Saddest TV show episodes

[Yoshi155]

I thought about this after seeing a video about the episode I Remember You from Adventure Time and remembered that people said that episode was really sad. So now I want to see your picks. Here are ones that come to mind:

• South Park - Kenny Dies. He dies all the time, so seeing him die for real and everyone care all of a sudden is devastating. I actually almost cried watching this for the first time. Not even You're Getting Old could do that.
• Ninjago -The Titanium Ninja. Normally, only the ending is sad, even knowing Zane will come back in the next season. But after actually watching his sacrifice, every time I watch it, I feel like it's just preparing for that scene which just makes it sadder than it's intended to be.
• Futurama - Jurassic Bark. I know, basic pick, but I can't really not put it. The entire thing is depressing.

Besides these, there are some picks I would put, like Mother Simpson, but I haven't actually watched them to say anything about them. But enough about my opinions. I want to hear yours now.

 

[rosetti]

The last episode of cyberpunk edgerunners, I didn’t go into the series thinking I would be attached at all BUT DAMN I COULDNT HOLD BACK THE TEARS I cried

 

[Seastar]

My memory is terrible so all that comes to mind right now is an episode of the Pokemon Sun & Moon anime.
The episode where Stoutland passes away and Litten is devastated.
I'm getting upset from just thinking about it.
If I remember anything else I watched that was sad enough for me, I'll come back.

 

[Rio_]

Despite being overly emotional and crying on a dime in real life, I surprisingly cry very little at tv and movies... unless it involves animals. Anything involving animals is guaranteed to set off the waterworks (ಥ﹏ಥ)

I think I blocked most sad animal episodes from my memory because all I can think of is jurassic bark and only because you mentioned it (you can guess how I reacted...)

But off the top of my head, some random episodes that made me really sad:

• The Stranger Things Season 2 episode where Bob dies and Season 3 episode where Alexei dies
• WandaVision episode 8 and Moon Knight episode 5
• BYE BYE BUTTERFREE and every episode of the original anime where Ash says goodbye to one of his Pokemon, but Bye Bye Butterfree hurt me the most!
• The original Fullmetal Alchemist anime episode 7 I suppose that one also involves animals... and episode 25
• Practically every episode of Attack on Titan...

There are probably episodes that made me even sadder, but like the animal ones, I'm probably blocking my memory of them

 

[Belle T]

Something I love about The Fresh Prince of Bel Air is that it has so many iconic and memorable funny moments that have more or less defined pop culture. Memes like the Carlton dance and "pillowy mounds of mashed potatoes," and even the theme song of the show itself have permeated pop culture in such a way that even if you've never seen the show in your life, you've more than likely seen at least one attempt to parody it. It's a show with such impeccably brilliant comedic timing that it actually throws you completely off guard when you have scenes like the ones below, which are not only beautifully written but are so perfectly acted and handled with such delicacy and care that it hits even harder than it would have from a show where you would expect these kinds of performances.

To this day, these scenes send a chill down my spine with just how real they feel.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

The All In the Family two parter Edith’s Crisis of Faith is pretty sad because of how the character Beverly LaSalle was killed in a brutal attack right before Christmas and how Edith is devastated by her friend’s death. Beverly was a milestone in television history for being an openly gay character that normalized gay men as being regular people and not the constant punching bag for jokes. And seeing Archie getting very concerned over Edith was sad in a different way as he tried so hard to cheer her up but couldn’t succeed and he didn’t know what to do to help his wife from being so sad.

The episode where Edith dies in Archie’s Place was sad because the viewer saw how grief can affect people very differently and Archie tried to hide his sadness by constantly working and refusing to talk about how losing his wife really affected him. You can see how much Edith really meant to him and that he never wanted to live without her beside him.

 

[demoness]

House, M.D. "Simple Explanation" and it's not even the event itself that is sad nor how the topic is broached

it's seeing the event smash through some of the world views of the other cast

 

[nelgoss]

The episode of Ozark where Wendy left her brother at the resturaunt, He had a lot of mental issues, was off his meds and the entire Episode was hard to watch. He was like a child in his mind off his meds, Doing stupid things and saying stupid things.... She left him there to be killed because she didn't know what to do with him anymore.

 

[VanitasFan26]

I was watching the episode called "Twisted Sister" from The Powerpuff Girls and without spoiling it for those who haven't seen it. It showcases a death of a character and I actually felt cried. Its really heartbreaking of what happens in the end.

 

[Emolga59]

Ngl the one episode of squid game when Ji-yeong sacrifices herself for Sae-byeok killed me inside. The smile before she’s shot is what does it.

Koizora (aka Sky of Love) is sad in general. Hiro’s death was sad enough but everything leading up to it had me on the floor.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

The Makeover episode of season 5 of RuPaul’s Drag Race is sort of sad for a bit when Jinkx’s partner talks about how he thinks he’s responsible for Judy Garland’s death. He doesn’t give all the details on the show and explains more of it in a YouTube interview after the Snatch Game episode of All Stars 7 had a shout out to him from Jinkx as Judy. Basically he was in the medic department of the army at the time and he met Judy while off duty and on break and they went out to dinner together and apparently she wanted more sleeping pills and he gave her some from the army base and it was a new kind of sleeping pill and he gave her a bottle and she was found dead the next morning with the bottle being found close by. This haunted him for nearly 5 decades and is incredibly sad to hear how much guilt he felt for giving Judy that bottle. No one expected to hear that and you can hear the total silence with everyone in the room being shocked at hearing such a revelation. Of course it wasn’t his fault because honestly Judy was so far gone by the time she had died and there really wasn’t much anybody could do to save her from the pill addiction.

 

[Millysaurusrexjr]

Definitely one of the saddest, hardest hitting episodes of any show I have ever seen was Buffy's season 5 episode "The Body". It was so hard to watch. Makes me want to get on a plane and go hug my mom.

Another really memorable sad episode was "The Shrine" in season 5 of Stargate Atlantis. Sort of a reverse Flowers for Algernon situation.

 

[Ghost Of Mascevanje]

One of the saddest/most emotive TV show episodes for me was the "Pigeon Man" episode from Hey Arnold (actually, it's the only one that comes to mind at the moment). The football-headed child's pet pigeon, Chester, becomes sick so he decides to bring him to the Pigeon Man (a mysterious hermit who prefers to spend all of his time alone with, well, pigeons). After Chester is cured of his illness, Arnold attempts to demonstrate his gratitude by treating the Pigeon Man (whose real name later turns out to be Vincent) to a pleasant dinner.

While they're both out dining at a pizza parlor, Harold the bully and a bunch of punk kids (including Stinky Peterson. Remember Stinky? I don't think he actually stank, that was probably just his name) sneak into the Pigeon Man's refuge (which is the roof of an abandoned building, if I remember correctly) and then completely vandalize the place (this isn't solely due to the kids' inherent malice though; it's also due to their clumsiness).

The Pigeon Man gets saddened by this unfortunate incident, but he is ultimately thankful to Arnold for teaching him that there are some people out in the world who are genuinely trustworthy. At the end of the episode, Vincent flies away to search for a place where he can live in peace with all of his pigeons.

 

[Dim]

-The episode of Courage the Cowardly dog where Courage lost his parents left him ;-;
-We Bare Bears episode when Yuri saved Baby Ice Bear
-The scene from Naruto when Sasuke jumped to save Naruto from Haku's attack and told him to never give up on his dreams
-FMAB episode when Ed and Al found out some state alchemist turned his daughter into a Chimera. Also

Spoiler

Hughes' Death

 

[Sheando]

I'm not much of a crier (or much of a TV watcher, to be honest), so I'm always really impressed when a show can get tears out of me. I can only think of two at the moment.

• Pretty much the entire last episode of The Good Place. And most especially the scene where Chidi and Eleanor are watching the ocean talking about philosophy and she says "Not bad, Buddhists," and Chidi replies, "None of this is bad." For some reason it's that line that guts me. I would say that The Good Place is the one TV show I truly love.
• There's an episode of Steven Universe: Future where the main character, who suffered a lot of childhood trauma, has a giant meltdown (conceptualized in a "magical" way along w/ the theme of the show) and finally breaks down crying, shouting about how nobody is trying to kill him anymore, he has loving friends and family, all that happened was a minor personal rejection--"so why do I always feel like I'm about to die?" I was dealing with immense personal trauma at the time and the episode hit me hard. Really good depiction of how trauma takes over at the most unexpected times, and how sometimes our minds and bodies can't fully react to horrible experiences until we're safely out of the situation.

 

[QueenCobra]

Not necessarily an episode, but Friends is going to be hard/sad to watch following Matthew Perry’s death.

 

[moonbyu]

- avatar: the last airbender, tales of ba sing se.
specifically the part where iroh sings his song to his son's photo. that already made me upset, but when my sister told me that mako, iroh's voice actor was REALLY CRYING because he had cancer and passed away shortly after.. instant tears.

- any moral orel episode after the two parter "nature". amazing show, but it hits wayy close to home for me sometimes.

- bojack horseman, time's arrow and the old sugarman place.
i don't like beatrice 100%.. but she has one of the saddest backstories i've seen in the show.

 

[Plainbluetees]

the last episode of dinosaurs. changing nature

Spoiler: reason why

basically the mega corporation that owns the whole planet kills off this bug species that has a migration every year, throwing the eco system off balance so these plants keep growing with no bugs to eat them and balance it. so the mega corporation decides to spray a defoliant to kill the excess plants but of course it doesn’t end up killing the now invasive plants but also literally every plant on the planet and it enters a famine. Since they’re dinosaurs they think clouds come from volcanos and clouds = rain, so they drop a bunch of bombs in volcanos to make them erupt and have rain and grow the plants back. Instead the smoky ash clouds cover the sun and create a new ice age. and then everyone just kinda accepts that they’re done for…

 

[Corrie]

Clannad After Story:

Spoiler

"It was the first thing from Daddy."

"The only places I can cry are the bathroom... and Daddy's arms."

"What was Mommy like? Well she-"

"It's okay Sanae, you can cry now."

"I'm sorry Ushio. I've been a bad Daddy."

"Papa, why is it dark?"

Quotes aren't exact but if you've seen the show, you'll know what scenes I'm talking about.

 

[Belle T]

Clannad After Story:

Spoiler

"It was the first thing from Daddy."

"The only places I can cry are the bathroom... and Daddy's arms."

"What was Mommy like? Well she-"

"It's okay Sanae, you can cry now."

"I'm sorry Ushio. I've been a bad Daddy."

"Papa, why is it dark?"

Quotes aren't exact but if you've seen the show, you'll know what scenes I'm talking about.

One of my favorite YouTube comments went something like-

Spoiler

"You can't make a song about food sad!"
clannad: "hold my dango"