History Tearjerker / TheGoodPlace

** It's also--or perhaps especially--heartbreaking because of SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome. Eleanor did try to be better, she ''did,'' but with her roommate's ToxicFriendInfluence, a lifetime of being miserable and hurting other people, and the fact that BeingGoodSucks it's just too much.

!!General

!!Season 1

!!Season 2

!! Season 3

!! Season 4

* As much of an idiot as he is, you do have to feel a little bad for Jason. He legitimately had dreams and goals and did want to do something with his life. His stupidity and impulsiveness were just what did him in, and he barely received any schooling or chances to better himself. Now, he's stuck in a place where he has no friends [[TheFriendNobodyLikes (even the others don't really like him that much)]] and is forced to pretend to be a silent monk to survive.

* As much of an idiot as he is, you do have to feel a little bad for Jason. He legitimately had dreams and goals and did want to do something with his life. His stupidity and impulsiveness were just what did him in. Now, he's stuck in a place where he has no friends [[TheFriendNobodyLikes (even the others don't really like him that much)]] and is forced to pretend to be a silent monk to survive.

** TheReveal that no human has made it to the Good Place in over five centuries is both horrifying and tragic. Millions of otherwise decent people have been sentenced to eternal hellish torture all because of the points system being so flawed by taking into account of the unintended consequences of even the smallest seeming actions that most people wouldn't even consider...

** It's also--or perhaps especially--heartbreaking because of SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome. Eleanor did try to be better, she ''did,'' but with her roommate's ToxicFriendInfluence and a lifetime of being miserable and hurting other people, it's just too much.

*** The moment when Eleanor splutters this out to an InnocentlyInsensitive Michael, who asks why she can't believe that Donna is now a good mom. Eleanor tearfully shouts, "Because ''I'' wanted that mom!" and talks about how Donna made her look for loose fries in fast food ball pits for afternoon snacks. Michael looks extremely guilty as he realizes how much this must hurt Eleanor, and he has nothing comforting to say.

** The entire plotline with Tahani being tortured by having the party she throws get overshadowed by the one Winston is throwing is largely played for laughs... until the end when Tahani breaks down and cries because even though she ''knew the whole time'' it was a ruse designed to make her feel bad, it still worked, and she doesn't like what this implies about her as a person.

** When Eleanor admits she can no longer be sure if Michael is really himself or Vicky in a Michael suit, he offers to blow himself up so the experiment doesn't have to be reset. It won't exactly kill him as demons can reform after a few months but it would have been pretty messy and meant Michael would be put out of commission for long while.
--> '''Michael:''' I wish I were saying this in a different context, but... take it sleazy.

--> '''Michael:''' You guys would never look at me the same way again. I won't just be ''Michael'', I'll be...some disgusting...mass of burning tentacles. ''(somberly)'' Do you really want to be friends with something like that?
** The way Michael puts an almost childlike emphasis on his name. Michael no longer wants people to view him as a demon, and his current personality is built upon distancing himself from it. Like, ''Michael'' isn't some evil monster who formed from the pits of hell. ''Michael'' didn't gleefully torture people for eons. And Michael certainly isn't this gargantuan, toothy, rancid, oozing mass of fiery tentacles. Michael's true form reminds him of who he used to be, and the last thing Michael wants to be is his former self.

--> '''Michael:''' You guys would never look at me the same way again. I won't just be ''(puts on an almost childlike voice)'' ''Michael'', I'll be...some disgusting...mass of burning tentacles. ''(somberly)'' Do you really want to be friends with something like that?

** As a counterpoint to Jason's dad being irredeemable, Eleanor's mother Donna has genuinely changed and become a better person. This makes Eleanor distraught and jealous because she wanted her mom to be better when she was a child, and even after they reconcile, Eleanor still can't fully forgive her parents for how they screwed up her life. Eleanor even spends much of the episode in denial that her mother had changed since believing otherwise would mean accepting the fact that Donna was always capable of change but never saw Eleanor as someone worth changing for.

* "Chidi's Choice": The flashback where Chidi's lifelong best friend Uzo tells him, "It is literally impossible to be your friend!" Made worse by the fact that this is the ''[[PartingWordsRegret last]]'' thing he, or anyone, ever said to him. Chidi dies not even thirty seconds later. It's capped off with Uzo looking in shock and [[PleaseWakeUp saying Chidi's name in a shaking voice just barely above a whisper]].

** The flashback to the day Eleanor emancipated herself from her parents when she was only 14. They don't even care that she's doing this, and the fact that Eleanor is so nonchalant about it drives in how awful they were. The ending scene to the flashback is her eating her birthday cake by herself.