Warning—spoilers for Dead to MeSeason 2 ahead.
Season 2 of Netflix's Dead to Me, released on May 8, was "finished by the skin of our teeth" in the days before the coronavirus pandemic, showrunner Liz Feldman said in a recent interview. On behalf of Dead to Me fans everywhere, thank you for crossing the finish line. After another twist-filled, wine-soaked season following the misadventures of unlikely friends Jen (Christina Applegate) and Judy (Linda Cardellini), there's only one question left to ask: When can we expect season 3? Ahead, everything we know about a new installment and a breakdown of that shocking season 2 finale.
Dead to Me season 3 has yet to be confirmed.
Although that final twist suggests there's more Dead to Me where that came from, season 3 has not be confirmed. The first season was an undeniable success, earning Applegate Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG Award nominations for her role. If the second season receives similar praise, it's likely to be renewed.
Feldman said she was "cautiously optimistic" for a third season during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter's podcast, TV's Top 5. "I want this show to hopefully be as good as it possibly can be for however long its on," Feldman coyly said. "And obviously you want to have some control over your destiny. You want to know, 'Ok, well, this is my last season. So I'm going to end this story and I'm going to close out these characters in a satisfying way.'" Feldman explained, "I don't see this show as a six or seven season-show," adding, "I don't wanna just have to pull a murder out of my pocket every two seconds just to justify the existence of the show."
But the entire cast is likely to return.
For a show that often dabbles in murder, none of the main characters are killed in season 2, so it's likely cast members Applegate and Cardellini will return.
Over the course of season 2, both Jen and Judy get into romantic relationships that look directly into the eye of their crime. Judy falls for Michelle (Natalie Morales), whose live-in ex happens to be Detective Perez. Jen gets romantically entangled with Ben (James Marsden, again), the twin brother of the man she killed, need I remind you. Season 2 also welcomes Frances Conroy as Steve and Ben's grieving mother and Katey Sagal as Judy's imprisoned, absentee mom. It seems likely that all four of those characters will return, although nothing has been announced. Members of the ensemble even recently reunited for a virtual Dead to Me table read.
Season 2 begins with a bang.
The season begins and ends with Judy and Jen promising that neither will get "confess-y" when it came to the death of Steve (Marsden), Judy's ex-fiancee. After the blood is scrubbed away and security footage erased, the fractured friendship between Jen and Judy seems to be in flux. But by the end of the first episode, the two friends have found their way back into each other's lives, courtesy of red wine and a marathon of The Facts of Life. "Guess you guys can't stay away from each other," Jen's older son Charlie (Sam McCarthy) observes.
As the pair covers up the remnants of their poolside crime, the details of what they're concealing become murky. Over the course of the episode, flashbacks reveal that Jen didn't kill Steve in self-defense, but in reaction to his scathing words about her own husband Ted's death. The first episode of the season shockingly ends with Marsden on the footsteps of the ladies' home, this time as Steve's "semi-identical" twin brother, Ben. Cue the credits.
The finale ends just as shockingly.
The season ends with Jen on the doorstep of Perez (Diana Maria Riva), the lead detective investigating Steve's disappearance. She's ready to confess to put herself and Judy at peace. We're catapulted into this moment by a scream from Judy that's on par with Reese Witherspoon in Little Fires Everywhere and Meryl Streep in Big Little Lies. But Perez ultimately lets Jen go, more concerned with implicating Laguna Beach Police Chief in money laundering with the victim. Jen and Judy both decide to forge ahead in their lives as better people—they even contemplate a tropical getaway.
In the final moments, the friends head home, driving a new car for Charlie. They're unaware that the tees found a note written by Jen for Judy that implicates them both in the respective deaths of Steve and Ted. And miles away, a woman walking her dog is moments from discovering Steve's buried body in a forest. The friends pause at a stop sign at a busy intersection, one that Jen herself commissioned after the hit-and-run death of her husband. Just as Judy notes that the sign could save someone's life, a car crashes into the side of their car. It's revealed to be Ben behind the wheel, a whiskey bottlelying in his passenger seat. Ben drives off, with Jen looking in worse shape than Judy at the scene of the accident.
A release date isn't likely to come until at least 2021.
Since the second season just dropped today, there's no word on when a third season would be released. But both seasons had 10 episodes, meaning that number will likely repeat in a new installment. Season 1 was released in May 2019 and season 2 in May 2020. Season 3 of Dead to Me could premiere in May 2021, but with production halted on nearly every project due to the pandemic, that date could be delayed.
Until then, we'll be unpacking the events of season 2 and uncorking another bottle of red.
Watch Dead to Me season 2 now.
Savannah Walsh Editorial Fellow Savannah Walsh is an Editorial Fellow at ELLE.com.
