The Depressing Episode

The Depressing Episode is the eighth episode of Cyanide and Happiness Show. An episodic equivalent of the Depressing Comics Week, The Depressing Episode uses the same comedic tropes as the series but in a depressing manner.

Alone in the Universe
At night, a man named "Boris" lays out in the open looking up into the sky. The next shows he is laying against his girlfriend's grave, as he says "I miss you... so much".

The Birds
Riffing on the usual opening credits, the bluebird instead crashes through the window, leaving Joe to come home to find it dying on the floor. He thinks back to a time in his childhood when he found a dead bluebird and nursed its chick. In the weeks he looks after the chick, his mother is taken away urgently to the hospital, where she dies. Joe releases the chick to fend for itself during her funeral. Back in the present, Joe takes the bluebird, now dead, out of his apartment and buries it next to his mother's grave. This concludes the opening segment, with the words "The Depressing Episode" introducing the episode.

The Tree, part 1
Jimmy walks to a tree with the words "Jimmy + Anna" written on. He crosses out "Ann" with a knife while crying, but rather than reveal they broke up the scene cuts to a nearby crashed car, revealing she died in an accident when Jimmy hit the tree.

Suicide Note
Gray returns home from his backpacking trip to Europe. Expecting a surprise party welcoming him home, he instead learns from his mother, Martha, that his dad, Grant, killed himself while he was away. Gary opens Grant's suicide note, which simply reads "Surprise - Dad".

No Legs
Mishav walks with his girlfriend Manika along the streets. Manika crosses the road while Mishav picks up a dropped coin. Looking down the road, Mishav sees a car speeding down the road, and rushes across to push Manika out of the way. The car itself comes to a halt, Manika having not been in any danger. Soon, it becomes clear that in pushing her out of the way, Manika has suffered serious head trauma and is unresponsive. The scene cuts to some time after the accident in Manika's room. Panning around her room, it introduces her as a ballerina, having trained from childhood as her dream career. Unable to continue her dream, she is revealed to be in a vegetative state, requiring a breathing apparatus and Mishav to brush her hair for her.

Peas
"Nina" is a resident at an elderly people's home. Due to her parkinson's disease, she is having trouble eating her dinner, as she cannot pick up her peas with her force. A nurse, Joey, offers her help but she forces him away, refusing to accept help.

The Tree, part 2
Four years after Anna's death, Jimmy goes back to the tree, where he crosses out "Jimmy" with a knife. Having a smile on his face, it is implied he has finally gotten over it. Instead, he wraps a rope around the tree to hang himself.

Tiny Face
Jacob sits in Dr. Petrogos' office, where he is formally diagnosed with brain cancer, which is confirmed by his hand being bigger than his face. Driving home to tell his wife Lisa the news, she instead announces she is pregnant. The two must now spend their remaining months together planning. A montage cuts between their various activities, from Dr. Petrogos planning a life-saving surgery, to them buying a cradle, to buying a coffin, to picking names. During Lisa's baby-shower, Jacob falls into a baby-carriage and becomes stuck, giving them a brief happy memory. The montage ends with Jacob now confined to a wheelchair, having deteriorated rapidly from his cancer. While in hospital, Lisa goes into early labour and is rushed away. After the birth, Lisa is herself in poor condition, with the baby kept in a newborn intensive care unit (NICU). Jacob puts his hand through an opening to hold the baby's, but it immediately dies.