There are some downright heartbreaking things in Kevin Can F**k Himself that are masked by the Laugh Track and brightly lit sets of sitcoms in this Genre Deconstruction.
In General
- Allison's whole life in general is just awful. Aside from how she's been stuck dealing with her husband's aggravatingly immature antics and irresponsible nature for the last decade, we find out she's been dealing with this kind of treatment from even her mother, which definitely explains how she ended up with Kevin in the first place.
- For all his faults, Neil is a pretty tragic character. He's a feckless and possibly mentally disabled manchild who is completely dependent on Kevin's very conditional approval. When it starts to sink in for him that Kevin doesn't really care for him, Neil becomes increasingly more unstable and heartbroken as Kevin's mistreatment of him gets worse.
- Diane has it pretty horribly too, given her own abusive marriage, which she's been stuck in for twenty years (half of which her husband Chuck spent cheating on her).
Season 1
"Living the Dream"- The opening scene. Allison goes back into the kitchen after unsuccessfully trying to convince Kevin to not celebrate their tenth anniversary with one of his "rager" parties. She's shaking in frustration and anger and then breaks Kevin's beer glass. She yells out she's fine but knows no one is listening (or even cares).
- Allison finding out Kevin drained their savings, essentially destroying that last shred of hope she had of things getting a little better. It's little wonder this serves as The Last Straw for her.
- Allison admitting how tired she is after a decade of feeling like she'll never be good enough. The desperation in her voice is like a punch in the gut.
"Live Free or Die"
- During their trip to Vermont, Patty reveals that her and Neil's mother died when they were kids and their father was absent for much of their lives due to his job as a truck driver. And if Patty's remark about how their father being out on the road was preferable to him being home with them, it's fair to assume he was likely abusive too.
- Patty also reveals that Neil was the one to find their mother's dead body. One has to wonder how much of Neil's Manchild behavior was caused in part by that particular trauma.
- Allison bitterly recalling how Kevin got her fired from her paralegal job because he thought she was having an affair with her boss without a shred of evidence before viciously calling out Patty for treating his antics as "harmless" while ignoring their destructive consequences and enabling the misery and abuse she had to endure for the last several years.
- Patty's reaction is just as heartbreaking. She initially tries to defend herself but has nothing and is subsequently heartbroken and horrified with herself as it finally dawns on her that she's been complicit in this. She genuinely apologizes to Allison for the first time in a shaking and sad voice, knowing that it's way overdue.
"Broken"
- Allison recounting how Kevin made her laugh on their wedding day, remembering a time when she thought her marriage could be more than her constantly being picked on in contrast to how tired she is in the present. You can just feel the sadness creeping in on her as she tells the story.
- Allison crying in the bathtub and calling herself broken as she laments how her current situation is partly her own fault as well.
- The state of Sam and Jenn's marriage. They might not be as toxic as Allison and Kevin, but there's a great deal of resentment and long-standing conflicts clearly making them both miserable.
- As selfish and unsympathetic as Kevin has been throughout the first season, there’s a bit of a tragic element when a burglar enters his house. He does not hesitate to protect Allison and later, is despondent and even traumatized at having to shoot another person. Whether this was either a Pet the Dog moment or shows that he has Hidden Depths, this shows that he can care for other people. Unfortunately, after this incident, he learns nothing and just gets worse, and any potential for him to become a better man goes down the drain.
"Fixed"
- Kevin gets rid of Neil by lying to him by saying that they're playing a game of hide-and-seek, and when Neil leaves, Kevin cruelly mocks him with his father, Pete, behind his back, wondering why they never thought of that to get rid of him years ago. Neil may have been immature, and admittedly they did have a right to be annoyed with him because he was complaining about being bored during a campaign party, but Neil has been nothing but a loyal friend to Kevin, which shows that Kevin doesn't really appreciate Neil's loyalty and is not above being cruel to him and making fun of him behind his back either.
Season 2
"Ghost"- There's something downright heartbreaking about how the flashback sequences end with 2005 Allison optimistic about her upcoming date with Kevin, given how we all know it all ends up in the present day.
- The flashback of Allison's abusive mother Donna. It's no wonder Allison was so quick to shack up with Kevin if she was truly desperate to get away from that.
"Jesus, Allison"
- Tammy coldly tells Allison that she just does not like her (and by extension, her and Patty's friendship), which is especially sad considering the two did find some common ground earlier.
- Patty and Neil's relationship throughout this episode. He's still angry over her hitting him on the head and she's clearly getting aggravated with his behavior the longer it goes on. Then there's her anger with Neil for getting them banned for life from the ice rink considering their late mother brought her there all the time.
"The Unreliable Narrator"
- In this episode, Pete finally draws the line with his son's actions when learning Kevin started the city-wide blackout and purposefully destroyed his girlfriend Lorraine's hearing aid purely out of spite and amusement. It's clear from this scene that Pete never made his son apologize for his actions or ever thought of the harm his son caused before, and he's not used to actually acting like a responsible father. What makes it worse is that Kevin refuses to apologize not just for this, but won't even apologize for shutting a car door on Pete's hand earlier either. While you can call this Laser-Guided Karma since Pete raised Kevin this way and enabled his antics his whole life, it's tragic that Pete's now seeing the consequences of his parenting, and Kevin has no compassion for the man that raised and loved him, showing that even Kevin's father is not immune to his selfishness and cruelty.
- Kevin falsely accuses Neil of stealing the emergency generator and calls him stupid to his face. Neil actually storms off and runs to the back of the diner, where he breaks down crying.
- Sam realizing how badly he had treated both Jenn and Allison, the latter especially after he had to spend the night dealing with Kevin and seeing for himself what she's had to put up with for the past decade. His apology to Allison and the way she breaks down crying as he hugs her and tells her things will be okay just hurt to watch.
"The Machine"
- Neil gives Allison a "The Reason You Suck" Speech, telling her that he tried to tell people about her plotting to kill Kevin, but nobody believed him and he's not a problem for her, angrily demanding that she just leave him alone.
"Allison's House"
- Pete moving to Florida with Lorraine is played for laughs in the sitcom framing, but it's clear from his quick exit and the fact that he doesn't tell Kevin the address that his departure is driven in large part by him being completely fed up with Kevin's antics. Yes, Pete's not blameless in this, as Kevin's present-day behavior and actions are the clear result of his enabling, but it's still tragic seeing a father and son's relationship falling apart and the father realizing that he failed to raise his son properly and there's nothing he can do to make it right.
- Kevin's death adds another layer of tragedy to this story. Again, it's hard to really sympathize with either of them, Pete for failing to raise Kevin properly and Kevin for the fact that his oafish goofball persona is at least partially an act to get away with his more malicious actions, there's the fact that the last scene of Kevin involves him calling his father and angrily demanding he pick up his phone and Pete's son died, and he's going to have to learn about it.
- Neil finally reaching his own breaking point with Kevin, calling him out as the selfish and disloyal jerk that he is. While it's an awesome moment for Neil, as this finally puts him on the path to taking control of his own life and growing up, it's still sad to watch how Neil struggles to hold back his tears and anger as he finally accepts that Kevin, the guy he called his best friend for years, has never truly cared for him.
- Patty's sadness over Allison's departure and continuing to hope for her return.
- Neil confesses his feelings to Diane and proposes that they run away together. She rejects this however, telling Neil he needs to get his own life in order before she can even entertain the possibility of them being more.
