Tear Jerker / The Nanny

• The ending of "I Don't Remember Mama". Especially with that very last line.
  Grace: I remember that!
  • Earlier in the episode, Fran is preparing to enter a mother-daughter talent show with Grace when one of the other competitors drags along a judge to inform her, in front of Grace, that Fran can't compete with Grace because she's only Grace's nanny and not her real mother. It culminates in Grace angrily yelling "I don't have a mother, she died!" at the woman and running away in tears.
  • At first Maxwell thinks that Grace is upset because the talent show made her remember her mother and she misses her. Grace informs him no, its because she DOESN'T remember her mother; she knows she SHOULD miss her but she doesn't because she has no connection to her. Maxwell's quiet little "oh" as it slowly crashes down on him that his attempts to protect Gracie have caused her to not remember her mother at all is utterly heartbreaking.
• Brighton and Maggie stating that they can't really talk about their mother. It is clear they want to discuss it but everyone in the family is so traumatized by her sudden death that even 4 years later they don't want to reopen that wound.
• The entire mini-arc of Fran getting pregnant and learning Maxwell doesn't want to have more children, which makes it impossible for Fran to tell him. It gets worse when Fran suddenly suffers from abdominal pain and gets sent to the hospital. Fran discovers that her pregnancy test was incorrect and it was a false positive, meaning she was never pregnant to begin with. After Maxwell and Sylvia leave Fran's hospital room, she's getting her things together and then just starts crying realizing the baby she wanted so badly never existed in the first place, and all this emotional turmoil was for nothing. Thankfully, later on Fran gets pregnant for real, Maxwell is okay with it, and she delivers a healthy set of twins.
• Niles' heart attack in the season 4 finale. Coming off as quite the shock as Fran and Maxwell get a call and find out what's happened and even C.C. is shocked and actually shows concern for him as they were having one of their snark fests when he suddenly stopped and didn't say anything and she realized that he was in trouble and needed help.
  • While it's played for laughs, there's a brief moment wherein C.C. thinks Niles has died from the heart attack and mistakenly believes that she was responsible for it.
• When Fran learns that her mother is having an affair with her doctor, Dr. Razzo, she goes to check the man out by pretending to be another patient. She assumes the man is a sleaze and is cheating on his own wife, especially when she notices a photo her in his office. Except it turns out he's a nice guy who lost his wife nine years earlier, but still remembers her fondly.
  Dr. Razzo: Did I say nine years? I can't believe it's been that long.
• After C.C. rejects Niles' proposals on numerous occasions, he finally gives her a verbal beatdown that really gets to her. As awesome and funny as it is, it's also pretty heartbreaking coming from someone who's had his heart ripped out by her again and again. Not to mention it hits C.C. so hard that she decides to quit working for Maxwell too.
  C.C.: Me marry you? Please. You are a pathetic excuse for a man.
  Niles: Ditto! But at least I know when it's time to move on. You're going to spend the rest of your life pining for a man who doesn't love you and who's married a woman half your age!
  Fran: Oh, Niles, please don't go!
  Niles: Look around you. They're married. They're starting a family. Where are you going to be ten, twenty years from now? You're going to be saying "Merry Christmas" to your friends in rehab, and wondering what might have been!
  C.C.: ...
  Niles: To Maxwell I'll be leaving first thing in the morning, sir.
  C.C.: My god, he's right. The best years of my life are gone. And they sucked. I have always stayed too long at the fair. Well, not this time. I have to move on. Maxwell, my resignation will be on your desk in the morning.
• While it is incredibly funny, watching Fran have a small meltdown during the Series Finale as she has to finally let go of Maggie and Brighton who are moving to Paris.
  (Maxwell and Grace are hugging Maggie and Brighton goodbye in the airport terminal)
  Fran: (over the PA with a low professional tone) Ladies and gentlemen the flight to Paris has been cancelled (transitioning into her whiny nasal squeak, while sobbing) Because I'm going to miss my BABIES!!!
  • And as they leave, Fran sees them as they were at the start of the series.