Dead to Me
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Christina Applegates Jen is cynical and focused; Linda Cardellinis Judy is emotional and instinctual.
It wouldnt be much of a stretch to see them played by Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs.
How do we grieve?
How do we forgive?
How do we connect with someone new when our most essential connection has been severed?
Theyre connecting through shared disconnection.
The opening scene has the feel of something likeDesperate Housewivesin its bitterness, butDead to Meisnt quite that show.
Theres a nice view, though.
There, Jen meets Judy, who reveals that she lost her husband at 44 to a heart attack.
They seem different at first, but theyre both struggling with the sudden, unexpected losses of their husbands.
Jen reveals that shes having trouble sleeping, and Judy offers her phone number for help and friendship.
We hear that Ted was running and trying to get in shape when a car hit him.
They eat Entenmanns cookies and chat about their lives and loss.
A genuine, believable chemistry forms thats incredibly important to the overall success of this pilot.
Importantly, Judy is always going to Jens lavish, multi-million-dollar home.
Jen isnt going to Judys.
They drive around later, and Jen reveals that shes looking for person-size dents in cars.
The complex thing aboutDead to Meis that Judys deception doesnt change the fact that she helps Jen heal.
The camera zooms and we get a rare use of score; something bad is about to happen.
And thats when Steve (James Marsden) answers the door.
They just broke up.
Could you forgive that big a deception?
Werent you just as furious as Jen at first?
The latest was herfifth.
Its heartbreaking, made even more so by Cardellinis vulnerable performance.
Shes great here in winning both Jen and viewers back with emotional rawness.
Jen decides to forgive Judy.
Second, Judy has belongings in a storage unit, including a car with a person-shaped dent.
Extra Counseling
Is anyone else at least alittleworried that the miscarriages story isnt true?
Smoking is the greatest thing that slowly kills you.
I may not have been a smoker for years, but I can attest that this is incontrovertible fact.
