It’s award season again, and this year’s Emmy nominations are chock-full of shows with strong representations of grief: Severance, The Last of Us, The Bear and more. These have us thinking about our other favorites over the years and the way their depictions of loss have stuck with us.

People often turn to media — whether it’s movies, shows, music or books — to help process grief and make sense of their feelings, seeing themselves and their lives in characters, storylines or lyrics. Keep reading for 10 of our personal recommendations.

*Denotes Emmy wins

 The Bear 

Nominated for: Outstanding Comedy Series (2023*, 2024, 2025)

Type of grief/loss representation: Suicide, death of family

The Bear centers around a talented young chef, Carmy Berzatto, who is trying to run his brother Michael’s sandwich shop “The Beef” after his death. Carmy assembles a team of friends and family as they band together to work through the loss of Michael and the pressure that Carmy creates for them to achieve greater. Grief touches every episode and every character in some way, and we see how they process it differently as the show follows characters in their personal lives as well as their time working in the shop. Grief is even portrayed through the editors’ pacing of the show, moving faster or slower during different life events.

Where to watch it: Hulu, FX

Severance

Nominated for: Outstanding Drama Series (2022, 2025)

Type of grief/loss representation: Spousal loss, suicide, ambiguous grief

This psychological dystopia explores a world where a severed procedure allows people to only experience a piece of their consciousness at specific locations, such as work. The show follows Mark S. who works at Lumon, a company that uses the severed procedure to classify its work. This creates a world where employees’ “innies” only remember work memories at work, and their “outies” only recall personal memories at home. Mark’s debilitating grief following the loss of his wife leads him to seek employment at Lumon as a way to be productive and enjoy even parts of his days. But, as in real life, there is no escaping or outrunning grief — Mark’s innie still experiences pain from his mysterious outer life. The show challenges viewers to think about the ways in which the human mind processes loss and the ways we try to outsmart it despite being unable to truly move forward without processing and feeling it.

Where to watch it: Apple TV

The Last of Us

Nominated for: Outstanding Drama Series (2023, 2025)

Type of grief/loss representation: Collective grief, spousal loss, parent loss, child loss, death of family

Based on a video game of the same title, The Last of Us takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a fungus has zombified the planet, leaving few humans intact. It follows Joel and Ellie who have been bound together to achieve a secret mission that may create a cure for the infection if they succeed. Because loss is so widespread, survivors are hardened to grief; caring shows a vulnerability many choose to avoid. The show forces the viewer to feel grief throughout the show as no character is protected from the infection, but it also conveys the importance of community amidst grief and how your life can honor loved ones who have died.

Where to watch it: HBO Max

Shrinking

Nominated for: Outstanding Comedy Series (2025)

Type of grief/loss representation: Spousal loss, parent loss

After his wife dies, Jimmy struggles to parent their daughter alone and process his grief, instead shutting down and seeking out harmful coping mechanisms. This turn toward recklessness also presents in his professional life as a therapist when he decides to ignore his training and ethical code by telling clients his raw, unfiltered thoughts. The results? Massive changes — for better or for worse — in his and his clients’ lives. While the show takes a comical approach to how people deal with pain, it conveys important lessons in grief: Everyone is touched by a death in the community, complex problems cannot be solved simply and processing grief is the responsible and caring thing to do for yourself and others.

Where to watch it: Apple TV

This Is Us

Nominated for: Outstanding Drama Series (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021)

Type of grief/loss representation: Child loss, traumatic loss, terminal illness, ambiguous grief

As the name suggests, watching This Is Us feels like you are living the Pearson family’s lives with them in a beautiful and sometimes heartbreaking way. It’s so intensely human, tackling a variety of issues in real and raw ways while continuing to find humor and joy, or as quoted in the show, “You took the sourest lemon that life has to offer and turned it into something resembling lemonade.” The writers were encouraged to talk about their lives through the lens of the show when creating it, and that shines through. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime type of show almost anyone can identify with.

Where to watch it: Hulu, NBC, Disney+

WandaVision

Nominated for: Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series (2021)

Type of grief/loss representation: Traumatic loss, spousal loss, parental loss, ambiguous grief, death of family

Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Wanda Maximoff (the Scarlett Witch) is grappling with the recent loss of her twin brother, Pietro, and Vision, her romantic interest as well as the unprocessed grief of losing her parents as a child. As the Scarlett Witch, Wanda has the ability to completely alter her reality and remake the world around her, which is exactly what she does, placing herself and Vision in the idyllic suburban town of Westview, New Jersey. By creating television sitcom versions of their lives, Wanda attempts to gain a sense of control, a common way grieving people cope. In Westview, she and Vision have a life and children together — things that don’t exist outside the reality she’s created and struggles to let go of as she lives out what could have been. As the show progresses, Wanda realizes her altered reality isn’t only unsustainable but it’s harmful to the people held captive inside of it. One of the most powerful quotes from Vision in the show perfectly encapsulates why loss is so difficult: “What is grief, if not love persevering?”

Where to watch it: Disney+

The Haunting of Hill House

Type of grief/loss representation: Child loss, suicide, traumatic loss

The Haunting of Hill House follows siblings who grew up in a mysterious old mansion that continues to cast a shadow over their adult lives. The story alternates between past and present, slowly revealing the impact the house and what happened inside it has had on each of them. Blending supernatural horror with family drama, it explores how trauma and loss linger long after the initial event. Grief in the show is not just an emotion, it is a “presence” that shapes the characters’ lives much like the ghosts that haunt them. Each sibling represents a different response to loss: denial, anger, detachment, self-destruction and overprotection. By using a horror framework, the show illustrates how grief can feel ever-present, sometimes quietly lingering in the background and sometimes confronting us directly, much like a haunting.

Where to watch it: Netflix

Glee

Nominated for: Outstanding Comedy Series (2011)

Type of grief/loss representation: Child loss, collective grief, death of a friend

While the topic of grief is incorporated a handful of times throughout the show’s six seasons, we wanted to include Glee for one episode in particular: “The Quarterback.” The episode serves a tribute to the character Finn Hudson as well as the actor Cory Monteith, who died of an accidental drug overdose while the show was still in production. For this reason, the grief on screen is palpable; the actors’ grief was real and raw. In the episode, we see the various ways grief manifests, from Santana’s anger to Mr. Schuester’s despondency to Finn’s mom’s devastation. The community comes together in grief. Members of the New Directions take turns memorializing their friend through songs, turning his locker into a memorial and planting a tree in his honor. 

Where to watch it: Hulu, Disney+

Never Have I Ever

Type of grief/loss representation: Parental loss, spousal loss

Never Have I Ever follows Devi Vishwakumar, a teenager navigating school, friendships and romance in the wake of her father’s sudden passing during her orchestra concert. Early in the show, when Devi is in the throes of grief, her decisions are vexing, but her grief adds context — people can act out of character when they are grieving. Perhaps one of the most humanizing parts of how grief is portrayed in this show is that it’s not the main focus but an underlying theme that comes in waves yet touches all other aspects of Devi and her mom’s lives. We see Devi’s grief evolve over the course of the show’s four seasons, illustrating important reminders to find community in your grief and ways to honor our loved ones’ memories. Ultimately, Never Have I Ever serves as a reminder that grief, despite being debilitating at times, isn’t the end of the world.

Where to watch it: Netflix

Bluey

Nominated for: International Emmy Kids Award in preschool category (2019*)

Type of grief/loss representation: Infertility, anticipatory grief

This beloved Australian cartoon centers on a family of blue heelers while subtly exploring daily family issues without the “after school” scary tones. You finish an episode having learned something without being explicitly told the lesson. Instead, viewers explore them along with the character. There are a variety of episodes that touch on different types of grief. The episode “Onesies” highlights infertility and explores how you can miss something that you never had. In another episode “Grandad” Bluey and Bingo learn about their grandfather’s health issues and come to understand that he won’t be around forever, dealing with anticipatory grief. Overall, Bluey is a solid format for exploring difficult topics like grief with small children.

There are too many shows with great representations of grief to include here, like After Life (Netflix), Sorry For Your Loss (Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV), Dead to Me (Netflix), Six Feet Under (most major streaming services) and Fleabag (Amazon Prime Video). Let us know what shows you’d include in this list in the comments!