The Benefit of Grief is the tenth episode of the fifteenth season of Ninjago and the 190th episode overall. It aired on May 20, 2022 on LEGO's YouTube channel.
A hopeful singer headed to Ninjago City helps Kai, Zane and Dareth evade Hounddog McBrag, and Zane learns the value of emotions.[1]
ExtendedZane, Kai and Dareth hitch a ride to Ninjago City with a wannabe singer named Sally - thinking the police are after her for a stolen van, she leads Hounddog McBrag on a high-speed chase through the desert. Zane believes that Sally's rollercoaster of emotions is telling her to return home, so the Ninjas escort Sally back to her farm, and Zane turns on his emotion meter after seeing the value in grief.[2]
LEGO's YouTube channel: While walking through the desert, Zane, Kai, and Dareth get a ride from Sally, a wannabe singer who is on her way to NINJAGO City. After confessing to the Ninja that she ran away from home and borrowed her family's car without permission, they are discovered by Hounddog McBrag and the police!
Can the Ninja and Sally escape the relentless Hounddog McBrag?[3]
Plot[]
Having separated to throw the police off, Kai, Zane and Dareth move along in the desert, with Kai and Dareth exhausted from dehydration. Kai spots a van and successfully gets the driver's attention, while Zane activates his cloaking device to look human. The driver, a girl named Sally, asks what they're doing out in the desert. They manage to deceive her and ask for a ride to Ninjago City, to which she agrees.
In the van, Sally plays a song she wrote and reveals that she is moving to Ninjago City to become a singer. Dareth compliments her song, but Zane expresses his confusion to the song's lyrics. He then asks about a photo of Sally and her parents. Saddened, Sally begins to cry, and Zane stops the van. As they try to comfort her, Sally confesses that she ran away from home, stealing the van and denting the front bumper in the process — which she describes as "borrowed without asking" and "changed its shape." Just then, a police helicopter arrives, and Sally, thinking they were sent by her parents, immediately drives off.
Kai attempts to explain that they were the ones being pursued and has Zane deactivate his cloaking device, but she doesn't notice and keeps driving. The van ends up at the edge of a cliff. Hounddog McBrag orders the ninja to surrender, after which Sally finally realizes their true target. Kai reveals that they "borrowed something without asking", and Sally lets go of the brake in shock, sending the van over the edge and into the ravine. As the police express their shock, McBrag takes one of the trucks and drives into the ravine in pursuit. The vehicles go through some rapids before Zane freezes the ravine behind them, trapping McBrag and enabling the ninja's escape.
Back on dry land, Sally expresses her excitement at the adventure, but begins to sob again when the van falls apart. She wishes that she could turn her emotion meter off, so that she wouldn't miss her parents and that everything would be fine. Zane comforts her, telling her about Dr. Julien and how unpleasant emotions do serve a purpose. He explains that her emotions are telling her to go home, and consoles her when she expresses worry about not being forgiven by her parents.
Later, the four arrive at Sally's home. With the ninja's encouragement, she knocks on the door, and her parents immediately embrace her. Kai notices Zane smiling at the sight and asks if he turned his emotions back on, which he confirms and reveals that he realized the benefit of emotions, even grief. The trio then leaves to continue their journey.
On October 29, 2021, Tommy Andreasen revealed the title of the episode in the Skybound Halloween live-chat.[4]
However, it was incorrectly announced as the twelfth episode, but later confirmed to be the tenth episode.[5]
When asked why he revealed the title of the tenth episode and not the first, Tommy Andreasen replied, "Because I have a will of my own, and that's the episode which was on my mind."[6]
An updated version of the LGBTQIA+ flag, specifically the progress pride flag, can be seen on the back of Sally's van.
There exists a version of the episode where the pride flag is removed from the van that aired in certain countries, such as China.
Sally's song, "Inner Steel," makes its debut in this episode.
After briefly turning his emotion meter back on in "Ninjago City vs. Ninja," Zane turns it back on for good after he sees the good emotions can do.
When Zane mentions that Dr. Julien once attempted to protect him from feelings of grief by erasing his memory banks, he is referring to his flashback from "Tick Tock."
Errors[]
Referring to the events shown in "Tick Tock", Zane states that Dr. Julien erased his memory banks, which is not exactly true. Dr. Julien turned off Zane's memory switch, which allowed Zane to regain his memories when he turned it back on, whereas if he erased Zane's memory banks, Zane's memories would have been gone permanently.
Videos[]
LEGO® NINJAGO - Season 4 Episode 10- The Benefit of Grief