No matter what the genre, most of our favorite TV shows can make us laugh and cry in equal measure, depending on where the storyline goes on any given episode. Whether it’s the death of a beloved character, dealing with emotionally charged topics, or simply an unexpected twist, some of the very best installments can stand out for how much they tug at our heartstrings. If you’re in the mood for something that will make you reach for the tissues, we’ve compiled some of the saddest TV episodes ever. Just be warned that besides sending you into tears, there are also some MAJOR SPOILERS ahead.
RELATED: The 60 Saddest Movie Deaths of All Time.
The Saddest TV Episodes Ever Made
1 | "Long, Long Time," The Last Of Us
HBO
Powerful TV isn’t just generated by plot developments with main characters. The first season of The Last of Us took a moment early on with this standalone episode, which focuses on surly doomsday prepper Bill (Nick Offerman) and the relationship he builds with Frank (Murray Bartlett), a helpless survivor he happens upon and rescues.
It’s almost easy to forget the two are in a post-apocalyptic landscape, with the remainder of the tearjerking episode showing the couple as they fall in love and support one another through two decades of environmental hardship. When Bill’s health declines due to an illness, Frank decides to join him in taking a fatal dose of medication, telling him: "I’m old. I’m satisfied. And you were my purpose."
2 | "ABQ," Breaking Bad
AMC
Breaking Bad is arguably one of the most emotionally nuanced shows ever to air, but if there were ever any question, the Season 2 finale is enough to seal the deal. Like many of the most tragic episodes, it follows the fallout following a character's death, as Jesse (Aaron Paul) hits a depressive nadir following the overdose of his girlfriend, Jane (Krysten Ritter).
3 | "The Second Coming," The Sopranos
HBO
In a show filled with plenty of sudden character deaths, it’s perhaps surprising that it’s a near-death experience that stands out as one of the most emotionally poignant scenes in the entire series. While attempting to take his own life by drowning himself in his family’s pool, A.J. Soprano (Robert Iler) suddenly changes his mind—just as his father, Tony (James Gandolfini), arrives at home to save him. The lightning-quick progression from panic to anger to confusion and then ultimately to sorrow and compassion completes a series-wide picture of Tony, proving he’s as much a nurturing and devoted father as he is a tortured crime kingpin.
4 | "Archie Alone," Archie Bunker’s Place
CBS
Because they’re often a comfort place for us, sad moments on sitcoms can hit especially hard. This was certainly the case with Archie Bunker’s Place, which served as a spin-off for the famously gruff Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor) and his loving, shrill-voiced wife, Edith (Jean Stapleton), after All in the Family concluded its iconic run.
However, the show’s second season premiere took an unexpectedly tragic turn when audiences learned that Edith had died of a stroke. After spending the entire episode avoiding addressing his feelings, Archie’s emotions come to a head when he finds one of his wife’s slippers underneath their bed. His tearful monologue stands out as a breathtakingly moving scene. He finally processes the loss, saying: "You had no right to leave me that way, Edith, without giving me one more chance to say that I love you."
5 | "Thanksgiving," Master of None
Netflix
Familial dynamics often become heightened on holidays, which is partly what makes this flashback episode such a perfect vehicle for addressing an important topic. What begins with Denise (Lena Waithe) having realizations about her sexuality at a young age eventually culminates with her coming out first to her best friend, Dev, (Aziz Ansari), and years later to her mother, Catherine (Angela Bassett). While it’s not sad or tragic in the traditional dramatic sense, the themes of underlying love spanning across generations—and not to mention Bassett’s positively stunning guest performance—are powerful. Have the tissues handy when watching.
RELATED: The 30 Most Iconic TV Crossover Episodes of All Time.
6 | "Geothermal Escapism," Community
NBC
In most cases, anyone crying while watching Community tends to be shedding tears of laughter. But the cult-favorite comedy isn’t a stranger to heartfelt moments, too. In the lead-up to losing his best friend, Abed (Danny Pudi) plans a painstakingly detailed game of "floor is lava" to delay inevitably saying goodbye to Troy (Donald Glover) before he sets sail on a circumnavigation sail. This stands out as one of the best episodes of the series thanks to its tenderness, which takes a rare moment to rise above the jokes as it bids farewell to a beloved character.
7 | "Into You Like a Train," Grey’s Anatomy
ABC
It's actually harder to find a Grey's Anatomy episode that won't make you cry, given the breakups and character deaths that have served as the backbone of the series for the past 20 years. It doesn't get much sadder, however, than Derek (Patrick Dempsey) telling a dead patient's grieving fiancé, "She wanted you to know... that if love were enough... that if love were enough, that she'd still be here with you."
8 | "Memphis," This Is Us
NBC
Like Grey's Anatomy, This Is Us seems to be genetically engineered to make us feel things. The first season of the series threw the audience into its weepy multi-generational story, but nothing provoked a more emotional response than Randall's (Sterling K. Brown) final trip with his dying biological father (Ron Cephas Jones) and their last goodbye.
9 | "Everyone’s Waiting," Six Feet Under
HBO
Of all the great TV series finales, Six Feet Under is surely the one most likely to leave you a snotty mess. In showing when and how each character dies—scored to Sia's "Breathe Me"—the final montage gorgeously underscores the series' theme while delivering one gut-punch after the next.
10 | "The Body," Buffy the Vampire Slayer
20th Television
No show has tackled death quite like Buffy the Vampire Slayer did in the pivotal episode "The Body." While there had been a high body count on the show since the beginning, this gutting installment largely dispelled with the supernatural, instead offering a grounded, at times unbearably realistic look at the loss of a parent.
11 | "Papa’s Got a Brand New Excuse," The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Warner Bros.
Any fan of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will tell you they lost it at the end of this classic episode, in which Will (Will Smith) reunites with his estranged father, only to be disappointed by him again. "How come he don't want me, man?" Will cries. Cue the tears.
RELATED: 20 Best TV Shows Based on True Stories.
12 | "Independence Day," The Wonder Years
20th Television
Based on the nostalgia factor alone, watching The Wonder Years can be an overwhelmingly emotional experience. But nothing hit quite as hard as the finale, which had Kevin (Fred Savage) dropping bombshells in his final monologue: His dad (Dan Lauria) died the following year, and he and Winnie (Danica McKellar) didn't end up together.
13 | "Jurassic Bark," Futurama
20th Television
Set to the haunting "I Will Wait for You" from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, the final scene of this Futurama episode memorably shows Fry's beloved dog waiting (and waiting and waiting) patiently for his return. What we know—and the dog doesn't—is that Fry would never return to the 20th century. Who knew an animated sci-fi sitcom could wreck us so effectively?
14 | "Whenever You're Ready," The Good Place
NBC
The series finale of The Good Place isn't sad in the way most of the other episodes on this list are—it's more bittersweet. But after watching and loving these characters for years, it's hard to see them move on past the afterlife into whatever comes next, especially when that means Eleanor (Kristen Bell) and Chidi (William Jackson Harper) parting ways.
15 | "My Screw Up," Scrubs
NBC
The reveal at the end of "My Screw Up"—that Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) is actually at the funeral of Ben (Brendan Fraser), whose death he hasn't been able to accept—pulls the rug out from under the audience and had us scrambling for the tissues.
16 | "The Door," Game of Thrones
HBO
On a show with as many brutal deaths as Game of Thrones had, why did Hodor's (Kristian Nairn) death leave such a lasting impression? Perhaps it was because of the circumstances of his demise, one of the more noble sacrifices of the show's run. Or maybe it was because we finally learned that Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) was responsible for the cognitive impairment that had reduced his loyal caretaker to saying just one word.
RELATED: 6 TV Plot Twists That Audiences Hated.
17 | "The Candidate," Lost
ABC
As with Game of Thrones, Lost excelled at character death. But while the sixth season proved contentious for fans and critics alike, it also featured the most impactful goodbyes, as Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) decided to stay by Sun's (Yunjin Kim) side, and they both drowned together after expressing their love for each other one last time. Well, at least until the afterlife.
18 | "The Quarterback," Glee
Fox
The real-life death of Cory Monteith forced Glee to address his absence, and the result was this raw, incredibly painful exploration of loss. Rachel's "To Make You Feel My Love" is hard to endure, given that Lea Michele had just lost her real-life boyfriend. And now, after Naya Rivera's tragic death, her performance of "If I Die Young" is also unspeakably sad.
19 | "If Tomorrow Never Comes," Nashville
Mark Levine / CMT
Many fans stopped watching Nashville after ABC canceled the series, but it found new life on CMT—and extinguished Rayna's (Connie Britton) shortly thereafter. Even if the show had lost some of its luster for viewers, her death packed a powerful punch.
20 | "All Good Things … Must Come to an End," Dawson’s Creek
Sony Pictures Television
Audiences first fell in love with Michelle Williams on Dawson's Creek, and she's been making us cry in TV and film appearances ever since. It's impossible to forget her cruel death at the end of the classic teen series, especially considering the gut-wrenching video she records for her baby daughter.
21 | "The Son," Friday Night Lights
NBC
Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) is not a character we saw break down often on Friday Night Lights, which is why his complicated reaction to the death of his mostly absent father on the show was one of the series' most memorably upsetting moments. We experienced his anger and grief alongside him.
RELATED: The 25 Best TV Theme Songs Ever Written.
22 | "The Graduates," The O.C.
Fox
There is no sad scene that can't be made sadder with the inclusion of "Hallelujah." Case in point: Marissa dying in Ryan's (Ben McKenzie) arms in the Season 3 finale of The O.C. Even knowing that Mischa Barton was departing the series, her final moments destroyed us.
23 | "Wilson’s Heart," House
Fox
With a notoriously prickly title character, House isn't always big on emotions—which is fine because he always gets the job done. That's why it was so unexpectedly awful to see the Sherlock Holmes-inspired doctor (Hugh Laurie) fail to save Amber (Anne Dudek), who then died in Wilson's (Robert Sean Leonard) arms.
24 | "A Hole in the World," Angel
20th Television
In a season that unceremoniously killed off Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), who had already been off-screen in a coma, you'd think Angel could give the audience a break. But no, in classic Joss Whedon fashion, the series finally paired up Wes (Alexis Denisof) and Fred (Amy Acker), only to have her die in his arms in the very next episode. Her last words—"Why can't I stay?"—might be the show's most poignant.
25 | "What to My Wondering Eyes," Parenthood
NBC
It's not just Dawson's Creek. There's just something about parents recording goodbye messages for their children. Kristina (Monica Potter) survives on Parenthood—and we are still breathing a sigh of relief over that—but that doesn't make her struggle with breast cancer any less tear-inducing.
26 | "407 Proxy Authentication Required," Mr. Robot
USA Network
The final season of Mr. Robot deserved so much more credit than it got, particularly for this stunning episode, in which Elliot is forced to confront the truth about his past in a therapy session at gunpoint. It's sad, yes, but it's also just emotionally overwhelming. By the end, it's impossible not to be crying along with Rami Malek, who delivers his finest performance to date.
27 | "Goodbye," 8 Simple Rules
Buena Vista Television
As on Glee, the sudden real-life death of an actor gives the death of their character a tragic realism. The sitcom 8 Simple Rules decided to play it straight for the most part, and watching these characters grieve their father—as the actors grieved their co-star, John Ritter—is almost too much to take.
28 | "Abyssinia, Henry," M*A*S*H
CBS
M*A*S*H practically wrote the book on the brand of heartbreaking "comedy" that's all over cable and streaming these days. But perhaps the most devastating moment of the Korean War series happens at the end of Season 3, when Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake's (McLean Stevenson) plane is shot down off-screen as he's headed back to the U.S., having been honorably discharged, and Radar (Gary Burghoff) has to deliver the news. The hit show's producers were subsequently inundated with letters and even phone calls from shocked and infuriated fans.
29 | "Blue Valentine," black-ish
ABC
Married sitcom couples always seem solid, even if their constant bickering provides a lot of the humor. That's why it was so destabilizing for black-ish viewers when Dre (Anthony Anderson) and Bow (Tracee Ellis Ross) hit a rough patch and decide to separate after several seasons of being one of network TV's favorite pairs.
"Blue Valentine" is even shot in a different hue, the color draining out of the frame as the couple faces their increasingly insurmountable problems. Dre and Bow eventually find their way back to each other, but this episode takes a jarringly realistic look at how even the "perfect" marriage can fall apart, and it's a pretty tough watch.
30 | "Buck Begins," 9-1-1
ABC
By the time "Buck Begins" rolled around in Season 4 of 9-1-1, all the other major characters had gotten their origin story episodes, each sad in its own way. The show about first responders in L.A. saved the roughest for last, however, finally revealing the source of Buck's (Oliver Stark) complicated, near-non-existent relationship with his parents. On the bright side, the Buckley Family Tragedy underscores the bond between Buck and his older sister Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt), but between his well-earned abandonment issues and her abusive marriage, it's a lot to take in!
31 | "On the Beach," ER
NBC
Ask any ER fan for their pick for the medical drama's saddest episode, and they'll probably give you a list. We're going with Season 8's "On the Beach," infamous for featuring the death of Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards), who we'd known since the pilot. Mark is diagnosed with brain cancer earlier in the season, so his death is not unexpected, but that's what makes this episode such a tearjerker.
With the time he has left, Mark is determined to reconnect with his teenage daughter Rachel (Hallee Hirsch) and takes her to Hawaii, where he spent much of his childhood. To the ukulele strumming of Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (instant tears in any context), Mark comes to terms with his mortality and fixes his family just in the nick of time—it's an unforgettable farewell to a beloved character.
32 | "The Bent-Neck Lady," The Haunting of Hill House
Netflix
Mike Flanagan's The Haunting of Hill House explores grief through the conventions of horror—specifically ghost stories—following a family as they move into the most haunted of all fixer-uppers and then years later, as they cope (or refuse to cope, as it were) in their own ways with what happened there. The episode that centers on Victoria Pedretti's Nell is the standout, as it uncovers the tragic origins of the "bent-neck lady" who haunted her as a child.
