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People Describe The Saddest Television Episodes They've Ever Seen

A woman wiping her eyes with a tissue
woman wiping her eyes
Photo by Jeremy Wong on Unsplash

Reddit user BVTQT asked: "What's the saddest episode of a show?'

Every time we discover we have a new favorite television show, we still tend to be surprised by just how invested we are in our favorite characters.

So when a will they/won't they couple finally shares their first kiss, we can't help but feel like that just happened to two of our closest friends (looking at YOU Buck and Tommy).


Or, on the flip side, when our favorite characters suffer a loss or obstacle, saying we feel their pain tends to be an understatement.

Some of these unexpected multi-hanky episodes being almost too much to handle (BOB! We hardly knew you!!!!)

Redditor BVTQT was eager to hear what people considered the all-time saddest episodes of any television series, leading them to ask:

"What's the saddest episode of a show?"

Hilarious and Heartbreaking

"'Modern Family'."

"When Phil goes down to visit his dad in Florida because he thinks his dad isn’t okay and the entire episode he has a great day with him and it cuts to Phil in the future saying 'I’m so glad I had the best day with my dad… but what I didn’t realize is that it would be my last' and it cuts to his dad’s funeral."- Pigeon_Barf

It's Hardest With Sitcoms

"The scrubs episode where Dr Cox keeps seeing Jordan's brother everywhere, then right at the end he realizes that they are at his funeral."

"Not much media makes me cry, but this definitely had me in bits. easily the saddest episode ever."- jeremy-irons-cereal

He Wasn't As Cold As He Appeared

"House MD."

"S5 EP24."

"He realizes his last few memories were all hallucinations and you can see him mentally break down when he realizes."

"Top class acting by Hugh Laurie."- bunny_kissesXO

Gregory House Coffee GIF by PeacockTVGiphy

Don't Even Get Me Started...

"' The View From Halfway Down' kinda broke me for a while."

"Bojack Horseman."- PalladiuM7

More Like Vampire SLAYED ME!

"Buffy - The Body."- fieschen

"I watched this as a teen for the first time and thought it was sad, but back then my mom was invincible, so I didn’t get it."

"Watched it again as an adult after she’d had a stroke - devastating."

"Sarah Michelle Gellar is such a good actress."- alli-katt

Animation At Its Most Powerful

"Tales of ba sing se.."- Dorsie_

"Brave soldier boy, comes marching home... "- Verlepte

Avatar The Last Airbender GIFGiphy

Resting In Peace, At Last...

"'The Good Place', last ep."

"Holy waterworks Batman, that one gets me every time."- WorldAncient7852

Starry Starry Night...

"'Doctor Who' episode about Vincent Van Gogh."

"That final scene will always be a tearjerker!"

"Getting teary-eyed just thinking about it! lol."- dragonmom1

Uncle Phil Saves The Day

"For me it's the episode of 'Fresh Prince of Bel Air' where he catches up with his dad."- huhmz

Season 4 Hug GIF by The Fresh Prince of Bel-AirGiphy

Soborama

"'Futurama '- 'Jurassic Bark'."- Ya-Dikobraz

“'Seymour forgot me a long time ago'.“

"It's 'Futurama'."

"It's supposed to be funny."

"You get to the end, it cues up 'If it Taakes forever....' And suddenly you have a room full of grown a** men pretending they aren't crying..."- ReverendRevolver

Literal Heartbreak

"Bones."

"They killed Sweets, just freaking shot him through the heart."- PhilzeeTheElder

We Miss You Mona.

"That episode of the Simpsons about Homer's mum and at the end hes sitting on the bonnet of his car looking up at the stars."- GradeExtreme6825

homer simpson GIFGiphy

Finale Ultimo

"Series finale of 'Six Feet Under' made me sob."- Fun_Statistician6932

Messing With The Wrong People...

"'Criminal Minds' where Foyet kills Hailey so Hotch snaps and beats him to death."

"Actually, early seasons 'Criminal Minds' has a few that belong on this list."- Tca2011

Laughed So Hard I Cried... Or Just Cried...

"Second to last episode of 'Derry Girls'; laughter to ugly crying in the space of about 18 seconds."- eva_rector

I Know Right GIF by Magic RadioGiphy

When we become drastically invested in anything, it's simply impossible not to get emotional when things take a turn for the worse.

Television shows are no exception.

But really... did they HAVE to do that to Bob?!?!?

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