Tear Jerker / Inanimate Insanity

While still a comedy at its core, Inanimate Insanity begins to explore more and more of the horrific consequences of participating in a sadistic reality show as it progresses, and it is easier to count the number of contestants who haven't been broken or traumatized by their experiences.

(WARNING: UNMARKED SPOILERS AHEAD.)

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Season 1

• 4Seeing The Future:
  • Even though she's not very popular among the fanbase, Pepper's elimination is pretty sad. After the votes are revealed, the Fist Thingy sends both her and Salt flying, and they manage to grab hands one last time as somber music plays before Pepper is thrown into Idiotic Island. Salt is left heartbroken for the rest of the episode.
• Journey Through Memory Lane:
  • Pickle's best friend Taco is revealed to be a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who was faking all of her kookiness to manipulate everyone into helping her progress through the competition and does not care about anyone else.
  • Mephone4S' sacrifice, as a whole. Just imagine losing 2 of your close relatives in a freak accident that you caused, and you have to give up your life to bring back one of them.
    Siri: No, I order you not to go! I order you not to go!

Season 2

• Tissues is a very minor character due to his early elimination, but if you look at it closely, his situation throughout the show isn't a fun one: Trophy tells him to die when he attempts to form an alliance with him, he's not very well-liked by the contestants, and he's trapped in a cramped closet for months after his elimination (and since he was the first to be eliminated, he was alone until Cherries was eliminated). To make matters worse, the website reveals that he's been sick "from the very beginning," implying that he's chronically ill.
• A Kick in the Right Direction:
  • The beginning of the episode has Marshmallow drawing a picture of Bow, eventually revealing that she misses her dearly and blames herself for indirectly causing her death. She winds up begging MePhone4 to revive her, but when MePhone4 tries to, he fails. MePhone4 then explains that Bow died when he was dead and thus never got the notification to revive her, thus rendering her dead forever.
• Let 'Er R.I.P.:
  • Fan reveals to Test Tube that he feels small and that no one really notices him on the show. He mentions he has a hard time making friends due to him having No Social Skills. Test Tube shows sympathy for him and even mentions that she is awkward too. It’s surprisingly sad that Fan feels this way.
  • When questioned by Suitcase about being a prime Jerkass in the previous season, Balloon confides to her that the main reason why he did it was that he thought that was how you secured progress for yourself on shows like Inanimate Insanity. It's already hard enough that he's trying so hard to redeem himself, but almost none of the original contestants want anything to do with him.
  • Apple states she was using her friendship with Marshmallow to get further into the game, albeit possessed by Bow. Marshmallow becomes upset upon hearing this and ends their friendship once again. Apple doesn't even remember she was possessed nor does she remember a thing Bow forced her to say. She genuinely wanted to be friends with Marshmallow, who refused to view her as such.
• Everything’s A-OJ:
  • If one turned on the captions before they were taken down, Box's speech consisted of him describing what it was like being trapped in the closet and he nearly starved to death, and even begged for death. And that Box missed his family and is on the show only because he wants to provide for his family living in a small apartment. He then breaks down crying, talking about himself missing his family, and that his family could be on the streets by now.
  • Suitcase’s unfair elimination, complete with OJ calling her “what’s-your-face” and claiming that she’s ruining the show. It’s a far cry from his usual Nice Guy personality, and the poor girl spends the rest of the episode in a dejected state.
  • As Pickle rummages through his old belongings, he finds a framed picture of him and Taco having a picnic together and promptly grows dejected. It’s clear that he’s still not entirely over the revelation that Taco was using their “friendship” to her advantage.
    Pickle: (looks somberly at the photo of him and Taco) It never will leave, will it?
• Theft and Battery:
  • At the end of the episode, MePad tells MePhone that Toilet was a prominent benefactor in finding him a new battery, and he should thank Toilet for his efforts. MePhone hesitates for a bit, seemingly realizing that Toilet genuinely cares for him…but he brushes him off and blames Toilet for the Grand Slams' loss, leaving poor Toilet on the verge of tears.
• Rain On Your Charade: Hoo boy, this episode is a doozy.
  • The episode begins with Suitcase sitting down at the docks, clearly upset and sad from the events of the previous episode and feeling guilty over stealing the battery and not standing up for herself. Baseball tries to talk to her and make her feel better, but it doesn't work.
  • Balloon vents to Suitcase about how he tried to discuss his problems with OJ, but OJ, understanding and compassionate as he is, misunderstood his desire to make amends with the old contestants. Seeing him cry is absolutely heart-breaking.
    • The flashback itself is quite tearjerking. It has Balloon with a note sheet trying to practice his apology to OJ and the others, but the practice doesn't go well. OJ then takes Balloon inside the hotel, where everybody glares and awkwardly stares at Balloon, and tells Balloon that if he needs to talk then he has got to get real with him. Balloon tries to apologize but fumbles over his words, making OJ misunderstand Balloon's attempt at an apology, and simply tells Balloon not to make the same mistake with the other contestants before giving him an umbrella and kicking him back outside in the rain and slamming the door in his face. Ouch.
  • Soap’s elimination. She tries to reason with MePhone, claiming his hardware "needs cleaning", before realizing why she was eliminated - and for an unfair reason - she was the one who correctly pointed out that Suitcase stole a battery from Meeple, but Nickel was the one who forced her to do so. She then gives Suitcase and Microphone some final words of wisdom before she walks into the Rejection Portal, having accepted her elimination.
    Soap: Just remember who your true friends are, Suitcase. And Mic, remember to listen to your heart.
  • Once MePhone gives the contestants a free period, Microphone uses it as an opportunity to write in her diary. It comes to show how badly she was affected by Soap's elimination.
    Microphone: Dear Mic's Diary, Soap got kicked out today when it really wasn’t her time to go. Nothing much else to say. I would complain some more, but hey. *stops writing and closes diary* Why would you care?! You're a book! *throws diary into bushes*
  • A few seconds later, a strange voice (later revealed to be Taco) picks up her diary and begins to read some of her past entries, one where she laments her loss in the triathlon and another where she says that, despite being loud, she still goes unnoticed. As Taco continues flipping through the pages, she calls her an "annoying, harmful, random, useless, insignificant loser" as tears well in her eyes.
    • These diary entries actually hint at Microphone's Hidden Depths, especially the last one in which Taco insults her. According to one of the show's creators, the insulting words Taco reads out loud are words Microphone uses to describe herself, and being shunned by her teammates has taken a serious toll on her self-esteem, viewing herself with a negative mindset in hopes of improving herself.
• Mazed And Confused:
  • Nickel and Suitcase get into an argument when Balloon accidentally leads Baseball’s alliance into a dangerous portion of the maze. Baseball fails to calm them down, and the aftermath causes him to lose faith in his role as a leader.
    Baseball: ...Why do I always let this happen? I could've helped back there, but I just didn't know what to say. [...] I can't keep the team together, I can't keep the alliance together, and maybe if I had some actual leadership skills, we wouldn't be in this mess.
  • The argument between Nickel and Suitcase itself. Nickel goes too far when he outright tells the alliance to abandon Balloon, refusing to accept the possibility of him trying to redeem himself and claiming that he led them into a dangerous path on purpose.
    • Balloon ends up overhearing the argument and tells Nickel off for his horrible words and actions towards him before sadly walking away and giving up hope of ever being forgiven and accepted.
  • At one point during Spoiled Lemon's concert, we're treated to a shot of Marshmallow looking despondently at her drawing of Bow. To make matters worse, this is when Starfruit sings "I was alone, alone," which reflects how lonely Marshmallow is after Bow's death and Apple's supposed betrayal, not helped by how earlier in the episode, she was unable to properly convey her dilemma to Paintbrush.
• Kick The Bucket:
  • This episode is the worst for Suitcase, full-stop. Balloon accidentally drops his team's bucket into the lake, and Suitcase is harshly forced by Nickel to retrieve it. This time around, she almost drowns. Fast forward to the elimination, where Balloon, someone she trusts and considers a genuine friend, is eliminated 5 to 1. And guess what? She didn't vote for him at all (Balloon voted for himself, while Suitcase voted for Nickel). And yet she's Forced to Watch him bid one last farewell to her as he waves goodbye and walks into the Rejection Portal, all while she has tears in her eyes.
• Alternate Reality Show:
  • Lightbulb mourning over her lost crab with the other contestants somberly looking over her.
  • Baseball has not taken Nickel’s elimination well, and what doesn’t help matters is that they’ve been best friends since the very beginning of the show. He has now developed a cynical outlook on just about everything, as his painting is nothing more than a black mess of scribbles, and if you look closely, a subtle frowning face.
    Baseball: Just painting what I see. Darkness. Nothing.
  • This line from him suggests that, much like Suitcase, he might be developing trust issues:
    Baseball: An alternate timeline? That's where I wish I was! Because what’s the point of this timeline if everyone’s out to get you?!
  • When Lightbulb and Test Tube are sucked through a temporal portal that the former accidentally created, Taco wistfully looks at it and reaches out to it at the last second only for it to dissipate and leave her morose for a moment.
    Taco: Another chance, perhaps?
  • While Suitcase doesn’t have any hallucinations this episode nor does she have Nickel to deal with anymore, she still doesn’t get treated very well: Baseball gives her a Death Glare for indirectly destroying his alliance, Microphone gets mad at her just for attempting to start a conversation with her during the challenge, MePhone doesn’t care one bit about the context for her painting (which depicts her hallucination from the previous episode), and the others glare at her when she automatically wins immunity due to Paintbrush accidentally destroying everyone’s paintings.
  • Paintbrush reveals that they're non-binary to Lightbulb. They confess that they didn't bring it up with the others out of fear of being rejected.
    Paintbrush: I don’t think they even know there is a "C".
  • Paintbrush's elimination is the most bittersweet one as of yet. Lightbulb entrusts them with Baxter so they can remember her, and Paintbrush walks into the Rejection Portal with a somber smile as their former teammates say goodbye.
• Mine Your Own Business:
  • MePhone's backstory is both this and Nightmare Fuel. He was constantly abused by Cobs, who pressured him to be perfect, shamed him for finding comfort in reality shows, and often yelled at him, and then he discovered what Cobs does to his former creations, learning that he leaves them to rot away in a closet once they’re no longer useful. Seeing Paintbrush's painting of Cobs traumatized him so much that he represses all of his memories of him and shuts down for most of the episode. What makes this even worse is how this can very well happen in real life.
  • This blog entry from Fan, which emphasizes how stressed he is about the game's complexities.
    "Theories and patterns are easy. I didn't want to believe Paintbrush, because they knew the game was... more. I'm scared of everything that’s happening... because it’s... more. If I could stay... in a shell... I'd never leave. You'd probably think I'd feel trapped. On the contrary, I’d feel free knowing that’s all there is to it. There's nothing else out there. How reassuring, right? That's all. If only it were so simple..."
  • MePhone4 gets paranoid that Toilet is working for Cobs and that Toilet is a spy. He angrily orders Toilet to go away and banishes him from the show grounds. MePad tries to stop MePhone4 but his protests fall on deaf ears. When Toilet looks to MePad to help, MePad does nothing, leaving Toilet heartbroken as he walks away with a Single Tear and a glare on his face. What's even more depressing about this scene is that this was after MePhone4 praised him for the first time after recovering his memories.
  • Fan's elimination. He gets into an argument with Test Tube over who gets to keep his egg: Fan insists he was the one who always took care of it, but Test Tube was the one who saved it from peril, ran tests on it, and knew what it needed to survive. Before he gets pushed into the Rejection Portal, he tearfully confesses that he never wants it to hatch, only wishing for the creature inside to "stay calm and secure in his protective little shell".
  • Fan's monologue at the end of the episode.
    "So, push comes to shove, you gotta trust someone. If they're your friend, and they've done a lot for you, even if it doesn't make sense, and you don't agree... at all... you just gotta. 'Cause, maybe, in reality... they're right."
• Hatching The Plan:
  • The backstory between Meeple and the Shimmers. A bunch of parents had their children stolen as the result of a "deal". Although they got four of them back, they didn't get two of them. One of them was left on Mars, and the wereabouts of the other egg is unknown. The parallels to real-life colonialism only makes this worse.
  • Fan and Test Tube saying hello (and goodbye) to the egg that they've raised for so long. The newborn Shimmer is finally back with their own people after they spend God knows how long searching for them... and then Taco ruins everything by killing Test Tube, frying Fan and reigniting the panic amongst the Shimmers.
  • Microphone, after doing all she could, quits the game despite having immunity because she's sick of Taco's machinations and everyone’s friendships and mental states being torn apart.
  • The ending. Good lord, the ending. As Lightbulb says her final goodbye to Fan and Test Tube, who have finally managed to make amends with each other, you can see her tear up (although she manages to hold them back). And when Fan and Test Tube walk into the portal, she sulks. She has no one left, all of the three other remaining contestants are from the Grand Slams (and are undergoing varying degrees of conflict themselves).

Season 3

• "The Shame of the Name":
  • Fan is eliminated again from the show, and Test Tube isn’t particularly happy about it. Despite Fan taking the elimination rather well and enjoying being punched by the Fist Thingy to Indefinite Island, he still makes his escape off the island to go back to Hotel OJ, showing that he is rather hurt by his elimination despite in what he shows with his expressions.
  • What makes it worse is the reason for his elimination: Cabby! While she was understandably upset with Fan for taking one of her files without permission, she violated Fan's privacy and everybody else's privacy by keeping the files and Fan had every right to be mad at her for the hurtful things that was noted on his file. Cabby then proves to be a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing and manipulates the entire team, except for Test Tube, to vote out Fan out of spite.
• "The Overthinkers":
  • Silver Spoon goes way too far in his gloating and rubs OJ's elimination in his face. He even goes as far as to say that the "former king of Inanimate Insanity (is) dethroned!" OJ is shown to be rather hurt by Silver Spoon's words, and Candle scolding Silver Spoon and the other teammates being taken aback by what he said just goes to show that he went too far. Judging by his uncomfortable expression after the aforementioned scolding, as well as his surprised and grateful reaction when he's still allowed in the team cheer, even Silver Spoon himself realizes too late that he went too far and feels guilty afterwards.
  • Despite non-verbally telling Paintbrush that he's fine through a smile and a shrug when asked about it, at least one half of Yin-Yang seems rather affected by the events of the voting ceremony in general. He looks worried after Paintbrush and OJ glare at him following MePhone4's mention of the team's "incompetence" delaying the voting, and despite winning immunity, he still looks saddened when he gets three votes in a row, implying that just the fact that three of his teammates wanted to vote him out is upsetting him. Not even OJ getting eliminated in his place cheers him up; in fact, he's visibly shocked after Silver Spoon mentions during his gloating that he pushed his teammates to vote for Yin-Yang, "Because who wouldn't?"
• "Tragedy At 60 Feet":
  • What started off as a simple egg drop challenge devolved into chaos very quickly, with the Thinkers struggling to build their contraption, Test Tube and Cabby having an argument, and Nickel and Tea Kettle fighting over who likes Box. The worst part of this is when Box is flung away, Test Tube slips on Goo, causing her to throw her hammer away, and when it's nearing towards Clover, the flying Box appears and gets hit, comes sliding down a mountain, and is lit on fire inexplicably. This leaves all the contestants concerned, even MePhone4. When a doctor shows up to give Box treatment, he announces that Box's injuries are very severe that he'll have to leave the show to rest. Nickel is the most concerned and while he can't spit it out at first, he manages to apologize to Tea Kettle for the things he did. In the confessional, Clover believes that she caused the accident and that her luck is actually a curse. No kidding the title was "Tragedy at 60 Feet".
• "Out of Body Experience":
  • Bot learns the truth about their existence from Test Tube: they were created as a replacement for the original Bow since Fan and Test Tube had trouble moving on from her death. This leads to Bot lashing out at her, as they believe they don't have a greater purpose or an identity of their own and are frustrated about being stuck in a body that isn't theirs.
• "I Am Chocolate":
  • Cabby rejoins the game, and votes out Test Tube as revenge for eliminating her in "Best Served Cold". Test Tube takes it in stride, but mentions why she eliminated Cabby and explains it to her. She then, gets to hear Bot speak in their own voice before getting unfairly voted out by Cabby. What makes it worse is that Cabby is left very conflicted over her act of revenge and if it was even worth it.
• "The Great Bluish Bake-off":
  • Nickel apologizes for his behavior towards Balloon in the second season, both having turned over a new leaf since. Balloon even recalls how difficult it can really be trying to get over a troubled past, referencing his manipulation in the first season, which directly caused Nickel to treat Balloon horribly, in fear of him manipulating again.

Comics

• In " Letters", poor Balloon can barely live in the hotel in peace without the residents of Hotel OJ talking smack about him behind his back. He eventually takes Suitcase’s advice from "Rain on Your Charade" to heart and writes letters to everybody in the hotel in order to apologize and explain himself. Balloon then gets increasingly more worried that he made things worse and begins to have a panic attack, but things quickly shift to heart-warming when the others decide to give him a second chance.

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