By Spencer Coile
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We’re living in a strange time right now. Yet if these past few weeks have taught us anything, it’s that it’s a good time to acknowledge feelings - anxiety, anger, disillusionment - and find ways to channel them into healthier outlets. Personally, I’ve been using this time to catch up on TV I’ve been missing out on. And what I’ve found is that, in their own strange way, these shows have helped me tap into my own complicated emotions - something that may not have happened without the circumstances surrounding it.
Dead to Me, returning for its second season on Netflix, is exactly the type of show I needed during this time...
Its first season was enjoyable, if not a tad off-kilter. The chemistry between Jen (Christina Applegate) and Judy (Linda Cardellini) was kooky and the tone was grounded in melodrama - all the makings for dramedic gold. Season 2 is darker - reveling in death, destruction, and denial - but it’s all the better for it. Because what once began as an odd series has evolved into a narrative with a clearer vision; one about shared trauma, and the ways in which we forge a bond because of, not despite, that.
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Diving into the second season of Dead to Me is tricky, without a slew of spoilers. Each episode ends on a cliffhanger, encouraging a quick binge. In lieu of discussing its entire plot, I’ll instead catch you up to speed, spoilers from season one ahead! Jen is grappling with the death of her husband, Ted, who died in a hit-and-run. Judy was driving the car that hit Ted. She’s convinced by her ex-fiance Steve (James Marsden) to leave the body. Wracked with guilt, Judy forges an unlikely friendship with Jen to make amends, only to reveal that she was responsible. Jen is going to go to the cops, Steve tries to stop her, and she ends up killing him. And that’s what you missed on Dead to Me season 1!
Season two picks up the morning after. Jen and Judy are weary towards one one another - it’d be hard not to be. Their relationship was built and sustained on deception. However, the magic between Applegate and Cardellini’s performances is that suspicion is entrenched in a myriad of complex emotions. Jen feels overt anger - last season used her rage to comedic, but season two explores it in-depth - but beyond that, she is rattled by the guilt she’s experiencing. Yet she lashes out to avoid feeling this guilt. On the other hand, Judy is scared and hurting. She’s a whirling dervish of chaotic energy. Again, though, this is sometimes used for comedy. She cannot form words, sputters through sentences. At heart, she is kind-hearted, so why does trouble follow her wherever she goes?
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The subject matter of Dead to Me is heavy. Death sits front and center, and the loss that accompanies looms heavy over its characters. But creator Liz Feldman keeps this season moving with a rapid-fire pace. Supporting characters shuffle in and out , questioning Jen and Judy, only to move on (keep a look-out for some delicious guest stars in the latter half of the season). And perhaps that is for a specific reason. Although season two integrates more of its ensemble, the center of the series examines the unique and private relationships between women. Jen and Judy are polar opposites. Jen has a penchant for destroying cars with fire or a blunt object, while Judy has a penchant for taking the blame. In a “real” world, there is no way these two could be friends.
Fortunately, Dead to Me is not grounded in reality. At least, the plot is not. Season two moves along based mostly on happenstance and coincidence, how we get from point A to point B is ridiculous, but it should be. It’s still a melodrama. At its heart is genuine emotion. What links Jen and Judy together is a sense of shared grief. Both have experienced loss on multiple levels, and the series is concerned, not with them letting go and moving on from that loss, but pushing the drama forward. It’s about exploring the limits of grief, of seeing how far they will go to avoid wallowing in their feelings.
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It can be a frustrating experience, watching Jen and Judy run away from their emotions. You almost have the urge to shout at the screen, “Just acknowledge it!” But that’s what makes Dead to Me such a personal viewing. You realize that it's not just moving on from loss, from trauma that’s important. It’s acknowledging it and living with it first before you can move on. Grief, loss, and trauma are not always mutually exclusive - they often coincide with one another. Jen and Judy are thrust into uncomfortable situations, but they’re situations that force them to learn these lessons for themselves.
As with last season Applegate and Cardellini are both exceptional. They play off each other in a way that feels both improvised and polished. They constantly try to finish each other’s sentences… to no avail. They bicker and cry together, they laugh and drink together. They shouldn’t be friends, and yet they make this relationship feel authentic. Separately, their performances are just as rich. This season offers them romantic opportunities, which continues cracking open who each of these women are. There are newfound vulnerabilities they each tap into, and what’s especially impressive is that it feels like there is still so much more we have to learn about them. Applegate, in particular, has a knack for spewing obscenities as easily as breathing. She can take a throwaway line and finesse it until it becomes an unforgettable zinger.
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Near the end of the season, both Jen and Judy confront their trauma head-on. They have different ways of handling it: Judy cries while Jen screams. Together, they sound as though they are exorcising a demon, trying to push out the negativity that brought them together in the first place. It’s a moment that isn’t played for comedy, but for resonance. For two seasons, we have watched these women try and keep their composure. They’ve lied to each other and to those around them, they’ve broken laws, done things they weren’t proud of. And while that goes to some extremes of depravity - lengths many of us (hopefully???) haven’t experienced - there is still something in their desperation that feels relatable.
We are truly living in a strange time, but Dead to Me is here to remind us that it’s okay to fall apart just a little, so long as we’re ready to pick up the pieces in its aftermath.