Dead To Me season 3 ending judy reactions

‘Dead To Me’ Fans Aren’t Coping With The Show’s Ending

Tell us you love Punkee without telling us you love Punkee. Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. It'll mean the world.

After a two year hiatus, Netflix’s Dead To Me has returned for its third and final season, and someone grab the tissue box because you’re about to get hit with all the emotions.

The popular dark comedy revolves around suburban mum Jen (Christina Applegate) who strikes up an unlikely friendship with quirky artist Judy (Linda Cardellini). While this doesn’t sound too different to any other comedies, the two meet in a grief counselling session and throughout the seasons, they develop a bond based on covering up a murder.

FYI: There’s plenty of spoilers ahead so if you have either A) never watched Dead To Me and plan to, or B) haven’t seen the final episode and don’t want it ruined, then please kindly see yourself out. 

The murdered person is Steve (played by the devilishly handsome James Marsden), who is Judy’s shitty husband. In Season 2, we’re introduced to Steve’s twin Ben (also James), who arrives to investigate his estranged brother’s disappearance.

The new season picks up after Jen has confessed to the murder, but as she can’t locate the body, Detective Perez offers to cover for her. Season 2 ended on a cliffhanger as Jen and Judy got hit by a car, and in Season 3, they both woke up in hospital. The person who did the hit-and-run happened to be Ben, who was on a drunken bender at the time.

While in hospital, the women had various tests run on them to ensure they’re in good health and in a shocking turn of events, it’s discovered that Judy has Stage 4 cervical cancer. At the same time, Jen discovers she’s pregnant with Ben’s baby.

From here, the series changes from the typical murder cover-up hijinks we’ve come to know from the show to something remarkably different: a celebration of new life and and a study of loss.

Say what you want about the show’s pivot, but consider this: the series began with Jen attending group therapy to grapple with the death of her husband — this ending is a full circle moment. And somehow, it ended up being filled with hilarious and heartwarming moments, like when our fave gal pals took magic mushrooms after Judy’s first round of chemotherapy aka perfect television.

When Judy discovered that her cancer was terminal, at first she kept it secret from Jen as she feared she would become a “burden” to her friend. The scene where Judy finally confesses to Jen that she’s dying feels like a goddamn gut-punch.

Cool, I’m going to go cry.

If you haven’t caught on to where this story is leading, Judy dies in the final episode. After confessing to murdering Steve to clear Jen’s name, while under house arrest she flees the country for Mexico so that she and Jen can enjoy a final holiday together.

She dies in Mexico leaving Jen to drive home alone. The pain!!!!!

If this whole story wasn’t emotional enough, both actresses seem to be best friends irl. Christina recently received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which the actress accepted with Linda by her side. At the event, Christina wore ‘FU MS’ painted on her fingernails as a clapback to being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis during the final Dead To Me season.

Cool, I’m crying again.

I mean, you simply can’t get any better than these two and their beautiful friendship. And art reflected life during the three Dead To Me seasons we were blessed with: a series that was, above all, a love letter to female friendship.

However, given how much Judy was loved by fans, they’re not taking her untimely death particularly well. In fact, the internet is in mourning.

Dead To Me fans aren’t coping with how the series ended:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

–

All three seasons of Dead To Me can be streamed on Netflix.