Sharon Tate watching her own movie, The Wrecking Crew, and smiling as she hears the enthusiastic laughter and cheering from the audience.
What's more, the movie she's watching wasn't digitally retouched to insert Margot Robbie. The performance we're seeing is the actual Sharon Tate.
When watching the fight scene, she mimes the choreography and flashes back to the rehearsals. Her trainer was Bruce Lee, and he's shown to be a supportive and effective teacher (in contrast to the blowhard jackass Cliff remembers him being).
Similarly, seeing Rick and Cliff just hanging out as friends as they watch Rick's episode of The F.B.I. together.
Rick bonding with Trudi Fraser is very sweet, and even more so when he becomes seriously concerned about looking unprofessional in front of her. When she excitedly tells Rick that his performance was the best acting she's ever seen, Rick is so touched he begins crying Tears of Joy, because only a little while ago, he was feeling depressed, worrying that he had lost his touch as an actor and was going to spend the rest of his career being a stepping stone for the new stars coming along. Trudi and the director praising his performance give him a much-needed dose of self confidence and let him know that he's still got it.
After watching Rick's genuinely menacing performance in the show, culminating in him throwing Trudy's character roughly to the floor, it's quite sweet that the very first thing Rick does after the cameras stop rolling is lean forward and concernedly make sure that Trudy isn't hurt.
The novel gives a brief look at Trudy's future. She's nominated for three Oscars over the course of her career. Each time, Rick watched and rooted for her.
The film in general to some extent, being a fairly light (by Tarantino standards) character study of two Hollywood has-beens who ultimately are shown to be each other's best friends (and maybe a little more). The somewhat dark and extremely violent ending doesn't really dampen this, especially since it's still a significantly less dark ending than the actual Tate murders.
At the beginning, Rick talks to Cliff about the Polanskis living next door to him and how much he hopes he can meet them one day. At the end, it turns out the Polanskis were just as starstruck about having the great Rick Dalton living next to them, and Sharon invites him inside for a drink after the confrontation with the Mansons.
It's also incredibly sweet that when Sharon meets Rick, she runs up to him and gives him a hug. Fridge Brilliance — not only is she a fan, but she also knows he's just had a very hectic night and wants him to feel at ease. This is made even better by Sharon introducing him as a "wonderful actor" and excitedly asking her friends if they had seen Bounty Law. Jay would likely back her up on this, as he liked The Fourteen Fists of McClusky.
While soon played for Nightmare Fuel, Tex and Katie revealing they were fans of Bounty Law after realizing it was Rick Dalton yelling at them, with Tex even mentioning having a Bounty Law lunchbox as a kid and saying it was his favorite. Overall, it shows that despite Rick's worries about being a has-been, many people fondly remember him and still see him as a star.
Similarly, Jim Stacy and Sam Wanamaker are clearly delighted to work with him, with Jim barely able to contain his glee, and Sam in particular sincerely believing Rick to be a great actor and seeing the gig as a chance for him to prove that he is more than just Jake Cahill. He's just as forthcoming with praise as Trudi later on, and Rick is clearly appreciative in return.
While largely a creepy scene, the Spahn Ranch does have a few of these. The most notable is Cliff insisting on checking on George and George appreciating the gesture despite not remembering Cliff, but even the Manson Family members get a couple. There’s a lot of hypocrisy towards their hostility towards Cliff, but they do all show concern when he beats up Clem, with one of the women mouthing to him that she loves him, and another riding to summon Tex to help. And while there is a lot of Paranoia Fuel to the idea of them giving guided tours to unsuspecting tourists, the girl giving the tour with Tex is seen chatting cordially with the tourist couple (although this is undercut by the fact that she took part in some of the subsequent murders in real life).
After killing Sadie and realizing that his house was just broken into, Rick immediately starts screaming for Francesca to see if she's okay. While this has no bearing on their friendship, it's telling that she's the first person Rick instantly becomes concerned about rather than Cliff, knowing that Cliff is an accomplished stuntman and can fend for himself. According to Quentin Tarantino, Rick and Francesca remained married for the rest of their lives. Despite her obvious status as Rick's Trophy Wife, they really did love each other.
The simple fact that Sharon and her friends survive at the end of the film. For a few blissful minutes, the audience is allowed to exist in a timeline where Sharon, her unborn baby, and her friends are safe and sound. If Sharon and their child survived, then Roman would likely never fall into the bottomless pit of despair that ruined his career in America.
