History Tearjerker / TheHandmaidsTale

** Until, you know, you remember that this woman is holding Emily down while her husband rapes her. Then it gets tearjerking in a different way.

** The moment when she sadly gazes at her fellow Handmaids, and shows them the detonator so they have a chance to run. Fortunately, they all do& mdash;leaving their friend behind so she can take out Gilead's higher-ups.

* When it's revealed that Janine was recaptured and Lydia goes to see her, Janine is utterly broken and tearfully begs to not get sent back to be a Handmaid again, even stating that she'd rather die. Lydia tears up at the thought of Janine being executed, and warmly tells her that she'll be kept safe, knowing full well by this point just how hideous being a Handmaid can be. This spurs Aunt Lydia to keep Janine as an assistant - and therefore safe under her protection.

** After that Emily and her family attempt to escape to Canada, only to find out that their marriage is no longer valid therefore she does not have dual citizenship from getting married to her Canadian wife and cannot cross the border. All Emily can do is urge her family to go on without her, play with their young son one last time before they board the plane, and tearfully hold and stare at their invalidated marriage certificate.

** The moment when she sadly gazes at her fellow Handmaids, and shows them the detonator so they have a chance to run. Fortunately, they all do -- leaving their friend behind so she can take out Gilead's higher-ups.

* Although she's very much made her own bed and -- as the end of the episode shows -- is content to lie in it, Serena's treatment when she visits Canada in "Smart Power". The Canadian welcoming party treat her with a mixture of pity and contempt. A mother with a young daughter is visibly disgusted by her, and refuses to share an elevator with her. When the Mayday Letters are published and the Waterfords get kicked out of Canada, a woman scornfully tells her that she doesn't know how Serena lives with herself, and that it's sad what Gilead has done to her.

-->'''Serena''': You gave her to a murderer! You killed my baby! You've killed my baby! How could you take her away from me?
-->'''June''': 'Cause I have another daughter! You chased us in the woods, and you hunted us down with dogs. And when you pulled her away, she screamed! My baby screamed for her mother! And I hope this feels like that!

* The first child brought to Joseph's house for the rescue mission asks June many questions about what life will be like: will she be allowed to wear what she wants, will she have the choice to ''not'' be a wife or mother if she doesn't want to, etc. It's unclear how old the girl is, but she's very young--and she's ''already'' been hammered over and over with the notion that she, as a girl, only has one "true purpose" to marry a man and/or bear children. It's obvious that even if many Gilead children are 'happy,' and probably manipulated into Gilead's views, there are still children who ''know'' that the world they live in is wrong, and are so hopeful to escape it. On top of this, this little girl is later reunited with her father--showing that yes, these children ''do'' remember their families, and they want to be together again.

** She also admits that she doesn’t want to go back to Luke without Hannah because she promised to get her out. When they reunite, she says, “I’m sorry it’s just me.”

* The manner in which the children of Gilead are revealed to the Ambassador for show and the Handmaids, many of them mothers, trying very hard not to look for their children's faces. [[spoiler:Knowing that the Handmaids could get trafficked to other countries adds to the horror as it appears the Handmaids were trying to get last glimpses of their children.]]
* June finally breaking and telling the Mexican Ambassador everything and begging for help, and the response [[spoiler:being that the Ambassador won't help. And not only that, but she will continue to pursue a trade deal to obtain Handmaids in exchange for crops. June's rage and disgust for the other woman is best shown by scornfully admonishing her for trafficking people]].

** Immediately after this though the Ambassador's aide reveals in private that not only is [[spoiler:June's husband alive, but he is willing to help get a message to him from June]]. It's tearjerking in a good way that finally there's a scrap of hope for her.

* June seeing just how [[spoiler: Moira is beaten down at Jezebels.]]
* The absolutely gut-wrenching WhamShot of [[spoiler: [[DrivenToSuicide the fate of the previous Offred]]. [[MoodWhiplash The show cuts straight from Nick in Jezebel's to Rita's screams of horror. Nick runs in and the camera cuts straight to the previous Offred hanging from the ceiling]]. When Nick cuts her down and tries to check her pulse, [[TearJerker Rita lets out a heartbroken "no" before bursting into tears as she realizes it's too late]].]]
** What makes it worse is the line afterwards from Serena Joy to her husband - [[spoiler:"what did you think was going to happen?"]] - that implies [[spoiler:Waterford's affair helped drive the previous Offred to suicide, throwing his involvement with June into an even darker light. [[FridgeHorror Nick's flashback is likely a result of his fear that the same thing will happen to June]].]]
* [[spoiler:Janine on the bridge, preparing to jump to her death with her daughter. June tries to talk her down, taking about how the regime will be over one day and they'll go dancing and drinking. Janine enjoys this thought, but then: "Who'd want to dance with me?" She suggests to June that she could join her in her suicide, but June has her own daughter to think of and find, and in the end Janine hands over her own daughter so that she has a chance to grow up -- and blithely turns and jumps. ''And she doesn't die.'']]
* Moira [[spoiler:making it across the Canadian border, yet feeling a numb hollowness when when she reaches her destination because she had no family waiting for her.]] But then [[spoiler:TearsOfJoy when she discovers that Luke has been trying to keep tabs on her survival and she feels truly found.]]

* [[spoiler:Janine pleading with the Handmaids to be gentle with her stoning. Even when the Handmaids stick up for her and drop their stones, they know they can't take Janine to permanent safety and have to leave Janine to the mercy of Aunt Lydia.]]

* The downward spiral Offred/June suffers in "Other Woman" [[spoiler: when she is flung back into the Waterfords' household, learns that people have died and been harmed in response to her escape, Mayday has been silent, and even the hopeful message by the last Offred has been wiped out. June ultimately descends into the madness of accepting herself as Offred.]]

* [[spoiler: The second Ofglen's suicide attack on the Handmaid center. While she really savors her final moments, it's depressing that after her TongueTrauma she felt she had little to live for and throw her life on the line for her Handmaids.]]
** [[spoiler:The moment when she sadly gazes at her fellow Handmaids, and shows them the detonator so they have a chance to run. Fortunately, they all do -- leaving their friend behind so she can take out Gilead's higher-ups.]]
** [[spoiler:Also, we still don't know her real name, and it's unknown if she ever told any of the other Handmaids. Does anyone know the name of this hero?]]
* The episode "After" finally gives us second Ofglen's name [[spoiler: Lillie]], though it's told to the audience and Offred's contemplates the tragedy that she never got to know her name.

* Janine [[spoiler: holding her dying baby Charlotte and removing her medical mask and gloves to make skin-to-skin contact with her child. At first, it seems the show would go with the novel's direction and Charlotte would die... but in a surprisingly uplifting moment, Janine's skin-to-skin care was implied to help nurse the child back to health.]]
* Serena rather callously telling June that as soon as [[spoiler:the baby is born, June will be leaving the house. June tearfully tries to argue that handmaids usually stay until the baby is weaned, but Serena just tells her "I think we've both had enough of each other, don't you?"]]

* Although she's very much made her own bed and -- as the end of the episode shows -- is content to lie in it, Serena's treatment when she visits Canada in "Smart Power". The Canadian welcoming party treat her with a mixture of pity and contempt. A mother with a young daughter is visibly disgusted by her, and refuses to share an elevator with her. When [[spoiler:the Mayday Letters are published and the Waterfords get kicked out of Canada,]] a woman scornfully tells her that she doesn't know how Serena lives with herself, and that it's sad what Gilead has done to her.

* The entirety of the [[spoiler: reunion scene between June and Hannah. From Hannah's initial fear and anger towards June, to June giving her as much advice as she can in the 10 minutes they have, to them both sobbing when they're forcibly separated again]], the entire scene pulls at the heartstrings.
** During the [[spoiler: reunion, Hannah is cold and withdrawn towards June, [[ArmorPiercingQuestion asking her mother why she]] [[ChildrenAreInnocent didn't try harder to find her.]]]]

* [[spoiler:The ending of Eden's story. After June unwittingly tells her to take love where she can find it, she runs away with Isaac. Of course they're caught, and despite Nick (and really everyone else) begging them to repent their sins so that Eden at least will be spared, they refuse to deny their love for each other and are executed for adultery by being drowned in a swimming pool. In front of an audience ''that includes Eden's family.'']]
** Worse than that, in the finale [[spoiler: we learn that Eden's father ''turned her in''. He says "we called the authorities" but we do not hear from Eden's mother at all, so it seems like her father was more than willing to send her to a probable death.]]
* In the finale, we learn that Eden kept some secrets from the household, including [[spoiler: a well-read Bible, full of notes she had made to better understand God. It breaks June's heart, and spurs Serena to attempt to push an amendment to the law that forbids women from reading. Eden rebelling in her own, small way seems to motivate both June ''and'' Serena to reject Gilead entirely.]]

* Serena [[spoiler: tries to organize the Wives and makes a presentation in front of all the Commanders to give them that right back, and illustrates her point by reading from Eden's Bible. Immediately after, she is dragged away by Guardians and has her finger amputated for her "crime". By the time she gets home, she's clearly broken and utterly betrayed, to the point she allows June to escape with baby Nicole/Holly because she has finally realized that Gilead is not safe for girls of any age. Even though Serena is by no means a good person, her despair at her husband's treatment of her and being separated from Nicole is hard to watch.]]
** The fact that all of the other Wives walked off the podium as [[spoiler:Serena starts reading out of The Bible out of fear of getting the same retaliation. While they may not lose a finger for reading like Serena they could still be punished by their husbands with other methods.]]
* [[spoiler:Serena trying to stop June from escaping with Holly/Nicole. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Serena doesn't actually harm or threaten June like most viewers would expect her to, but actually cries and begs June not to run off with the baby]] before tearfully complying after June reminds her that Holly Nicole cannot grow up in a place that is cruel to women. Regardless of people's opinions of Serena that was still another well-acted SympathyForTheDevil moment within the show especially when you remember how badly Serena wanted a baby.]]
* [[spoiler:The BittersweetEnding of "The Word". June keeps her promise that her baby won't grow up in Gilead, but she has to give up her chance at freedom to save her other daughter Hannah and hands baby Holly/Nicole over to Emily before she runs off. Emily calling after June as she makes her way to freedom without her is just sad.]]

* Emily [[spoiler: safely crosses the border to Canada. She's almost shell-shocked by how different her treatment is by the Canadians compared to Gilead's medieval medicine. She gets to see women doctors, is recommended a psychologist to process her trauma and a surgeon to reconstruct her clitoris, and is never separated from the baby. She's given a standing ovation when she arrives at the hospital, with genuine admiration on the faces of a lot of the gathered crowd. Instead of heartening Emily, it only seems to unsettle her.]]
** Perhaps the most tear-inducing moment? [[spoiler:When Emily finally gathers the courage to call her wife after [[YouCantGoHomeAgain everything she's been through]] and her wife stops traffic downtown just to talk to her again.]]
** Episode 4 is even more tear jerk-y: [[spoiler:Emily goes to visit her wife Sylvia at her house and finds that not only has she worked to make sure their son Oliver remembered her growing up, but that he was so excited for her visit he begged to stay home from school. He later asks Emily to read a bedtime story, which leaves both of them in tears.]]
* Janine [[spoiler:asking Naomi Putnam to hold her (that is, ''Janine's'') daughter - Mrs. Putnam is gentle and overrides Commander Putnam's refusal, only for the baby to begin to cry when Janine holds her. The little girl doesn't even remember the mother who saved her life.]]
* Aunt Lydia's backstory. Once upon a time, she was a gentle, compassionate teacher who was willing to put aside even her own disapproval on religious grounds in favor of being kind. [[spoiler:Her downfall, in short, came from her belief that this very laxness was a corrupting influence, and she doubled down ferociously.]] She ultimately couldn't and wouldn't escape the fierce hold her religious indoctrination had on her, and in a tragic turn of irony, sold her soul.
* Despite not needing to, June [[spoiler: apologizing to Luke for her affair with Nick, in order to let him know that the baby was made out of love as well to explain she needed to build a life to survive in Gilead. ]]

** Episode 4 is [[UpToEleven even more tear jerk-y:]] [[spoiler:Emily goes to visit her wife Sylvia at her house and finds that not only has she worked to make sure their son Oliver remembered her growing up, but that he was so excited for her visit he begged to stay home from school. He later asks Emily to read a bedtime story, which leaves both of them in tears.]]