Lost/Tear Jerker

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    • E01 Pilot Part 1
    • E02 Pilot Part 2
    • E03 Tabula Rasa
    • E04 Walkabout
    • E05 White Rabbit
    • E06 House of the Rising Sun
    • E07 The Moth
    • E08 Confidence Man
    • E09 Solitary
    • E10 Raised by Another
    • E11 All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues
    • E12 Whatever the Case May Be
    • E13 Hearts and Minds
    • E14 Special
    • E16 Outlaws
  • S06
    • E01 LAX
    • E02 What Kate Does
    • E03 The Substitute
    • E04 Lighthouse
    • E05 Sundown
    • E06 Dr. Linus
    • E07 Recon
    • E08 Ab Aeterno
    • E09 The Package
    • E10 Happily Ever After
    • E11 Everybody Loves Hugo
    • E12 The Last Recruit
    • E13 The Candidate
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    • E15 What They Died For
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• God damn Lost and its goddamn Anyone Can Die policy. This troper's already in "Sirius Denial" over Rousseau. And then they go and kill Alex too!
• This troper desperately tried to hold in his Manly Tears at the end of "Ji Yeon." He failed. The fact that the ending was a major Mind Screw just made the whole thing that much more outlandishly cruel.
• The defining Lost death so far is still Charlie's. One of the most awesome characters on the show, dying to ensure everyone else lived.
  • This troper found it even more of a tearjerker that after all that, nobody listens to him- they try to get onto the ship anyway.
  • His death is even worse when you know it's coming and you watch him dive down into the water, and you know there's no turning back...
  • The part that made this troper cry hardest of all was when he was writing his "Greatest Hits", and the best moment of his entire life was the night he met Claire... Oh GOD. SOBBING. This troper is still furious that Desmond never gave the note to Claire.
  • Hurley's reaction was pretty heartbreaking as well-- when Desmond returns, and he and Sayid and Jin and Bernard all arguing about the message Desmond recieved, and then suddenly Hurley: "WHERE'S CHARLIE?" And everyone goes silent.
    • And then again, when Hurley told Claire...
  • What really got me was the fact that even though Desmond knew that saving Charlie's life again would just disrupt the course of events in his visions and possibly prevent Penny's supposed boat coming to save them, he still grabs the fire extinguisher and tries desperately to break through the window to get to him.
• More recently, Charlotte dying while all Daniel can do is watch.
  • How about Daniel's death?! Killed, no less, by his own mother! Who later is forced to send him to the island, KNOWING that he was going to be shot by her younger self in the past!
• Lost tearjerkers don't have to involve character deaths. For this troper, the main Tear Jerker moment in the whole series was "The Constant", when Desmond & Penny finally manage to speak to each other over the satellite phone after three years of Desmond being missing. And they only have a limited time to talk, and in the end just say "I love you" as much as they can. And it's Christmas Eve. Brilliantly tearjerkeriffic.
  • Also, keep in mind how long they went without speaking with one another before that phone call:

Desmond: Look, Penny, just give me your number, and, and I know I've ruined things, and I know you think things are over between us, but they're not. If there's any part of you that still believes in us, just give me your number. Penny: And what's to say you won't call me tonight, or tomorrow? Desmond: I won't call for eight years. December 24, 2004. Christmas eve. I promise.

• • And then when the two of them are finally reunited in the season finale. Buckets, man.
  • AND THEY NAMED THEIR SON CHARLIE. When they first said that, that one little word, the tears started pouring down my face. Desmond named his son CHARLIE. I can't even.
  • Oh god, yes, but this troper cried more when Ben went after Penny in Dead is Dead. I was so, so convinced she was going to die, especially since they set you up and earlier in the episode Ben says he wants to sincerely apologize to Desmond, and I was screaming and crying, and then li'l Charlie came out and Penny was saying, "Don't hurt my son", and BAM. Desmond knocked him down and kicked his ass, and then I was screaming with joy. I was so, so, so, SO relieved. But the dread I felt before that was just awful.
• Not a death, but something that gets this troper every time: In the S1 finale, Everyone left on the beach gathers to see off the raft as Michael, Walt, Sawyer and Jin sail off in search of rescue. Beforehand, Walt gives his dog, Vincent, to Shannon, telling her that Vincent helped him when his mom died ("He's a good listener"), and that maybe he can help her with Boone's death. The raft then sails off, the music swelling, Kate gone before Sawyer had a chance to say goodbye, Jin leaving Sun behind on the beach just after they begun to reconcile their marriage, and -- somehow how the saddest of all for this troper--Vincent swims after it, prompting Walt to call out, "Go back, Vincent! Go back!" until he eventually turns around.
• Actually, any time they break out the music that sounds a lot like the Gattaca score is fair warning that they're about to bring on the sadness.
• Recently rewatched "Do No Harm," in which the Losties simultaneously mourn Boone's death and celebrate Aaron's birth. Sobbed.
  • This troper finally convinced one of her friends to watch the show that day. Said friend called her in a towering rage that she had suckered her in with such a devastating episode. Troper was bawling too hard to reply.
• Also not related to death, when Jin's story is finally told and it turns out that he's not heartless and uncaring toward his wife, but actually madly in love with her and suffering horrible trials from her father because of it
  • The scene when Sun is trying to talk with Jin after he finds out that she can speak English always gets this Troper. Hearing her sadness and desperation in Korean was enough, but when she said, "I was going to leave you," I'm done.
• What about the flashback where Michael has to say goodbye to Walt? That definitely had me tearing up.
• I don't like Ana Lucia that much, but I bawled when we see the flashback of her crying as she talks to her mom in the phone before taking the flight.
• "I have to say goodbye to my daughter, John!"
• The only moment in the series that got this troper? "I don't understand."
• Season 4 finale. Sun screaming for Lapidus to let Jin on the helicopter. The freighter blows up, and Sun just loses it. Oh dear sweet God.
• While it isn't easy to feel sorry for Ben, having Keamy executing his daughter right in front of him sends a shiver down this tropers spine, if not just for the horrified look on Ben's face
  • And the way he just broke off his sentence and then stood at the window as everyone around him tried to work out an escape plan? Pure pain. It's a credit to Michael Emerson's performance that his later savage attack on Keamy as he screamed, "You killed my daughter!" felt totally justified to this troper. She honestly didn't care at the time if everyone on that freighter died, as long as Ben got to shank that son of a bitch.
  • At the time that this happened, this troper could care less about Ben, but the fact that Alex was killed like that was HORRIFYING. I sat there going, "She's not going to die. She can't die. OH SHIT THIS IS LOST YES SHE CAN. *is shot*" Cue BAWLING and chucking my remote at the wall.
    • The worst part, for me, is that the last thing she heard was saying that she was a pawn, that she didn't matter, that he could go ahead an ki--and then Keamy shoots.
      • Oh god you just gave me a bit of Fridge Horror. What's going to happen post-The End when she remembers how she died, and suddenly Dr. Linus doesn't seem like such a great figure after all? And how will Rousseau react?
  • The scene where the smoke monster surrounds Ben and replays the aforementioned scene to him was particularly saddening. This troper was mortified to discover that, after the episode, all anyone could discuss regarding this scene was whether or not the smoke monster's CGI had dropped in quality.
• While it being hard to feel sorry for Ben is an accurate statement, for this troper, what Ben said to Jacob in the season five finale was incredibly heartbreaking. For the last few episodes Ben has seemed to have been reduced to a shred of his former self as he's been ousted as leader of the Others by Locke, has been forced to rewatch his daughter being murdered, and has finally come to realize how much hell he's been put through on Jacob's account. It's especially tragic when you realize that Ben's desperate need to be special is what makes him similar to Locke, and his willingness to blindly believe in Jacob's orders. This troper couldn't help but notice the religious paralells, recalling what Ben said earlier in the season about Thomas the Apostle and about believing even though you can't see it for yourself. So when Ben finally gets to confront Jacob, this troper can't help but see a doubting Thomas confronting a seemingly indifferent God. That's some heavy stuff, man. He makes Ben come across a bit like the selfish bastard he is here, but at the same time had me feeling pity for him.

So now, after all this time, you've decided to stop ignoring me. Thirty five years I've lived on this island, and all I ever heard was your name, over and over...Richard would bring me your instructions, all those slips of paper, all those lists...and I never questioned anything. I did as I was told. But when I dared to ask to see you myself, I was told, you have to wait, you have to be patient. But when he [Locke] asks to see you, he gets marched up here as if he was Moses...So why him? What was it that was so wrong with me? What about me?!

• • Made even more Tear Jearking by Jacob's reply:

"What about you?"

• Most of Locke's flashbacks (even some on-island stuff) are tearjerkery. Especially his first one when that Walkabout told Locke what he can't do because of the big twist that Locke was a cripple before the crash. There's also when Boone dies and Locke loses it on the Hatch, his father conning him for a kidney, he obsession with his father ruining the only relationship he ever had and most recently in Season 5: How everyone of the O6 ridiculed him AND Helen died to the point where he broke down and was about to commit suicide. Dude's had it rough.
  • The ending of "Deus Ex Machina" (Locke crying in his car, cutting to Locke sobbing on the hatch) is still this troper's favorite emotional scene. Michael Giacchino's incredible score (titled "Locke'd Out Again") only increases the sadness tenfold.
  • Even more tearjerky when we get Desmond's perspective on the same scene later in the series and learn that he was, if possible, even more desolate than Locke and that moment saved him from suicide.
• The end of "Some Like It Hoth," with Miles watching through the window as his dad reads to his infant self.
  • That scene was especially tear-jerker-iffic because it's when Miles realizes that his father wasn't a heartless man who abandoned him.
• The Season 5 Finale "The Incident" was a crapfest for Juliet and Sawyer as the happy couple broke up and then later when Jack caused the incident, Juliet was sucked down the giant magnetic hole of doom. Sawyer then grabbed her arm in an attempt to save the good doctor, but with the metal chains wrapping all around her lower body all they could do was tell each other they loved them and then Juliet was sucked down the hole with too many sharp metallic objects to count and Sawyer then wept. Then the audience finds out before the end of the dhow that Juliet is not dead, but very well on her way with blood coming out of her chest, mouth, ear and other places. Dr. Burke sees the undetonated hydrogen bomb lying next to her and then blows it up, with the final quote of "Son of a bitch!"
• The last scene of "?", a montage, is just dripping with emotion: Hurley sobbing over Libby's body ("I'm sorry I forgot the blankets! I'm sorry!"), Jack feeling completely helpless because he can do nothing to help her, Sawyer and Kate taking their respective guards down and losing it because of Libby and Ana Lucia's deaths, Micheal stewing in self-hatred knowing that he has crossed the line in his effort to rescue Walt, and Locke, utterly disillusioned with his "destiny". In comparison to what they would go through later, it doesn't even seem as bad, but the whole scene, especially the music, is just heartbreaking.
  • Hurley in the beginning of "Tricia Tanaka is Dead" talking to Libby: "Everyone is afraid. I'm afraid too. Except when I'm with you. I miss you."
• The scene when Rose and Bernard finally reunite.
• Mr. Eko reciting the 23rd psalm while the plane in which his brother died burns.
• Some of the best parts of the series were at the end of the first season finale, when the survivors, who at this point tended to still snarl at each other every once in awhile, have to say goodbye when the group gets on the raft. It's wonderful.
• Most recently, Sawyer in "What Kate Does".

"It's not your fault she's dead... It's mine. She was sitting right there, right where you are now, trying to leave this place, and I convinced her to stay. I made her stay on this island because I didn't want to be alone. You understand that right? But I think some of us are meant to be alone. ...I was gonna ask her to marry me."

• On that note, "Dr Linus". Ben is on his way to the Hydra Island and holds Ilana at gunpoint. He tells Ilana that he knows how she feels because he sacrificed Alex for Jacob...then learned that Jacob didn't care about him. He asks to be let go, so he can join Locke. Ilana asks why. He says "He's the only one that will have me". Ilana, who just minutes earlier was making Ben dig his own grave, says "I'll have you" and lets him follow her back to camp. And at the same time, flash-sideways Ben sacrifices power for Alex, succeeding where main Ben failed.
  • It's not nearly as heart-rending as Ben's, but Richard had his moment too.

"I devoted my life, longer than you can possibly imagine, in service of a man who told me that everything was happening for a reason; that he had a plan, a plan that I was a part of, and that, when the time was right, he'd share it with me. And now that man's gone, so... Why do I want to die? Because I just found out my entire life had no purpose."

• "Ab Aeterno", most notably the end between Isabella and Richard. There's a reason why it's regarded as the second best episode of the series (in case you're wondering, "The Constant" is the first).
  • Pretty much all of Ab Aeterno, actually. Poor Richard's life sucked.
• This troper sat listening to Nearly Home by Broken Records after hearing it in the preview for Everybody Loves Hugo. I thought about Hurley sitting between all of those crosses and then the tragedy of the song's words when applied to Lost hit me: Those people never got to go home. Saddest of all were the deaths of Boone, Charlie, Michael, and Juliet, who sacrificed themselves to save the lives of people they had just met or in Juliet's case didn't even know.
• In "The Candidate" Sayid, Sun, And Jin all die aboard Widmore's submarine. The real tear jerker is the death of the latter characters Sun and Jin as they die in a Titanic-like scene where Jin desperately struggles to save Sun while she begs for him to leave. Jin ends up dying holding hands with Sun. Seriously, look at the Twitter traffic at the moment.
  • To clarify just how powerful that scene was, let this troper tell you a little about herself: She never watched Lost prior to this season and still isn't caught up, but has seen all the spoilers. She bawled like a fucking baby.
  • That scene was one of only three TV show scenes to ever make this Troper cry. The other two were Juliet and Charlie's deaths.
  • It's made all the worse when you realize Sun and Jin had only been reunited for a couple of hours, and then that scene comes along...
  • Even worse is that Ji Yeon, the daughter of the two that Jin has never met, is now an orphan. I'm worried they will kill the power couple Penny and Desmond next......
  • As emotionally wrecking as that scene was, what set me off was Hurley's heart wrenching sob of pain. Just hearing that sound from the most lovable guy on the show sent me into full on sobbing.
  • Even more than the deaths themselves, seeing the four on the beach--Jack, Kate, Hurley, and even SAWYER--all start crying when they realize that Jin, Sun, and Sayid are dead...that was the worst part.
• In the final episode "The End" we have Jack dying on the island. The last thing Jack sees before he dies is the plane containing his friends leaving the island. Walt's dog Vincent lays down by his side as he dies. * sniff*
  • That little moment got worse for this troper when he realized that after all of Jack's talking about dying alone, Vincent decides to stay right next to him until the end so he won't have to. It didn't help that said troper's dog died before that episode.
  • It destroyed this troper. I am usually un-emotional and have maybe shed 4 tears total in my life, and I bawled at this part.
  • The purgatory/flash sideways reunions of Sawyer and Juliet, Charlie and Claire, and Jack and Kate did it for me. Then the ending set in, and tears abound.
    • Don't forget Jin and Sun remembering as they see the ultrasound of Ji Yeon in the hospital...only to have Sawyer come in, and the smiles on their faces as they recognize him...
    • Even Shannon and Sayid got me.
  • THE ENTIRE FINALE. Granted, most of it was either full of Funny, Awesome, or Nightmare Fuel, but the Tear Jerkers just kept coming. Near the very end in the alternate timeline when the Losties are in the church, reuniting with each other, and then Christian walks towards the door...this troper looked at his watch, knew that it was almost over- the whole series- and started tearing up....then the final heart-wrenching Jack scene as mentioned above happened, and this troper just broke down and started sobbing.
    • Strangely, the Untangled version of the finale made me tear up a little with the lyrics "And knowing what I know, I'm glad I'm/Stranded with strangers/Living through dangers/Together or alone/We're accident prone", combined with scenes of everyone at the church. It was just so... you know!
  • Charlie and Claire's long-awaited reunion in the finale made this troper sob harder than few other things in my life ever have. The expression that comes over Charlie's face once he "remembers" feels so genuine, it manages to be absolutely heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. And then he starts crying?! Oh God, pass the tissues!
    • "Oh, Aaron!" Troper is tearing up RIGHT NOW. AT WORK.
  • Don't forget when Hurley doesn't want to take over from Jack, because it means that Jack's going to die. Also when Jack farewells Desmond for the last time. And when Jack gets soaked by the water from the source, and he's laughing, knowing that he's saved the island. It's not just the "awakening" scenes.
  • For this troper, it was Ben telling Hurley to "do what [he] does best: take care of people." Because it's true! Hurley's heart is a wonderful thing.
  • Hell, the freaking script is a tearjerker! From the final scene: "The plane clears frame, finally free of the Island. Jack Shephard has done what he came to this place to do. He has found his purpose. He has found love, and been loved. He has finally found a way to love himself. The bamboo sways across the blue sky, and Jack Shephard's eye closes one final time. He is gone. The end."
  • While the Grand Finale is a major jerk fest, certain moments always get me. The first being when Kate and Claire both remembering after Aaron is born. They're both so happy to be reunited, but sad at the same time because they realize that they're all dead. The second being when Sawyer and Juliet remember when she fell down the ditch and he couldn't pull her back up, forcing Sawyer to grab her in a hug and say "I gotcha, baby. I gotcha."
• Something about the Jack/Boone hug in the church set me off - perhaps because this was the first character that the audience sees die, and the first character that Jack is unable to save. That knowing smile on Boone's face just says it all: that everything's okay now. That everything was always okay, we just didn't know it.
• Kate and Claire holding hands as the Ajira takes off, and then sharing a smile when they realize that they're in the air and that they're going to make it home.
• In season 5 when Hurley explains to his mom (and audience) everything that happened on the island, and she basically says "I don't understand, but I believe you," I just tear up every time, taking into account how for the past 3 years, Hurley's lost all his old friends, and has tried and failed to deal with all the trauma on his own, when he had his family with him...man oh man.
• Eko's death was by far the most heartbreaking moment in the series in this tropers opinion; first we see him whisper his final words to Locke, which we don't get to hear, but then we see a flash of Eko and his brother Yemi as kids happily walking into the afterlife. This troper, who is male, was in tears by this....