Dead To Me is a Netflix series that premiered on May 3 2019 (and recommended here). It is about two women Jen (played by Christina Applegate) and Judy (Linda Cardellini) who meet at a grief support group. Jen is a real estate agent with anger issues who has just lost her husband to a hit and run driver while Judy is a free spirit who works at an assisted living facility and has just lost her fiance.
Completely opposite people, the two bond and keep each other company during their bouts of insomnia. They get to know about each other with Jen obsessed with finding who killed her husband and struggling with keeping things together for her two sons. Judy is in between places and Jen invites her to live with her family. She blends in with them and the two begin to form a pseudo codependent relationship as we begin to see glimpses of their lives before they met.
I am so glad a friend of mine spurred me to get to this show sooner than I would have because I ended up glued to my TV and binged it all. This show is so good. There is really nothing like it on TV. And yes, just because a show is unique doesn’t automatically make it a good show, but this one is.
Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini give such amazing performances that elevate the show so much. This show could have gone in a different direction because on paper, it has all the ingredients to be a mess. It has flashbacks, it has so many twists and turns, it toes the line between soapy and serious so swiftly. But one of the many good things about the show is how well it is written and how well paced it is. Nothing is dragged out and every twist dropped on us, is done at exactly the right time.
This show falls in the dramedy category because it is centered around death and grief but it is not done in a way in which it is mired in sadness but it also doesn’t take it lightly. In fact, it deals with grief in a real way. The first episode opens up with Jen receiving a casserole from her neighbor and not making it easy for the neighbor as she rattles on trite condolence words.
In minor, inconsequential details they really made Judy a bohemian character as she always seemed liked she was dressed in the 70’s. James Marsden really is a pretty human being and he’s had a decent career. As Judy’s fiance, I found it interesting that every time they showed an interaction of them and he said something she didn’t like she’d be like “Don’t do that” and he’d say “Sorry” and she’d immediately say “that’s okay”. It happened a number of times, I wonder if it meant anything.
Overall, I think this is worth your weekend watch. There is never a dull moment with this one and you’ll find yourself wanting to get to the next episode to find out what is next. I do think this show should have been a one and done show because I doubt any subsequential season will have the same effect as this, now that we know what to expect.
Give it a shot. And let me know what you think.