Dead To Me Recap: Everything To Remember Before Season 3

Ever since the season two finale of Netflix’s "Dead to Me" aired in May 2020, fans have been anxiously anticipating the arrival of the third season, which Netflix and the show’s creator Liz Feldman already confirmed will be its last.

Season Three of “Dead to Me” will also be sentimental because Christina Applegate said she is “pretty convinced” it will be her final acting role. In 2021, the actor announced that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

During an interview with Variety published on Nov. 9, the 50-year-old told the publication, ““I’m pretty convinced that this was it, you know?”

She said that she was diagnosed with the chronic disease, which affects the central nervous system, while the final season was filming. Production was paused for about five months before she returned to set, determined to give viewers, the crew and herself some closure.

So after a lengthy hiatus, Applegate and Linda Cardellini will return to television screens when the streaming platform drops the final season on Nov. 17. James Marsden will also reprise his role in the dark comedy about friendship and murder.

Below, find TODAY’s recap of everything you need to remember from last two seasons.

Wait, how do Jen and Judy know each other again?

For 20 episodes, viewers have watched Judy (Cardellini) and Jen (Applegate) test their friendship as they try to cover up each other’s criminal activities, and recover from what each has done to the other.

If you'll recall, each accidentally killed the other's romantic partner. Judy killed Jen's husband Ted in a hit-and-run, and her fiancé Steve (James Marsden) encouraged her to keep driving. Then, at the end of Season One, Jen killed Steve.

Since then, Jen and Judy have had to evade the suspicious eyes of multiple police officers and Ben, who is the nicer twin brother of Judy’s former fiancé Steve (also played by Marsden).

Jen told the police that she killed Steve

The second season of "Dead to Me" is propelled by a central mystery: How did Steve wind up dead in Jen's pool? In the first season finale, Jen is seen pointing her gun at him. The scene cut to his bloody corpse in the pool.

A full season later, and audiences learn that Jen did not, in fact, shoot Steve in self defense, which is the story she told Judy. She bludgeoned him to death with a wooden bird following a heated altercation.

Steve and Judy — if you'll recall — killed Jen's husband Ted in a hit and run (Judy was driving). Steve teased Jen, saying her husband had "wanted to get hit," as that would be a better fate than staying married to Ted.

With the guilt eating away at her throughout Season Two, Jen finally confessed and told Detective Perez (Diana Maria Riva) that she was responsible for Steve’s death.

Before going to see Perez, Jen wrote letters explaining why she left addressed to her two sons, Charlie (Sam McCarthy) and Henry (Luke Roessler), and Judy. They don't explain her crimes, but say Jen needs to tell the truth before "one more bad thing happens." She also apologized to Judy and asked her to become her sons’ legal guardian.

Later on in Season Two, Charlie searched Judy’s belongings for drugs and finds the confession letter.

Jen and Det. Perez try to find Steve's body ... and then turn around

Jen tried to take the detective to the spot in the Angeles National Forest where she and Judy buried Steve’s body. While speaking to Perez, Jen didn’t reveal that Judy helped bury Steve’s body.

While searching for the burial site, they ran into a woman jogging with her dog. With another person nearby, they stopped looking.

On the way home, Perez shocked Jen by telling her she was taking her home.

“We were never here,” she said, confirming the department would not press charges.

Perez explained, “I don’t want to be a cop right now. I want to be a person and sometimes justice just works itself out. So go home to your kids. Someday, they are going to miss hearing it.”

Judy and Jen uncover Steve's ties to the Greek mafia

Early on in Season Two, Judy and Jen burn Steve’s car after Charlie stole it from his mom’s storage unit to impress his girlfriend. They successfully destroyed the vehicle but Charlie secretly kept a case that he found in the car.

In Episode 10, Charlie handed Judy the case and said he found a flash drive with information in a foreign language. Judy discovered that there was a burner phone inside of it.

She handed the case to Nick (Brandon Scott), who spent most of the season a scorned lover, resenting Judy for jeopardizing his position in the police force. Judy shared that the phone connected Steve to the Greek mafia, a storyline that was first introduced in Season One. The burner also linked the police chief Howard Hastings (Jere Burns) to Steve’s crimes.

Jen and Judy also found Steve’s missing money

Perez stopped by the house to return Judy’s artwork that was taken from her after Steve was reported missing. As soon as the detective left, Judy smashed her paintings and bundles of cash fell to the floor.

The artwork was displayed with TKG Arts, Steve's art gallery – and a shell company.

The police told Ben that Steve died

Throughout Season Two, Ben and his mom Eileen (Frances Conroy) hoped that Steve was missing or hiding to escape his legal troubles.

Ben’s wishful thinking was crushed when the police seemed to inform him in a phone conversation that Steve had died. It was implied that the jogger and her dog, who ran into Perez and Jen earlier in the episode, found Steve’s body.

While driving drunk, Ben hits Jen and Judy

Season Two ended in a fittingly dramatic finale. Jen and Judy were driving the new car that they purchased for Charlie, meant to replace Steve’s expensive vehicle.

After stopping at the stop sign that Jen passionately championed the city of Laguna Beach to install, Jen pulled into the intersection.

Suddenly, another car slammed into hers.

The final scene showed Jen unconscious and the driver behind the other car was revealed to be none other than Ben.

An empty bottle of malt whiskey was on the seat beside Ben, who spoke previously to Jen about his alcoholism. He immediately panicked and drove away as Judy was overheard explaining to Jen what happened.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com