History TearJerker / TheWorldsEnd

** When Pete talks about his childhood bully, Gary recites advice from his therapist before quickly changing the subject. Saying "Hey, now listen Pete, bottling up past trauma can lead to inadequate coping strategies in later life... or so I've heard."

** Unlike its predecessors, Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, there's no penultimate boss or even a grand battle. The penultimate fight isn't so much an epic battle against the Network before reaching the big bad and more a confrontation between 2 men who have just realized how the mental toll of growing up has affected the other.

** After school, Gary's life ultimately went nowhere and his friends have abandoned him since 1997 because of his toxic behavior. At one point, he was committed to a psychiatric ward for self-harming or for attempting suicide (something he never told his family about as his mother still tries to contact him). His time at the hospital only made him feel worse because he felt that they deprived him of his freedom and identity.

** Gary then breaks down completely as he admits his depression to Andy, revealing his wounds from self-harming after Andy pulls his sleeves down, explaining how he hates how his life had turned out, and admits how much he envies Andy for having a more perfect life.

** Unlike its predecessors, Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, there's no big climatic battle against the Blanks or some dramatic sequel hook. The final fight isn't so much an epic battle against the Network and more a confrontation between 2 lonely men who were forced to talk about how change has affected them.

** Especially the look on Gary's face when Andy says to him "[[KickTheSonOfABitch You don't need us to help you get fucked up, you've done a perfectly good job so far on your own!]]"

'''Gary:''' I got help. Do you know what help was? Help was a lot of people talking about how fucking awful things have gotten. That is not my idea of a good time.\\

'''Gary:''' I don't want to be sober! It never got better than that night. That was supposed to be the beginning of my life, all that promise and fucking optimism. That feeling like we could take on the whole universe. It was a big lie! Nothing happened![[note]]God help you if you watch this movie first around the time you're graduating.[[/note]]\\

'''Gary:''' They told me where to go to bed. Me!\\

* From Andy's tone of voice in the Kings Head, when he's trying to get Gary to put the pint down, he seems to have realised that Gary may have a more underlying problem than just wanting to finish the crawl. He starts talking him down, much in the same way you talk someone down from suicide, and on rewatch that can be very chilling. Especially as Gary has tears in his eyes.
--->'''Andy:''' Gary... Put the pint down, yeah?

** While his facade remains pretty much intact until "The Cross Hands," this is one of the few times it [[BeneathTheMask slips]], probably because Gary didn't expect at all that someone would still be able to see through him, which is also pretty common in depression.

* There's a point at one of the pubs where Gary is trying to convince the others that they're having a good time, only for the others to point out that he's over-idolised their youth. While they're absolutely right, and Gary fully deserves the lecture about how he's wrong, the look on his face is very depressing. Made worse when we later find out [[spoiler:it's all he has to cling onto]].

* "The accident" that ended Andy and Gary's friendship is built up over the course of the film until the smoke house, where it's explained that [[spoiler:In 1997, Gary was overdosing, forcing a desperate Andy (who was four times over the alcohol limit) to try to drive him to the hospital, resulting in him rolling the car and almost severing his femoral artery. Gary then somehow recovered enough to flee the scene, leaving Andy alone to be arrested... after the twelve hours of surgery needed to save his life. Andy sees this incident as an act of betrayal because he always believed in Gary.]]
** Even if Gary [[spoiler:lying about his mother dying]] ''did'' persuade Andy to join the Musketeers, [[https://www.scriptslug.com/assets/scripts/the-worlds-end-2013.pdf a deleted part of the script]] shows Andy saying he only joined because he didn't want another night alone in his empty house. Considering how much Andy wanted nothing to do with Gary after "the accident," that's really saying something.

** [[spoiler:Pete's beating up Blank!Shane is this as well to an extent. You can see all the rage and pain he experienced finally explode on the now all-but-pacifistic Shane.]] Then it gets worse because [[spoiler:this moment of vengeance costs Pete his life as it allows the Blanks the opportunity to surround him, kill him and create a new Blank from his memories]].
--->'''Peter:''' ''[punching Shane]'' I hate you! You fucking bastard! '''I hate you!!'''
--->'''Andy:''' Peter, leave it!
--->'''Shane:''' ''[monotone]'' Why are you doing this, Peter? We don't want to hurt you...
--->'''Steven:''' Come on mate! It's not worth it!
---> ''[[[OffWithHisHead Peter punches a hole through Shane's head]]]''
--->'''Peter:''' '''[[RevengeBeforeReason YES IT FUCKING IS!!!!]]'''

* Andy initially refuses to join the crawl and is at the point of throwing Gary out of his office, when Gary reveals [[spoiler:that his mum died]]. Watching Gary's face during this scene is heartbreaking enough, but the second time you see the film [[spoiler:and you know he's lying]] it's even worse, because [[spoiler:what Gary is REALLY mourning is his lost youth.]]
** Actually, it's worse than that: [[spoiler:we learn that Gary's mother has been trying to call him for '''months''', and he's ''avoiding her'', because he doesn't want to talk to her about his suicide attempt.]]
*** Made even worse by the ending: [[spoiler:after the worldwide EMP sends the world back to the Dark Ages, we learn from Andy that Gary's mother was one of the fatalities. Gary felt bad enough causing the whole thing in the first place, but indirectly killing his own mom? No wonder he chose to walk the Earth.]]
* Doubles as Heartwarming: Gary throwing the keys to the Beast to Steven and Andy before running to The Hole in the Wall. Essentially telling them to run while he stays behind to finish the Golden Mile [[spoiler:(and, likely, be killed).]]
** [[spoiler:Gary raising his pint in the King's Head to "friends, to Oliver, to Pete," in a very downbeat and bitter fashion.]]
* Sam repeatedly asking about [[spoiler:the fate of her brother]].
* Sam seeing Adrian Keane [[spoiler:knowing he died years ago in a crash.]]

* When the guys burst into the bathroom to yell at Gary about lying about his mum, Gary is in traumatised tears, panicking about whats happened and pleading with the others not to blame him.

* After Gary gave Peter's name to the police officer, Andy angrily asks him "Do you know how much trouble you could get into?" whereupon Gary bitterly answers "Do you know how much trouble I'm already in?" The first time you watch the movie this short conversation will probably go past you without much effect but when you watch it the second time knowing that he probably refers to [[spoiler:his suicide attempt]] it can truly become tear-jerking, especially since his almost resigned tone indicates that he is perfectly aware of his problems and has already given up, supporting the theory that Gary [[spoiler:plans to finally commit suicide]] after the pub crawl.
* Although it's mostly played for laughs in the movie, Gary saying "[...] and knowing in my heart, life would never feel this good again. And you know what? It never did." at the end of the prologue is actually pretty sad.

** Unlike its predecessors, Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, there's no big climatic battle against the Blanks or some dramatic sequel hook. The final fight isn't so much an epic battle against the Network and more a confrontation between 2 despairing men who've reached their breaking points and understanding how losses have affected them. Gary retreated into the past to relive his golden years and Andy uses the loss of his children through the divorce to motivate himself into winning back his family. The fight against the Network is more or less a dramatic debate that annoys the Network into leaving before the town self-destructs.

** Unlike its predecessors, Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, there's no big climatic battle against the Blanks or some dramatic sequel hook. The final fight isn't so much an epic battle against the Network and more a confrontation between 2 despairing men who've reached their breaking points and understanding how losses have affected them. Gary retreated into the past to relive his golden years and Andy uses the loss of his children through the divorce to motivate himself into winning back his family.

** Unlike its predecessors, Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, there's no big climatic battle against the Blanks or some epic sequel hook. The final fight isn't so much an epic battle against the Network and more a confrontation between 2 despairing men who've reached their breaking points and are terrified of change.

** After school, Gary's life ultimately went nowhere and his friends have abandoned him since 1997 because of his toxic behaviour. At one point, he was committed to a psychiatric ward for self-harming or for attempting suicide (something he never told his family about as his mother still tries to contact him). His time at the hospital only made him feel worse because he felt that they deprived him of his freedom and identity.

'''Gary:''' I don't want to be sober! It never got better then that night. That was supposed to be the beginning of my life, all that promise and fucking optimism. That feeling like we could take on the whole universe. It was a big lie! Nothing happened![[note]]God help you if you watch this movie first around the time you're graduating.[[/note]]\\

** After reminiscing about the best years of his life, Gary gets the idea to back to where it all began so he can finally finish The Golden Mile before ending his own life (hoping his childhood friends would forgive him and remember him fondly on the night prior to his death). Except, he's forced to confront how they've all changed and how they are better off without him. By the time he reaches The World's End, Gary has caused the deaths of two of his friends and he's put himself on the front lines of defence against a silent invasion. After trying to sacrifice himself to save Andy, Steven, and Sam: Andy catches up to him at The World's End, just as Gary was about to complete The Golden Mile and finally give himself the closure he always wanted (presumably before he lets the blanks kill him) but Andy prevents him from doing this by knocking the drink out of his hand. Gary is left with tears in his eyes as he begs Andy to "Let me have this!" At this point, Gary's suicide mission for a pint has been rendered moot and he fully realises that he has nothing else left.
** Gary then breaks down completely as he admits his depression to Andy, reveals his wounds from self-harming, explains how he hates how his life had turned out, and admits how much he envies Andy for having the perfect life. In a combination of funny and tragic, when the pair access The Network's base, Gary looks more pissed that he couldn't have his last drink before dying.