As this is a tearjerker page, spoilers may be visible. Read at your own risk
- When Dot's father dies. It's not even that he dies, though that is sad. It's the fact that Dot is the one who has to give him the drugs for assisted suicide, and she plays his favourite song through it.
- Shelby crying while singing in the pageant, right after she has learned that her best friend (and crush) has killed herself, possibly partially caused by what Shelby said.
- Martha's backstory. Going back and reexamining her happy friendly demeanour through the rest of the show is heartbreaking once you realize why she does it.
- The flashback. Martha is all set to compete for the first time as an adult in the jingle dress dancing category. As she is getting ready, her therapist's words ("you'll think of me when you dance.") come back to haunt her. She quits the competition without telling anybody, abandoning the jingle dress that she labored over in the dressing room.
- Nora's relationship with Quinn. It is implied that they are both autistic. From the first day they meet they get on really well, clearly having found a kindred spirit and eventually dating. When Nora introduces him to Rachel however, she calls his behavioral tics (which are typical of autism and very similar to Nora's) creepy and weird. This leads to Nora breaking up with him, and when he deduces what has happened, he is brought to tears by the fact that Nora didn't even stand up for him.
- For anyone who themselves had ASD (autism spectrum disorder) it was particularly cruel, as the behaviors Rachel calls 'creepy' are failure to maintain eye contact and speaking in tangents about special interests, both very typical characteristics of autism. You'd think she'd show greater understanding, as Nora is similar.
- Then even worse, Nora's checking up on his social media after the breakup, and finds out he has died in a hazing accident at the frat he was rushing.
- Showing up at the jail to try and show one of his killers Quinn's photo, to show him the life he ruined, was even harder. It may be even more poignant as Nora shows little outward emotion as a result of her neurodivergence while doing this, but it's still clear from her action and voice just how much he meant to her.
- Very little of the past portion of Shelby's season one episode is anything other than tear jerking. Her father is a Christian Heteronormative Crusader who is at minimum psychologically abusive, her best friend Becca was abused by a stepbrother as a child, when she kisses said best friend her father all but outright threatens her with conversion therapy, and when she lashes out at Becca out of fear, it's seemingly the last straw that leads to Becca committing suicide.
- Rachel is devastated at Nora (apparently) dying to save her from a shark. Shelby finally talks with her, relating what happened with Becca to empathize with her loss. She admits she'd been so depressed by it she'd even contemplated suicide herself, only getting through this with her faith. Shelby recites a mantra she drew from the Bible to Rachel which comforted her, and with a moment's hesitation Rachel's repeating it.
- The reason why Bo believes that Seth did assault Josh: he has seen the bruises and how Josh is acting towards Seth. And he is too familiar with being at the receiving end of abuse.I know that kind of scared when I see it.
