It's not a teen drama if it doesn't break your heart. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most devastating scenes to come out of teen dramas.
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most devastating scenes
00:13to come out of teen dramas. We're revealing major plot points so a spoiler alert is in effect.
00:19Don't worry about it.
00:26Number 30. Karofsky's Depression. Glee. Dave Karofsky had one of the most challenging
00:32storylines on this teen musical drama. Get out of my face! You are nothing but a scared little
00:37boy who can't handle how extraordinarily ordinary you are. He started off as a relentless jerk on
00:43the football team. Then he revealed himself to be a closeted gay teen trying desperately to hang on
00:49to his secret. But when his sexuality was revealed at his new school, Dave made an attempt on his own
00:55life that sent shockwaves through the show. Though the show makes the uncharacteristically
01:00tactful decision not to linger too long on the scene, it shows us enough to convey the pain
01:05of the situation. Pressure to protect your reputation is so much worse than when we were kids.
01:10Number 29. Brenda Breaks Up With Dylan. Beverly Hills, 90210. As a mainstream genre,
01:17the teen soap opera didn't really exist before the 1990s. With its boundary-breaking storylines,
01:23contemporary music, and hormonal overload, the original 90210 did a lot to bring it to life.
01:30Do you know how lucky I feel that I met someone like you? You're lucky too.
01:35There was a lot of buzz going into its second season, especially around the supercouple pairing
01:40of Brenda Walsh and Dylan McKay. But after a pregnancy scare, Brenda calls things off with
01:46Dylan in the premiere episode. I think we may just have seen each other at least for a while.
01:53It's probably safe to say millions of teenagers had tears streaming down their faces
01:58as Shannon Doherty and Luke Perry's characters played out their tortured breakup on the beach.
02:03Can you blame them? Dylan, I'm sorry.
02:06Number 28. Rue Begging. Euphoria. Deep in the throes of her substance use disorder,
02:22Rue Bennett makes an unannounced and frantic visit to her dealer Fez's house.
02:27I'm sorry, but you can't be coming over here no more. Just go home.
02:32Don't, Fez!
02:34Fez's part in enabling her problem is already weighing on him, so he tells her he won't sell
02:39to her anymore. But Rue doesn't leave. Instead, she begs him for more drugs,
02:45becoming increasingly desperate, furious, and intense as the scene goes on.
02:50If you gave a shit about me, you wouldn't have sold me the fucking drugs in the first place!
02:54But you did!
02:56Even though Fez stands his ground, her accusation that he made her this way cuts deep.
03:01You did this to me.
03:02That this won't even be the worst state we see Rue in is sad in its own right,
03:07but the moment stands out for what it represents.
03:10Number 27. Maya's Death. Pretty Little Liars.
03:14Aria, Emily, Hannah, and Spencer return in the second season of this hit show to be
03:19terrorized by the mysterious A some more. But some of the season's biggest drama
03:24stems from Emily's relationship with Maya St. Germain.
03:28I've got friends in San Francisco.
03:30You can't just run away.
03:32You could come with me.
03:37You can't do that. Not even for me.
03:39When her girlfriend disappears without a trace, Emily is afraid. Unfortunately,
03:44her worst fears are realized when Maya's body is discovered.
03:50I think it's, it's Maya.
03:53The mystery surrounding this murder wouldn't be solved until season three.
03:57Instead, viewers are left with the four protagonists grieving together.
04:03And just like that, my life is broken.
04:07It's one of the moments that takes Pretty Little Liars from a standard teen drama
04:11to something more heartbreaking and poignant.
04:14Number 26. Jughead Calls His Mom. Riverdale.
04:19Jughead Jones is in dire straits near the end of season one.
04:22When his gang leader father is arrested for the murder of the wealthy Jason Blossom,
04:27the despondent outcast makes a call to his mother in Ohio.
04:31I got a bus ticket to Toledo. Yeah, I thought I'd come and see you and Jellybean for a while.
04:38He offers to leave Riverdale behind and join her and his little sister in their new home,
04:44at least for a while. We don't hear the other end of the call.
04:47We can only imagine how well that suggestion has gone over with his mother,
04:51as Jughead can barely keep it together in the phone booth.
04:54He's out of hope and without a plan.
04:57Look, uh, forget I said anything, okay? All right, bye.
05:03Number 25. Ellie Passes Away. One Tree Hill.
05:07Peyton Sawyer has only just begun to connect with her birth mother,
05:11Ellie Harp, in the third season.
05:13I'm, I'm sorry, your front door was unlocked.
05:17Hey, if I'm allowed to go into your room and sneak around, you can do the same here.
05:22Ellie is dying of breast cancer and wanted to reconnect with the child she gave up.
05:26They make the most of it by crafting a CD together that'll raise money for
05:30breast cancer research. Ellie sadly never gets to hear the finished product.
05:35She passes away shortly after a violent thunderstorm rips through Tree Hill.
05:44Peyton finds her the next day, in a scene that shatters us each time.
05:50She honors her birth mother by scattering her ashes in a meaningful place,
05:54and we sob seeing the poignant ordeal unfold.
05:58Say hi to my mom.
06:02Number 24. Sheriff Forbes' Death. The Vampire Diaries.
06:07Before she dies, Liz Forbes muses about being one of the few people in the town of
06:11Mystic Falls to die an ordinary death.
06:14I did everything right, Damon. I lived a good life. I took care of my family.
06:23The scene leading up to her passing, including one where she asks vampire
06:27Damon Salvatore to give her eulogy, are some of the show's very best.
06:31Only do me a favor, nothing dirty.
06:34No problem.
06:34When she does pass away, her daughter Caroline is, of course, devastated.
06:39She didn't even get to say goodbye.
06:41Sheriff Forbes was one of the show's strongest and most morally upright characters.
06:46Losing her was a blow to everyone who knew her.
06:50I'll take that drink now.
06:53Yeah.
06:54Number 23. Rue's eulogy for her father, Euphoria.
06:58The Season 2 episode featuring Lexi's play opened up a lot of wounds and generated a lot of memes.
07:04We see significant moments from the lives of the show's characters recreated,
07:08and one of its most difficult is the restaging of Rue's father's wake.
07:13What is it like such intensity of pain? If the drink is bitter, turn yourself into wine.
07:22Zendaya's character watches the actor essentially playing her on stage.
07:26We are also taken back to the day she read her dad's eulogy.
07:30You told me that if I ever wanted to be with you,
07:35all I would have to do is close my eyes and we'd be together.
07:43Since this is what the show considers the source of her destructive behavior,
07:46it's like getting the final piece of the puzzle as to why Rue is the way she is.
07:51You said that memories exist outside of time.
07:55Having to watch your friend's perspective of that moment is even more vulnerable and raw.
08:00Number 22.
08:02Stiles saves Scott, Teen Wolf.
08:04When the team holes up at a strange motel for the night,
08:07they begin to descend into paranoia and madness.
08:11Scott McCall expresses his grief over the way his life has gone since being bitten by a werewolf.
08:17There's no hope.
08:21What do you mean, Scott? There's always hope.
08:25Not for me.
08:26In despair and under the influence of some mysterious villain,
08:30he stands in a pool of gasoline with a lit flare.
08:33His best friend, Stiles Stilinski,
08:36makes an emotional plea to stop him from igniting the gasoline.
08:40Scott, just listen to me, okay?
08:44You're not no one, okay? You're someone.
08:52Scott, you're my best friend.
08:54Stiles even moves himself into harm's way, standing in the gas with Scott.
08:59The emotional scene is a poignant testament to the power of their friendship.
09:09No!
09:11Number 21.
09:12Joyce Summers' death.
09:14Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
09:16Buffy Summers spends so much of her life saving the town of Sunnydale,
09:19but even she's powerless when it comes to the sudden and random cruelty of death.
09:24Mom?
09:26The scene where she finds her mother's body on the sofa goes on for so long,
09:30it's almost unbearable.
09:31Instead of immediate tears and melodramatic emotions,
09:35we first watch as Sarah Michelle Gellar registers the character's confusion and shock.
09:40She doesn't know what to do with herself.
09:42The entire episode is a tearjerker, seeing breakdowns and emotions from everyone.
09:47But it's Buffy's regression to being her mother's little girl that hits hardest.
09:53Mommy?
09:54Number 20.
09:55Lexa's death.
09:56The Hundred.
09:58This show is filled with violence and tragic moments,
10:01but one that fans will never forget is Lexa's death.
10:04The commander of the Grounder clans was killed by Titus accidentally
10:07when a shot that was meant for Clark struck her.
10:15Lexa!
10:17The hardest thing to watch is that Lexa does not die right away,
10:20but realizes that her moments are numbered,
10:22and gives Clark a message of strength before taking her final breaths.
10:27You were right, Clark.
10:32Life is about more than just surviving.
10:35The tragedy of Lexa and Clark's relationship
10:37sadly fits into a greater narrative of tropes surrounding LGBTQ plus couples.
10:43Number 19.
10:44Quentin's death.
10:45One Tree Hill.
10:47Every season of One Tree Hill features a number of heartbreaking moments,
10:51and this won't be the last to appear on our list.
10:53Quentin's character was only introduced later in the show's run,
10:56but he still managed to make a big impact in a relatively short time.
11:00So when he was shot in a moment of seemingly senseless violence,
11:04it was both shocking and extremely upsetting.
11:13While the moment of his death was incomprehensible,
11:15it was his funeral that had us grabbing for tissues,
11:18especially when it became clear how Jamie was impacted.
11:22Number 18.
11:23Stefan's death.
11:24The Vampire Diaries.
11:33In the series finale of The Vampire Diaries,
11:36Stefan sacrifices his own life to save Mystic Falls
11:39when Catherine tries to destroy it with hellfire.
11:42Considering how much heartbreak the characters experience on this show,
11:46it shouldn't have been a surprise that the ending was not a simple or happy one.
11:50Stefan wanted Damon to be able to live happily with Elena,
11:53and therefore he cut his own life short in order to facilitate it.
12:03In the end, only one of the Salvatore brothers could survive,
12:06and while there was no right choice,
12:08at least this option allowed Damon and Elena's love story to continue.
12:12Number 17.
12:13Ezra's betrayal.
12:15Pretty Little Liars.
12:21Aria and Ezra's relationship,
12:23though seriously problematic based on the fact that he's a teacher and she's his student,
12:27was a fan favorite on Pretty Little Liars.
12:30So when Aria finds out in season 4 that Ezra has been lying to her for their entire relationship,
12:35it's crushing for both her and the show's viewers.
12:38Spencer tries to convince Aria and the other liars that Ezra was A,
12:43but in fact he was researching a book about Allison and knew who Aria was all along.
13:01This means that he took advantage of her when he first met her and exploited her for information.
13:06We're still surprised they managed to overcome this one.
13:09Number 16.
13:10Ruby gets shot.
13:12On My Block.
13:16Olivia's quinceanera goes from festive to violent in a flash in the first season finale of On My Block.
13:22Ruby and Olivia are dancing when Latrell shows up on the dance floor with a gun,
13:26and Ruby is the only one who sees what's about to happen.
13:30He spins Olivia around in an effort to protect her,
13:33and calls out to Caesar, who he knows is the target of Latrell's attack.
13:37The episode ends on a cliffhanger without the audience knowing Ruby's fate,
13:41in a shocking and traumatic end to the season.
13:47Number 15.
13:49Jimmy gets shot.
13:50Degrassi The Next Generation.
13:58Here's a seriously heartbreaking moment from a show that lives to break viewers' hearts
14:02on a regular basis.
14:17Before Aubrey Graham was singing Hotline Bling under his stage name Drake,
14:21he played Jimmy Brooks, one of the coolest guys at Degrassi Community School.
14:32But with popular comes the pressure to be cool,
14:40and that includes making fun of the less popular.
14:50Like Rick, who one day has had enough of the bullying and brings a gun to school.
15:03He shoots Jimmy in the back as he runs away.
15:06Luckily, poor Jimmy survives.
15:17Number 14.
15:18Piper mourns Prue.
15:20Charmed.
15:21On Charmed, Prue actually dies a total of three times,
15:24but it's her third and final death that hits the hardest for those around her.
15:29While of course, the moment she was killed by Shaxx in the season 3 finale was devastating,
15:33this moment from the following season is the one that brings major tears to our eyes.
15:38As Piper mourns her sister, her feelings present as rage more than the traditional sadness.
15:43She breaks down and lets all her feelings out,
15:58directing them towards her recently deceased sister
16:00in this scene that is nearly impossible to watch without getting emotional.
16:04Number 13.
16:06Omar's relationship with his father.
16:08Elite.
16:14When Anders' mother finds out he's gay, she's supportive and loving,
16:23but unfortunately, Omar does not receive the same level of support from his strictly religious father.
16:29Yousef wants to arrange a traditional marriage for his son
16:32and refuses to accept him for who he is.
16:37Yousef's shame is evident, leading Omar to distance himself as much as possible from his family.
16:43It's a tragic story arc that is sadly representative of the relationship
16:47so many members of the LGBTQ community have with their families.
16:51Number 12.
16:52Amy's trauma over her assault.
16:54Sex education.
16:56Sex education manages to strike an incredibly difficult balance between comedy and drama,
17:01covering all aspects of the adolescent experience.
17:04In the show's second season, Amy, who had previously presented a tough persona,
17:09experiences a sexual assault while riding on the bus to school.
17:13Though at first she brushes it off,
17:15she gradually realizes how much the incident actually traumatized her as the season goes on.
17:20Don't touch me, Steve!
17:21I don't like you touching me anymore!
17:23But I'm your boyfriend.
17:24I don't... I don't think I want a boyfriend.
17:27I'm sorry.
17:28While this arc is filled with heartbreaking moments as Amy admits to herself how affected she was,
17:33the conclusion of the storyline fills us with joy.
17:36It's just a stupid bus.
17:40It's just a stupid bus.
17:43It's just a stupid bus.
17:48Number 11.
17:53JT's death.
17:54Degrassi The Next Generation.
17:57Back to Degrassi again.
18:04The characters on Degrassi The Next Generation experience
18:07just about every awful thing that could possibly happen to a teenager
18:11throughout the show's 14 seasons.
18:13One of the most emotionally effective, however, is JT's sudden and unexpected death.
18:18JT intended to tell Liberty that he loved her and wanted them to be together on her
18:23birthday, but that night is instead stabbed in a brutal, drunken murder by Drake Lemke.
18:30The fact that Liberty finds JT makes the entire thing so much more difficult to watch.
18:3610.
18:37Allison's Death – Teen Wolf
18:39In the third season of Teen Wolf, Kira's mother, Noshiko, summons spirits known as
18:44the Oni in an attempt to defeat Nogitsune, but the Nogitsune manages to possess the Oni
18:50and uses them against our heroes, causing the gang to fight them.
18:55Allison kills one of them, but is mortally wounded by another who attacks her.
19:11While she manages to save the others, she does not survive the attack.
19:32Watching her die in Scott's arms after telling him she loves him is just simply too much
19:37to bear.
19:389.
19:39Freddy's Death – Skins
19:48In a show as heavy as Skins, there are endless tragic moments, like when Tony doesn't remember
19:52where he lives, but Freddy's death was one of the standout, heartbreaking moments of
19:56this show.
20:07Freddy and his best friend, Cook, are both into the same girl, Effie Stoneham.
20:19When it hurts their friendship, Effie can't forgive herself, and starts to see a counselor
20:24after attempting to take her own life.
20:41However, her counselor is crazier than his own patience, and secretly wants her to himself,
20:47so he traps Freddy in a stairwell and beats him to death with a bat.
20:51The fact that no one knew what happened to him for so long made fans angry, but Cook
20:55figuring it out and avenging his friend's death made the loss of such a good character
20:59a bit easier to accept.
21:098.
21:19Marissa's Death – The O.C.
21:31Love her or hate her, you couldn't help but be sad when the rebellious girl next door
21:35died in a fiery car crash.
21:48Until then, the saddest moment had been Season 1's finale, when Ryan went back to Chino
21:52and Seth sailed away for the summer.
22:02Throughout her time on the show, Marissa dealt with substance use and depression, and
22:07acted out by dating bad boys, all to make her snobby mother mad.
22:23At the end of Season 3, Marissa seemed to be getting her life together by going back
22:26to her on-and-off boyfriend, Ryan.
22:39But on the way to the airport, her drunk ex-boyfriend ran them off the road, and that was it for
22:44Marissa Cooper.
23:057.
23:06The Tree Hill High Tragedy – One Tree Hill
23:18Jimmy Edwards bringing a gun to school was dramatic enough, let alone the fact that Lucas
23:23and a bleeding Peyton were stuck in the library while Nathan, Hayley, and Mouth were stuck
23:27in the Tudor Center with the shooter himself.
23:37But the real heartbreaking moment from this episode goes down as one of the biggest plot
23:41twists in teen drama history, the death of Keith Scott.
23:49Everyone knew that Dan and Keith were far from perfect brothers, but when Dan picked
23:53up that gun next to Jimmy's lifeless body and put a bullet through his own brother,
23:57audiences everywhere felt shocked and betrayed.
24:006.
24:01Jeremy's Death and Elena's Reaction – The Vampire Diaries
24:06As noted, there are many upsetting deaths on The Vampire Diaries, but Jeremy's manages
24:11to hit closest to home.
24:12While his death itself was, of course, traumatic, it was Elena's reaction that makes this
24:16one of the saddest moments in the show's run.
24:19Lena Dobrev's performance as Elena shines in these scenes, where she expresses her shock
24:24and horror over losing her last surviving family member.
24:45We see her go through many of the traditional phases of grief as she processes her brother's
24:50passing, and it's hard to decide which one is the most difficult to watch.
25:055.
25:07Justin's Death – 13 Reasons Why
25:10There are a lot of tragic moments to choose from in this teen drama, but Justin's sudden
25:15AIDS diagnosis and subsequent death top the list.
25:19Because of his experience with homelessness and subsequent struggles with risky behavior,
25:23Justin contracted HIV and, at the end of the fourth season, is told that the doctors had
25:28diagnosed him too late for him to receive life-saving treatment.
25:42He soon develops pneumonia and meningitis, which abruptly end his life before the school's
25:47graduation ceremony.
25:48So, so sad.
25:504.
25:51Jen's Video to Her Daughter – Dawson's Creek
26:05In the two-part series finale set five years in the future, viewers learn that one of the
26:09main characters, Jen Lindley, is suffering from a fatal heart condition.
26:22During the show's final season, Jen dealt with her grandmother being diagnosed with
26:26breast cancer.
26:35It's only fitting, and absolutely heartbreaking, that Jen's grams would be by her side as
26:40she dies of her own illness.
26:45And if that doesn't get to you, the video she makes for her then one-year-old daughter
26:48will, where she lists all the things she hopes for her daughter's life.
27:07While the drama was named for the titular character Dawson Leary, Jen was often the
27:11heart of the show, and fans were sad to see her get such a bleak ending.
27:293.
27:31Buffy Kills Angel – Buffy the Vampire Slayer
27:48The only thing harder than being in love with a vampire is being a vampire hunter whose
27:52sole purpose is to kill people like him.
28:05This minor setback weighs heavily on Buffy and Angel's relationship throughout earlier
28:09seasons, but reaches a whole new level when Angel becomes his evil alter ego, Angelus.
28:23In the season 2 finale, Buffy and Angelus are locked in battle as he attempts to raise
28:27a demon.
28:36Angel's soul is restored, but in order to save the world, Buffy is forced to put
28:42a sword through his body to stop the demon as he creates a vortex, pushing Angel into
28:47it as a result.
29:01Angel fortunately doesn't actually die, but the emotional impact of this moment is
29:05still absolutely immense.
29:072.
29:08Luke Perry Tribute – Riverdale
29:17When an actor dies suddenly before their time, many shows struggle to hastily put together
29:22an appropriate tribute to their life on the show.
29:25In dealing with an incredibly difficult situation, Riverdale managed to send off Luke Perry's
29:30character, Fred Andrews, in the season 4 premiere, which aired the year following the actor's
29:35death.
29:36Fred dies in a simple act of heroism, saving a woman's life but sacrificing his own in
29:41a hit-and-run accident.
30:02Because this entire episode is tinged with the reality of what happened to Perry, it's
30:06all the more devastating.
30:221.
30:24The New Directions Sing About Finn's Death – Glee
30:38The only thing more heartbreaking than a main character dying on a show is the actual actor
30:42passing away.
30:55Corey Monteith, who played Finn on Glee, died of a drug overdose before season 5, and so
31:00his character had to be written off as well.
31:07This episode, titled The Quarterback, served as a tribute to the actor and character that
31:11had been on the show since episode 1.
31:24Besides the opening number in which the whole cast sang a song in his honor, other characters
31:40paid tribute to his death with music, most notably Lea Michele, who was not only his
31:45on-screen love interest, but his real-life girlfriend as well.
32:05So when Rachel sang Make You Feel My Love, wow, we all felt it.
32:28What teen drama moment still makes you tear up?
32:31Let us know in the comments!