WandaVision wasn't the first TV series Elizabeth Olsen starred in. In fact, before WandaVision, Olsen starred in the Facebook Watch series Sorry For Your Loss. She played Leigh, a young woman navigating grief, loss, and family after the untimely and somewhat mysterious death of her husband. In addition to Olsen, Kelly Marie Tran, Janet McTeer, Jovan Adepo, and Mamoudou Athie also starred.
Sorry For Your Loss was created by Kit Steinkellner and aired for two seasons through Facebook Watch, which, per Lifewire, is a video-on-demand service that allows creators to upload their short- and long-form videos — a sort of cross between social media and streaming platforms. Sorry For Your Loss ultimately received widespread critical acclaim, earning a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and nabbing Olsen a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series. It largely flew under the mainstream radar, but remains nonetheless a must-watch, particularly for fans of Scarlet Witch. Here's why.
It Deals with Life and Loss Beautifully
Season one of Sorry For Your Loss premiered in 2018 and took place following the death of Leigh’s husband, Matt (Mamoudou Athie), whom we see frequently in flashbacks. Leigh is left confused and has no idea why her husband died. The first season focuses mainly on her search for an explanation as to how this happened. We are told he fell off a cliff, which is strange as it happened on a hiking trail that he frequented. The uncertainty that Leigh faces throughout her journey for answers and the themes of loss and grief are ultimately explored in a way that feels relatable for the audience. Indeed, we begin rooting for Leigh while being simultaneously intrigued by the unraveling mystery.
In season two, the story was explored further, and the plot opened up as we see Leigh moving towards adapting to her new, widowed life. We see Leigh toy with love affairs about which she feels conflicted, as if she were betraying her husband. Additionally, we are introduced to new characters who have been impacted by Matt’s death and have their own opinions on how to process grief. What's most remarkable about Sorry For Your Loss are the tense and tender interractions between the characters, particularly Leigh's dynamic with her adopted sister and their mother.
The Cast is Amazing
One of the most notable successes of the show is its strong cast. Usually, when a series is fronted by one cast member, the character can become tiring or unlikeable. This is not the case with Leigh, and Olsen embodies her role with an interesting characterization that feels relatable and allows the audience to root for her throughout her progression through grief.
The second season expands on characters that were not given the same attention in the first, such as Matt’s brother Danny (Jovan Adepo), who has a lot of chemistry with Leigh, which we see develop into a romance of sorts. We also see Kelly Marie Tran, fresh from her stint in the sequel Star Wars movies, as Leigh’s adopted sister Jules, and Janet McTeer as Amy, their mother. Their roles develop much further in the second season and the chemistry that the cast experiences is part of what makes the show truly great.
Subtle Parallels to Scarlet Witch & WandaVision
Sorry For Your Loss was sadly canceled after the second season, which was a shame for fans as the plot still had a lot of room for progression. Interestingly, the spirit of the series lived on, in a way, in WandaVision and Olsen's more renowned character Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch. The Disney+ superhero TV show premiered in 2021 and traced Wanda's journey through grief after Vision's death in Avengers: Infinity War and her life after the Avengers' big battle against Thanos in Endgame. WandaVision was as much a celebration of television in general, with each episode paying homage to different decades of TV formats.
Between the mistakes and outbursts Leigh makes in her darkest moments in Sorry For Your Loss and Wanda's emotional journey in WandaVision (and how it connects to her arc in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness), it's inevitable to draw comparisons between the two. This is especially true when you consider how formidable an actress Olsen is, tapping into her characters' hearts and unearthing truths about love and loss in a way that makes us, as viewers, ache with them. It's ultimately what makes Sorry For Your Loss a must-watch: with the way Wanda turns to TV and manipulates reality, coupled with the unraveling of the Multiverse, it's not entirely impossible to imagine Leigh as an unofficial variant — if in spirit only — to Wanda.