Tear Jerker / Regular Show

"...because if I lose my job... I have nothing! Y-YOU HEAR ME?! I have nothing!"

A cartoon as bizarre as Regular Show does have its heartstring-pulling moments.

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General

• Benson. As the series progresses, we learn more and more snippets of his backstory. And man, was his life sad. Turns out he's not the rage-filled, unreasonable Mean Boss that we all thought he was.
  • Then there is this scene◊ that was never animated from "Mordecai and the Rigby's" which reveals that Benson had a girlfriend who left him for a business man and told him that he would never make it in the music business.
• Any time Pops gets upset. He's such a sweet guy, and he acts like a little kid. He's quite sensitive.
• "The Naive Man from Lolliland," JG Quintel's student film, is surprisingly somber. The plot involves Pops (who in this short is an ambassador of Lolliland) having lunch, trying to pay for his meal with lollipops, and then getting violently attacked by the restaurant staff. After Pops stands up for himself and wins the fight, (sustaining a black eye in the process,) he declares that he refuses to take any more abuse. The short ends with him returning to his home in his flying car, saying, "Drive, Benson. Take me away from this... horrible place."
  Ambassador Pops: Good-bye, United States. I hope some day... we can become friends...
  • There's also the scene where the waiter yells "I'm not taking candy from some lollipop-headed FREAK!," and Pops visibly flinches, looking like he's about to cry. His entire ordeal makes you want to give him a big hug.

Season 1

• "Meat Your Maker" is chock full of awful moments. The entire freezer thing from Mordecai's growing annoyance to Rigby's increasingly desperate attempts to appease him to the whole near-death experience is pretty gut-wrenching. And then there's the fact that Benson was really looking forward to the barbecue and put a lot of money and effort into it, only to take the blame for everything that went wrong when it wasn't even remotely his fault.
• Don. The relationship between Rigby and his brother. Sad from Rigby's perspective- anyone who has felt overshadowed by a sibling can relate. And gut-wrenching from Don's perspective. All he is is nice to people, and he has no idea why Rigby despises him so much. Also doubles as heartwarming, when Don tells Rigby that he'd actually been trying to act just like his older brother the whole time.

Season 2

• Rigby's death in "It's Time", especially when Mordecai recalls his last moments with him. Mordecai's reaction makes it even worse:
  Mordecai: RIGBY! THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!
• Pops's crippling stage fright in "Dizzy." He's so terrified of having to give a speech at the statue unveiling ceremony at the park that he literally runs away crying. Mordecai and Rigby later find him sitting on a swing in the playground, weeping quietly to himself. Although Mordecai and Rigby's attempts at getting him used to public speaking are pretty funny, such as getting him to speak in front of a crowd at a movie theater, his flustered terror is kind of painful to watch.
• Leon's Heroic Sacrifice in "Benson Be Gone".
• The desperation in Mordecai's voice as he's trying to stop Rigby from attempting to un-jinx himself.
• You may want to give Mordecai a big hug throughout "Do Me a Solid", given all the crap Rigby puts him through.
• Rigby's transformation into a Were-Skunk in "Skunked", especially when he violently lashes out his friends, especially when he almost hurts Eileen. Every time he apologises, he sounds like he's on the verge of tears.
• Given how the two are True Companions, Mordecai's assertion in "Temp Check" that Rigby would never hug him is actually pretty sad.
• Rigby's death in the beginning of "Over the Top" at the hands of Skips during an arm-wrestling rematch, much to the sorrow of the park workers who had just witnessed his body covered up in a hospital room. Despite being enraged over Rigby cheating their matches, the look of deep remorse and regret on Skips' face shows that he went way too far to get revenge. To twist the knife called 'guilt' even further, it's Mordecai's spite-filled words to the yeti in the wake of losing his best friend that leaves an emotional impact:
  Mordecai: You couldn't let it go. Well, I hope you got what you wanted.

Season 3

• Benson's flashback in "Stick Hockey". His apprentice and friend, Dave, was killed right in front of him in one of the worst ways possible..
• "Skips Strikes" has Skips quitting the bowling team and the park members (with Pops replacing Skips as a team member) listening to some sad music while knowing that if they would lose to their opponents, Death from a previous episode would take their souls and what's worse, Skips quits because of his real name, Walks, being an embarrassing name.
  • As for Skips, Skips sadly burning the championship items he had and going through the memories of when he and his friends first joined the team is heartwrenching enough as it is.
• The music that plays during Muscle Man's suicide and the burning of the audience in "Terror Tales of the Park" that sounds very similar to "Winds of Change" by Scorpions.
• In "Rap It Up," Pops declares that he's going to go through with the rap battle, wanting to stand up for himself and objecting to being called a "loser." Mordecai, not wanting to participate (or wear the Shakespearean costumes that Pops has prepared,) says, "What if they're right?" Pops looks absolutely devastated by Mordecai's harsh words, and runs off sobbing, leading to Mordecai having a My God, What Have I Done? moment.
• In "House Rules", Old Mordecai implies that Rigby dies young. It's a quick one, but it's hard to laugh at the rest of the episode after hearing it.
  • What about how Mordecai feels about this? He's been best friends with Rigby since they were little. So to learn that your long time best friend may die young... you can tell by the tone of his voice when he asks 'how is this happening' that he was so upset! He can't tell Rigby about it cause that would be like telling your kid sibling they're going to die young! And Mordecai can't call for help from anyone like Skips or even Benson cause he doesn't trust anyone enough not to let it slip to Rigby. So he's suffering this knowledge alone.
• In "Think Positive", Benson is forced by Pops, of all people to hold all of his anger in. He buys an anger management tape, which triggers a flashback of his family. Apparently his family yelled a lot, and that's where his Hair-Trigger Temper stems from. It's sort of Played for Laughs, but children who can relate to such unhealthy family dynamics may find this part saddening.
  • At the end, after struggling desperately not to yell the entire episode, he floats in the air dramatically, with metal and trees rushing towards him and his fiery force field thing, as if he were a vacuum until he finally does let ALL of his anger out at Mordecai and Rigby, and says nothing positive about them. Not only that, but there were TEARS as he did so. And the rant itself is hard to listen to. May double as Nightmare Fuel and/or a Moment of Awesome.
  • Pops has a minor My God, What Have I Done? moment when he sees what his good intentions as a boss have done to Benson, and his status as a Pointy-Haired Boss is painfully deconstructed. Fortunately, the two of them seem to have made a compromise by the episode's conclusion.
• "Eggscellent", which revolves around Rigby being put in a near-death coma and Mordecai trying to win the hat he wanted in the omelet eating contest. The biggest sucker punch is Mordecai punching Benson after he says "Maybe if you had been working, like you supposed to, none of this would've happened" and telling him they're only his friends because he's their boss. Most of the episode was almost like a more dark take on the duo's regular activities, especially if you were spoiled early by the official description of "Over the Top".
• From "Video Game Wizards":
  Rigby: [to Mordecai] I hope you have as much fun winning the glove as you did losing your best friend.
• "Busted Cart". Holy hell. After Mordecai and Rigby's typical shenanigans with the golf cart put Benson through a LOT of crap (getting yelled at by his boss and being forced to drive across the country to transport the cart to the dealership in a day before the warranty expires), Benson finally snaps and yells at the two about the consequences of their actions after they waste a lot of time in a roadside arcade overnight instead of waking him up so he can continue driving to the dealership. It's just another typical Benson rant... until he breaks down in tears midway through his speech and sobs about how his job is the only thing he's got as Mordecai and Rigby look on with guilt and regret. Damn. See here.
  Benson: (to Mordecai and Rigby) Excuses, excuses! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TRUST YOU WHEN ALL YOU GIVE ME ARE EXCUSES?! WHEN ARE YOU TWO GONNA LEARN THAT YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES?! CONSEQUENCES THAT AFFECT OTHER PEOPLE?! *suddenly looks sad* Like me... Don't you two understand? *eyes well up with tears, voice starts to break* I'm about to lose my job! You may not care about keeping your jobs, but I care about keeping mine... *tears stream down his face* 'cause if I lose my job... I have nothing! Y-YOU HEAR ME?! I have nothing! *buries face into hands and sobs (pictured above) as Mordecai and Rigby watch with horrified looks on their faces* Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take my last bathroom break as an employed man. *enters the arcade*
  Mordecai: (to Rigby) Dude… we really messed up.
• "Trucker Hall of Fame". Muscle Man's dad died. At the funeral, he has a breakdown. Even High-Five Ghost is in tears. Just thinking about it puts Muscle Man in tears. When he was driving to spread his father's hat ashes, he reminisces about Dad's fun pranks. Mordecai and Rigby see Muscle Man's rivals and they repeatedly tease him (and remember at the end they wanted to kill the gang just because they hate Muscle Dad.). He's in a field and smashes a photo of Dad and has another emotional breakdown, and then finds a letter from his dad. Don't you wanna give Muscle Man a hug?
  • The ghost of Muscle Dad returns, though. And he was a forklift driver, not a trucker.
  • The beginning of the episode is just heartwrenching. Muscle Man is listening for a signal from his dad. He only hears static, and he laughs, assuming that his dad is pranking him. Then Muscle Man's brother walks in, looking forlorn, holding his father's hat... That look Muscle Man has on his face. Jesus Christ.
  • "You know who 'else' is really sad my dad died? MY MOM!" *sobs*
  • In a really realistic example of grief, there's a scene in which Muscle Man, Mordecai, and Rigby are driving in Muscle Man's car with Muscle Dad's hat ashes. Muscle Man is trying to stay composed, and is telling some nice stories about his dad. He suggests turning on some music to lighten the mood. When he tries to do so, the volume dial snaps off.... and Muscle Man starts screaming due to the accumulation of all the stress that he's undergone. He's freaking out so badly that Mordecai has to calm him down and assure him that the dial snapping off isn't a big deal.
• "Out of Commission". It starts off fine... until Benson announces that the old cart they had for quite a long time will be replaced. Mordecai and Rigby poured energy soda on the cart that drips into the engine—causing the cart to become alive. Seeing as they would cry if they had to decompose it, they take him out, for one last spin. At the end, the cart announces he wants to commit suicide by drowning in an ocean, as well as exploding. Driven to Suicide taken a literal (yet different) spin.
  • To up the ante, this wasn't the only show that had a similar episode that aired on the same night that involved suicide...
• During the events of "Diary", we learn why Skips always skips: many years ago, he would skip with a woman he loved. After she passed away, he vowed to always skip from then on, so that he would never forget her.
  • This episode also proves that Mordecai does, in fact, still hold the memory of Rigby dying in "It's Time."
• In "Prankless", Muscle Man is making a "bed on the ceiling" prank when it accidentally falls down on and ALMOST KILLS POPS. With all of his sadness, grief and guilt, he quits his job and refuses to prank again.
  • Poor Pops. He runs into the room happily chasing a balloon. The balloon taps the bed, which was taped to the ceiling... and the bed falls on him hard. He wails loud enough for all the park staff to come to his aid (which is absolutely devastating to hear), and when Skips lifts up the bed, they find him crushed, severely injured, and crying loudly. He's then taken away in an ambulance, still moaning in pain. Muscle Man just stands by on the ladder with a look of horror on his face.
    • The episode gets worse when you add in the Fridge Horror; Muscle Man already lost his father this season in a tragic pranking accident. He almost lost Pops, whose name is another term for "dad", by a prank set up by him. No wonder he was so quick to quit.

Season 4

• Thomas in "Exit 9B" and "Starter Pack". He gets put through crap just to earn respect and work (for free even) but it is lightened how laid back he is and he is determined to get his work done.
  • Mordecai and Rigby believing that they were responsible for Thomas' "death" in "Starter Pack."
• Mordecai's story in "Terror Tales of the Park II" can be a little painful to watch to those who have lost loved ones. His uncle dies in the story, and he is haunted by his ghost. Mordecai's terror is just pitiful to watch.
• Pops in "Guy's Night." He's so eager to "be one of the guys" that he repeatedly makes himself sick in order to do so, by drinking several gallons milk (to beat the "Milk Challenge") and then throwing up so much that he becomes weak and shriveled-looking and has to lie down for a few hours to recover. Even Mordecai and Rigby tell Pops that he's being crazy and that the lengths he went to beat the challenge were admirable enough. Which only makes it all the more sweet when he finally beats the challenge, is congratulated by everyone else, and the episode ends with him putting a picture in his scrapbook and giggling jovially.
• "Caveman" - when Gregg the caveman decides he's not fit for the modern world, he refreezes himself, his mate, and his caveman brothers while giving Mordecai and Rigby the thumbs up they showed him. The two weep as he is frozen, and even Benson cries after seeing Gregg gave up a new life for love.
• "That's My Television." RGB2's situation is a great deal an overlap between this and Nightmare Fuel.
• From "A Bunch Of Full Grown Geese." Pops getting attacked by geese, and eventually he's so terrified and distressed that he actually locks himself in his room and cries. Poor thing.
• In "Party Re-Pete", Pops' devastated reaction when he believes that Benson has exploded.
• "Steak Me Amadeus", Mordecai plans the perfect date in order to ask Margaret to be his girlfriend, but Margaret reveals she's been accepted to her dream school and can't be his girlfriend, followed by her running out of the restaurant in tears. The final scene with Mordecai and Rigby on the roof hits you hard.
  • You know it's sad when the bad guys actually stop shooting in order to let Margaret leave, though this is more because one of the agents called for a cease-fire because they didn't want to hurt Margaret and the criminals complied.
  • A lesser moment occurs in the interrogation room, when Pops becomes so freaked-out with the guilt of having supplied the fake coupons, that he bursts into tears and starts bawling so much that Benson has to calm him down before he can bring himself to actually speak.

Season 5

• Eileen's sadness with seeing the president of Tants burning the fake Tants that she worked hard on with Mordecai and Rigby.
  • The scene where Mordecai and Rigby tell Pops that they don't have the Tants, and Pops responds by emitting a slow, long, high-pitched wail and welling up with crying actual tears. Mordecai and Rigby lie and say that they took the Tants to the dry-cleaners, which causes Pops to stop crying. The little scene is as grating as it was genuinely sad.
• The Thanksgiving episode has a few, chief among them are Mordecai and Rigby's song at the Turducken Contest due to their families not being able to come for Thanksgiving, later revealed to be Thomas thinking their planes were delayed.
• Pretty much every moment Benson gets upset in "Guitar of Rock" because he broke the guitar. This job means so much to him and the thought of losing it destroys his world.
• "Skips' Story". For context, Skips tells Mordecai and Rigby how he obtained immortality. Walks was expelled from three other schools before transferring to another because he kept fighting. It results in him meeting the Immortal Student Council (and Glee Club) and befriending them, especially after standing up to Klorgbane. During lunch, he meets and falls for Mona. When she hears about his plans to fight Klorgbane, she almost leaves him because she didn't really want to associate with violent people until Walks backs out of the fight. She asked if Walks wanted to work on prom decorations, to which he agrees. Walks and Mona then date while The Student Council create the Fists of Justice. Klorgbane can only fight at the same time as prom, so when he doesn't find Walks, he breaks into prom and attacks. He also causes damage to the room, resulting in a piece of the ceiling to fall on Mona and kill her. Walks then dons the Fists of Justice and beats the tar out of Klorgbane. Klorgbane will return every 157 years to battle, so Walks is then offered immortality by the Guardians of Youth, and renames himself "Skips". Good thing Clarence came after this episode's initial airdate- that ought to cheer anyone up after seeing this episode.
  • Makes you wonder how Skips had to break the news of Mona's death to her parents.
  • At the end, after Skips finishes his story, Mordecai and Rigby are teary-eyed, and as they go get more shingles, they comment on how they wouldn't want to be immortal.
    • You can tell what an impact the story had on them; Mordecai almost never cries at anything.
  • Even the promos were a dead giveaway that this was going to be a sad episode.
  • The end. The Guardians warning Skips that immortality comes at a price and his response that he's already paid it with the death of Mona really cuts deep. It's almost like he was saying he had nothing else to live for and living forever to do battle with Klorgbane on behalf of the Guardians is his penance for being unable to save Mona.
• Pops getting bullied by the arrogant surfer guys at the beach in "Catching the Wave," after he'd attempted to befriend them no less. The way he tries to laugh off their jibes while obviously looking humiliated is just plain sad. Then when they start laughing at him, he can't take it anymore and just leaves in his flying car.
  Pops: Not only did I fail to become one with nature, I made surfer enemies!
• Mordecai's Disney Death in "Real Date". CJ's realistic-sounding crying just seals it.

Season 6

• In "Terror Tales of the Park IV," during the first scary story, Pops' tearful speech just before he's sacrificed to the hole.
  Pops: Please- just let me say my peace!
  Benson: Fine, you've got one minute. But then we're throwing you in that hole.
  Pops: Look at what we've become! Tearing at each other like animals- and not the gentle kind! But ever since that fog appeared, we've been feeding each other to this hole! Look me in the eye and remember the times before the raffle! (beginning to cry, tears streaming down his face) The times before the hole...
  • At the beginning of the episode, the gang suggest scary things they could do to pass the time. Pops suggests, "We could go to bed early and be alone with our thoughts." Uh... you okay, Pops?
• The entirety of "The End of Muscle Man" is equal parts Tear Jerker and Heartwarming Moments, sometimes interchangeably (Okay, Funny Moments too because of the twist ending).
  • It starts with Muscle Man wanting his coworkers to help him complete his bucket list, since he'll be "leaving this world tonight" at 7:00 pm at Wing Kingdom. But it's not the "bucket list" part that's the Tear Jerker..it's the "leaving this world" part. As 7:00 nears, Benson has everyone tribute him and give him their honor. As Muscle Man approaches the bathroom where fate (and Death) awaits, there's a quick montage of past moments in the series, before he says "I LOVE YOU GUYS!" and all of the coworkers burst into tears.
  • Then to make matters worse, Starla comes and sees Muscle Man "dead". Who could blame her for that emotional breakdown?
  • Rigby was actually unable to watch Muscle Man eat his wings, having to have Benson physically force him to look.
  • Fives throughout that episode was just tragic to watch, considering he's Muscle Man's best friend. Him receiving the news from the doctor and blaming himself for Muscle Man's declining health is absolutely tragic.
• Benson mention how he and Audrey broke up off screen. No one at all remembers how sad he was or how they cheered him up which considering they all teamed up when Mordecai got dumped and they cheered him up, this can sting pretty hard.
• Thomas (Nikolai) leaving the park at the sunset.
  Rigby: Do svidanya, Nikolai. You'll always be Thomas to us.
• A little one from "The White Elephant Gift Exchange." Pops selects a gift for himself that he's absolutely ecstatic over; a model ship in a bottle that he recognizes by name. Then Muscle Man grabs it right out of his hands, and Pops looks like he's going to cry. (Becomes a hilariously cruel moment when Muscle Man ends up giving Pops a horrible prank gift in its place.)
• The cliffhanger ending of "Merry Christmas Mordecai". After spending the entire episode stressed out, confessing to Margaret that he is in a happier relationship with CJ, and reminiscing on their good times together, Mordecai and Margaret accidentally share a kiss... right in front of CJ, who leaves the party in tears. Mordecai then discovers that Margaret is becoming Eileen's new room mate. The episode ends with Margaret confused, looking worriedly at Mordecai, though "Sad Sax" showed Mordecai deeply regretting what he did and trying to make things right with C.J. — even Margaret apologized to Mordecai over the kiss and not once told Mordecai that she wanted him back, meaning that, while she does like Mordecai, she doesn't like him enough to take him back.
• Eileen's situation in "I See Turtles: She wants to hang out with both CJ and Margret but can't because of the lingering awkwardness between the two of them after Mordecai broke C.J.'s heart by kissing Margaret.
• "Benson's Suit":
  • The suit watching his father, the tailor who created him, being blown up by an evil rich man named Rich Steve.
  • The suit revealing to Benson that he was created to be a status symbol for evil men, but after being worn by Benson, he wants to live a simple life.
  • After saving the park from Rich Steve and his army, the suit realizes that his existent will attract power-hungry men who will kill to wear him, so he asked Benson to deactivate him to ensure that will never happen.
    • To make the whole thing more tragic, the Heroic Suicide of the titular suit is a beautifully-made Shout-Out to T-800's sacrifice, complete with thumbs-up.
• "1000th Chopper Flight Party":
  • Margaret's dad and Mordecai being disappointed that Margaret moved on and got a new boyfriend, especially since Margaret's dad actually liked Mordecai like a son and really thought he'd be with his daughter forever.
  • C.J. realizing her jealous attack on the chopper nearly killed Margaret, her parents, and Mordecai (and that she had no reason to do it as Margaret was right when she said that she doesn't love Mordecai anymore and only likes him as a friend) and being so upset that she runs off.
• "Men in Uniform":
  • When Mr. Maellard announces that he's going to shut down the park for not turning in enough of a profit, it's Pops who has the most emotional reaction. Pops, on the verge of tears, says "I'll miss you all," then loudly blows his nose. We even hear him off-screen begging his father not to go through with it, to no avail.
• "Not Great Double Date":
  • Margaret being left alone in the bar after she comes clean that she still loves Mordecai, which causes CJ to call her out on lying just to save her hide after the events of "1000th Chopper Flight Party," Mordecai to run off (whether to comfort CJ or because he wants nothing to do with her isn't known), and her fake boyfriend (who actually does like her) walks out on her in character.
• "Dumped At The Altar": Mordecai trying to tell CJ something, presumably to dump her, but she cuts him off and is upset that he said he doesn’t know who his sole-mate is. She gives him the charm bracelet he gave her, with tears welling up she says "You didn’t even point in my direction", and runs out crying. While Mordecai was able to talk it out with CJ, in the end, the two decide to break up, leaving Mordecai so depressed that he runs away to Dumptown, USA (as seen in the first episode of the new season).

Season 7

• "Dumptown, USA":
  • Eileen's "breakup" with Rigby. It sounded so convincing that both Rigby and the viewers were wondering if it was actually sincere. It wasn't, as seen in later episodes.
• "Struck By Lightning" Has this in the form of Muscle Man (while suffering a particular case of amnesia) wasn't a good friend to HFG.
• Pops' strange plight in "Win That Prize" was somehow a combination of this and hilarious. All he wanted was to be on a game show, have a good time, and have an opportunity to win prizes- but he ended up with an executive job that he didn't even want and was pretty much forced into it. Throughout the episode he slowly starts to degrade physically and emotionally, aging up decades within the span of a few hours just from the stress being overworked and constantly promoted, (at one point witnessing the previous executive die of old age right in his arms.) At one point he buries his face into his hands and just sobs because all he wants is to be on the game show but is pushed into a high-intensity job that he didn't even sign up for.
• "Cube Bros":
  • It's hard to not feel sorry for Muscle Man in this episode. All he wants to do is prove that he's capable of being an intelligent person in addition to being brutishly strong, and suffers all kinds of manipulation and misfortune for it.
• "Marvolo The Wizard":
  • Poor Pops. In a twist on the "time traveling Renaissance fair" plot, the other park employees are forbidden from breaking character, (Benson threatens them by saying he'll fire anyone who breaks character.) Pops spends the entire episode completely panicked and terrified because he genuinely believes that he's gone back in time and none of his friends (despite their obvious hints) can really help him by clarifying. He pleads for somebody to help him get home, to no avail. Pops also gets KO'd twice in the episode- once from accidentally running into a wall in a panic, and the other from falling debris.
    • Even near the end of the episode, he never figures out that he hadn't traveled back in time. It's also implied that he'd been concussed at some point during the episode, which... really hadn't helped his mental state. Pops seeing Marvolo in the mirror at the end of the episode was very likely due to hitting his head one too many times. There's also the scene in which Benson is screaming at Pops to defeat the dragon, and Pops is legitimately under the impression that Benson is a king who's completely lost his mind. Poor thing.
• "Rigby's Graduation Day Special":
  • The park being sealed off and rocketing to space, and everyone who wanted to go to the park to celebrate Rigby's graduation is stuck outside, unable to do a thing about it. Rigby's being separated from almost everyone singing his praises, Benson's date with Pam is cancelled by circumstances beyond everyone's control, and Eileen is oblivious to the fact she's leaving Earth because she's inside the house, making dessert as if everything was fine.
  • Then there is also the fact that season it foreshadows is the last one.
  • Mr. Maellard can be seen on a rooftop shedding a tear as he watches the dome take off, because he knows he's never going to see his son again.

Season 8

• "Welcome to Space":
  • As soon as Benson makes it back to Earth, his life begins falling apart; his home has been taken, he is unable to find any jobs, and eventually becomes broke.
  • Then when he finally views a video tape the gang gave to him, he hears what they all have to say. Most notably that work just wouldn't be the same without him. Benson responds in tears and utterly regrets his decision of leaving them. Thankfully, it all turned out to be a virtual simulation.
• Even though the park and it's crew have had a massive location shift, the season references several long-forgotten visitors who are still there. Eileen and Skips find the frozen bodies of Gregg the caveman and his girlfriend in the freezer, while the floating, long-dead skull of Pops' rival Huge-Head is still in his dusty display. What's especially sad is the crew could never give him a proper burial, because doing so would open the destructive portal his head is clogging.
• "Mordeby and Rigdecai"
  • Mordecai's breakdown when it looks like Rigby has been incinerated. Fortunately, Rigby was just teleported.
• "Cheer Up, Pops"
  • To boost Pops' morale before his battle, his friends try various ways of cheering him up. In a morbidly funny scene, they make a cake shaped like his head, which oozes red raspberry filling upon being cut open, the sight of which leaves Pops a screaming mess.
    • During the party scene, we see Pops gradually look more and more broken, until he slinks away from his own party to be alone. When we see him again, he's having what can only be described as a complete nervous breakdown, sobbing hysterically with a twisted, tearful smile on his face, all while saying that he's fine and he doesn't want anyone worrying about him. Damn.
    • Another interpretation of this scene could make it even sadder. Pops' breakdown could have started because on some level, he knew that he wouldn't survive the final battle, and was coming to terms with his own death.
• "A Regular Show Epic Final Battle":
  • The series went out with a bang, but towards the end it gave us the saddest moment the show has ever seen: The death of Pops. As the universe begins to cease, Pops finally realizes how to break the cycle of endless fighting with his brother Anti Pops - by embracing his positive energy. He goes to Anti-Pops and gives him a hug, his positive energy weakening his brother's negative energy. He flies towards a star, as Anti-Pops pleads. Mordecai and Rigby tear up, realizing what's about to happen but being completely helpless to do anything about it. Then Pops tells them to take care of each other before he and his brother fall into the star and incinerate, saving the universe at the cost of his own life.
  Anti-Pops: This can't work, Pops! The minute you let me go, I'm gonna blast you into nothing!
  Pops: I know...So I'm not going to let go.
  • And after that, the Park crew return to Earth, three years after they left. We see them reunite with their loved ones, and everyone is happy...except for Mr. Maellard, who looks up in the sky, tears in his eyes as he silently mourns Pops. Mr. Maellard may have been more abrasive than Benson could ever be, but he truly loved his son.
  • Doubles as a moment of Heartwarming, but seeing the Park crew erect a statue in remembrance of Pops. And then, at the reunion 25 years later, they erect another statue in remembrance of Mr. Maellard, honoring both of these men who had been around since the beginning.
  • It's incredibly fitting and poignant that it's Benson who places flowers on Pops' grave. Arguably, since the pilot, (and even in The Naive Man from Lolliland,) Benson had the closest relationship with him, more than any other character.
  • The look on Maellard's face during this scene. Everyone looks composed, but Maellard just looks... broken.
  • The ending montage hits both heartwarming and tearjerker, considering it's also implied to be J.G.'s tribute to a certain musician and using his most touching song ever.
  • Easy to miss considering all we see, but going by the closing montage it seems that Margaret and CJ drifted away from the park crew entirely and there's no sign of Thomas/Nicolai in the closing scenes either.
    • Its made worse when according to Word of God, while Margaret does indeed keep in contact with Mordecai, Rigby, and Eileen, and is on pretty good terms with them, CJ has cut all contact with them, meaning she and Mordecai's relationship truly was damaged beyond repair.
    • The crew raises a statue of Mr. Maellard next to Pops', implying he too died relatively quickly in the interim.

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