Miss You, Love You Ending Explained: Why Did Tyler Send Jamie to Help Diane?

Directed by Jim Rash, ‘Miss You, Love You’ is a poignant drama film that takes place in the aftermath of a tragedy. Diane Patterson has recently lost her husband, Henry, to a terminal illness. However, as she prepares for the funeral, instead of showing up himself, her estranged son ends up sending his assistant, Jamie, to fill in the gaps. As a result, the two perfect strangers find themselves in a unique position where grief, unresolved tensions, and unhealthy relationship dynamics become the expected lay of the land. As these two people try to navigate this unconventional situation, one of their only points of collision remains their distinct but equally messed-up relationship with Tyler, the man whose absence constantly haunts the narrative. SPOILERS AHEAD!

Miss You, Love You Plot Synopsis

Jamie is a 46-year-old working as an assistant to a much younger man, Tyler, a successful author. Their relationship is unique and not always for the better. When the author’s stepfather passes away, and he himself remains otherwise occupied, he ends up sending his assistant to New Mexico to help out his mother with the funeral arrangements. When Jamie arrives at Diane’s house, the absurdity of the situation isn’t lost on either party. The mother is frustrated and hurt at the fact that her son wouldn’t clear his schedule for something as important as this. The fact of their already estranged relationship and Tyler’s non-existent one with her second husband adds further fuel to the fire.

Inversely, Jamie, who is, for all intents and purposes, on the clock, tries to find a balance between helping the widow without while also retaining the love and respect he apparently has for his boss. As it turns out, Tyler does have a reason for his absence. He is currently overseas working on a book, which requires a coveted interview with a prisoner of war. Added circumstances have made it dangerous for him to travel just yet. Even so, as Diane points out, Henry’s passing was due to a long and arduous battle with Parkinson’s. It wasn’t a last-minute development, and in fact something the mother had urged her son to plan around. Nonetheless, their estranged relationship limits their level of contact. In fact, throughout Jamie’s stay, his phone keeps blowing up with texts from the author while Diane gets nothing.

In the time that the duo is forced to spend together, Jamie learns about Diane and Henry’s life together. He helps out where he can, running errands, trying to revive the dead house plants around, and even offering emotional support to the grieving widow. Still, Tyler remains a perpetual sore spot between the two. On the other hand, they also find certain things to bond over. For one, Diane’s exceptional handling of Tyler’s coming out when he was in his 20s has an impact on Jamie, who himself only came out in his 30s. Likewise, he’s able to relate to the unique grief the widow has gone through over the past couple of years since he also lost both his parents in quick succession to terminal diseases. The assistant also wins the mother over in parts through his people skills that prove to be a major asset in preparing for Henry’s upcoming funeral.

Through it all, Diane continues waiting for a positive update from her son, hoping that he will show up to the service. Nonetheless, each day, Jamie, who is in constant contact with Tyler, only has bad news for her. Eventually, after spending enough time together, the duo becomes friends, or something close to it. However, all of that unravels after a moment of curiosity compels Diane to take a peek at Tyler’s messages on Jamie’s phone. Consequently, she finds out that her son’s excuse of being stuck overseas is actually a lie. If he wanted to, he could’ve come shortly after his assistant’s arrival. To make matters worse, it seems that while contemplating his choices, he had asked the other man for his advice. In turn, Jamie had told him that he only has a responsibility to himself and no one else, and should the author want it, he has no problem with building upon his lies and keeping his mother company in her grief.

Miss You, Love You Ending: Why Did Tyler Send Jamie to Help Diane?

The inciting event in the story, which becomes its central premise, revolves around a peculiar decision made by the son of a grieving mother. Diane and Tyler have had an estranged relationship for some time now. Still, their interpersonal complications might explain the son’s unwillingness to be there for his mother while she mourns the death of her second husband. However, his decision to send his assistant to fill in his role in his absence is notably bizarre. At first, it paints him out to be a careless son and a burdensome boss. However, some of his reasons begin to clear up when more information is revealed about the nature of Tyler and Jamie’s relationship. As it turns out, their dynamic wasn’t the ideal stereotype of a boss and his assistant.

Jamie met Tyler shortly after moving to LA, around the same time that he first came out of the closet. Their chance meeting happened at a gay club in West Hollywood, over drinks and perhaps a mutual interest in romance. Nonetheless, their connection developed more into a friendship, which paved the way for them to work together. During this time, Jamie did reveal the existence of his feelings for the other man. Yet, while Tyler confessed that he isn’t opposed to the idea, he also insisted that it would be better for them to overlook these feelings for the sake of the work. As a result, they decided to remain just friends to ensure they won’t endanger their professional relationship. Yet, a certain level of closeness inevitably remained between them.

In fact, while Jamie tries to deny it at first, it’s obvious that he’s very much in love with Diane’s son. Even so, he insists that he was happy to maintain a platonic relationship. That is, until something happened on his birthday. The two men had dinner together, during which Tyler expressed that he was open to the idea of possibly pursuing the romantic tension between them. Unfortunately, the next morning, he called Jamie, sober and regretful, to take back his words from the night before. In doing so, he fractured a crucial trust between them and compelled the other man to seek out some time away from him. When Diane first learns about it, she assumes this incident happened a while ago, and Jamie has had some time to put things behind him. Therefore, it’s an incredible surprise when she learns that all of this happened only two weeks before the assistant showed up at her door.

In truth, Jamie isn’t Tyler’s assistant at all, at least not anymore. After the night of his disastrous birthday, he decided to keep his distance from the other man, which meant quitting his job and finding a new start elsewhere. As such, when Henry died, Jamie was actually on his way to New York. In that time, a distressed Tyler, who had no one else to turn to, called him. However, he never asked the other to help out his mother. Instead, Jamie had made the offer all on his own. Even though he had made the decision to move on from the author, this change refused to happen overnight. Therefore, some part of him was still in love with the other man. Nevertheless, he also knew that he could no longer be a part of his life. For the same reason, Jamie selfishly wanted to do this one act of selflessness to prove his love to Tyler to make him realize how much he cared for him right before he walks away from him entirely.

Does Tyler Move on From Jamie? Does He Still Love Him?

For Jamie, the decision to spend the week leading up to Henry’s funeral in Diane’s house is an unexpected and unplanned decision. When he makes the offer to Tyler, he is actually on his way to New York to find a fresh start. In particular, he is hoping to put enough distance between himself and his former boss to get over his feelings for the other man. Nonetheless, the fact that he makes this pitstop in New Mexico at all speaks to his inability to move on. The only reason he feels the need to go out of his way to help Tyler is that he’s still in love with him and wants to prove something. He wants the other to remember him as this incredible, kind, and loving person so that his loss sticks with the author. Nonetheless, in doing so, he becomes the one who is unable to move on.

By the end, Jamie’s motives change as he gets to know Diane and forms a unique bond with her as well. Therefore, after their big fight, when he returns to make arrangements for the wake, attend the funeral, and keep the widow company in the aftermath, none of that is in service of his feelings for Tyler. It’s a genuine expression of friendship between the two. Still, a prominent aspect of the connection between these two people itself finds roots in their respective relationships with the author. Even though it’s in different contexts, both know what it’s like to love Tyler and then resent him for not being able to reciprocate that love back. They’re perpetually stuck in a cycle of being there for Tyler out of love and never receiving the same in return. Still, while Diane’s responsibility to him is maternal and inescapable, it’s not the same for the ex-assistant.

Jamie can make the choice to move on and then put in the effort to make that a reality. The problem is that this new chapter of his life seems too daunting for him. After his parents’ death, his move to LA, his ability to realize his sexuality, and falling in love with Tyler have all been very significant to him. For the same reason, he is scared of leaving all of this behind to search for something new and unfamiliar. It’s not as if he thinks Tyler is the one for him. It’s just that he’s scared of admitting that he has wasted all this time on a connection that ended up never going anywhere. His time with Diane helps him realize the more selfish and hurtful parts of the author. Whether he means it to or not, her son has a way of hurting people whom he can’t love back. Thus, this time and friendship with Diane gives Jamie the last push he needs to finally put LA and everything it constitutes behind him, including Tyler.

Why Did Tyler Not Want to Come to Henry’s Funeral?

Tyler’s relationship with Diane is introduced as an estranged one with many complications between the mother-son duo. As it turns out, there’s a long and varied history behind this estrangement. It all goes back to the divorce between the author’s parents, which happened when he was a young child. Years into their marriage, Diane and her first husband fell out of love and pursued their own extramarital affairs without breaking any hearts. Yet, while the father’s affair remained fleeting, the mother ended up falling in love. As a result, the two had to divorce as Diane pursued a real and committed relationship with Henry, who eventually became her second husband. Even after their separation, the ex-spouses decided that they would continue to co-parent amicably and never bring anything but love to their relationship with their son.

However, Tyler’s father broke this pact. When he was nine years old, around the same time that Diane first moved in with Henry, her ex-husband turned their son against his mother, making him believe that she was the bad guy in the whole situation. Thus, he effectively turned his son to be “on his side” in the aftermath of his marriage. Diane realized as much after noticing the changes in her son’s demeanor when he returned from a weekend at his father’s. Even so, she bit her tongue and continued to remain nothing but amicable towards her ex-husband. Meanwhile, Tyler continued to grow farther and farther away from her, perpetually blaming her for everything that went wrong with their family. Even after years of familiarity, he refused to get to know Henry or form any relationship with him.

For the same reason, when the time comes for Henry’s funeral, Tyler decides to be a no-show. Initially, Diane attempts to pin the entirety of the blame on her son. However, Jamie, who is still hung up on the other man, comes to his defense. He helps Diane realize that, in trying to take the higher road, she has consistently managed to hold onto resentment against her son. This has only further soured the dynamic between the two. The mother’s resentment also remains evident, and comes out in bursts when she’s initially dealing with Jamie. Therefore, on some level, the latter’s desire to shield the man he loves from that kind of unhealthy relationship is understandable. Even so, Tyler isn’t entirely innocent. He intentionally hides behind the complications of the past to shirk his responsibilities and guilt.

Does Henry’s Succulent Die? Does Jamie Save It?

Throughout the film, Henry’s houseplants are one of the elements that play a crucial thematic role in the story. When Jamie arrives in New Mexico, Diane’s house is filled with houseplants that are on the brink of dying. This is because these plants belonged to her departed husband, who knew just how to take care of them. In his absence, Diane, who has a penchant for overwatering, makes for a sad substitute. Upon his initial arrival, Jamie tries to convince her that he can help her out by pointing to one particular dying succulent as an example. He says that, if nothing else, he can at least fix the plant for her.

In the end, a week is barely enough time to bring the succulent back to life. Therefore, when Jamie is taking his leave to drive out to New York, the plant is still down in the dumps. However, before he leaves, Diane tells him to take the succulent with him. It’s evident that the plant won’t see any recovery in her care. As such, she wants it to at least have a chance with Jamie. Additionally, it will also act as a memento that will stay as a reminder of their time together. Ultimately, although the plant isn’t saved, Jamie’s decision to take it with him gives its future a sense of hope. Thus, the plan itself becomes a metaphor for the undying hope of recovery and healing.