Tear Jerker / Father Ted

• The last episode of season one shows the apparent death of Father Jack. He leaves Ted and Dougal £500,000 in will, with the condition that they must stay with him until he's buried. Ted and Dougal basically just treat this as an obstacle to get past so they can claim the money. However, right at the end of the episode, Ted clearly begins to feel sad over the loss of Jack and sombrely delivers a famous passage from James Joyce's novel The Dead while an organ version of the main theme plays:

  Father Ted: It's beginning to snow again. The flakes, silver and dark, are falling obliquely against the lamplight. It's probably falling all over the island; on the central plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly upon the graveyards, upon the crosses and headstones, upon all the living and the dead...
  [Beat]
  Father Jack: SHUT THE FECK UP!

• Father Austin Purcell in the season two episode "Think Fast, Father Ted". He's described in universe as "the most boring priest in Ireland" but there's something genuinely pathetic in his need to talk continually to everyone (and everything) he meets. In the credits sequence it's revealed that he will continue talking even if left alone in a room:

  Father Purcell: This is a piece of advice my father gave to me. Now, this not only refers to lagging, but all forms of insulation. He said, "Don't ever..." No, no, it was, "Always! Always re-..." No! It was, "Never..." Oh, I've forgotten. Never mind. [Beat] What's your favourite humming noise? Would it be "hmmmm" or would it be "hmmm-MMMMM"? The first one there, that's the sound of a fridge. The second one, that's the sound of a man humming. [Beat] You never hear a woman humming. I knew a woman once, but she died soon afterwards.

• The original ending of the finale "Coming to America" would have closed out the series on an incredibly somber note. The final version features a heartwarming montage and life going back to normal, though the last shot of the airport beforehand shows a very mournful looking Ted as a result of being stuck in Craggy Island once again. But at the very least he eventually comes to terms with that fact; originally, the scene after would cut to another priest's convention, and Father Kevin once again contemplating jumping off a ledge. Ted's reaction this time?
  Ted: Move up a bit.
• The death of Dermot Morgan (Ted), and exactly 18 years after, the death of Frank Kelly (Jack).
  • Jim Norton (Bishop Brennan) states he has not and will never watch "Kicking Bishop Brennan Upon the Arse" episode because he says it will sadden him too much to watch it due to Dermot Morgan's death the day after filming
• A small one, but Father Jack's despair when he sobers up in "Cigarettes, Alcohol and Rollerblading" and realises he's stuck on Craggy Island. You can hear the anguish behind his scream of "DON'T TELL ME I'M STILL ON THAT FECKIN' ISLAND!" and all of a sudden his drinking problem takes on a more tragic light. Sure he's a bad man and a worse priest, but imagine being so desperate to escape the misery of being stuck on a tiny island of nutcases and bores that you'd even drink floor polish just to blot the pain out.

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