The Decameron’s Most Painful Scene Finally Gives Us Something We've Needed For A While

Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Netflix's The Decameron.

Summary The Decameron offers a unique take on the Black Plague, using dark comedy to explore painful and funny experiences during COVID-19.

The show's scene of characters remembering plague victims provides a moment for delayed collective grieving post-COVID-19.

The powerful scene acknowledges the fear, pain, and loss experienced globally, offering a sense of catharsis as COVID-19 transitions to endemic.

While most of The Decameron leans into morbid, hilarious, and raunchy elements, the Netflix show includes one painful scene that provides viewers with something important after the COVID-19 pandemic. The dark comedy series is set in Florence, Italy, in 1348, using a fictionalized version of the true story of the Black Plague as a long-form allegory to explore the painful and funny experiences of people during the peak of COVID-19. This choice has been extremely divisive.

Some viewers think the show makes a joke out of something serious, and others appreciate that the show uses humor as a coping mechanism for the shared trauma the world experienced. Despite largely being a satirization, though, The Decameron’s ending includes one scene that’s that it’s both painful to watch and extremely meaningful after the COVID-19 pandemic, taking an important step forward in the way that TV shows handle the worst part of what we went through – death.

Related When Did Panfilo Know Neifile Had The Plague In The Decameron? Panfilo and Neifile grew closer to each other before her death in The Decameron, raising the question of when he learned that she had the plague.

The Decameron’s Characters All Lost People To The Black Plague

The Decameron Season 1, Episode 7, "This Is Awful, And You'll Never Recover"

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In the most painful scene, the characters of The Decameron finally address the unspoken shared trauma that loomed over the entire series. They list off the people they have lost, and everybody knows at least one character who died from the Black Plague. The immense number of deaths aligns with the true story of the Black Plague, as 75 million to 200 million people died during the Black Death (via Vaccines Work). Additionally, the moment felt far too relatable after the harrowing events at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Related 10 Best Shows Like The Decameron After watching Netflix's The Decameron, similar period TV shows with a light, modern approach to history act as the perfect follow-up.

The Decameron Plague Victim Remembrance Scene Is A First For The COVID-19 Era

The Decameron's Remembrance Scene Is The First Major Delayed Catharsis For COVID-19

While many TV shows incorporated COVID-19 in 2020, few have revisited the global pandemic since. When shows do address it, the pandemic is often through subtle references like characters wearing masks or a passing mention. However, The Decameron's scene, in which the characters remember the plague victims, provides viewers with a much-needed opportunity for delayed collective grieving post-COVID-19. The parallels to the modern pandemic, set against the backdrop of the larger dark comedy, add extra poignancy to an already powerful scene.

The Decameron offers a sense of catharsis as COVID-19 slowly transitions from a pandemic to an endemic.

The world may not have lost nearly as many people to the COVID-19 pandemic as Europe did during the Black Plague, but that doesn’t diminish the weight of the loss. This scene in The Decameron is a powerful acknowledgment of the fear, pain, and loss the global population endured. It provides viewers with a moment to pause and reflect on how profoundly the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped our sense of normal. Additionally, The Decameron offers a sense of catharsis as COVID-19 slowly transitions from a pandemic to an endemic.

Source: Vaccines Work