Tear Jerker / Star Trek: Enterprise

"You have always struggled so with your emotions, T'Pol."

Season 1

Fight or Flight

• Hoshi's pet slug is lethargic, and there is doubt about whether it will survive. This hits close to home for everyone who's ever worried about the safety of their pet. And while the slug does get better, it gets set free on another planet, meaning that Hoshi will probably never see it again.
• Hoshi beating herself up for having screamed upon seeing the dead bodies, because she's worried it makes her too much of a loose cannon and "like a twelve-year-old", especially since no one else screamed. Then, when she's trying to talk to the alien captain, she's still doubting herself.

  Hoshi: "I'll get it all wrong, it'll just make things worse."

• "Sleeping Dogs" suggests that Hoshi still feels awkward about screaming back in "Fight or Flight", since she becomes down on herself for not being in control of her emotions, even though all she did was gasp.

Shuttlepod One

• The episode is overall this for Trip and Malcolm, who are lost on the titular shuttle while thinking that Enterprise has been destroyed. (The ship is, of course, mostly fine, but they have no way of knowing.) Malcolm tries to deal with the situation by recording a series of Video Wills to his parents, old girlfriends, and others until Trip snaps at him, calling him the "Grim Reaper" for dwelling on his own mortality. This prompts Malcolm to unload his feelings in a way that he's never done before, and probably never does again.
  "I lost nearly everyone I cared about on that ship! Those girls I mentioned - Deborah, Rochelle, Caitlin - none of them ever really worked out because I could...never get very close to them. Never got very close to my family, either, for that matter. Not that it's any of your business." (voice cracks) "But with the crew of the Enterprise, it was different. I was really starting to feel...comfortable with them. Now the only one that's left thinks I'm the bloody Angel of Death?" (drinks a shot of bourbon)

Shockwave, Part 1

• The alternate version of the 31st century seen.

Season 2

A Night in Sickbay

• Animal lovers can cry at Porthos getting sick.

Horizon

• The episode has a remarkably sad scene coming from Travis Mayweather of all people. Archer finds Travis in his favorite spot, just after they get the news of his father's passing. Poor Travis is just inconsolable, especially since the two never reconciled after Travis left the Horizon to join Starfleet. Archer reassures Travis that Travis' father DID respect him and care for him, by telling him that his father was the one to recommend Travis to Archer's crew, saying "he had never met a more natural stick-and-rudder man, and [Archer] would be a fool to not pick him." Travis' response is devastating.
  Travis: ...I wish he would've told me that.

The Breach

• The episode reveals how Phlox grew up among and tried to overcome the anti-Antaran prejudice of his homeworld. He revealed to his prejudiced Antaran patient Hudak that he had taught his children to reject the anti-Antaran prejudice but failed to do the same with his youngest son Mettus which has strained their relationship.

Cogenitor

• The final scene. The episode itself is arguably one of the most powerful Star Trek fans had seen in a long time, and the shockingly tragic Twist Ending ensures that status. And it was written by the often-derided Berman and Braga, to boot!
• The events of this episode leave both Trip and Archer badly shaken — Trip because his well-intentioned actions lead to such tragic consequences, and Archer because Trip claimed to be doing exactly what he would've done, making him question his own ability to set a good example for his crew.

The Expanse

• Trip and Malcolm standing where Trip's hometown used to be, staring in shock at what the Xindi weapon did.

Season 3

Twilight

• Older!Archer in learning that Enterprise's mission failed and Earth was destroyed. Good thing it gets reversed by the end of the episode.

Similitude

• Sim's brief existence. Basically, Trip is seriously injured, so they make a clone to save him, known as "Sim", but Sim has Trip's memories, and when he starts asking questions, they tell him the truth. He has an existential crisis over being a copy, and eventually sacrifices himself to save Trip.

Azati Prime

• Enterprise getting hammered badly by the Xindi.

The Forgotten

• Trip's Story Arc in Season 3 as he attempts to ignore the death of his little sister in the Xindi attack, culminating here when he finally breaks down and admits to himself that Elizabeth is gone.
  Tucker: Crewman Taylor had a real knack for this kind of thing. But Taylor's not here, is she? And neither is Crewman Kamata, or Ensign Marcel, or a dozen others. [...] We found Taylor over there, outside her quarters. She was probably trying to get to her station. If she'd made it a few more meters, I wouldn't be trying to write this damn letter. 'Cause every time I start, I hear myself saying what a fine young woman she was, how smart and full of potential. And I realize that I'm not thinking about Taylor at all. I'm thinking about Elizabeth. There's so many people dead. I tried not to see her any differently than the other seven million, so I've spent the last nine months trying to pretend she was just another victim. But she's my sister, T'Pol. My baby sister. [bursts into tears]
  • And his letter to Taylor's parents:
    Tucker: Mister and Mrs. Taylor, by the time you get this, Starfleet will have already told you about Jane. Since I worked so closely with her, I wanted to add my personal condolences. I have to confess, I've been putting off writing this for a while. I convinced myself that my duties on Enterprise took precedence. But the truth is I didn't want to face the fact that someone so young, with so much promise, could just be gone. But I'm facing it now, and I find myself thinking how important she was to me. She was a great engineer, and she was my friend. She won't be forgotten. (puts down the photo of his sister) Goodbye, Elizabeth.

Countdown

• Major Hayes dying and Reed trying to comfort him, then having to go and tell the rest of the MACOs what happened.
  • Especially since, for the first two seasons, the only way Reed could open up to people was with the threat of impending death, then he manages to try and support Trip after his sister's death, openly mourns the loss of several Red Shirts in front of a Vulcan and go on to have two deep and personal talks with the man he was sure at the beginning was trying to take over his job.

Zero Hour

• The last several minutes, when everyone thinks Archer is dead.

Season 4

Storm Front, Part II

• In an odd way, Silik's death was surprisingly tear-jerking, having been a Worthy Opponent for Archer and fighting alongside him until the end.

Home

• Trip has to watch T'Pol go through with an Arranged Marriage. He refuses to tell T'Pol he loves her as it will only makes things worse, only for T'Pol to quickly kiss him before leaving for the marriage ceremony.
• Archer is being crushed under the guilt of all the morally-questionable actions he took during the previous year. When he's alone with his former girlfriend Erika Hernandez, he admits to her that when he looks at her, he sees the idealistic captain he was when Enterprise first launched and now feels like he's lost himself.

Borderland, Cold Station 12, The Augments

• Malik's cold-blooded murder of his "siblings" Udar and Persis.

The Forge

• The death of Admiral Forrest near the beginning of the episode really came as a shock to many. It helps that he died saving Soval's life.

Deadalus

• The ending. Poor old Emory Erickson. A legend in Starfleet who created the transporter, he's spent years mourning the loss-via-Teleporter Accident of his son Quinn, and tricks the Enterprise crew into a mission to pull Quinn out of a semi-transported hell. It resulted in a dead Red Shirt, betrayed trust, and a Broken Pedestal for Trip. And the worst part? When he finally makes Quinn whole again, Quinn's suffered too much cellular degeneration to survive for more than a few seconds anyway, and he dies in his father's arms. All Erickson can do in his grief is resign himself to the fact that he saved his boy from a Fate Worse than Death.

Observer Effect

• Trip and Hoshi dying. Even though they did get better.

Terra Prime

• "Terra Prime", the death of poor little baby Elizabeth makes the harsh comments that T'Les made about a human and Vulcan having a baby seem all the more Harsher in Hindsight.
  • Phlox telling Archer how Elizabeth's death hurts as much as if it was his own child.

These Are the Voyages...

• Trip's death.
  • Before that, Trip and Reed's conversation in Engineering.
    Tucker: Been a hell of a run, Malcolm. Never thought it would come to an end.
    Reed: All good things. Captain thinks there'll be another Enterprise before too long.
    Tucker: I imagine.
    Reed: It won't be the same.

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