Tear Jerker / Psych

Season 1

• Shawn and his Girl of the Week (the maid of honor at a wedding) in the third episode hit it off well, and he seems genuinely sad about exposing her as the killer. Her brother, best friend, and father are all also hurt by his revelations and how the crime was motivated by her being passed over for possession of a family heirloom that her father casually gave to her sister-in-law instead of her.
• In "Weekend Warriors", Shawn and his Girl of the Week, Sally have some great chemistry, leading to Shawn looking absolutely crushed when he realizes that she is guilty of helping the killer with insurance fraud and he has to turn her in. And, while less affecting, it's also kind of sad to see Sally's reaction when Shawn reveals that her friend and coconspirator tried to kill her to keep all of the money for himself.
• In Shawn vs. The Red Phantom, we never really get to meet the victim who sparked the case, but we do get a brief shot of him when the three victims are rescued. They're all scared, but he's a teenager, he was the first one kidnapped, and his face is covered in tears.
• In Forget Me Not, everyone is clearly upset to see Captain Connors's failing mind. He has a pair of glasses on his forehead and puts on another pair, pulls scraps of paper from his pockets and struggles to remember what they're for.
  • Then, in a later scene, Henry is clearly upset and later furious to think that Shawn is unwittingly taking advantage of his friend and former captain who is trapped in early onset Alzheimer's.
  • One suspect learns that his wife murdered both his ex-lover and their child, twenty years apart, and takes the news badly.

Season 3

• In Earth, Wind and Wait for It, Army Johnson’s breakdown near the end. His revenge spree and desire to cover up those crimes cost him the life of his friend who tried to put out one of those arsons. Realizing that he was far gone, even willing to kill his own arson investigator along Shawn and Gus, he could only tearfully reply he couldn’t live with the guilt anymore and tried to immolate himself. Fortunately Shawn and Gus saved his life.
• One of the series' first serious, emotional scenes: in 3.01 Shawn finally tells his mother—and the audience—why he resents Henry so much, and learns the truth about the end of his parents' marriage, which clearly hurt him deeply. It's the first time we really see Shawn with his guard down, not trying to impress anybody or being defensive, able to be honest and vulnerable—and underneath the bravado and '80s obsession, there's real pain.
  • Then Henry walks in and we, and Shawn, finally see that Henry, the single father who did his best to raise his son after his wife left them, has been desperately carrying a torch for her the whole time.
• When Shawn finds out Gus is caught up as a hostage in a bank robbery, he immediately tries to rush in. He then spends the next five minutes freaking out, shaking, yelling, sweating, barely able to keep it together.
• After Lassiter is suspended from the SBPD for being a suspect in a murder, he falls into a depression, which is exacerbated when he sees Jules with a new partner.
• Lassiter's goodbye with Victoria.

Season 4

• The fourth season finale, wherein Jules is subjected to the psychopath's whim, gagged, tied to a chair, and left tethering helplessly above at the edge of a clock tower with no sure proof of whether she'll be saved or not—when Lassiter and Gus do manage to reach and free her, she wears an empty, expressionless face. Near the very end, as parallel scenes between her and Shawn's girlfriend's rescue play in mute, she begins screaming and then breaks down against Lassiter, and he just holds her quietly with a thousand-yard stare that shows he's trying to be comforting but has no idea how to act. Not to mention earlier when Mary asked if he'd be able to play tennis in Heaven. It's really the most realistically anyone in the show has reacted to trauma. Shock, hysterics, depression, rage outbursts, and anything else that goes with PTSD.
  • It really says something about the show, which is mostly a comedy, that the whole ending montage of that episode is probably one of the most heart-wrenching things you could possibly watch. Lassiter and Juliet, Henry cleaning the Psych window, Mary's funeral, where Shawn and Gus are dressed to play tennis and put rackets and tennis balls on Mary's casket...and this all set to the song "I Go to the Barn Because I Like the" by Band of Horses.

Season 5

• The finding of Paula Meral's body in "Dual Spires".
• In "The Polarizing Express", a Vigilante Man is spending his Christmas obsessed with his Revenge plan against the Villain of the Week for destroying the former's business, killing his fiancée, and ruining his life. Thankfully, Shawn manages to give him legal justice for Christmas by rallying an entire community to testify against the crime lord and put him away for good (which also counts as a Moment of Awesome and a Heartwarming Moment).
• "Yang 3 in 2D", when Allison says "I was kidnapped. I should be dead now. Do you know how that feels?" We get a brief cut to Juliet looking very uncomfortable. These cuts continue as Allison continues trying to convince Shawn she was actually kidnapped by Yin, until Juliet asks "I don't have to be here for this, do I?"

Season 6

• You can see Lassiter's heart break when he puts the handcuffs on Marlowe.
• "Indiana Shawn and the Temple of the Kinda Crappy, Rusty Old Dagger": Shawn's reaction towards Despereaux's death at his funeral. At first he believed that Despereaux faked his death until Shawn's dad gave him the DNA results at Despereaux's funeral which caused Shawn to breakdown which lead to some funny and tearjerking moments. It later turns out that Shawn was right.

Season 7

• The first episode of the seventh season ("Santabarbaratown 2"). Shawn spends the whole episode running wild trying to find the guy who shot Henry. Normally Shawn just acts a little goofy when he and Gus break into a suspect's house. This time Shawn's randomly breaking things and generally venting. Recall, this is a guy who spent years outside of Santa Barbara for a reason (think back to the pilot).
  • The scene where Shawn first arrives at the hospital. He's trying to make light of the situation because it's what he's used to doing, but he just can't this time. It would be funny if it was wasn't so sad.
  "You gotta save him, that's my dad!"
  • The scene where he sits at Henry's bedside is this and a Heartwarming Moment.
  "And I just- I don't think now it's a good idea for you to go, okay".
• The conversation between Shawn and Juliet in the seventh season episode "Deez Nups" when she finally catches on that Shawn's been lying about being a psychic.
  Juliet: What are you talking about? Are you telling me this was all a lie?
  Shawn: Please don't make me answer that.
  • This is made worse when you remember Juliet's relationships with her family. Her dad was a con-man and for many years she avoided him. Her step-dad had a gambling addiction that he hid from her. Her brother was also arrested for attempted murder. So now she has someone else she loves lying to her face. She says it herself—honesty means everything to her.
• The follow-up episode has Shawn grow so depressed that he starts imagining what would have happened if he'd given Jules the chief's shawl instead of his coat. Even in that alternate universe, things start breaking down, it's just that the ill effects happen to other people.
• The moment when Shawn tells Juliet that "if I just hadn't given you my jacket, everything would be okay." The look on her face is less anger and more sadness that Shawn honestly, truly, does not get that it was never about how she found out the truth, it's because Shawn has been lying to her all this time. And Shawn's expression, honestly not able to grasp this is the reason why their relationship is doomed.
• The killer in Right Turn or Left for Dead is quite Ax-Crazy, but inspires a lot of pity as she puts flowers by the road where her mother died decades ago (leaving her to be raised by a horribly abusive stepfather). She talks about how she blames herself for her real father leaving them and for her mother dying while trying to raise money to finance a new life for them.
• The season seven finale had quite a Downer Ending: Chief Vick has been suspended and replaced by Trout, McNab has been fired, Carlton has been demoted, and the department is no longer using Shawn's services.

Season 8

• Gus has retired the Blueberry. This show truly is ending...
  • It wasn't just retired... the Blueberry was T-boned and completely smashed apart by the weekly villains' much bigger truck. Combined with Gus quitting his day job - which provided it as a company car - and it becomes clear that the Blueberry isn't coming back.
• "1967: A Psych Odyssey", ends with Lassie becoming the new chief... except the Mayor forces him to transfer Juliet to San Francisco. Meanwhile, Jules and Shawn have to put their relationship on hold. It's obvious that neither is happy about this.
• SERIES END
  • Lets just start by summarizing that everything about this episode will lead to some bitter-sweet tears...through some laughter.
  • All of the scenes within the last few episodes that have the characters saying goodbye, as the Reality Subtext is very strong.
  • The scene when Shawn finally stops telling the story of their last case. He says he's happy Gus is finally getting the life he deserves, and admits he had been thinking for years that Gus' only problem was Shawn himself. Shawn is crying as he tells Gus how he feels guilty for delaying the life Gus deserved by coming to his office eight years ago and forcing him to join Psych. Then, still teary, he tells Gus he loves him, and walks off camera.
  • Then there is Gus' reaction, he just rushes to the Psych office to find it empty.
  • The last scene is just filled with bitter-sweet tears, as Shawn, Gus, and Juliet go in a stolen car with two driving wheels chasing someone that stole Shawn's engagement ring. It is half hilarious and saddening as the series ends.

The Movies

• Lassie Come Home
  • Henry gives Shawn one of his typical rants, but it hits Shawn especially hard because he thinks Juliet is pregnant.
  • Lassiter's body has betrayed him. That speech is coming from Omundson as much as from Lassiter.
  Lassiter: What if I don't get better? How am I supposed to teach Lilly with one working hand?

• This is Gus
  • Lassiter has to confront the possibility that his beloved career is coming to an end due to his stroke and he doesn't know what to do if he's no longer a cop.
  • Vick has to contend with the strain her career has placed on her family, illustrated when she's shown camping alone because her husband and daughter decided to head back home after growing tired of waiting for her at the campsite.

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