History Tearjerker / TheGoodPlace

** While the scene is played mostly for laughs, it's rather sad to watch Michael try to pass through the Door. In the back of his head, he clearly knew that it was not going to work, and is obviously doing this more out of frustration than fulfillment. One by one, his friends have all basically left him, and he thinks he'll just have to sit around without them for the rest of eternity.

** While the scene is played mostly for laughs, it's rather sad to watch Michael try to pass through the door at the same time as Eleanor because he clearly didn't want to be left alone.

--> '''Michael:''' You guys would never look at me the same way again. I won't just be ''(puts on a higher-pitched, almost childlike voice)'' ''Michael'', I'll be...some disgusting...mass of burning tentacles. ''(somberly)'' Do you really want to be friends with something like that?

** Michael's breakdown as well. Eleanor has to take over as the architect after he becomes crippled by his anxieties, which were caused in part by Shawn sadistically promising to torture Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani and Jason with demons dressed as Michael himself.

** Jason and Janet's goodbyes.

** Michael and Janet's goodbye to each other.

** Tahani, Janet, and Michael are now effectively on entirely different planes of existence, for at least a couple years, and possibly even a couple Bearimies, and Jason, Chidi, and Eleanor have returned to the ocean. While Tahani and Janet can visit each other, and even Mindy will likely reunite with them soon if she wants, since she's basically only one test run away from being in the Good Place, they'll still be split for quite some time, if not forever.

--> '''Michael:''' You guys would never look at me the same way again. I won't just be ''Michael'', I'll be some...disgusting mass of burning tentacles. ''(somberly)'' Do you really want to be friends with something like that?

* The majority of "Pandemonium" is achingly sad. The Bad Place picks Simone as one of the human test subjects for the new fake Good Place experiment. Chidi insists he won't be able to keep his cool around her, and the only solution is to [[MindWipe wipe his memory back to right after he died,]] which would erase his relationship with Eleanor in the process. Michael gives them a sweet send-off with a clip show of their moments together, and both members of the pairing are crushed to the point of tears. Eleanor then suffers a HeroicBSOD and asks Janet what the answer is, and why life and love hurt so much. Only after Janet's support can she go welcome the mind-wiped Chidi.

--> It was [hard going back there]. I don't like thinking about...who I used to be.

* The shame Michael feels about himself upon returning to the place where he gleefully tortured people for eons.

* Michael's shame upon remembering who he used to be.

** The fact is Michael could easily prove he's the real deal by taking off his human suit but he won't do it because it would involve exposing his real form to them and he doesn't think they'll look at him the same way after that.

!!Specific

!!! Season 3

!!! Season 4

'''Chidi:''' Not bad. ''None'' of this is bad.

* Chidi's life was also pretty sucky. Throughout his whole life, his paranoia and indecisiveness led to him losing so many friends, one of which genuinely considered himself to be his closest friend from childhood. His fears led to his rather embarrassing death and now he's in a world where he's forced into an intolerable situation where he has to lie and is forced to make difficult choices that sometimes go against his ethics. His hell is literally a world of ParanoiaFuel.

** It's also--or perhaps especially--heartbreaking because of how RealityEnsues. Eleanor did try to be better, she ''did,'' but with her roommate's ToxicFriendInfluence and a lifetime of being miserable and hurting other people, it's just too much.

** While the scene is played mostly for laughs, it's rather sad to watch Michael try to past through the door at the same time as Eleanor because he clearly didn't want to be left alone.

*** This would explain why their "negotiation" style is the same as their concept of The Good Place", give in to anyone's demands, and that can mean ''any'' type of change, potentially breaking them out of being trapped from locking people into stupor.
*** This could also explain why they didn't so much mind that no one new has entered The Good Place, as they'd be trapped in a stupor like everyone before.

*** The conversation Donna and Eleanor have at the end, where Eleanor finds out Donna has been secretly stashing away money to create an escape fund. Donna admits that sometimes she is tempted to go back to her old ways, and asks rhetorically if Eleanor is happy to find out her mother hasn't changed at all. Eleanor admits that no, she isn't happy. She then gets Donna to admit that she's happy in her normal and mundane suburban life. Eleanor tells Donna to use the money to earn her second chance with Patricia instead of squandering it on Shellstrop garbage behavior, and it pains her to say it. She and Donna part civilly, with Donna admitting that Eleanor didn't get her growth from Donna herself and Eleanor, for her part, gets closure but still isn't happy.

--->'''Eleanor:''' Do you think anyone cared that I died? Maybe someone did... I don't know.
* "Chidi's Choice": The flashback where Chidi's lifelong best friend Uzo tells him, "It is literally impossible to be your friend." Made worse by the fact that this is the ''[[PartingWordsRegret last]]'' thing he, or anyone, ever said to him. Chidi dies not even thirty seconds later. It's capped off with Uzo looking in shock and [[PleaseWakeUp saying Chidi's name in a shaking voice just barely above a whisper]].

** Afterwards, Tahani looks at the golden statue of Kamilah and ''snaps''. She starts kicking at it and yanking at it in a rage, while ApatheticCitizens look on with dull interest. It finally comes down, and you can hear Tahani screaming as it crushes her. And to top it all off, she died in ''Cleveland''.

* "A Fractured Inheritance": As a counterpoint to Jason's dad being irredeemable, Eleanor's mother Donna has genuinely changed and become a better person. This makes Eleanor distraught and jealous because she wanted her mom to be better when she was a child, and even after they reconcile, Eleanor still can't fully forgive her parents for how they screwed up her life. Eleanor even spends much of the episode in denial that her mother had changed since believing otherwise would mean accepting the fact that Donna was always capable of change but never saw Eleanor as someone worth changing for.
** Donna for her part has a guilty expression as Eleanor confronts her for seemingly scamming a single father with a daughter. She keeps saying it's not a scam but knows that Eleanor has no reason to believe her because of all the crap she pulled when raising Eleanor.
** The moment when Eleanor splutters this out to an InnocentlyInsensitive Michael, who asks why she can't believe that Donna is now a good mom. Eleanor with teary eyes shouts, "Because ''I'' wanted that mom!" and talks about how Donna made her look for loose fries in fast food ball pits for afternoon snacks. Michael looks extremely guilty as he realizes how much this must hurt Eleanor, and he has nothing comforting to say.
** The conversation Donna and Eleanor have at the end, where Eleanor finds out Donna has been stealing from her husband to create an escape fund. Donna admits that sometimes she is tempted to go back to her old ways, and asks rhetorically if Eleanor is happy to find out her mother hasn't changed at all. Eleanor admits that no, she isn't happy. She then gets Donna to admit that she's no longer a mean drunk, goes for yoga, and enjoys spending time with Patricia. Eleanor tells Donna to use the money to earn her second chance with Patricia instead of squandering it on Shellstrop garbage behavior, and it pains her to say it. She and Donna part civilly, with Donna admitting that Eleanor didn't get her CharacterDevelopment from her mother. Eleanor for her part gets closure but still isn't happy.

-->'''Tahani:''' Kamilah's work has been mediocre for years. Mother and Father are probably rolling over in their cryogenic chambers.\\

** To a lesser extent, the fact that the humans are dead again. Kamilah and Tahani buried the hatchet and then shortly after, Tahani dies again, in circumstances Kamilah could never understand. Similarly, Pillboi and Donkey Doug no doubt had to feel hurt at Jason's passing, especially since the latter is [[OutlivingOnesOffspring Jason's father]].

** While it's mostly PlayedForLaughs, Matt the accountant's situation is just awful. The poor guy has the job of having to review all of humanity's [[{{Squick}} weird new sex acts]] and it's driven him to utter misery, to the point that he regularly asks his boss for permission to kill himself because he just can't take it anymore.

'''Eleanor:''' ''[through a TearfulSmile]'' Not bad, Buddhists.\\