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Tear Jerker / The Facts of Life

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  • When Season 2 of ''The Facts of Life" premiered, fans weren't prepared for the sudden maturity of the plot lines. While Season 1 had rare moments, the hiring of Nancy McKeon and her acting chops allowed for more nuanced moments of emotion. Two of the most notable include:
    • "Teenage Marriage": Jo's long distance boyfriend Eddie, AWOL from the Navy, convinces her to elope with him. The others try to dissuade her, but she brushes them off. After she and Eddie run off together and check into a motel, Jo comes to realize the less glamorous logistics behind teen marriage when she and Eddie differ on what their married future would entail, eventually telling Eddie they still be together but she can't marry him and he needs to return to the Navy.
    • "Teacher's Pet": Jo's favorite teacher is leaving Eastland suddenly, angering her until she discovers, to her horror, that the woman is terminally ill and is going into hospice care.
  • The sudden death of Natalie's father went beyond the usual Very Special Episode. Its impact on Natalie spanned a couple of episodes.
  • "Breaking Point": A schoolmate of theirs named Cynthia runs against Blair for student council president and, in a subversion, wins. This is the Title Drop for her; Dad is an ambassador who doesn't have time for her, her parents were going through a divorce, she puts pressure on herself to succeed especially as an ambassador's daughter who would have to move around a lot, and finally, Blair's disgruntlement pushes her into downing a bottle of pills. And for a touch of Nightmare Fuel: it's 11 year old Tootie who finds her body. Each of the girls' reactions were really sad through periods of shock and anger over why she did it.
  • The sudden reveal of Tootie's husband Jeff's death in the reunion movie.
  • Charlotte Rae passed away very shortly after a reboot was announced to be greenlit.
  • "Let's Party" has Tootie's beloved older brother driving drunk with her, Blair and Natalie in the car. Aside from Tootie having to face the reality of her brother's drinking problem and both her and his denial of any issues, there's also the reactions of the girls after nearly dying in an accident he caused. Natalie's reaction were most upsetting, so much that Jo, who left the college party the girls attended earlier on her bike, consoled her. Making it worse is how Natalie looked up to him like he were her own brother.
  • A happy tearjerker: in the reunion movie, Mrs Garrett reveals that, after Bruce died, she was lost and didn't know where her home was anymore - because he was her home - but then, out of the blue, she got a message of comfort and condolence from the girls and she remembered where she belonged, where her home truly was - with the girls, with whom she's "always in touch [with]".

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