History TearJerker / Gotham

[[caption-width-right:350:''Losing your parents that night, Bruce - the wound still hasn't healed.'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:''Losing your parents that night Bruce, the wound still hasn't healed.'']]

* [[TearJerker/GothamSeasonFour Season Four]]

[[foldercontrol]]

!!Season 1

[[folder: [[AC: 1x01 Pilot]]]]
* Let's face it. We've seen a dozen interpretations or more of the same scene where Bruce's parents are killed. But this one still packs a punch.
** Part of what sells it so well is Bruce's scream of anguish over his parents' bodies, a sound that's equal parts NightmareFuel and TearJerker.
*** It's also high-pitched enough to seem just a little bat-like.
** Special mention goes to when Gordon tried to ask Bruce what happened and the poor kid just breaks down sobbing.
** Gordon putting a coat on Bruce's shoulders and telling him "there will be light," calling to mind the moment in The Dark Knight Rises where Batman tells older Commissioner Gordon that "a hero can be anyone," even doing "something as simple as putting a coat on a little boy's shoulders and telling him the world hasn't ended."
** Thomas living just long enough to lock eyes with his terrified son, but expiring before he can manage to say anything.
* Ivy trying to convince Jim (or, to her, just a police officer) to leave the house while they're looking for her father because "he's [Mario's] mean."
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1x02 Selina Kyle]]]]
* Nearly every street kid in Gotham is being sent upstate to juvie, without a trial.
* The boy crying on the bus that's about to take him to juvie.
* Selina's insistence her mom is not dead, that's she's missing somewhere.
* Selina ''begging'' with an officer not to send her back to juvie.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1x03 The Balloonman]]]]
* The reason the Balloonman went over the edge and started targeting all the high-profile and corrupt leaders of Gotham: [[spoiler: He, like Jim, was one of the few good people in the system and genuinely cared for the homeless children as part of Child Services. And when the Mayor rounded up all of them to be sent upstate in the last episode, he completely lost it.]]
* Jim's slow realization that the corruption in Gotham City runs deeper and fouler than he imagined, and that maybe one man alone isn't enough to change it from the inside.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1x04 Arkham]]]]
* Bruce watching his parents' dream for Arkham die as the mayor takes the coward's way out and lets both crime lords have their way.
* Jim and Barbara breaking up, because of his staunch refusal to tell her the truth about Cobblepot.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1x05 Viper]]]]
* Bruce knowing that there is something going on in his parent's company and is unable to do anything about it... yet.
* The backstory of the inventor of Viper. Like the Balloonman in episode 1.03, the atrocities he'd committed were an attempt to expose the horrific practices of his employer [=WellZyn=]. When that fails, he bitterly states in a live feed that the only way the truth would come out is if he exposes the drug to the 'important' people in Gotham, AKA the only ones who matter. And just like the Balloonman, his actions ultimately meant nothing as the corrupt PowersThatBe bury everything he'd done.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1x06 Spirit of the Goat]]]]
* While discussing the Goat with Alfred, he and Bruce note that the Goat is taking children from the richest people in Gotham, and Alfred states that Bruce could be a target. Bruce responds that he'll be fine, because there is nobody to take him from. The look on Alfred's face is heartbreaking. You can see him thinking, "They could take you from ''me''."
* Realizing that Bullock was once a good, idealistic cop like Jim until all the corruption and vice in Gotham finally wore him down and turned him into the cynic we know today.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1x07 Penguin's Umbrella]]]]
* When Gordon visits Bruce before going on his mission, Bruce deduces that Gordon intends to die. They have a short, intense talk before Bruce fiercely hugs Gordon. It's the first time we've really seen him lose his admirable composure since his parents died, and seeing the poor kid being faced with the possibility of losing ''another'' important person to him - someone who has been offering him support, kindness, and who has earned his trust - is heartbreaking. Even more so since in most media, it's implied Batman sees Gordon as a surrogate father.
[[/folder]]


[[folder: [[AC: 1X09 Harvey Dent]]]]
* When Selina is telling stories of her [[MissingMom mother]], who is believed to be dead, but she insists is alive. She tells Bruce of how she's traveling in show business, but it's a cover for her being a secret agent on a dangerous mission. Bruce knows she's lying (mostly to herself) but says nothing to interrupt her, and instead, just goes with it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1X10 Lovecraft]]]]
* Ivy's expression after Selina rushes away with Bruce. Even though she's "creepy," she's still a kid who's lost her home and her parents, and no one seemingly wants to be her friend. It's no wonder that she'll become a severe misanthropist by the time she's an adult.
** As an add-on, even though it was delivered in a pretty creepy way, learning what became of her home life after her dad was accused of the Wayne murders: he was killed by the police and, in hopelessness and grief, her mother committed suicide by slitting her wrists. Ivy's now all alone on the streets without anyone to guide her (yet).
* The aftermath of the episode: Selina is forced to go into hiding, meaning that the case being built against the Waynes' killers - which hinged on her testimony - is dead in the water, and Jim gets transferred to Arkham in the fall-out of Lovecraft's murder.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1X12 What The Little Bird Told Him]]]]
* Liza getting choked to death by Don Falcone after he realizes that Oswald had told him the truth about her. At her core, she was just a young girl who got mixed up in Fish's power play, and had even grown fond of Falcone, and paid the price for it. The worst part is that she even began to grow a conscience and wanted out of Fish's schemes.
** Falcone's expression as he kills her. The flashback at the beginning of the episode to his father's funeral shows that Liza is pretty much a carbon copy of his sainted mother. He's basically choking his ''mother'' to death.
** Fish gets a mention here. Though she saw Liza as a weapon to bring about Falcone's downfall, it's made obvious that she cares about Liza in her own twisted way. Her reaction to seeing Liza get strangled is to rush towards her. She's held back by Gilzean and can only watch.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1x13 Welcome Back Jim Gordon]]]]
* Selena torpedoing her ToyShip with Bruce, claiming (truthfully or not?) that she lied just to stay out of juvie and she never got a good look at his parents' killer's face. When we next see Bruce he's sitting on the floor crying, with the shattered remains of the snowglobe he meant to give Selena as a gift in the fireplace. And then, after some ToughLove from Alfred, he gets back up and heads to his Wall Of Data, determined to find another lead. Arguably, this is the moment when Bruce Wayne the young innocent child ''dies,'' and the cold implacable detective that will one day call himself "Batman" is born.
* Jim uses his connection with Oswald to get the evidence needed to arrest a crooked cop for murdering the sole witness of another crime. After publicly arresting the cop, he goes outside and is confronted by another detective who knew about the murder. The man then goes on his knees, practically sobbing and swearing that he won't tell ''anyone'' and pleads for his wife and children to be left alone by Oswald's thugs. You can see the horror in Jim's face as he realizes that his determination to get his man put innocent lives in danger, making him no better than any other cop in the city.
* Edward writes a cute poem to Miss Kringle, and is subsequently humiliated when it's read out loud for everyone's amusement. Even Miss Kringle - who thinks Edward is creepy at best - feels bad and goes to apologize to him later on.
* Fish in the aftermath of the episode - before her LastKiss with Bullock, she promises that she'll back ready to kill Penguin, but actually admits she ''has'' to leave Gotham and lay low. Just as Bullock leaves, she's visibly broken over losing everything. Granted, due to Fish's schemes she brought it on herself, but in the process not only did she lose her resources, she lost both Liza and Butch, [[PetTheDog two people she genuinely cared for.]] It was at that point when Fish realized she was truly on her own.
** Her unwillingness to leave Butch when he stayed behind to hold off Zsasz's assassins also had set in stone that she deeply appreciated Butch and deemed as a friend. She's repeatedly protesting as Butch shoves her out of the windows, which could've been her fearing of being alone without any allies and/or just overall losing Butch.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1x14 The Fearsome Dr. Crane]]]]
* Bullock's admission of fear at the support group is rather sad, the more so considering what happened to his previous partner. If his greatest fear is getting wounded like his old buddy, and having no one come to help him, then his alarm every time Gordon goes charging ahead and leaves him on his own becomes a lot more meaningful: Harvey doesn't want himself ''or'' Jim to end up that way because they got separated.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1x15 The Scarecrow]]]]
* Gerald Crane's backstory all together is pretty tragic. The death of his wife in a housefire is bad enough, but what takes him right to pitiable is what he sees under the effects of his fear-inducing formula: his wife descending the stairs in a trail of fire and burning to death before his eyes. And he tells the phobia support group his fear is "failure." For whatever reason, Gerald blames himself and his own fear for not being able to save his wife's life, and it's clearly driven him over the deep end.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1x17 Red Hood]]]]
* Alfred getting stabbed by his friend Reggie, and Bruce's frantic, desperate pleas for him to stay alive when he finds him in the office.
** Later in the hospital, Bruce's voice cracking as he tells Jim that he can't lose Alfred because he's the only family he has left, before he breaks down in heartwrenching sobs.
** Reggie is a pretty tragic character in his own way. [[spoiler: It's clear that he didn't want to hurt Alfred, and he cares enough about Bruce that he even begs the chairwoman of Wayne Enterprises to leave the boy alone, but his circumstances have forced him to do things that he probably wouldn't do if he had a choice.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1x18 Everyone Has a Cobblepot]]]]
* Nygma attempting to ask Miss Kringle out to dinner with a bouquet of flowers, only to discover that she already has plans...with her ''new boyfriend''. Seeing him angrily throw away the flowers is quite heartbreaking, but it's also quite unsettling when you realize that he's [[BreakTheCutie slowly]] [[StartOfDarkness starting]] to lose his cool.
* Harvey's speech to Jim after he gives him his file: "...You think 'I'll do this one bad thing, and then the good things I'll do later will make up for it.' But it doesn't."
** To give this context: Jim negotiated Bullock's file from Loeb and Loeb's recommendation for him to be President of the Union, in exchange for Jim keeping quiet about Loeb's daughter's involvement with his wife's murder. It's a dirty play he made, and even Loeb had to admit that Jim is 'colder' than he thought.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1x20 Under the Knife]]]]
* The strain between [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas Cobblepot and his mother, Gertrud]]. Up until this point, Gertrud had always believed that her son was a successful nightclub owner, and couldn't be any prouder of him. However, [[spoiler: Maroni drops by unexpectedly and exposes Cobblepot's true nature as a cold-blooded killer. As he begins shove the ugly truth down her throat, Oswald demands that he leave her alone (on the verge of tears, no less), and the scene ends with him holding his traumatized mother in his arms]].
** In a later scene, we see Oswald do something that he's ''never'' done on the show before: [[spoiler: [[VillainousBreakdown he begins to cry]]]]. His genuine love and concern for his mother may very well be his only redeeming quality.
* After Edward [[spoiler: stabs and kills Miss Kringle's abusive boyfriend, he begins to have an emotional breakdown, nervously muttering "Oh dear, oh dear..." as he slowly begins to realize what he had just done. He's absolutely ''traumatized'' by the fact that he had just murdered someone in cold blood.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1x21 The Anvil or the Hammer]]]]
* The Ogre threatens to kill Barbara unless [[spoiler: she chooses a victim for him. So who does she pick? ''Her own parents''. He then breaks into their home and slaughters them, leaving their corpses to sit on a couch with their arms casually placed around each other's shoulders. When Gordon approaches the crime scene, the look on his face is rather heartbreaking. It is implied that he knew her parents, or was at least acquainted with them.]]
** Made all the more worse when it's revealed that [[spoiler: Barbara ''murdered her own parents'' because she claims that [[FreudianExcuse they never loved her]]. Their scared reaction is justified when we realize that the Ogre was really ''holding them down so Barbara could execute them''.]]
* Bruce finding out that his father was complicit in Wayne Enterprises' corruption, and adding his picture to the board.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 1x22 All Happy Families Are Alike]]]]
* This episode will really have you crying for Butch. When he and Fish reunite, it's almost like watching a mother reconcile with her young child.
-->'''Butch''': Fish? Is it real...it's really you?
-->'''Fish''': It's me, Butch. I'm home.
** During [[spoiler: Fish and Penguin's big fight, an armed Butch intervenes, only to face a ''major'' conflict when both bosses demand that he shoot the other person. Emotionally distressed, Butch can't bring himself to kill either one, and ultimately decides to shoot them both in the ''waist'' instead, stopping the fight and sparing their lives. As he begins to cry like a lost child, he and Fish share one final moment together, right before Penguin pushes Fish into the river below.]]
** What's make the moment even more tragic is [[spoiler: Fish ''knows'' and ''reminds'' Butch of his conditioning, begging him to help her because she's "his girl", and even after being shot, she forgives him wholeheartedly without the least amount of contempt.]]
[[/folder]]

!!Season 2

[[folder: [[AC: 2x01 Damned If You Do]]]]
* The season begins with a short montage of the main cast in the aftermath of season one. Namely: [[spoiler: Jim being demoted to traffic cop duty for trying to stand up to Loeb, completely alone because Harvey quit the force and now works as a bartender.]]
* [[spoiler: Bruce finding the letter his father wrote him in his secret room. His voice cracks when he reads his father's plea for him to choose happiness over 'the truth.' Especially more poignant since we know how - and who - Bruce is going to be when he grows up.]]
** The reveal of what the entry code is, since of all the codes that Bruce tried, he apparently never even considered that it might be [[spoiler: his own name]]. What does that say about his relationship with Thomas?
*** Alternatively, this could be a reflection of how he considers "Bruce" as a dead entity not worth mentioning.
* [[spoiler: The look on Jim's face when he realizes he just murdered a man - albeit accidentally - in order to return to the GCPD after Loeb pettily fires him. He knows that whatever he does next, he will always have this on his conscience.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 2x02 Knock, Knock]]]]
* [[spoiler: Sarah Essen's death. A literal one: she herself sheds a tear as she dies.]]
* The heartbroken look on Alfred's face when [[spoiler: Bruce fires him (temporarily)]]. Especially since he was genuinely just trying to protect Bruce and is obviously terrified for his safety and mental well-being.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 2x03 The Last Laugh]]]]
* Even though he's an unrepentant murderer, there is something sad about hearing Jerome's story of childhood abuse at the hands of his mother and her sex partners. Since he's telling the story to his father, who was there, it's probably true.
* Cicero's death.
* In a meta way, [[spoiler: Jerome's death]]. Many fans were pretty upset that [[spoiler: such a dynamic character met his end so soon]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 2x04 Strike Force]]]]
* Alfred punching Selina for killing Reggie, and ordering to her to never come near Bruce, again. Poor Selina looks like she's about to cry, and is in a deep funk by the episode' end.
** It hurts even more seeing Bruce so enamored so quickly with [[spoiler: Silver]], knowing he'd told Selina just one episode before that he missed her, and that she'd been waiting outside school to see him again before Alfred punched her.
** To give more context: Selina murdered a man who had almost killed Alfred and then threatened Bruce. Bruce ''himself'' almost pushed Reggie, and Selina stepped in when he couldn't, as well as to keep his hands clean. As well, she was clearly shaken afterward by what she had done. So she was trying to protect Bruce, and Alfred ''slapped'' her for it.
* In order to coerce Penguin to be his hired gun, Galavan kidnaps his mother. Oswald is far, ''far'' from a good man, but that doesn't stop his sheer anguish from being heart wrenching.
** It's just heartbreaking to see the kind and loving Mrs. Kapelput locked up and handcuffed in a tiny room, tearfully begging to be freed. The teary-eyed look on Penguin's face when he sees his mother in captivity really hits the feels ''hard''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 2x05 Scarification]]]]
* Bridgit and Selina summarising each other's life experiences: "Why have a family if you're a slave?" "Why be free, if you're alone?" It's hard to tell which of the two girls had it worse, but it's impossible not to feel terrible for both.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 2x06 By Fire]]]]
* [[spoiler: Edward accidentally murders Kristen.]]
** That whole scene really. [[spoiler: Edward's revelation that he killed Tom, he and Kristen's subsequent fight, and Kristen's death itself are so hard to watch, especially because of how happy they had been together up until that point in their new relationship. And seeing Edward ''smile'' as he holds up Tom's badge as a way of convincing Kristen that he's dead... It's both NightmareFuel and TearJerker because he's trying to reassure her that she's safe from Tom's abuse, and meanwhile she's horrified and it ''wasn't'' what she meant when she said, "[Tom] could be dead in a ditch somewhere for all I care." It's the way Edward can't read her, can't react normally to something so traumatic (and she highlights it by being rightly terrified and calling him a freak), but he seems so earnest and well-meaning, makes the whole scene so very painful. And then his screams of agony when he realizes he's just killed her...]]
** [[spoiler: Ultimately Kristen's fate as a victim of domestic abuse and not a survivor... is very hard to stomach. After experiencing abuse from her previous partners and trying so hard to escape it, seeing her die from abuse ultimately is ''heartbreaking''.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 2x07 Mommy's Little Monster]]]]
* [[spoiler: The cruel death of Gertrude Kapelput, knifed InTheBack as she goes to hug Oswald after being kidnapped and tortured for over two weeks. Oswald is completely devastated, trying and failing to hold back tears as she dies in his arms.]]
** For the rest of the episode, [[spoiler:Oswald]] is completely broken and traumatized by [[spoiler:his mother's death. Just listen to his voice break during the climax; he almost sounds like an innocent child]].
-->'''[[spoiler:Oswald]]''' ''(voice breaking)'': [[spoiler:He killed my mother, Jim...]]
** And then Oswald has to flee for his life, [[spoiler: leaving her body behind. A later episode confirms that her body has yet to be found, meaning that her son ''couldn't even bury her properly''.]]
* Silver completely shatters Bruce and Selina's friendship when she comes in between them [[spoiler: [[BitchInSheepsClothing entirely on purpose]]. She even mocks and belittles Selina for even thinking her life had purpose or hope in it.]] Selina is clearly beyond devastated that Bruce is no longer a part of her life anymore, realizing that she's now completely alone again in Gotham without a friend in the world. Just to make it all the more harsher, [[spoiler: Silver makes out with Bruce ''in front of Selina's eyesight'', knowing fully well it hurts her.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [[AC: 2x08 Tonight's The Night]]]]
* [[spoiler: Galavan offers Bruce information on the man who killed his parents, in exchange for selling him the controlling shares to Wayne Enterprises. At the end of the episode, Bruce backs out of the deal. And then, in an act of petty cruelty, Galavan throws the envelope into the fireplace right in front of Bruce, who can only scream and beg Galavan to just ''tell'' him who killed his parents.]]
** Poor Bruce spends most of this episode getting put through the emotional wringer. At one point he speaks to Alfred about Galavan's deal, and it's obvious that he's asking Alfred to give him permission to take it, and just give up on his likely-doomed crusade. No little boy should have to be put in that position.
-->"Is it wrong that I want it to all be over, Alfred? I just want it to be over..."
* [[spoiler: Barbara is every Yandere nightmare come to life in this episode, but there's something pitiable and pathetic about her delusions that even after all she's done, Jim would choose her over Lee in a heartbeat.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 2x09 A Bitter Pill to Swallow]]]]
* Penguin reminiscing on how his mother used to cheer him up by singing to him when he was a child.
-->'''Penguin''': Every night when I was young, my mother would sing that song to me when I was going to bed. And every time, she would tell me, ''(starts to tear up)'' "Oswald... don't listen to the other children. You're handsome and clever. And some day, you will be a great man." She said that every time.
** Another tear jerkingly sad moment is when Ed is asking advice on how to kill people, Penguin just looks out the window and sadly laments that the road to becoming a murderer is a sad and bitter one. He then tells Nygma that he himself is leaving Gotham as soon as he recovers. Sure, [[spoiler: that doesn't last]] but it's painfully clear just how bad his mother's death ''broke'' him.
* Captain Barnes revealing to Jim part of his backstory as a Marine. He says that what he did back then no longer haunts him, but he seems to be swigging from that liquor bottle with more gusto than simply deadening the pain in his injured leg would require.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 2x10 The Son of Gotham]]]]
* Despite everything she's done, seeing Silver [[spoiler:cry for Bruce when Tom takes him away to torture him]] is just heartwrenching. It's clear that at this point, she genuinely cares for Bruce, and is completely devastated when he [[spoiler:gets dragged away]]. Sure, it was all just a [[spoiler:BatmanGambit and he was perfectly fine]], but you can't help but feel a little sympathy for her.
** Unless it was an act to appear more sympathetic to her torturers. Which is possible since Selina points out she didn't start negotiating until ''her'' life was on the line.
** Or if she was crying because [[spoiler: she's afraid her uncle will kill her for not keeping Bruce alive so he can be ritually sacrificed instead.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 2x11 Worse Than A Crime]]]]
* Silver and Bruce exchanging stories about their (now deceased) parents.
* Bruce telling Silver that he's not afraid to die, because it means he'll see his parents again.
** Really, Silver in this whole episode. She's shown to be just a scared, confused young girl who has no choice but to go along with her family's wishes out of fear for her life.
** [[spoiler: Galavan's]] death, not because of any AlasPoorVillain (in fact his death was for many impossible to feel bad for seeing as he deserved every minute of it), but unusually it was because of the one who delivered the killing blow. [[spoiler: Seeing Jim, the most heroic character one could ever hope to meet, be so tired of the injustices of a system that has let him down too many times to count that he decides that he has to compromise his principles and do the hard thing, is really hard to watch. [[spoiler: Especially, how broken he looks afterwards knowing that there is no turning back and that he has to live with the knowledge of killing someone in cold blood because it was the only way to protect the rotten world of Gotham.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 2x12 Mr. Freeze]]]]
* Victor Fries is ''horrified'' when forced to freeze a police officer and looks like he's ready to burst into tears himself before remembering to run.
* Nora Fries discovering just how Victor has really been trying to save her. When the cops show up, she's still sitting in the same spot staring blankly at the people who were killed for her sake.
* Penguin tearfully requesting Nygma, his only remaining friend, to visit his mother's grave for him on occasion, while he's incarcerated.
** Even more painful if you recall that [[spoiler: Gordon had commented on Gertrud's remains being missing in an earlier episode. She doesn't actually ''have'' a grave for Nygma to visit.]] And Ed doesn't have the heart to say so.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 2x13 A Dead Man Feels No Cold]]]]
* This interpretation of Mr. Freeze's origin may be one of the most tragic and depressing ones yet. As in the comics, Victor proceeds to cryogenically freeze his wife in order to keep her safe until he can find a cure for her illness. [[spoiler:Before he does, however, Nora switches the correct formula in his freeze gun with the faulty one, subsequently killing her once she is frozen]]. The reason? [[spoiler:She would rather die peacefully with Victor by her side than wake up to a life without him]]. Once Victor discovers what she had done, he is absolutely '''broken'''; so broken, that he then [[spoiler:attempts to kill ''himself'' by freezing his own body alive. His wife, the only thing he strived for, is dead, so he might as well die alongside her]].
** After Nora [[spoiler: switches the formulas, her final words to both Victor and Leslie are heartbreaking. She tells Leslie to tell Victor that it wasn't his fault. Leslie, of course, doesn't know what she's really talking about, but the audience does: she's telling him not to blame himself when she dies instead of going into cryostasis]]. The entirety of her conversation, where the audience knows [[spoiler: she's saying her goodbyes and preparing to die, but Victor and Leslie ''don't'' know,]] is heartbreaking.
** Victor's cries of anguish once he realizes that [[spoiler: Nora is dead, and that she switched the cartridges]].
** Then, his strange, almost reassuring calmness when he tells [[spoiler: Leslie: "Will you be very kind and go tell the police that I'll do as they say?" Leslie walks out, none the wiser that he has already decided that he doesn't want to live without Nora and is planning to kill himself. Those events must haunt Leslie's conscience: not one but TWO people decided to take their own lives that day, and Leslie couldn't stop them because she ''didn't know'', but she was right there while they were both still alive... Those are the things people have nightmares about, thinking that there must have been some way, something they could have done to intervene. The whole scene takes on an extra layer of devastation when you consider how in RealLife, many suicide victims' family and friends often blame themselves for not seeing the signs before a loved one takes their own life]].
** And to top it all off? [[spoiler: Victor wakes up in Indian Hill, irrevocably transformed by prolonged exposure to his formula. After everything he's done and all the people he's hurt...he still doesn't get to be with Nora, even in death.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 2x14 This Ball of Mud and Meanness]]]]
* The episode starts with Oswald undergoing Hugo Strange's simulation test (powered by [[CallBack Gerald Crane's fear formula]]), in which he sees his deceased mother sitting beside him, speaking to him in the most touching, motherly way possible ("Life is so hard when you are special, and you are so special. So clever, so handsome..."). Then all of a sudden, ''[[HisOwnWorstEnemy another]]'' [[HisOwnWorstEnemy Oswald]] sneaks up behind her and proceeds to beat her to death with a bat, while the real Oswald is ''forced to watch''.
* Bruce's emotional, harrowing confrontation with Malone, the man named as his parents' murderer. It's a fraught, intense scene where Bruce is forced to confront the fact that this bogeyman he'd built up in his head...is just a tired old man who doesn't even flinch when Bruce levels his gun at his head. Even worse, [[spoiler: it's not clear if Malone confessed to the murders because he really did it, or because he wanted Bruce to kill him.]]
** And in the aftermath of the confrontation, [[spoiler: Bruce runs away from Wayne Manor to live on the streets with Selina. He leaves a note for a distraught Alfred to find.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 2x15 Mad Grey Dawn]]]]
* Oswald visiting his mother's grave.
-->'''Oswald''': Hello, Mother. What a lovely spot. I'm so sorry I couldn't be here for your funeral. But I think you would be proud of me, I'm a changed man, or at least, I'm trying to be. To be honest, [[LivingEmotionalCrutch I don't know if I'm gonna make it without you...]]
* The aftermath of Jim being set-up for murder by Nygma. From Captain Barnes' furious, heartbroken reaction to the stacks of evidence against him, to Jim telling a distraught Lee to leave Gotham with their unborn child and never contact him again, to Harvey vowing to bring Jim justice even as he's led to Blackgate.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC:2x16 Prisoners]]]]
* '''[[DownerEnding The entire ending.]]'''
** [[spoiler:After he bonds with Oswald one last time (and ends it by granting his entire household to him), Elijah is poisoned by his treacherous wife, and [[DiedInYourArmsTonight dies in his son's arms, just like Gertrud]]. He was the ''only'' family Oswald had left, and now he's gone]].
** Meanwhile, Gordon manages to [[spoiler:escape Blackgate Penitentiary (thanks to Bullock and Falcone), and decides to bring his young prison buddy Puck, who was suffering critical injuries after being brutally beaten to near death by the other prisoners. Soon after they make it out, Puck dies peacefully in the car]].
* Earlier in the episode, the heartbroken and devastated look on Jim's face when Harvey has to tell him that [[spoiler: Lee suffered a miscarriage and left Gotham afterwards.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC:2x17 Into The Woods]]]]
* Oswald being reduced to being his stepfamily's servant, and them taking sick pleasure in making him miserable. [[spoiler: Which makes his revenge as awesome as it is terrifying.]]
** She had it coming and totally deserved it, but it's hard not to feel a glimmer of sympathy for [[spoiler: Grace, as horror dawns on her that she was forced to cannibalize her own children, right before Oswald takes his bloody revenge.]]
* Bruce being forced to push Selina away in order to protect her.
** Selina's reaction is particularly heart-wrenching. She says, "After all we've been through?" and when Bruce insists, she says, "Why, because you're Bruce Wayne and I'm street trash?" Hearing Selina think so low of herself, especially when Silver delivered that exact insult to her several episodes ago, shows just how devastating Bruce's rejection is to her.
** After she leaves, Bruce is trying to fight back tears. It's clear both kids are heartbroken.
* [[spoiler:Ed's]] VillainousBreakdown has been a whole season coming, but that doesn't make it any less tragic.
-->[[spoiler:'''Jim''': How did this happen to you? How did you become ...this?]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Ed''': ...You dummy. This is who I am. It was just finally admitting the truth to myself. Well, that and murdering some people.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Jim''': I don't believe that.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Ed''': You don't believe it why, Jim? 'Cause it would make you incompetent? To know that I was right under your nose the whole time? Or you don't want to admit that there's a monster in all of us, because YOU, OF ALL PEOPLE, SHOULD KNOW THAT! THAT'S WHAT MADE IT SO EASY TO FRAME YOU!]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Jim''': ...I was your friend.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Ed''': Were you, Jim? Were you my friend? Or did you just pity me? Oh, poor, weird little Ed, with his little silly wordplay and his little riddles.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC:2x18 Pinewood]]]]
* Bruce's guilt following [[spoiler: Karen's]] HeroicSacrifice. His digging into his parents' murders has led to the death of someone his father worked hard to save, and yet another ally has been killed. [[spoiler: If Lucius hadn't suddenly discovered a new lead, Bruce would most likely have packed it in right there.]]
* Insane murderer she may be, but Barbara still pulls some heartstrings when she admits to Jim why she helped him: [[spoiler: Jim saw the good in her once, and it made her feel like she could be a good person. She just wanted that feeling again. Interestingly, she seems to have accepted that Jim doesn't love her any more. All she wanted was for him to see her as a good person one last time.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC:2x19 Azrael]]]]
* [[spoiler:James Frain]] absolutely hams it up but the broken, scared, and child-like way he asks, "Why don't I know my name?" provides some serious tear jerking MoodWhiplash.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC:2x20 Unleashed]]]]
* Butch with [[spoiler: Tabitha after she is injured by Galavan.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC:2x21 Legion of Horribles]]]]
* After Strange gets in his head, telling him that his parents' deaths were his father's own fault for doing the right thing, Bruce starts to blame himself for what's happening to him and his friends this episode.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC:2x22 Transference]]]]
* Hugo Strange's VillainousBreakdown near the end. The stonefaced, psychotic ArcVillain finally shows some raw emotion when he practically begs Gordon to [[spoiler:escape the Asylum before the bomb goes off]]. When Gordon demands that he let him [[spoiler:disarm the bomb]], he breaks down completely, and it's absolutely '''heartbreaking'''.
-->'''Gordon''': Tell me how to get that [[spoiler:bomb and shut it off]], or I'll batter you to death right here!
-->'''Hugo Strange''': In which case, young man, ''(voice breaking)'' I suppose I will just have to die.
** Later, we see him sitting alone in a cell in tears, waiting for the [[spoiler:bomb to go off and ultimately destroy him]]. Fortunately for him, [[spoiler:Gordon manages to shut it off just in time]].
[[/folder]]

!!Season 3
[[folder:[[AC:3x1 Better to Reign in Hell]]]]
* After his grand exit to find Lee last season, Gordon discovers she's already moved on with someone else during the months apart from him. He apparently doesn't even talk to her, not wanting to disrupt her happy new life.
* Selina giving Bruce the cold shoulder, because he left town without bothering to tell her (again) which understandably pissed her off.
* Selina's reaction when Ivy is seemingly killed, and being helpless to stop it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC:3x2 Burn the Witch]]]]
* When Penguin is crying in the woods after [[spoiler: letting Fish go]], it's easy to see that he's still deeply heartbroken over [[spoiler: his mother's death]].
* Bruce's devastation after [[spoiler: being forced by the Court of Owls to give up his quest, in order to spare the lives of the people he cares about]]. He almost breaks down sobbing in Alfred's arms.
* Ivy's confusion after surviving Marv's attack. You can see it especially when the man who helps her asks about her: "Cops killed my dad. My mom left. I was alone, abandoned. But then... something happened. I changed. Grew. I'm different. Inside and out."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC:3x3 Look into My Eyes]]]]
* Jim and Lee meeting at the police station. Just that.
* ''Everything'' about Bruce's clone.
* Selina's genuine concern over Ivy's disappearance.
--> '''Selina:''' It was a long fall... into water. [...] I was all she had, that kid! Nobody else would even talk to her!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC:3x4 New Day Rising]]]]
* Crossing over into NightmareFuel, [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil what Jervis did to his sister]]. As a sick game, he would put thoughts into Alice's head that "no brother should ever have", a not-so-subtle reference to [[BrotherSisterIncest incest]]. That's right: he sexually assaulted his own sister for years with actual MindRape! You can just see Alice cracking inside as she's forced to recount what he did, and later, when he finally captures her, she's trembling and crying and trying so hard to be brave, and you can just ''see'' what he did to her her whole life. It makes her death even more heart-wrenching: she never got to have a life away from his monstrous abuse.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC:3x5 Anything For You]]]]
* Penguin talking to the statue of his mother makes it clear how much he loved her and how devastated he still is over losing her.
* Even though Selina doesn't yet know that [[spoiler: the snobbish redhead is Ivy]], it still hurts when [[spoiler: Ivy]] treats Selina badly. Especially when you consider how [[spoiler: Selina had previously been her only friend]], and how many friends Selina has lost or how many times she has been betrayed over the series.
* The conversation between Selina and Bruce on the roof contains several tearjerkers: Selina's standoffishness towards Bruce is notable because she might still be hurting from their difficult startups this season - Bruce leaving for so long, and then his (initial) refusal to help look for Ivy. It could also be a sign of how much they both have been through in their young lives and what a toll it's taken on both of them, especially Selina. You can see the pain and weariness in her eyes in response to Bruce's determination.
--> '''Bruce:''' "I feel something, and I know you do too. We're the same."
--> '''Selina:''' "In what universe are we the same?!"
--> '''Bruce:''' "The money doesn't matter!"
--> '''Selina:''' "Try ''not'' having it! It matters."
* The scene were Edward was unconscious after Butch nearly strangled him to death. You can tell in Penguin's voice he was scared and worried that another person that Oswald cares about is dead. Almost every person he cares about dies in his arms like his mother and father. He didn't want to go through that again with Ed. That's why he was practically shaking Edward to wake up.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC:3x6 Follow the White Rabbit]]]]
* During the Mad Hatter's tea party, Gordon tries to goad Jervis into [[spoiler: killing him instead of Lee or Valerie]] by telling him that Alice hated him, saying that she died rather than be with him. Jervis' attempts to convince himself otherwise devolves him into a quiet, [[RapidFireNo Rapid Fire No]]. He's so deluded that he actually believes his love for his sister was normal. And when he attempts to [[spoiler: shoot Gordon]], he's close to tears.
* When the Mad Hatter gives Gordon the SadisticChoice of killing either [[spoiler:Lee or Valerie, ultimately, he chooses Lee, much to her shock and horror. After concluding that Gordon loves Valerie more because of this decision, Tetch shoots her instead, and she's immediately rushed to the hospital while Tetch makes a clean escape. When Gordon meets with Lee afterwards to explain his decision, she coldly tells him not to talk about it. The episode ends with the two of them sitting side by side, in cold, bitter silence, before the ending title screen quietly caps off the episode. It's obvious he ''still'' hasn't gotten over his breakup with Lee.]]
* Ed misses the romantic dinner where Oswald intended to profess his love because [[spoiler:he runs into a Kristen Kringle lookalike who speaks riddles]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 3x7 Red Queen]]]]
* Valerie won't be lied to. When Jim tries to tell her that he didn't mean for her to get shot, she tells him he meant to save Lee, and then breaks up with him. The realization that, whichever woman he chose, he actively chose for one of them to get shot, and the silent tears rolling down Valerie's face, just hammer it in what a ''hurtful'' situation Jervis put them all in, emotionally as well as life-threatening.
* Jim's hallucination of Leslie and the family they never got to have, as well as losing them one by one.
* The final conversation Jim has with Barbara's hallucination. Even more so if Jim and Real!Barbara actually feel this way and could have had a conversation like this in real time:
--> '''Hallucination!Barbara:''' "Don't be scared. It's not easy to face who you really are. I should know."
--> '''Jim:''' "Do you ever wish you were the person you used to be?"
--> '''Hallucination!Barbara:''' "Do you?" ''[Both exchange a sad look.]''
* Barnes has apparently accepted his apparent demise from Alice's blood, having typed up his Will and making his final arrangements.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 3x10 Time Bomb]]]]
* Jim and Lee's conversation at the end of the episode is just so...melancholy. It's clear just how much they meant to each other and how disappointed they are with how their relationship ended. All they can do is have a kiss goodbye...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 3x11 Beware the Green-Eyed Monster]]]]
* Jim reveals to Lee that he still loves her, he never stopped, and should have told her sooner. He tells her that he went to see her after the Arkham incident, but he saw how happy she was with someone else (Mario) he didn't want to ruin it. Lee tells him after the wedding, they leave Gotham and never return. Then Lee breaks into tears as she slaps Jim, angrily scolds him for not only [[CassandraTruth making "wild accusations" on Mario]], but for telling her too late he still had feelings for her on her wedding.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 3x13 Smile Like You Mean It]]]]
* Selina is heartbroken when she discovers that her mother saw her as an easy mark and only came back to Gotham to take advantage of her daughter dating billionaire Bruce Wayne. That her mother gave Selina her baby things last episode and seemed set to bond with her daughter only makes the betrayal even deeper for Selina. Then she discovers her boyfriend had suspicions about it but never voiced them to her. By the end of the episode, Selina is in tears and feels betrayed by the two people she cared for the most.
** Which is especially harsh, considering she's already more-or-less lost her two best ''female'' friends in the last few months: Bridgit, to Strange's mind-meddling, and Ivy, to her aged-up condition making her more like a stranger than the kid Selina used to protect.
* In spite of the many bad choices he's made, one might feel sorry for Gordon when Lee makes cutting comments, accusing him of wanting to kill Mario. Considering that Gordon only narrowly saved her from her new husband murdering her on their wedding night, it seems like a very unfair accusation. You can just see the sadness in Gordon's eyes that the woman he still loves hates him so much, and also that her pain is killing him to watch.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 3x14 The Gentle Art of Making Enemies]]]]
* The look of pure betrayal and disbelief on [[spoiler:Oswald]]'s face when [[spoiler:Nygma shoots him. He just can't believe what is happening, he doesn't say a word. He just silently stares at his best friend and love interest, heartbroken.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 3x15 How the Riddler Got His Name]]]]
* The revelation that, despite the events of the last episode, Edward still misses Oswald dearly, and has since resorted to [[spoiler:taking hallucinatory pills in order to keep an imaginary Oswald around him for a bit. At the end, when Nygma finally becomes the Riddler, he bids Hallucination!Oswald farewell, and throws away the pills to cement his best friend's parting. Little does he know, Oswald is still very much ''alive'', and is now bent on murdering his former companion...]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 3x18 Light the Wick]]]]
* Ivy's desperation to bring Selina back to after being told by the doctors that Selina's case was 'hopeless'. Taken to the next level when you recall that Selina is, and always has been, Ivy's OnlyFriend.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 3x22 heavydirtysoul]]]]
* Selina comes to the hospital to see if Alfred is OK [[spoiler: after Bruce stabbed him with a sword]]. Bruce tells Selina that he doesn't want her there and then says that she doesn't care about anyone but herself. You can clearly tell that this hurts Selina; she says in a soft voice that she thought Bruce ''did'' know who she was. Considering that she came to Wayne Manor a couple episodes ago to kill clone!Bruce and warn Alfred about Bruce being missing and the impending danger to Gotham, and considering that she was there in the hospital to see if Alfred was OK, it's clear that she does care. But the latest rejection from Bruce is too much for her. Before she lets out her anger, telling Bruce to "have a nice life", you can see how hurt she is by his attitude towards her.
[[/folder]]

!!Season 4
[[folder:[[AC: 4x11 Queen Takes Knight]]]]
* At Carmine Falcone's funeral, Zsasz is seen [[OOCISSeriousBusiness very clearly grieving]] for Falcone's death. During the Wake, he goes to Falcone's coffin, ejects a single bullet from his gun, and tucks it into Falcone's lapel as a last goodbye, before turning and stalking out of the chapel without a word.
* Alfred has been trying to get Bruce over Ra's Al-Ghul, going so far as to almost "kidnap" him to the chalet in Switzerland. When their tussle goes too far, Alfred knows it and tries to make up with him. Bruce's reaction: Filing emancipation papers with his lawyer and firing Alfred, threatening to show the police his injuries if Alfred doesn't leave.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 4x15 The Sinking Ship, the Grand Applause]]]]
* Samson has a man brutally beaten up, then guns him down right in front of his crying wife and daughter. Indeed, this guy is one heartless bastard.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 4x16 One of My Three Soups]]]]
* Jerome did ''not'' have a happy childhood. One of his recollections involves his uncle sticking his hand in a boiling pot of chicken broth for stealing a cookie.
* In a subdued way, Jim and Harvey's conversation at the end of the episode: "No heroes here." You can tell both men regret many of their past actions that lead them to say that.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 4x18 That's Entertainment]]]]
* One for the fans: [[spoiler: Jerome died.]] '''Again.''' Cue the angry tears.
* For a brief moment, Bruce Wayne seems poised to make a connection with Jeremiah Valeska, even complimenting his mind and offering to work together with him through Wayne Enterprises. Just a small example of what could have been, as Jeremiah goes home [[spoiler: and is promptly doused with a ''very special'' laughing toxin...]]. It seems highly probable that the next time he and Bruce see each other, they'll become mortal enemies.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[[AC: 4x18 Now That's Entertainment]]]]

* In a subdued way, Jim and Harvey's conversation at the end of the episode: "No heroes here." You can tell both men regret many of their past actions that led them to say that.