15 Devasting TV Moments That Crushed Our Hearts

13 Reasons Why Season 1. It's impossible to choose only one heartbreaking moment from the season. Some moments hurt to watch more than others like Hannah's mother finding her, Hannah's rape, or Jessica finally letting herself accept that she had been raped, but nearly every episode hurt in a way that will stay with us for a long time. - Mandy

When Veil sacrifices her life to save baby Henry and Sunny from the evil Baron Quinn on Into the Badlands. After 2 seasons of unrequited love, her death was gut wrenching. - Ron

Sam Hanna losing his wife, Michelle on NCIS: LA. Why? Why? Why?!? Although it was mostly offscreen, Sam was the one with the most normal home life, which made for a nice balance between he and his partner. Watching Sam and the team scramble to save Michelle as she slowly suffocated was difficult enough, but I never really thought they’d kill her! Why can’t anyone in the NCIS franchise have a loving spouse who doesn’t end up dead? - Christine

Chicago Fire basically gets off on all the angst that comes with putting their beloved characters in peril, and they sustain themselves off the tears of viewers. Fan favorites stuck in a burning building with Hermann tending to Mouch (after he had a heart attack), and Matt taking off his mask so he could have a clear (potentially last) conversation with Gabby took heartbreaking to the next level. - Jasmine

Stefan dying on The Vampire Diaries. I'm still not over it, but that beautiful montage at the conclusion of the finale helped a little bit. Damon showing up at the door at the end confirmed that this was not a show about the tired love triangle. It was actually a show about the brothers. - Paul

Trapped in the Framework, Coulson's team are properly awoken by Daisy and Simmons one by one but when it comes to escaping back to the real world, Mack can't bear to face a world where his daughter, Hope, doesn't exist. He turns his back on the team and commits to living out a fabricated existence. When Yo-Yo comes in after him, she understands why he chose Hope and it breaks her heart to witness his pain when Aida shuts down the Framework bit by bit, eventually deleting Hope's program, effectively ripping her from her father's arm into digital nothingness. - Diana

NCIS Season 14 Episode 20, "A Bowl of Cherries": Alex Quinn met a mixed reception from fans when her character was introduced at the beginning of the season, but her grief and heartbreak over her mother's worsening dementia really struck home. And her mother Marie sharing her understanding that her life was slipping away from her little by little served as the capstone for the already emotional subplot. - Katie

Mon-El and Kara's tearful goodbye just before he climbed in the pod and left Earth was incredibly heartbreaking. Kara was forced to release lead into the atmosphere to get rid of the Daxamite invaders, but unfortunately, that meant the Earth is now toxic to Mon-El too. The two shared a final kiss and exchanged "I love yous" before he was forced to leave. We can only hope they will find a way to bring him back. - Stacy

Michael's death on Jane the Virgin was not only shocking but devastating as well. Michael and Jane had not been married for very long when he died. Even though his death had been hinted at since the beginning of the show, those of us on Team Michael hoped the writers were just messing with us. Unfortunately, we were wrong. - Amanda

Rayna’s death on Nashville. We should’ve seen it coming, but didn’t, and now the characters are moving on. It’s devastating and incredibly Nashville-esque to have Rayna survive being held hostage by her insane stalker and then die from a car accident while she was being taken home by the police. The goodbye scene of Deacon and her daughters sobbing their way through “A Life That’s Good” was the perfect send-off for Rayna Jaymes. - Jay

On American Crime Season 3 when Luis found out his son was dead and was unable to tell his wife over the phone. That really got to me. This was a man who had sacrificed everything coming into the US without proper documentation and putting up with being mistreated and generally used as slave labor to find and rescue his son, only to discover he was too late. His phone call to his wife was so painful. - Jack

Glenn getting Lucilled at the hands of Negan. Even for those who either read the comics or saw all of the subtle hints that his time was coming to an end, it made the visual no less devastating. He not only left Maggie a widow and his unborn child fatherless, the group also lost their moral compass. - Steve

Some might say that Maddie’s actions led to her own demise, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that this all started with her trying to save her son. In the Bloc, diabetics were considered weak and her son needed his insulin. Maddie’s desperation led to a weird voyeuristic relationship with Nolan and his wife. Once his wife was dragged away, it was easy to continue the relationship with Nolan, with his beautiful house, political power, and the ability to keep her son safe.

But things took a bad turn when Maddie drank the proverbial Kool-Aid and bought into the false religion. That was the beginning of the end. Despite putting her son on that bus, “for his own safety,” you could tell her gut was telling her this was all wrong, but it was already too late. Seeing Maddie with tears streaming down her face as she watched the occupation coming, and surely her own imminent death was heartbreaking. If only she had stuck with her sister, things might have been different. - Christine

William’s death on This Is Us. Knowing someone is going to die doesn’t make it any easier on those they love when it happens. Perhaps it’s even worse when you’ve missed so much time together. Randall and William missed out on a lifetime, but they made the most of the time they had. Their trip to Memphis was a joy to watch.

Heartbreaking, but joyful. From William insisting he “meet” Jack, Randall’s deceased adoptive father, to Randall meeting all the relatives he’d never known, and William getting to play his music on stage one last time, every minute meant something. The most crushing moment for Randall was realizing that William knew before he left that this wouldn’t be a round trip. William had said his goodbyes and made his peace, and it was wonderfully heartbreaking to watch. - Christine

Rip getting shot and killed on SIX was a gut-wrenching moment. Even though he wasn’t the nicest person in the beginning of the series, he had gone through an amazing transformation after he was kidnapped and tortured by terrorists. By end of the series, you couldn’t help but root for him which made his death even harder to swallow. - Lisa