24 Heartbreaking TV Moments from 2018

24 Heartbreaking TV Moments from 2018 (continued):

17. Jalen Dies (New Amsterdam)

On New Amsterdam Season 1 Episode 5, “Cavitation,” Jalen Pagan is a patient who dies as a result of a stray bullet that hits him during a police shooting which also involves another boy of color. Jalen is the baby of his family.

It’s hard to say whether the most heartbreaking scene of the episode is when Max refuses to stop doing CPR on Jalen as his brother Javier watches desperately on the other side of the glass, or when Javier is watching a cell phone video after Jalen’s death and tells Max about the time he and Jalen faked gunshot wounds to play a trick on their mom.

One of those scenes might be more heartbreaking than the other, but I can’t decide which one. Please, don’t make me choose.

18. Winn and Mon-El Depart for the Future (Supergirl)

Rumors had swirled about cast departures from Supergirl in the weeks leading up to the season three finale. Sure enough, Mon-El departs to continue work as a member of the Legion not long after he’d returned to some sweet but strained moments with Kara. While that relationship has always been a source of controversy, this seemingly permanent end to it was bittersweet.

And then there’s Winn Schott, who’s been there since day one. We love that he’s going to be a hero to the future and we take faith in the promise he’ll come back to visit his friends and family. Still, he’s Kara’s first best friend, Alex’s adopted baby brother, and the one who appointed J’onn “Papa Bear.” His absence has definitely been felt.

19. Sabrina’s Confession to Harvey (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina)

The newest take on everybody’s favorite teenage witch in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina gives us an angle that is often dark. How dark? Well, revealing to her boyfriend that she’s a witch also means that when she resurrected his brother, she did so in a way that meant Tommy wasn’t really Tommy at all.

If you’re looking for a sliver of good news, Harvey is actually pretty accepting of the fact Sabrina is a witch in and of itself. There’s really no pleasure in it, though, because Tommy still has to go back to where he came from.

It’s a bit of a relationship killer(so to speak) when Harvey takes on the cold duty of re-killing his big brother himself. It’s an unimaginable situation for both of them, and we feel Sabrina’s loss as she walks away, a gunshot ringing in the air.

20. Nic’s Miscarriage (The Resident)

On The Resident Season 2 Episode 3, “Three Words,” viewers learn that Nic suffered a miscarriage before her first breakup with Conrad.

In the flashback scene where we learn this, Conrad comes home with Chinese takeout to take care of Nic. She is laying on the couch, her face full of the tear stains that happen when you’ve been crying so long your face feels heavy.

When she starts finding reasons to blame herself, he assures her the miscarriage is not her fault. But the most heartbreaking part of the scene isn’t about what’s said — it’s about what’s left unsaid.

When Nic asks Conrad what he would’ve wanted to do if circumstances were different, he stays quiet. When she grabs his hand, he’s only able to say, “We’ll get through this.”

21. Wonkru’s Six Years in the Bunker (The 100)

The fate of those that lived inside the bunker during the time jump cannot exactly be pinned to a single moment, but the way that each of the characters we love from Wonkru was changed by that experience is certainly too heartbreaking not to mention.

Octavia was forced to become a monster in order to keep what might have been the last of humanity from tearing itself apart or dying of starvation. She turned her guilt outward and used it to justify her actions as she created the fighting pit and forced Wonkru into cannibalism in order to keep them alive.

Abby aided Octavia in turning their people into cannibals when the bunker’s protein source ran out, having the medical knowledge and experience to know that they would all die otherwise. She turned her guilt inward and nearly destroyed herself with an addiction to painkillers in order to cope with the weight of the things they had to do.   

Octavia: Eat or die! That was you too!
Abby: Yes it was; you’re right. And he knew. So go ahead, strike me down or get the hell out, because I’m saving the man that I love.

Others like Kane and Indra simply did what they could to survive and make any small difference for the better in the meantime, each watching their would-be daughter turn into a nightmarish dictator. At the same time, some (like Niylah) became fanatical followers of Blodreina, as she decided their fate with increasingly gruesome violence and bloodlust.

There is hope for what remains of Wonkru, but everyone who lived through the horrors of life in that bunker was broken by it in some way. We only hope they can begin to heal during their second chance at life, on The 100 Season 6.

Honorable Mention: Monty and Harper’s Goodbye Video

Waking up on the other side of 125 years in cryosleep can be pretty jarring, but learning two of your best friends sacrificed themselves to make sure the rest of humanity survived is outright heartbreaking — especially when that news is delivered by a series of the space version of home videos and the son they left behind.

Monty and Harper were two of the most peaceful and kind characters on The 100, and they always tried to find the best solution for everyone. They sought peace at every opportunity, and on the Eligius mothership, watching over their friends and raising their son together, they had the kind of safety and happiness that always suited them.

Monty left his friends with a world of opportunity (literally) and one final request.

Monty: I hope we do better there. I hope Jasper was wrong and we aren’t the problem. I hope your lives there will be as happy as mine has been. Be the good guys. May we meet again.

22. Miguel’s Parents are Deported (Murphy Brown)

From its first iteration, Murphy Brown has charged full-blast into controversial politics. It isn’t afraid to rub some the wrong way in doing the same without apology today. People, for better or worse, have a lot of feelings about a lighthearted Thanksgiving episode taking a sudden turn as ICE officers arrive to arrest the parents of Miguel, who works with Phyllis in her brother’s old bar.

Still, the point here is not that we shouldn’t do anything about illegal immigration. It’s about the extreme nature of the government’s current approach.

The family has only moments for a rushed and unforgiving goodbye that Avery and Pat manage to catch on video for the world to witness. It’s Murphy’s tearful speech at the end that really hammers the point home: we can and must do better.

23. Bobby Nash’s Story (9-1-1)

Bobby Nash is 9-1-1’s Fire Captain who, from the beginning, clearly bore the burden of a hefty secret. It was always there but never spoken about.

That is until 9-1-1 Season 1 Episode 5, “Point of Origin,” when a collapsed building brings on flashbacks to the worst night of Bobby’s life. Through his eyes, audiences are told about Bobby’s struggle with alcoholism and drugs and how it cost him everything he holds dear: One fateful night, he passes out and a space heater he’d been using catches fire. In the end, his entire family perished.

We are all brought to tears at the realization about just how much guilt Bobby has carried since that night and how it’s led him down a road towards eventual suicide — a road that his priest and colleagues thankfully convince him to abandon.

24. Louis is Mugged (Suits)

Suits Season 8 has been a chance for Rick Hoffman to shine as Louis Litt in a lot of ways, but perhaps the most memorable was the moment Louis was mugged.

Watching the violent act against him was heartbreaking enough, but Hoffman’s performance after the fact made it even more gutwrenching as he struggled to deal with what had happened to him, feeling both traumatized and embarrassed.  

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What TV moments broke your heart the most this year? Did the one most engrained in your memory make the cut? Let us know in the comments below!

*Additional contributions by Esme Mazzeo, Samantha Coley, Mary Misasi, and Ashley Bissette Sumerel.

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