TV shows focused on the day-to-day life of teens are bound to be full of angst, but at least one episode per season blows past typical dating drama, leaving you sobbing like you're listening to an Adele song.
Sometimes the emotional punch comes in the form of a death. Sometimes, it's an intervention — and sometimes, a carefully chosen song to accompany high school love.
See also: 11 Animated Children's Films More Devastating Than Any Disney Movie
Be warned, there are spoilers.
If you matched Amber Tamblyn tear for tear, you would have been sobbing after every episode, but the 45 minutes most likely to give you drunk-in-the-bathtub face is the one that features the death of Joan's friend Judith. Say what you want about the "God is everywhere -- no really" premise, but there is something spectacularly sad about having daily conversations with the guy (girl? kid?) and not being able to use that connection to save someone you love.
The question isn't if heart will break into a million pieces when you watch the Veronica Mars season two finale, it's when.
Is it when Veronica realizes the identity of her rapist? When she thinks the best dad on primetime has been blown to bits? Or is it when you see the expression on Logan's face after his friend's little brother screams, "My name is Cassidy," as he wonders what part he played in Cassidy's turn to the dark side?
Boy Meets World episodes only come in two varieties: slapstick and heart breaker. And any episode that reminded you how emotionally damaged (and loved) Shaun is would always end up in the latter category. Even the seemingly slapstick murder-mystery was traumatic.
In which an adorable child who became Clark's surrogate brother took a Make-a-Wish balloon ride before his death, which was acknowledged with a long shot of an empty hospital bed.
Marissa's death couldn't have been more upsetting if they played the classic girlfriend killed in a car accident song in the background.
Sometimes it's all about musical emotional manipulation.
Sticking to the high school years disqualifies "The Body," as well the finales for seasons five and six. The first three seasons had plenty of sob-inducing moments, but Miss Calendar's death, and the subsequent Buffy-Giles hug of despair, were especially emotional.
The writers gave the poor Salinger kids plenty to cry about (besides being orphans) over the course of six seasons. But it's Bailey's breakdown that guarantees any viewers with a heart will become a puddle of tears.
This is actually a more emotional episode in hindsight, six season later when you've realized what a strained relationship Lorelai and her father have had. Still, the look they share after she panics over his heart attack is a pretty heavy moment no matter what order you see it in.
There was absolutely no reason to add a Sarah McLachlan song to a clip of a young dying mother making a video so her daughter could watch it after her death. With the addition of "Angel," the producers were just being cruel.
Because if someone isn't dead, or plotting their death, or plotting someone else's death, or pregnant, or stabbed, or recently diagnosed with a terrible disease, then it just isn't Degrassi.
Image: Flickr, Sony Pictures Television