acting out of misplaced vengeance over the death of his brother) and reaching out to him with words that clearly reflected his own feelings-—“When someone you love dies, the hardest thing is to be left behind. You’d do anything to bring them back. You’d take their place.”, and later, in a conversation with the gunman's mother, "The police officer, who died? His name was Matthew Devlin. And he was like...like *my* son."
** You could even count the gunman's MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment, where he not only musters up the courage and decency to confess and plead guilty, he caps it off by apologizing to Matt's sister, "for taking your brother away from you".
* In "Tremors", the revelation that Ronnie's grandson--born the day Matt was killed--has been named Matthew.
** On a sad note, his estrangement from his younger daughter continues, even as he's forged a tentative reconciliation with the older one.
* Ronnie being so broken by the murder of his friend DI Wes Leyton--this is now the THIRD time he has been through something like this--that he almost gives in to the urge to drink, going so far as to buy a bottle of vodka before working up the nerve to walk out of the store.

* In the last ever episode of ''ItAintHalfHotMum'', the war is over and the men are demobbed. As Sergeant Major Williams struggles to make conversation, the viewers and Concert Party realize that the army was his life; he has nothing to return to as a civilian. Gunner Parkin invites Sergeant Major to dinner where he can see Parkin's mother (his former love) again.

* The scene from JoanOfArcadia when [[spoiler:Judith dies just after watching Joan juggle in "Friday Night." And the subsequent reactions to her death, especially Friedman reading Hamlet.]]

** Watching Edward and Lila walk off together when Edward dies is both tearjerking and hertwarming.

* The end of the ''HigherGround'' episode "Innocence" where [[spoiler: Peter's previously estranged father dies, in the midst of a recollection of their visits to Central Park, with the words "I love you too, son" on his lips.]] If ''that'' doesn't get you, the episode's last shot of a 7-year-old Peter muttering "'bye, dad" as his father strides in slow-motion across a bridge ''will''.