History TearJerker / TheHardyBoys2020

** Combined with heartwarming, Sim-Laura at last convincing Fenton to do what he hasn't been able to in the nearly-a-year since he lost her: learn how to finally forgive himself and start moving on with his life. And both of them professing their undying love for each other.

* Practically everything about "At the Old House" with TheReveal at the end that it's all taking place inside a LotusEaterMachine, and after getting [[HopeSpot false hope]] that Laura was alive after all, her husband and sons having to accept that she truly is gone for good.
** When the boys first see Laura after their parents arrive to save them, Frank goes over to hug her pretty quickly, but Joe is hesitant, wary that he'll open up to it after all the time he's spent learning to accept her death, only for it to turn out to be a trick. He finally lets it out and goes to hug her too when Fenton assures him it really is her, only for them all to find out later that it '''is''' a trick.

** After an argument at the dinner table between the parents (who want the family to move back to Dixon City) and their sons (who want to stay in Bridgeport), Frank gets upset and goes up to his room, and when Laura comes to talk to him, wonders aloud why he's still not happy despite seemingly getting exactly what he wanted and why none of it feels right and he doesn't feel like himself. He fears it's because of his exposure to the Crystal permanently messing him up, but it gets worse in hindsight knowing it doesn't feel right because it's ''not'' right; as much as Frank wants to return to and embrace a life with his mom back in it, he can't shake the feeling that things don't add up.

** Once the boys figure out they're in a simulation, Frank does the test on Laura and sees the glitch in her eyes. Both brothers tear up at realizing she's not real, meaning she truly is dead after all. Even as they try to make Fenton see it too, their eyes are both full of tears, obviously torn up at discovering their efforts all season to find their mom were AllForNothing, as they're essentially losing her ''again''.
** Fenton questions why, if his mind is really creating what he wants within the simulation, he would have spent ''days'' in solitary confinement there. His sons sadly tell him that it's because of his GuiltComplex: he's punishing himself for not being able to save Laura.
** Laura tries to persuade her sons to stay in the simulation and be happy there with her, but they know it wouldn't be real and they need to go stop Drew. Frank and Joe both start openly crying as they share their last goodbyes with her before breaking out of the simulation.

[[/folder]]

* Anya Kowalski becomes a subtle retroactive example with Driscoll's reveal to Belinda, Brian, and Chet in "Revelation" that she passed away the previous winter. After losing her beloved father when she was a child and having her life ruined by the Circle, she died with no family or apparently even friends to speak of, having willed all of her remaining assets to various charities, and the main characters are only learning about her death now despite it having happened months ago, hinting that her passing received little-to-no attention when it happened. All of this points to her having been a lonely, sad woman throughout most if not all of her life.

* After JB's warning to Frank about Stratemeyer, he's shaken up enough by it to pour out all his fears to Callie: that Anya Kowalsky was right about the Hardys being cursed, that he can't seem to live a normal, peaceful life even when he wants to, and that he's a danger to Callie just by being with her. Though it moves into [[Heartwarming/TheHardyBoys2020 Heartwarming]] territory when she reassures him.

** He also notes that the killer was wearing the same coat as Laura in the picture from Quill, worried that ''their own mom'' might have been the one to murder his friend.

** Once the rest of the gang hears from Frank about JB's death, the mood among all of them is somber. They hardly knew JB, unlike the Hardys, but it's still a crushing blow, and Biff notes out loud that Joe is not going to be doing well at all and wishes they could be with them. She's right, as Joe wakes up the next day looking like hell, having slept poorly and not feeling hungry.

* Fenton discovers that Laura has been BrainwashedAndCrazy, and when they meet up again at their first apartment, she can't remember him and tries to kill him, forcing him to Taser her unconscious [[ApologeticAttacker while apologizing for it]]. As he lowers her onto the couch, he can only stroke her hair and continue to whisper to her that he's sorry.

* At the start of the season, though it's been less than a week since George took over Frank's body, this has already negatively affected the dynamic among the TrueCompanions, and Joe is rather unhappy about it. He bluntly urges Phil not to tell Biff about his crush on her because Joe apparently knows she doesn't reciprocate and doesn't want their group to get even ''more'' messed up, ''heavily'' disapproves of "Frank" having dumped Callie, and is upset to hear that she's going away to Rosegrave for the summer. It's clear the poor kid is hurt at watching their once-close circle fall apart around him while he's helpless to do anything about it, despite his best efforts to hold it together.

* Inside the Crystal, Frank watches the scene of Joe and Callie talking in the SecretRoom and learns that George broke up with her. He's horrified and starts tearing up as she leaves, futilely telling [[PensieveFlashback her vision self]] that that wasn't him, and is even more upset to hear that she's going away somewhere (to Rosegrave) as a result of it. Even once Frank is happily reunited with Joe in the Crystal, the thing he's probably the most upset about in their whole situation is knowing that George caused his beloved girlfriend emotional pain while pretending to be him.

* Everyone's reactions to Jessie Hooper nearly being killed in the bombing at Wilt's in "Heading for Destruction", which leaves her comatose for most of the rest of the season. Callie, who only very reluctantly left her there at her own insistence, rushes in after the explosion to see what happened and is horrified by her injuries. And when Jessie is brought out on a stretcher to load into the ambulance, an utterly distraught Biff repeatedly tries to get her to respond before breaking down in Callie's arms, while an equally-devastated Trudy can only stare in shock. We then cut to both of them at her bedside, with Trudy trying to reassure Biff, who [[CryIntoChest collapses into her, sobbing]]. Joe silently witnesses this, obviously feeling terrible at not having been able to help, and sadly walks away.
* Fenton and his family aren't even reunited for half an episode before he leaves again to go meet Olivia in Dixon City (though it's at the boys' insistence this time). When he comes to say goodbye to Trudy at the hospital and offers to stay, she understands and tells him to go, but clearly isn't holding up well after what happened to Jessie. Meanwhile, Frank says to Joe that they can tell Fenton about the Eye when he gets back; this turns out to be TemptingFate in a major way since father and sons don't meet up again until the end of ''next'' season.

** Joe hits his lowest point in the whole series when the gang finds out that Trudy, Jessie, and Brian have been kidnapped, noting that things are going FromBadToWorse with losing their aunt too and not knowing where their dad is, and he fears that JB [[SenselessSacrifice ended up sacrificing his life for nothing]], even lamenting that George was right before about them not being able to save everyone. Despite usually being the upbeat [[TheDeterminator determinator]] who always keeps going, Joe's so downtrodden at this point that he admits he's not even sure they can win this one.

* Fenton discovers that Laura has been BrainwashedAndCrazy, and when they meet up again at their first apartment, she can't remember him and tries to kill him, forcing him to Tazer her unconscious [[ApologeticAttacker while apologizing for it]]. As he lowers her onto the couch, he can only stroke her hair and continue to whisper to her that he's sorry.
** And before that, as he pleads with her to recall their life together, asking if she remembers their sons. She has a small reaction that hints that she ''does'' remember them, and maybe Fenton too, but the microchip in her brain is [[AndIMustScream forcing her to attack him against her will]].

* As George gives {{Breaking Speech}}es to most of the friend group, he [[LoveInformant outright tells Biff that Phil's in love with her]], and he's pretty shaken by this. When they talk about it later, Phil apologizes that she found out that way, and while she assures him he doesn't need to apologize and she ''does'' like him, it's just not in ''that'' way. Phil assures her it's okay, but he's still visibly saddened by how awkward the whole thing became thanks to George, and turns to glare at him, while he just sits there with his usual [[SmugSnake smug smirk]].

* As George gives {{Breaking Speech}}es to most of the friend group, he [[LoveInformant outright tells Biff that Phil's in love with her]], and he's pretty shaken by this. When they talk about it later, Phil apologizes that she found out that way, and while she assures him he doesn't need to apologize and she ''does'' like him, she clarifies that it's not in ''that'' way. Phil assures her it's okay, but he's still visibly saddened by how awkward the whole thing became thanks to George, and turns to glare at him, while he just sits there with his usual [[SmugSnake smug smirk]].

** And after Joe says this, Frank pushes him away hard enough that he slams into the opposite wall of the cargo hold, sinks to the ground, and breaks down in tears. Frank ''immediately'' has a [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone horrified reaction]] the second he does it, starts crying too, and tries to apologize, but Joe just slaps his hand away.
** Once the boys calm down and talk, Joe tearfully tells Frank that he came there to steal the relic because of how worried he's become about his brother, since it's very obvious something's wrong with him [[ToxicFriendInfluence thanks to the Eye's corruption]]. He also insists that they don't need its power to be good detectives, reminding Frank that their dad believed in them without even knowing they have it. All of this finally gets through to Frank and convince him to give up the Eye, agreeing to swear to it on Laura's grave.

** What's worse, George seems to ''think'' he's breaking it off in the gentlest, least mean fashion possible, saying "I'm not trying to hurt you," but his cold voice makes it come off far worse. Special mention goes to him saying "You've been a big help"; probably ''intended'' in the vein of "thanks for all you've done for me, I appreciate it even if I want to split up now," but his tone has a tinge of his usual smugness that instead sounds like he was just using her and is rubbing it in now that he doesn't "need" her anymore. Callie definitely seems to take it this way, saying "Who do you think you are?" before storming out, heartbroken.

* After a whole season of dropping hints that Chet still has some leftover baggage about his breakup with Callie and her hooking up with Frank--despite his outward claims that he has no issues with it--Angela throwing this in his face motivates him to finally admit how he really feels to both of them at the end of "The Doctor's Orders". Namely, that Callie should have been the one to initiate the breakup instead of him; that Frank "swooping in out of nowhere" wasn't cool and ''did'' hurt him; that everyone went on like nothing happened to the point that Chet was worried about losing his two best friends if he brought it up; and that, despite his best efforts to get over it, he ''was'' angry, both at them and at himself for not speaking up sooner. It's ''long'' overdue and much-needed, but that doesn't make it less awkward or uncomfortable, with both Callie and Frank clearly feeling terrible seeing just how badly this has been weighing on Chet and all three of them tearing up a bit during it. Luckily, getting this all off his chest allows him to finally get past his lingering bitterness and move on for real.

* Everyone's reactions to Jessie Hooper nearly being killed in the bombing at Wilt's in "Heading for Destruction", which leaves her comatose for most of the rest of the season. Callie, who only very reluctantly left her there at her own insistence, rushes in after the explosion to see what happened and is horrified by her injuries. And when Jessie is brought out on a stretcher to load into the ambulance, an utterly distraught Biff repeatedly tries to get her to respond before breaking down in Callie's arms, while an equally-devastated Trudy can only stare in shock. We then cut to both of them at her bedside, with Trudy trying to reassure Biff, who [[CryIntoChest collapses into her, sobbing]]. Joe silently witnesses this, obviously feeling horrible at not having been able to help, and sadly walks away.

* Callie goes to visit Gloria in prison to see if she has something to do with the false cheating accusation that's gotten her blacklisted from every prep school in the country. This is not the case, but Gloria drops the bombshell that Callie wasn't just admitted to Rosegrave on merit; the exam ''was'' rigged in her favor, through no fault of her own, because she's Gloria's protegee who was actually being groomed all along to be part of the innermost ring of the Circle of the Eye. Callie is horrified, as well as utterly devastated to realize that the woman who mentored her for years wasn't doing it out of kindness and had ulterior motives that she never wanted any part of.

* We don't actually meet Mr. Shaw until Season 2, but his and Callie's backstory is rather sad; his wife walked out on him when their daughter was very young and didn't have any kind of contact with either of them, so he raised Callie alone. She wants to be a doctor, a profession many fathers would love for their daughters, but he wants her to take over his film store and stay in Bridgeport because she's all he has. Callie feels conflicted by her love for her dad and wanting to follow her dreams, and admits to Frank that she sometimes misses her mom.

** When the boys first see Laura after their parents arrive to save them, Frank goes over to hug her pretty quickly, but Joe is hesitant, wary that he'll open up to it after all the time he's spent learning to accept her death, only for it to turn out to be a trick. He finally lets it out and goes to hug her too when Fenton assures him it really is her, only for them all to find out later that it '''is''' a trick.
** The whole scene with Joe briefly seeing JB grin and wave at him before vanishing already counts the first time, but becomes even sadder once you know it's all taking place inside a simulation meant to give the people in it what they want the most. Joe is still so broken up about losing JB that he'd much prefer him having pulled another fast one on him by faking his death if it meant getting his friend back too.

** Once the boys figure out they're in a simulation, Frank does the test on Laura and sees the glitch in her eyes. Both brothers tear up at realizing she's not real, meaning she truly is dead after all. Even as they try to make Fenton see it too, their eyes are both full of tears, obviously torn up at discovering their efforts all season to find their mom were AllForNothing, as they're essentially losing her ''again''.

** When the boys first see Laura after their parents arrive to save them, Frank goes over to hug her pretty quickly, but Joe is hesitant, wary that he'll open up to it after all the time he's spent learning to accept her death, only for it to turn out to be a trick. He finally lets it out and goes to hug her too when Fenton assures him it really is her, only for them all to find out later that it '''is''' a trick.

** Once the boys figure out they're in a simulation, Frank does the test on Laura and sees the glitch in her eyes. Both brothers tear up at realizing she's not real, meaning she truly is dead after all. Even as they try to make Fenton see it too, their eyes are both full of tears, obviously torn up at being forced to discover that their mom being alive was a [[HopeSpot false hope]], as they're essentially losing her ''again''.

** When the boys first see Laura after their parents arrive to save them, Frank goes over to hug her pretty quickly, but Joe is hesitant, wary that he'll open up to it after all the time he's spent learning to accept her death, only for it to turn out to be a trick. He finally lets it out and goes to hug her too when Fenton assures him it really is her, only for them all to find out later that it '''is''' a trick.

** After an argument at the dinner table between the parents (who want the family to move back to Dixon City) and their sons (who want to stay in Bridgeport), Frank gets upset and goes up to his room, and when Laura comes to talk to him, wonders aloud why he's still not happy despite seemingly getting exactly what he wanted and why none of it feels right and he doesn't feel like himself. He fears it's because of his exposure to the Crystal permanently messing him up, but it gets worse in hindsight knowing it doesn't feel right because they're ''not'' right; as much as Frank wants to return to and embrace a life with his mom back in it, he can't shake the feeling that things don't add up.

** Once the boys figure out they're in a simulation, Frank does the test on Laura and sees the glitch in her eyes. Both brothers tear up at realizing she's not real, meaning she truly is dead after all. Even as they try to make Fenton see it too, their eyes are both full of tears, obviously torn up at being forced to discover that their mom being alive was a [[HopeSpot false hope]], as they're essentially losing her ''again''.

** When the boys first see Laura after their parents arrive to save them, Frank goes over to hug her pretty quickly, but Joe is hesitant, wary that he'll open up to it after all the time he's spent learning to accept her death, only for it to turn out to be a trick. He finally lets it out and goes to hug her too when Fenton assures him it really is her, only for them all to find out later that it '''is''' a trick.

** After an argument at the dinner table between the parents (who want the family to move back to Dixon City) and their sons (who want to stay in Bridgeport), Frank becomes very upset and goes up to his room, and when Laura comes to talk to him, wonders aloud why he's still not happy despite seemingly getting exactly what he wanted and why none of it feels right and he doesn't feel like himself. He fears it's because of his exposure to the Crystal permanently messing him up, but it gets worse in hindsight knowing things don't feel right because they're ''not'' right; that, as much as Frank wants to return to and embrace a life with his mom back in it, he can't shake the feeling that things don't add up.

** Once the boys figure out they're in a simulation, Frank does the test on Laura and sees the glitch in her eyes. Both brothers tear up at realizing she's not real, meaning she truly is dead after all. Even as they try to make Fenton see it too, their eyes are both full of tears, obviously torn up at being forced to discover that their mom being alive was a [[HopeSpot false hope]], as they're essentially losing her ''again''.

** When the boys first see Laura after their parents arrive to save them, Frank goes over to hug her pretty quickly, but Joe is hesitant, wary that he'll open up to it after all the time he's spent learning to accept her death, only for it to turn out to be a trick. He finally lets it out and goes to hug her too when Fenton assures him it really is her, only for them all to find out later that it '''is''' a trick.

** Once the boys figure out they're in a simulation, Frank does the test on Laura and sees the glitch in her eyes. Both brothers tear up at realizing she's not real, meaning she truly is dead after all. Even as they try to make Fenton see it too, their eyes are both full of tears, obviously torn up at being forced to discover that their mom being alive was a [[HopeSpot false hope]], as they're essentially losing her ''again''.

** Combined with [[Heartwarming/TheHardyBoys2020 Heartwarming]]: Fenton laments to Simulation-Laura that he wasn't there for his sons when they needed him most (after her death). However important it may have been for solving her murder, he nonetheless considers leaving them behind back then to be MyGreatestFailure.

** Joe hits his lowest point in the whole series when the gang finds out that Trudy, Jessie, and Brian have been kidnapped, noting that things are going FromBadToWorse with losing their aunt too and not knowing where their dad is, and he fears that JB may have [[SenselessSacrifice ended up sacrificing his life for nothing]], even lamenting that George was right before about them not being able to save everyone. Despite usually being the upbeat [[TheDetermintor determinator]] who always keeps going, Joe's so downtrodden at this point that he admits he's not even sure they can win this one.