Aahana Swrup
‘All’s Fair‘ episode 7, aptly titled ‘Letting Go,’ brings a brutal challenge for Dina Standish, the experienced lawyer who serves as a mentor and a friend to Allura, Liberty, and Emerald. After years of a long and hard battle with cancer, her husband, Doug, unfortunately, passed away. Even though the attorney has known that this would be an inevitable outcome for some time now, still, nothing could have prepared her for the reality of losing the love of her life. Naturally, in the aftermath of his passing, Dina’s reaction remains steeped in grief, even if it is of the unusual kind. In the couple of days following Doug’s death, his wife refuses to move him from their bedroom, instead choosing to hold a personal wake and grieve his passing beside his dead body. As a result, it’s up to her juniors, including the ever-vengeful Carrington Lane, to help her through this dark time. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Dina Agrees to Let Doug Go a Few Days After His Death
Dina and Doug’s marriage has been a defining cornerstone in both characters’ narratives. As lawyers, specifically specializing in domestic and family law, the former and her colleagues often see the ugly side of romance and relationships. This translates into their own personal lives in a variety of ways. For Allura, it makes her feel blindsided and naive when she fails to see the signs of decay in her own marriage, while it perpetually shuts down Emerald’s love life. Similarly, Liberty harbors many anxieties and fears about her own future because of the myriad ways she has seen marriage ruin the lives of women. Yet, Dina’s relationship with Doug allowed her to rise above all the pessimism of her profession. She had genuinely found a fairytale romance with a man whom she could trust freely and without any worries.
For the same reason, letting Doug go becomes the most difficult thing Dina has ever had to do. Initially, her grief manifests in a concerning way when she decides against moving her husband’s dead body from their marital bed. Instead, she continues to live around it, going through her routine and allowing herself to accept and drive over the tragedy, all the while refusing the first steps of healing. Liberty and Carrington are the first ones to find out about this, and they’re understandably worried about their friend. Nonetheless, Dina assures them that she is only respecting Doug’s Scot-Irish heritage by holding a personal wake, which traditionally lasts for three to four weeks.
Although Liberty is still unconvinced, Carrington offers her sympathetic understanding and a rather disturbing story about her childhood pet cat. Consequently, the latter becomes Dina’s preferred shoulder to cry on. Yet, even Carrington is unprepared for the widow’s continued refusal to move her husband’s body in the time that comes. Eventually, on the day of an arranged grieving event, all four women manage to come together to speak to their mentor as a united front. Even though it’s evident that none of them can truly understand the depth of Dina’s grief, they help her understand that Doug’s energy will always remain with her, rather than in his dead body. As a result, she’s finally able to come to terms with the reality that she must say goodbye to her husband. In the end, Dina lets the coroner take her husband’s dead body away, with a last parting kiss.
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