While Titus was mostly a Black Comedy making fun of the things that would be considered tear-jerking and dramatic (i.e., alcoholism, suicide, murder, family dysfunction, failure, terrorism, dealing with death, unrequited love, divorce, etc), this show did have its fair share of tear-jerking moments.
As this is a Moments page, all SPOILERS are unmarked per Spoilers Off policy. You Have Been Warned.
- "The Last Noelle": Titus reading the letter he ripped up that Noelle sent to him ("Dear Christopher: I love you too much, that's the problem. Be mine forever, and I promise I'll never hurt you. Love, Noelle.") is just chilling not just because Titus was involved in an abusive relationship with a woman who used her sex appeal to reel him back whenever she drove him away with her violence, but because Noelle could have been damaged herself, but was too self-deluded to realize it.
- On top of that, he was so insecure about having been beaten up by her that he initially lied to Erin and claimed Noelle was the love of his life rather than admit the truth.
- In "Locking Up Mom", Titus relates how he was watching One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with his mother, who burst into tears when the electroshock therapy scene happened, explaining to a speechless Christopher that it reminded her of her life.
- Titus had memorized at an early age the qualifications for involuntary commitment, which is initially Played for Laughs, but The Reveal that Ken had thrown out all of Juanita's letters to Titus leads to Titus remembering the event more fully:
- Harm to others - his mom whacks his dad with a frying pan... later shown to be in retaliation for Ken upending Titus' cereal bowl onto his head, saying "What? He wouldn't eat!"
- Harm to Self - his mom shaving a strip off her head... later shown to be done in response to Ken saying her hair looks like crap.
- Destruction of property - initially shown as her blowing up Ken's car, juxtaposing it with Ken tearing up the letter intended for Titus.
- Titus had memorized at an early age the qualifications for involuntary commitment, which is initially Played for Laughs, but The Reveal that Ken had thrown out all of Juanita's letters to Titus leads to Titus remembering the event more fully:
- "The Smell of Success" - after an unflattering column in a national Hot Rod magazine, Titus' business starts to go under. And for the first time in thirteen years, he falls Off the Wagon, knowing full well that Erin (who grew up in an alcoholic home) will leave him if he does so.
- "The Visit": After trapping his mom in a closet (and with Dave, Ken, and Tommy ready to attack), Erin comes in to tell Titus that she got a call from the police about Titus's mom — she killed herself four hours ago in Missouri, meaning that she was never in California trying to sabotage Titus and Erin's plans to adopt Amy. After the utterly silent scene of Titus checking the closet and finding no one there, it cuts to the Neutral Space, in which Titus ends the episode with this speech:"Being a parent is a life sentence. From the day that child is born to the day you die—and then some. Mom, there's nothing to forgive. You gave me life. And, hey, you're not crazy anymore. Of course, everyone else now thinks I'm crazy. Real funny, Mom."
- The flashbacks of Titus as a child spending time with his mom in the mental hospital on "Insanity Genetic", particularly the one in which 5-year-old Titus tries to say goodbye to his mom, but she's so catatonic from mental illness, all she can do is rock back and forth, just staring.
- Titus saying goodbye to Erin at the end of "Insanity Genetic". He puts on a smile and reassures her he'll be fine, but the minute she leaves he slumps and puts his head in his hands, all alone.
- The end of "Mom's Not Nuts", in which Titus tries to ignore the ringing phone (after his Mom drugs Titus, Erin, Tommy, and Dave with her medication and chases after Ken with a broken wine bottle) in the Neutral Space, then decides to answer it, showing that Titus still loves his mother, despite her severe mental illness.
- The episode in which Titus is getting ready to drag race is mostly to showcase that, for all their vitriol, he and his father do get along in their own twisted way. And then right at the end, Titus is driving his car and it explodes. Crash cut to the Neutral Space which, for the first time, is empty, and all we hear is Papa Titus and Erin trying desperately to revive Christopher, who is in a coma.
- The Grand Finale episode filmed in 2020: Titus gets out of the asylum after five years, and he's excited to get his life back on track, run his hot rod business and marry Erin. Until he finds out she's left him for Tommy and his hot rod business has been turned into a basic collision damage repair shop. Titus winds up losing almost everything in one day.
