Tear Jerker / The Ghost and Molly McGee

General

• Any time that Molly drops her Genki Girl persona. It's even an in-universe Tear Jerker for Scratch; he declares war on anyone who makes Molly upset. And yes, that includes if he instigates her sadness.

Season One

The Curse

• Scratch's existence is pretty lonely. He has a teardown to himself and spends his days scaring the citizens of Brighton. What does he get for his efforts? The Ghost Council barely passing his efforts and refusing to let him join them for outings. You can see why Molly's spontaneous kindness at the end of the episode —giving him a dollhouse and making him tacos — won him over.

First Day Frights

• Libby's backstory: she made the mistake of mispronouncing Andrea's name when she was six, and the girl in revenge turned her into an outcast. Molly on hearing this offers to be her friend, but Libby is terrified that she'll infect Molly with ostracism.

Howlin' Harriet

• Libby is insecure about going camping. She tells Molly that she's not good with the outdoors, and nature hates her. Molly feels bad for Libby when the same bee that crawls on her finger leads a swarm to sting her.
• Howlin' Harriet's story is quite tragic. She was a woman run out of town and ended up tripping over the train tracks. Harriet got stuck and couldn't get away in time when a train hit and struck her on impact, while also cutting off her toes. While Molly and the girls assume it's just a ghost story, soon Harriet shows up for real.

Mama's Gotta Hustle

• Sharon said she spent her whole childhood working in a family restaurant. While she can cook, the thought of doing it again is enough to make her as scary as Scratch.
• In the end, Sharon earns enough money to fix the car after spending the whole day working...only for the water heater to explode. (Darryl and Pete keep it a secret that they were exploring a tiny locked door and didn't have the key.) Sharon laments that other problems always emerge after you solve a big one.

Best Of Nin-tensions

• Sharon and Grandma Nin can be civil on a webcam, but in person, they are nothing short of hostile. For that reason, Sharon doesn't want to invite Grandma Nin over. When Molly arranges a surprise visit, the two snipe at each other.
• Pete also gets caught in the crossfire due to eloping with Sharon. Grandma Nin gifts him with a durian, while the kids and Scratch get delicious snacks. He has some wisdom when explaining to Molly that getting involved in a feud can sometimes make things worse and you have to know the right time to interfere.
• Molly asking her dad to talk to her mom, questioning how he would feel if Sharon and Molly ever became estranged. Pete's expression to this speaks volumes.
• The way that Sharon hides under the bed, like a kid, after yet another fight with Nin. Pete tries to talk to her and reassure her that they can make up.
• Molly eventually loses her temper and orders her mother and grandmother to talk it out after her attempts to recreate her family's wedding to please Grandma Nin goes wrong. Sharon blurts out that her mother never supported her art studies or forgave her for quitting law school. Grandma Nin, shocked, corrects her: she was disappointed that Sharon quit her art in favor of mundane "pork" jobs. She says that her daughter is more wonderful than she thinks that she is and that doing the art made her happy. There's a beat as both Grandma Nin and Sharon realize, with some Ascended Fridge Horror, that their feud was All for Nothing.

Mazel Tov Libby

• While we see what's apparently her paternal extended family, Libby's father is nowhere to be seen. Considering she and her mother still have the hyphenated surname of Stein-Torres, it's likely a case of death.
• Libby gets so overwhelmed by the extra guests that she goes and hides in another room, clutching a turtle and sobbing, alone.
• While Molly made things go wrong by getting a bunch of guests and decorations, she had good intentions: Libby's mother was mentioning that the book shop wasn't doing well, and Molly mistakenly thought that Libby's family couldn't afford a proper bat mitzvah. Libby clarifies while forgiving Molly that it wasn't a money issue; she just likes to keep ceremonies small and low-key.

The Turnip Twist

• Thanks to Geoff ruining the turnip piñata, Brighton ends up losing to Perfektborg in the Midwest Monthly once again. This ends up leaving Pete in tears with Molly consolidating him. Even Scratch, the one who came out winning from this, still feels bad for them. To top it all off, this ends up being pointless as the piñata incident ends up attracting a lot of people to Brighton so the misery levels still went down.

All Systems No

• As much as he's reveled in Molly's discomfort up to that point, and how ridiculous he looks trying to accept the offer, it is a little sad seeing poor Scratch be brought to tears when he's forced to reject an invitation to the Elite Ghost Society — a once-in-an-afterlifetime opportunity and a chance to finally be recognized for his talents, and it slipped through his fingers, all because of a prank backfiring on him.

Scratch The Surface

• The entire episode is one big tearjerker. Molly has to choose between either never telling Libby about Scratch and losing Libby, or telling Libby about Scratch, and risk losing him to the Flow Of Failed Phantoms. Molly decides to make up a whole new persona for herself, but that only causes more problems, as it makes Libby even MORE suspicious of Molly, who has to eat a burger covered in maple syrup, which Molly finds gross, is forced to witness close-up magic, and ends up running from Libby when she catches on to Molly's charade. In the end, Libby thinks Molly no longer wants to be her friend, and decides that if she doesn't, Libby might as well not be around her, anymore. Ultimately, Molly is forced to tell Libby about Scratch, anyway, thus simultaneously endangering Scratch, and irreversibly changing her and Libby's friend dynamic.

Festival Of Lights

• It's revealed that Libby's great-grandparents had to flee from their home (probably during the Kristallnacht) and seek refuge in the USA to save their lives. Mrs. Stein's menorah is one of the only heirlooms they were able to bring with them.

Saving Christmas

• To Molly's shock, Andrea actually asks her father to fund the Snowflake Festival. When it's shown that she was going to be the Snowflake Queen you think this is for selfish reasons but there's actually a genuinely sweet reason for it - Andrea's mother was the Snowflake Queen and she wants to do the same. Mr. Davenport shrugs this off as her wanting to play princess, offering her a Halloween costume, but it's very clear that Andrea is genuinely hurt by his actions.
  • Even worse when you realize why Andrea would care so much. This isn't something she can just buy or get from her dad's store but an experience that would be meaningful to her that she could share with her mother.
• Molly is completely and utterly broken by Davenport's refusal to fund the festival and gives up all hope. All of Scratch's schemes couldn't dampen her spirits, and none of the obstacles or setbacks she encountered in her quest to enhappify the world could deter her in the least, all the strife and misery in Brighton couldn't bring her down; but one man's apathy and greed were enough to destroy her.
• Mr. Davenport is horrified when he sees how upset Andrea is at the festival being cancelled, especially when she breaks down crying◊. While he's certainly business minded it's also clear that he loves his daughter and he's ashamed of himself for what he's done because of that love.
  • The scene also sells that Andrea really isn't being a brat; she is honestly hurting over losing the role of Snowflake Queen because of her father's greed.

The Don't-Gooder

• When her parents ignore Andrea she is genuinely hurt◊.

A Very Hungry Ghost

• Scratch's Inelegant Blubbering when he's forced to give up Grandma Nin's feast to stop the Council from discovering his friendship with Molly. He sobs that he knows this was a lesson in selfishness since if he had invited Geoff and not made a fuss about keeping the festival a secret then he could have sampled the food, but he was looking forward to her cooking. It's so bad that Grandma Nin, as thanks for him being a good sport and honoring the spirit of the festival (no pun intended), says she'll buy him his favorite pizza.

The Bad Boy Bobby Daniels

• Patty and Bobby could've had a life together, only for that to be stolen from them because of Linda's selfishness.
• The song of the episode, "The Bad Boy of Brighton", is based on the song "The Leader of the Pack" by the Shangri-Las. A song about how a romance between a girl and a misunderstood biker is ended by the request of her unsupportive parents, and the heartbroken biker dies in a motorcycle accident moments later. Though not quite as intense, the song has a similar feel as a girl and a biker have their romance ended by the girls' jealous and unsupportive friend, and the two of them spend the next 70 years heartbroken and thinking of what might have been.

Out of House and Home

• Due to lack of attention to the house mortgages, the McGees were forced to leave their supposedly forever home, leaving Scratch alone again.
  • Speaking of which, there's Scratch's reaction to the whole ordeal: Despite trying to appear confident that the family will be able to move back in, it's as bright as day over how devastated and doubtful he is. When Sharon pulls Molly away from their hug and into the car before driving off, all he can do is reach for her and tearfully watch as the best thing that's happened to him in what can be assumed to be a long time disappears off into the distance. On top of that, the episode ends with him looking around what used to be Molly's room, noticing how empty it is, before curling up into a ball on a spider web being used as a hammock.

Home is Where the Haunt Is

• Molly’s unconvincing “Everything is Totally Normal” song to Libby, where it’s obvious that she’s trying not to break down over the prospect of losing her forever home. At one point the song briefly stops as she just starts sobbing.

All Night Plight

• Molly breaking into tears as she tells Scratch that the night wasn't about the comet but making a forever memory, as Molly is still afraid her family might leave Brighton one day.

The Jig is Up

• When the friendship between Molly and Scratch is exposed, she can only watch helplessly as he gets dragged into the Ghost World.
  Jinx: (as she pulls Scratch through the portal) Say goodbye, Scratch. 'Cause you're gonna spend an eternity in the Flow of Failed Phantoms!
  Molly: (holding onto Scratch) Scratch! No!
  (Scratch's grip loosens and he's pulled into the Ghost World)
  Scratch: SORRY MOLLYYYYYY!!! (the portal closes)
  Molly: SCRAAAAAATCH!!! (falls to her knees in despair)
  • What's even more heartbreaking is that instead of the usual ending, we cut to the title card, which has ''The Ghost and'' blow away into dust, leaving only ''Molly McGee'' and the last line of the theme song doesn't play.

Molly Vs. The Ghost World

• None of the McGees are taking Scratch's disappearance well. Pete is pulling out his hair, Darryl is biting his fingernails, and Molly is trying every method Libby can find to try and contact him. Sharon is doing better, but she's still clearly worried.
• When Geoff gets banished to the Flow of Failed Phantoms, Molly and Scratch are devastated.
• Doubles as a Heartwarming moment, but Scratch declares that he is happy to have Molly as a friend as they get sucked into the Flow of Failed Phantoms together. Fortunately, it isn't a tearjerker for long as Molly's positivity proves powerful enough to destroy it and free all the ghosts trapped within.

Season Two

The New (Para)Normal

• The McGees and the Chens are getting along great... until the former learn that the latter are ghost hunters, meaning that they have to keep Scratch a secret from them to protect him, and the stress makes things awkward fast.

Book Marks the Sprite

• Molly's song, "Ghosts Aren't The Enemy," is as heartfelt as it is painful to hear. It perfectly sums up her despair over the dilemma she faces, with her liking ghosts, but also having a crush on Ollie, who hates them. This despair is punctuated with her frowning at him in the song's outro.

Double Double Darryl Trouble

• Darryl does not take how much people like his soulless husk self more than him well, nearly running away in despair at the idea that no one loves him for who he is.

A Soda to Remember

• After drinking enough of the strawberry soda, Scratch remembers a childhood friend moving away, making a promise that they'll think of each other when drinking it. After remembering that memory, all Scratch can do is stare in shock as he drinks the soda.
  • Scratch wanting Molly and her family to leave the house in the series premiere and claiming that Geoff isn't his best friend in "Howlin' Harriet" puts this attitude in a different light because it implies that he was subconsciously afraid that Molly or Geoff would replace his childhood friend (implied to have lived in the house the McGees moved into) his new best friend.
  • The Downer Ending from the episode "Out of House and Home" is Harsher in Hindsight the more you think about it: Scratch recalls a time when he had to watch his friend move out of the exact same house. This means that when the McGees got forced out of their home, Scratch had to relive the moment of his friend moving away.

A Period Piece

• Molly feeling left out over not getting her period yet while Libby and Andrea have and start hanging out with each other more. This causes her to abandon her childhood and start dressing and acting more womanly to impress the girls.
• The montage of the song "Glowing Up" has Molly bury her stuffed animal toys in a box beneath her backyard and cry as she gives them one last hug before saying goodbye to them.
• When Molly flaunts her newfound maturity to Andrea and Libby by dressing and acting more ladylike, she offers them a plate of cheese and meat as finger foods, but trips in her heels and spills it onto them, causing her to burst out crying as she admits that she feels like they've outgrown her friendship due to not perceiving her mature enough.

It's Always Sunny in Sunnyland

• Molly drives herself to exhaustion trying to give her family the Sunnyland experience at home after seeing how disappointed they were about having to cancel their family vacation. When this leads to her crashing the Roomba she was using for a make-shift light show into a wading pool and nearly flooding the living room, Molly's first response is to blame herself, moaning "I ruined your vacation!" This causes Scratch, Libby, and the other McGees to look guilty for putting so much pressure on her and taking her efforts for granted.

I Wanna Dance With Some-Ollie

• Molly and Oliver are having a good time together at the dance, but when Molly finds Scratch trapped in one of Ollie's ghost traps, Ollie discovers Scratch and his friendship with Molly, while overhearing that Molly won't try to pursue a relationship with Ollie in order to help protect Scratch. Once Ollie finds out, he looks incredibly devastated, and he ends up getting picked up by his Mom alone that night, looking at Molly and Scratch play together while walking home.

The Unhaunting of Brighton Video

• Despite his Heel–Face Turn in "Frightmares on Main Street", Scratch repeatedly alienates Oliver for being in Molly's "Ghosts Friends" team, because of the fact that he was a ghost hunter.
  • After Blair unleashes videotape tentacles at the gang, Scratch tells Ollie to cover his ears and promises him that what he's about to say next won't be about him. And then he proceeds to shout, "Swoopy-Hair's messin' up everything!". And judging by the look on his face, Ollie heard what Scratch said and is clearly hurt by that comment. Yes, trying to talk down Blair failed the first time, but at least he is trying to make an effort to befriend a ghost, possibly as a way to make up for his past in ghost-hunting and Scratch berating him for screwing up, doesn't make things better for him either.
• As the group tries to find what Blair's "emotional toes" are, Ollie starts to feel guilty over his beliefs and actions on ghost-hunting, to the point where he actually agrees with Blair's plight and (unintentionally) forces Molly, Libby and Scratch out of the abandoned video store.
  • Then he reaches his breaking point when Molly asks him if he, like Blair, is hiding about his past. ^note  Specifically, when he was a ghost hunter. And Alan Lee did a really good job at voicing Ollie's guilt and self-loathing.
    Ollie: No! It's not like there's anything to feel guilty about! I don't feel bad that I was wrong about everything, I don't feel bad about (tears up) attacking innocent ghosts, and I don't feel bad that I almost hurt someone you really care about! (sobs) Or, maybe I do feel bad. Really, really bad... You were right Scratch. I don't deserve to be on the team. Or to do cool poses. (hysterically breaks down onto Scratch)
• Fridge Tearjerker. Ollie’s Heel–Face Turn happened in “Frightmares on Main Street”, which was a week before this episode. Now that his guilt is bubbling to the surface, it’s implied that he kept this in for days, let alone even a week without telling anyone.
• Another Fridge Tearjerker. While trying (and failing) to help other ghosts to dedicate himself in Molly’s Ghost Friends team, there’s another reason for why Ollie is trying hard to prove himself to be in the team. Aside from redeeming himself for his ghost-hunting, he also seems that now that he trusts ghosts, his family is not going to like that he switched sides, which makes him feel like he doesn’t belong in his family (as seen with The Unsmile he had at the end of “Frightmares on Main Street” when his family’s drive to getting rid of all ghosts gets stronger), and with Scratch constantly alienating him, he feels as if he doesn’t belong in Molly’s friend group, basically feeling isolated altogether.
• Blair's backstory: she rented a movie tape she really liked and didn't return it. Although she did want to return it, her guilt got the better of her to the point where she couldn't return the tape because she died and it's implied that she died as a young girl. She even stated that she couldn't watch her favourite movie in the afterlife.

100% Molly McGee

• Molly feeling left out among her own family for not fitting in well enough with their Thai heritage. She's not fluent in Thai, she doesn't know how to play Makruk, and she can't tolerate spicy food. She stays up all night trying to acclimate herself better to it and be more prepared the next day, but it's not enough. She reaches her breaking point, goes up to her room and hides behind all of her stuffed animals.

Like Father Like Libby

• Matias shatters Libby's expectations of spending time together, as he prioritizes making his book "Chasing Miracles" a trilogy instead of spending time with his daughter. A speechless Libby soon returns to Leah's car, with her illusions shattered and crying.

Davenport's in Demise

• As unfeeling as Mr. and Mrs. Davenport have been in previous episodes (especially when they refused to cancel their app after it decimated Brighton's economy), watching them desperately try to sell off all of their inventory as they go out of business is still quite sad.
• At the end of the episode, Andrea's fruitless efforts to rebrand herself have left her teary-eyed, depressed, and ready to give up on her dreams for the future.

Web Of Lies

• Though a lot of the episode is hysterical, think about it from Molly and Scratch's perspective: Not only did you disobey your brother and best friend, it looks like you unintentionally MURDERED his pet. The grief Molly and Scratch feel for this absolutely destroys them, culminating in Molly tearfully admitting what they did to Darryl. Sure it's softened by the reveal that they never actually killed Heidi, but the point is? They both thought they had not only broken Darryl's trust, but killed the thing he loves most.

Welcome to Necro-Comic Con

• When Molly asks why Ollie can just talk to his parents that some ghosts can be good instead of just taking the cannister away from them, he explains that it’s not that easy, since his parents hate ghosts with a passion and telling them would make them think that he’s joking.
  Ollie: My parents aren’t like yours, Molly. They’ve devoted their entire lives to hating ghosts. They’d never understand.
  • He turns out to be right when he does tell them. While his parents are proud that he became an “empathetic, young man”, they refuse to listen, insisting that ghosts are pure evil.
  • Ollie also states that he doesn’t want his parents to hurt innocent ghosts but doesn’t want to disappoint them either. This is relatable to anyone who hates disappointing their parents’ expectations.

Fit to Print

• As the Bugle confronts termination at the end, Molly tries to put on a brave face in front of her former staff, even as tears fill her eyes.

Perfect Day

• While it's mostly Played for Laughs, Molly's worst results of her attempts to create a perfect day include:
  • Libby's bookstore burning as she cries inconsolably.
  • Molly being sent to jail.
  • Darryl dying.
• At the end, whatever traces of positivity Molly had left in her are crushed when she steps in the puddle again. She sits down in it, resigned to hopelessness for the year ahead.

The End

• This small exchange between Scratch and Geoff.
  Scratch: Geoff, Geoff, Geoff. Oh, what would you do without me?
  Geoff: Be sad for a very long time?
• Scratch's Dark and Troubled Past is finally revealed, and it's just as sad as it was built up to be. He turns out to be a Wraith of Todd, the Recurring Extra who happened to look and sound like him, giving up the ghost after falling numb from being away from Adia so much because he preferred to play it safe instead of going on adventures with his friend, being so scared of Dying Alone that he never really knew what it was like to live.
  • The look on Scratch's face when he realizes he's Todd's wraith is a tearjerker in and of itself. It's almost as if he crossed the Despair Event Horizon in an instant.
  • The precise moment that Todd's soul abandons his body is seconds after Adia decides to not reply to his messages anymore and cuts ties with him, tired of always breaking his promise to join her to travel the world.
  • How sad is "Maybe Next Time," the song Scratch sings as he explains his past as Todd? Even the song's one joke ends up being heartbreaking.
    Scratch: She'd be on a surfboard,
    Riding on a swell.
    And I'd be on the sofa,
    Eating nachos by myself.
    On the one hand, they were very tasty nachos—
    Lots of spice!
    But on the other hand...
    I wasted my whole life.
    So, there is that.
  • When the song ends, Ollie reveals that when wraiths are out of their bodies for too long, they'll start to forget their lives when they were human, and it's a common thing for wraiths.
• Just this line:
  Scratch: Or maybe I couldn't remember my life because there was nothing worth remembering!
• The last words between Molly and Scratch before he goes back to being Todd are a reference to the theme song:
  Scratch: Dream team, you and me?
  Molly: For all eternity.
• The episode ends with Scratch returning to his original life as Todd and finally deciding to reunite with Adia, but it seems to come at the cost of forgetting his friendship with Molly.
  • Although, there are ambiguous glimpses, in that Todd says the word "enhappify" and calls Molly "Moll" even though she never introduced herself.

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