Good Grief

If you’re looking to escape into television these days, you may find yourself down a deep well of sadness. The Bear, nominated for four Emmys in the Comedy category, is a grief hang. Yellowjackets’ BFF cannibalism highlights the complexity of grief. Mrs. Davis, a sci-fi rom-dram that I found so shaggy and convoluted as to be unwatchable, is also a meditation on grief. WandaVision expands the MCU to include Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. Succession showed us that billionaires grieve even as they hasten society’s destruction. Shrinking is about grief and includes a 15-minute grieving hack you can try out on your own. Last but not least, And Just Like That—beloved for being emotional white noise—“got grief right” in the first season before returning (thank God) to being the lowest-stakes show on television. In sum: The Protagonists Are Not Okay.