Dead to Me Season 3 finally offered fans some closure (mostly) to Jen (Christina Applegate) and Judy’s (Linda Cardellini) story. It was an emotional roller coaster as we all watched one big final journey. Dead to Me gives fans a satisfying, touching conclusion.
The final season really poignantly highlights the most important element of the show: Jen and Judy’s friendship. Overall, Dead to Me is really a beautiful tribute to friendship, especially female friendships. It ranks high up there with the great TV shows and movies about female friendships.
Dead to Me really eloquently and emotionally draws you into Jen and Judy’s journeys together and apart. This season gives us everything we wanted but especially an unforgettable love letter to friendship.
Warning: Dead to Me series spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution.
Dead To Me Shows Friends Who Are Literal Partners In Crime
As you may remember, Judy and Jen commit a lot of crimes, including murder and theft, during Dead to Me’s three seasons. Season 3 is a little light on the crime, because they’re trying not to be caught for their various other illegal activities.
In the end, Judy attempts to go to prison for murdering Steve (James Marsden), but Jen lies to allow them to escape to Mexico for a few weeks. Dead to Me emphasizes the importance of having a friend willing to commit crimes with or for you. Obviously, though, don’t commit crimes.
However, it’s nice to know that you have a friend who would care enough to help you hide the figurative bodies. Dead to Me is all about that concept, but with actual dead bodies.
It Showcases Being There For Friends At Their Toughest Times
Judy gets diagnosed with terminal cancer in Dead to Me Season 3. It’s an unexpected twist, but very realistic. Many people have to watch their friends tackle both mental and physical illnesses. This season really captures the weight of watching someone you love endure a life-threatening disorder or disease.
It’s a heavy subject that helps highlight how dedicated and supportive Judy and Jen are toward each other. It’s this storyline that makes you reflect on your own friendships. It makes you either see how you’ve been there for those you love or give a sobering look at some of your friendship failures.
It also tackles Jen discovering that she’s pregnant in her late forties. This is just one of Dead to Me’s crazy twists. This puts Judy in a difficult position, because she cannot help but be a little sad about the fact that she isn’t able to have children.
This is also a very human moment from Dead to Me. As much as most hate to admit it, there may be times when envy or jealousy creep into friendships. However, true friends can look beyond themselves to refocus on being happy for their friends and their news or achievements.
The impending death of Judy and the birth of Jen’s daughter create sort of a balance for Dead to Me. It mixes happy and sad news for both the characters and viewers.
Dead To Me Season 3 Is About Platonic Soulmates
At one point in the season, Jen calls Judy her life partner. Additionally, quite a few times people mistake them for a couple, and neither really corrects the assumption. They may have romantic relationships with other people, but in the end, they are each other’s soulmates.
They will never love anyone like they love each other. Jen doesn’t even seem to love her children as much as she loves Judy. There are some friends who are so in sync that none of their relationships will ever match their relationship with each other. Judy and Jen are characters like that.
This is what makes Judy’s impending death all the more heartbreaking. You aren’t sure how Jen will go on without her. Ben (James Marsden) and Jen’s family will have to fill the Judy void. She seems happy with them at the end, but you kind of know that she’ll always miss Judy.
Dead To Me Shows How Judy And Jen Change Each Other For The Better
Jen and Judy are more or less opposites. Judy is more free and cheery and Jen is more pessimistic and rigid. However, over the course of Dead to Me, they change each other, mostly for the better.
Season 3 really highlights their personal evolutions because of each other. Jen holds on to hope until the very last minute that Judy will somehow survive. Judy accepts her fate after she learns that her chemo treatments didn't work.
Jen has always been the tougher of the pair, but her stubbornness with Judy’s illness mostly comes from a place of hope and love. She cares too much about Judy to accept the inevitable.
Judy is more of a realist this season. She knows what will happen and she makes peace with it. She just uses her final days to enjoy her life. I think that important relationships should help people grow.
They should also transfer some of the good aspects of that person or relationship to another person. Friends who grow together build stronger lasting bonds.
It Closes With A Bittersweet Ending That Highlights The Importance Of Judy And Jen’s Friendship
Dead to Me concludes with Judy appearing to float away in the ocean to die. It’s a sad conclusion but feels right for the characters. Judy’s death almost feels like a freeing for Jen, as her troubles seem to end because the Greek mafia is blamed for Steve’s death.
Jen gets a chance for a blissfully happy ending with Ben and her children. She can allow him to remain ignorant of her involvement in Steve’s death and allow them to remain happy. But, the show ends with her presumably about to confess everything to him. Like the Dead to Me Season 2 ending, it gives us another shocking moment. However, this time we won’t see what happens next, and it’s more of a quiet explosion.
Jen’s seeming decision to confess shows Judy’s influence on her, even at the very end. Constantly, Judy encouraged her to tell Ben. She doesn’t think their relationship can be true without everything being out in the open.
This also ties back into Judy and Jen’s relationship. It’s only when they’re completely honest with each other that their friendship grows into this unbreakable love story.
By confessing to Ben that she killed Steve, she is granting Judy’s last request. She is also kind of putting Ben and her relationship to a similar test as she and Judy endured. If he can forgive her, their partnership has the potential to be as strong as hers with Judy.
Dead to Me really offers a satisfying conclusion. It’s one of the Netflix shows on the 2022 TV schedule that lives up to the hype. It’s also still one of the best Netflix shows.
