'Sorry for your Loss' Season 2 Episode 5 'Norway' focusses on the grieving process as Leigh is triggered by memories of Matt
Episode 5 of the second season of 'Sorry for Your Loss' focusses on the uneven journey of grief after the death of a loved one. 'Norway' sees Leigh Shaw (Elizabeth Olsen) holed up in her bedroom, relapsing into acute depression after several weeks of normalcy and even finding peace after her DMT trip.
Her backslide into grief came after she attended the memorial for Matt (Mamoudou Athie) at his school. When she sees the word "Pickle" (the joke name for their future child) in the mural based on her late husband's doodles, she realizes the "nightmare is not over."
The scene of Leigh's meltdown accurately depicts how triggering memories can effectively derail any fragile progress made in dealing with the death of a close family member. In some ways, there is no "getting over" someone's death or a prescribed time limit for grieving.
Years can pass and a random interaction can trigger the feeling of losing someone all over again. The episode prominently features the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's 'Out of the Darkness Walks', an annual event that allows people who are grieving to participate in an all-night walk to honor and remember their loved ones.
Leigh, who is averse to "fun" in her state, rejects Danny's (Jovan Adepo) more conventional suggestions to go to a movie or bowling. But she finds herself joining the walk because it is an effective tool to deal with her relapse.
The walk brings up the happy "Norway" memory about Matt that helps Leigh deal with the unhappy "Pickle" memory, highlighting the importance of such recurring events or even private rituals that allow us to remember and honor the dead in safe spaces no matter how much time has passed.
However, the bereaved often don't get the chance to talk about their loved ones because they have no safe space to share memories. This means negative memories are triggered by default with no corresponding outlet for sharing happier incidents from the past.
The episode subtly highlights the invisible emotional labor involved in creating unofficial safe spaces -- something Amy (Janet McTeer) had been doing tirelessly for Leigh and Jules (Kelly Marie Tran) in the episodes before this.
With Amy gone, Leigh's depression couldn't come at a worse time for Jules who has to run the studio on her own after Leigh starts bailing on her classes. She is overwhelmed when she injures her leg and has an employee quit.
This is when Danny comes in, "tagging her out", freeing her from the emotional labor involved in shaking Leigh out of her depression. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes an equally strong community to deal with grief.
People like Amy, who unconsciously provide emotional labor -- that cup of tea at the right moment, creating the space and time to talk, are taken for granted till they disappear. Thankfully, Danny is there to provide the emotional labor to the Shaw sisters at this critical juncture but he provides it reluctantly, not entirely equipped to deal with Leigh.
In the increasingly individualistic and atomized society we live in, most people lack this support system. This is why events like the "Out of Darkness" walk, "talking circles" for the bereaved with grief counselors and even social media groups that allow people to reach out to others who have had similar experiences, are crucial links that fill in the gaps left by our increasingly tiny social circles.
'Sorry For Your Loss' Season 2 will air new episodes on Facebook Watch every Tuesday at 12 p.m. PT and 3 p.m. ET.
