Dead to Me Season 2, Episode 3 recap: The telltale freezer

Jen becomes desperate to get rid of Steve’s body in Dead to Me Season 2, Episode 3, while Judy bonds with Michelle at Beach Haven.

Dead to Me Season 2, Episode 3 begins with Jen considering a petition to get the new stop sign installed on their street. The stop sign has been mentioned several times now in the first three episodes of the season, so I wonder if we can anticipate it coming into play later in a big way.

Still not sleeping, she becomes disturbed by a strange sound of ocean noises coming from the garage. Thinking there might be an intruder, she grabs a wine bottle and prepares to strike — only to find Judy tucked in against the freezer.

She feels terrible, leaving Steve out there all alone. Even for Judy, cuddling close to a dead body is pretty weird, and Jen seems to think so too since she confronts her about her obsession with doing the “right” thing for a guy who treated her like dirt. It turns out, Judy feels immensely guilty for Steve’s death, she blames herself for even bringing him into Jen’s life.

Multiple times in this episode, Jen considers confessing the truth about how Steve died to Judy, but each time she stops just short of admitting it. This episode also confronts Judy’s guilt and the way she carries it with her wherever she goes.

The telltale freezer

One thing that quickly becomes evident in this episode is Steve’s body cannot stay in the freezer for much longer. For starters, it has attracted to rats. When an exterminator is called in to take care of it, he warns them that rats can smell blood, and they have sharp teeth that can chew through just about anything. If they don’t move Steve soon, they’re going to have a decomposing body attracting vermin to the garage.

The other reason they need to get rid of it is that it’s only a matter of time before one of Jen’s kids accidentally stumbles across the body. There is a very close brush in episode 3 when Henry and his weird friend Shandy enter the garage to ask Jen for a snack, and she snaps at them both to get out.

Having caught her towering over the freezer with oven mitts on in place of gloves, the kids get spooked, understandably. Jen immediately breaks down after as she terrifies her son with her outburst.

But Jen needs to get rid of the body. It’s driving her insane, just like the telltale heart. She can’t stop thinking about it or focusing on the whirring noises. So she turns to the best place to find answers — the dark web.

Fast-forward to Jen going to a department store to stock up on acid and other nasty dissolvents to get rid of Steve. She pours everything into a bathtub and makes some nasty rat stew to test it out. It’s disgusting.

Also, hasn’t she ever seen Breaking Bad!? Plus, I couldn’t help wondering why Jen was dumb enough to make an acid bath when she has multiple kids in her house.

Before she can put Steve in the tub, Judy catches her and is horrified at Jen’s plan. Their options are getting limited until a power surge wipes out half the county’s electricity.

In the cover of night, Jen comes up with an idea. While we don’t see it happen on-screen, I’m guessing the two plan on disposing of Steve’s body while the power is out, and they have the cover of darkness on their side.

I just hope she disposed of the stuff in the bathtub first.

As a side note, creepy Shandy gives Jen a solid idea to dump Steve’s body in the Angeles Forest. I wonder if that’s where she and Judy are headed at the end of the episode. It would make sense because it is a known dumping ground for the mob, says Shandy — and real life, and we know Steve had ties to the Greek mafia.

Judy gets closer to Michelle

Judy and her new pal Michelle share some sweet scenes in episode 3. Judy helps put Flo in a better mood and offers her the chance to attend her painting classes.

Then she and Michelle bond while smoking weed in Judy’s car. It seems like Michelle hasn’t had an easy life either, but she offers Judy some sound advice without realizing it.

She talks about how her mom seems marred in guilt and depression after her husband, Michelle’s father, died, but Michelle believes it’s selfish to drag that around with you forever.

To Michelle, death is inevitable, and like the Titanic, you have to decide whether you’re going to be Leo or the old lady who lives forever.

What did you think about Dead to Me Season 2, Episode 3? Where are Jen and Judy taking Steve’s body? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Dead to Me Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.