TV shows and movies have been breaking our hearts long before we were up in our feels over social distancing and pandemics. But this year, it feels like some of these moments hit a little harder. Luckily, we had plenty of tissues and comfort foods around to get us through.
We won’t rehash a lot of TV deaths, because we already made a list for that, but here are a few other moments on our screens that broke our hearts this year.
Alexis and Ted Break Up
Look, there are a lot of things about the final season of Schitt’s Creek that made us cry happy and sad tears. But the bittersweet breakup of Alexis and Ted was one of the most heart-wrenching scenes of the seasons. The two of them had come so far as a couple and gone through so much to finally get together, but unfortunately, their lives pulled them in two different directions.
Despite it being sad for those of us who shipped them, the scene was incredibly well written and a poignant view of what just happens sometimes when people are very much in love but have to go their separate ways. Our head canon will always be that they found each other again someday. And there is always fanfic.
Derek and George
Grey’s Anatomy has been around for many years, but its writers still know how to pack a gut punch. The episodes featuring the hospital’s response to COVID-19 were tough enough to watch, but then they added in Meredith getting sick and seeing not one, but two of our favorite characters that have died.
Bringing back Patrick Dempsey and T.R. Knight again as our beloved Derek and George only reminded us just how much we missed them. Their deaths were hard to recover from, and we can’t decide if seeing them again tore open the wound or was the balm we needed. Either way, it was damn good to see their faces. And we think Meredith agrees.
Castiel’s Confession
We already covered Castiel’s death in one of our lists, but we cannot help but include his last moment love confession to Dean Winchester on this list. For Destiel fans, it was confirmation of what they already knew, but it was too late. As if his tear-filled speech wasn’t enough, Castiel sacrificed himself for Dean before the latter could respond or even explore his own feelings.
The show ended without us knowing how Dean felt in return, and with no reunion in heaven. And to us, that is truly heartbreaking. Long live fanfic fix-its.
Spencer Gets Shot
In All American 2×10 “Protect Ya Neck”, Spencer is shot as he and Olivia are leaving the Cotillion. It’s heartbreaking, but what’s even more devastating is what came afterward in the next episode. When Spencer is brought into the hospital, the staff were quick to judge him. They suspect that he is a gang member because it was a drive-by. Instead of providing the care he needed, they ran a tox screen to check for drugs. They even go so far as to question why they should waste blood on him.
It’s a very emotional episode because it highlights the systemic racism that continues to plague our society in such a real way even in the healthcare system.
Baby Yoda Kidnapped
It is universally known that we would all protect Baby Yoda (no, we will not be calling him by any other name), with our lives. So when we saw him hauled away from Mando by those Imperial Troopers, we were not okay.
And let’s not even talk about the number of tissues we went through when Mando found the little ball that Baby Yoda played with survived his ship being destroyed. It’s all too much for us. Please return Baby Yoda to his space dad, immediately.
Outlander Strikes Again
We’ve made it no secret about how we feel about Outlander’s continual insistence on portraying sexual assaults of their characters on this show. It needs to stop. Claire Fraser was once again victimized this season. Her capture and rape in the season finale were too much for us to bear.
Claire’s “going away” to the future world where all her friends and family had gathered made the episode all the more heartbreaking. Catriona Balfe totally deserves all the awards for her performance in this episode. We still haven’t recovered form it.
Michonne’s Farewell
The Walking Dead has lost several cast members in recent years, but the departure of our beloved Michonne hit especially hard. Judith and RJ have already lost their father, Rick. Seeing them say goodbye to their mother as well was too much.
When Michonne found Rick’s things and crying over them, we cried with her. We miss him so much. While we are glad that she is going to go find her man, we wish she had taken her babies with her.
Hannah’s Realization
There were a lot of heartbreaking moments in The Haunting of Bly Manor, but one that shook us all was when Hannah realized that she was dead the entire time. Hannah was the sweetest and calmest character throughout the series. Learning what tragically happened to her had us all gasping in shock.
Hannah deserved better than her ghostly life at Bly Manor, and we’re just going to pretend that she’s off in Paris with Owen, okay?
Series Finales
As if we weren’t emotional enough this year, we faced the ending of some of our favorite shows. Some were planned, such as Arrow, Supernatural, Schitt’s Creek, The 100, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., etc. And others were due to cancelations, such as One Day at a Time, Party of Five, Stumptown, etc.
Even if some of these shows had time to write a proper ending to bring their stories to a close, none of us were ready.
What do you think were the most heartbreaking moments in television and film this year? Let us know in the comments!