Dead to Me season 1 finale recap: You Have To Go

The final episode of season one of Dead to Me finally gives Jen a full picture of what happened to Ted that night. Judy continues trying to find a way to make amends for her mistake.

Dead to Me starts its final episode of the season with Jen ridding herself of everything Judy, including burning Judy’s things on her grill and having an expansive security system installed.

Cut to Jen, Christopher, Charlie and Lorna attending Henry’s baptism (he’s clearly gotten very into religion since joining the church choir). During the ceremony, Charlie asks where Judy is and Jen has to reveal that Judy isn’t in their lives anymore.

Of course, Charlie has a snarky response, since he was the one who said a stranger shouldn’t live with them in the first place.

Jen, later, goes to Detective Perez to tell her that Judy killed Ted and Detective Perez does literally nothing with the information. For once, though, Perez seems subdued and even apologetic toward Jen, but says she can’t act on any information about Judy at the moment.

It’s clear that the case is much bigger than local police and has gone to the FBI, but Perez doesn’t mention that it’s now out of her jurisdiction, she just says that she can’t arrest Judy. So, Jen leaves angrily, promising that Judy will face consequences. (Reminder that Jen is now in possession of Ted’s gun.)

Dead to Me season 1 episode 9 recap: I Have To Be Honest. light. More

More from Show Snob

As usual, Jen’s day goes from bad to worse when Lorna tells her that Steve, who had just dropped millions of dollars on a new house resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars for the cash-strapped Jen, just pulled his offer on the house.

Jen, now without her husband, her son and her best friend, finds herself lost as she works an open house with Lorna.

Of course, right now, Judy shows up saying she wants to make amends. She says the worst punishment is losing Jen as a friend and she says she’s going to turn herself in. Jen, rightfully, loses it. She tells Judy that she had Ted’s gun and she’ll shoot Judy if she ever catches Judy around her or her family again.

A brief scene shows Steve on the phone, in a panic, trying to keep his shady business dealings afloat now that the FBI is looking in to him.

Judy, meanwhile, goes to the bank to withdraw all of the money from her joint account she still has with Steve (the one that has a lot of shady money in it). She tells the cashier that she’s “going away.”

Steve then shows up later and is furious to find out that Judy closed their account and took all of his money.

Judy then makes a stop by the church where Henry is having choir rehearsal. She leaves Henry a baptism gift with Christopher and Christopher reveals that Jen hasn’t told anyone why she and Judy had a falling out. Though, Christopher speculates, that probably means Jen is due for a violent outburst.

Judy tells him to be kind to Jen because Jen really needs a friend right now.

That night, Henry shows Jen the wooden bird Judy got him as a gift. Jen is horrified at the thought that Judy, after being warned, still went around her family and she tells Henry to tell her immediately if he sees Judy again. Henry says he misses Judy and points out that Jen loves Judy as much as he does.

Jen simply says they can make other friends.

Speaking of other friends, Jen sits down for a glass of wine by the pool with Karen (the neighbor who made Jen and the kids an awful take on Mexican lasagna). It’s very awkward. They weirdly talk about home security before Jen asks Karen, a self proclaimed gun convert, if she can show her how to use Ted’s gun.

After Karen leaves, Jen goes to check on Henry again. Just then, the security system is set off. Jen panics and runs to get her gun. Thankfully, it’s just Charlie, who has decided to come home in the middle of the night.

Jen apologizes to Charlie for being a bad mother and asks him to forgive her. He does. The two seem relieved and happy to be back to solid ground with each other.

Later, Jen goes to put the gun back in the safe and finds she still has the wooden bird that Judy gave to Henry in her pocket. As she flips it around in her hands, she finds that Judy had hidden something inside. It’s a cashiers check for over five hundred thousand dollars.

To make the night worse, Steve shows up to Jen’s house looking for Judy.

Together, the two lament the fact that Judy ruined both of their lives. At first, neither is really aware of the true reason each person says Judy ruined their lives—Steve has no clue Jen knows about the hit and run. But then, Jen asks if Judy ruined Steve’s life by running someone else over.

Steve then starts to apologize for what happened, giving Jen brand new information that Steve was in the car with Judy that night.

Steve starts to lay the charm on thick, trying to make it seem like he’s a good guy in this situation. But Jen knows how Judy gets when she’s around Steve. If he’s involved, he’s always the bad guy. Jen tells Steve that she knows Judy wanted to go back that night, but she couldn’t.

Steve retorts that Judy was driving, so Jen can’t try to pin what happened on him. But Jen knows he said something to Judy to make sure she didn’t stop. (A flashback confirms.)

Meanwhile, a drunk Judy kneels at the roadside memorial for Ted, crying and saying she’s sorry.

Next. Dead to Me review: This dark comedy deserves season 2. dark

Jen is certain now, Judy never would have kept driving. When Steve starts to get upset and approach Jen, she pulls her gun on him. Steve stares her down, demanding to know where Judy is.

Judy, unbearably upset, walks into the middle of the street, prepared to be hit by the next car. The car, thankfully, swerves just in time and is able to stop before the drive crashed into any of the nearby trees. Right then, Judy receives a call from Jen asking her to come home.

This season of Dead to Me ends with Jen and Judy standing by the pool where a dead Steve lies floating in the water.

What did you think of this season of Dead to Me? Does it deserve a season two? Let us know your thoughts on Dead to Me in the comments.

Home/Netflix