On The Legacy of “Dead to Me” - Detective Perez breaks bad, Judy's Boho Chic Cali-Style, and Season 3 Preview
On The Legacy of “Dead to Me” - Detective Perez breaks bad, Judy's Boho Chic Cali-Style, and Season 3 Preview
In the penultimate letter of the JenMac/Beth letters exchange, we explore a few items of interest. Dig in.
Hey JenMac,
I just finished reading our last exchange.
Links to our letters: Letter 1, Letter 2, Letter 3, Letter 4
On subject of Judy’s fate and JenMac’s love for Detective Perez:
JenMac: My heart is aching too, Beth. Judy’s fate seems so harsh and unfair but more real than I want to acknowledge.
Perez. . . you know, I think I may be more of a Perez than a Jen. She may be my favorite character, at least my second favorite after the ‘tangible friendship’ character. Perez’s attitude towards both Judy and Jen was at first was riddled with exasperation. Jen constantly calling about speeders, cursing the police out for not identifying the driver that killed Ted and Judy always seeming like she was up to something or in the middle of everything (probably cause she was), rubbed Perez the wrong way. Jen and Perez bonded over the shared experience of losing their moms at a young age, Jen’s mom to cancer and Perez’s mom to murder at the hand of her stepfather. The strong feelings of abandonment still haunting them into middle age, became the common thread between these two seemingly mighty women, so much so that Perez Instead of arresting Jen on murder charges, told her to go home and be with her boys.
I could never be a cop because I’d be the Perez all the time and there would be too many “criminals” walking free. In season 3 which I know we’ll deep dive into later, Perez’s role in ensuring Jen would never be charged in Steve’s murder made me love her even more. Jen (and Judy) had caused her unimaginable stress - her constant chomping of Tums was so relatable - and yet the bond of abandonment shared with Jen was really her north star.
We got to see a bit of her softer, more vulnerable side too when Michelle’s mom was in the hospital, Judy sitting with reluctant Perez revealed that this was the only family she had.
Beth, do you think part of the reason Perez was less aggressive in trying to connect the dots to Judy and any criminal wrongdoing was because she begrudgingly empathized with Judy’s life experiences?
Beth: I hear you on letting the criminals go free! Perez is a “mama bear” type and I think she grows more protective of Jen and let’s say, more tolerant of Judy as an extension of her bond and fondness with Jen. My favorite quote to illustrate the “mama bear” mindset is when she fills in her ex-Michelle, whom she still considers family, on Judy’s dubious character:
“At best, she’s an unstable accused stalker who I have personally arrested for destruction of property. At worst, she’s involved in an active investigation where her ex-fiance is currently missing and possibly dead.”
Perez might also be a fan of Judy’s attire which is so unbelievably gorgeous in all three seasons (flowy cottage core dresses, boho chic, beautiful, feminine lines). It’s not my style but it works so effortlessly for her and plays up the hippy, nice, but-not-stupid-nice, person vibe as well. The showrunners paid special attention to Judy’s dresses, with Cardellini telling Vulture. “There’s a line in an earlier season when Judy says, ‘Oh, this is my very favorite dress.'” Showrunners made sure Judy was wearing the flowing black, floral printed dress for that very moment [final scene] for that reason.
I’m game for a Jen and Perez continuation of this story. But this could also be because I want to see what happens after this cliffhanger of an ending! Will she or won’t she?
JenMac, can we condense and recap all of season 3 (cranes, cancer, Steve’s casa, Ben’s prison sentence) into a few outtakes for our readers? What are your thoughts?
JenMac: Deep breath and channeling my best John Moschitta Jr. (the fast-talking FedEx guy from those 80s TV spots). . . Jen and Judy are in the hospital after a drunken Ben crashed into them. Jen is ok apart from a few broken ribs but the doc has some daunting news for Judy that was inadvertently delivered to Jen. Meanwhile, it’s Charlie’s birthday and he has the honor of driving a still inebriated Ben to the hospital to treat some minor car crash wounds. Perez, now knowing the truth about Steve, begins to steer Nick away from his inquiries into Jen and Judy by introducing the Greek mob theory. Judy steals some drugs from the hospital and Jen neglects to tell her about the scan results. Charlie ends up reading the goodbye letters Jen wrote and assumes that Judy had an affair with his dad and Jen doesn’t correct him thinking the truth in this case would be way worse. Perez and Nick show up at the house to let Jen and Judy know they found Steve’s body and that the feds are now handling the investigation (uh oh). Lorna, my least favorite woman on this show, delivers a stunning Benz to Charlie for his birthday which goes over like a lead balloon with Jen. Ben stops by to check on Jen and brings her a nice little gift basket. Dear, sweet Henry gives Ben the wooden bird Judy made him (ahem, aka the murder weapon) and later while Ben ties one on at a local bar, leaves the bloody (pun intended) bird behind. OF COURSE Nick is at the same bar and grabs the bird on his way out. Jen tells Judy she has cancer and the heartbreaker was really how relieved Judy was that it wasn’t Jen. Ok, Beth - are you kidding me here? That’s just the first two episodes, no way I can condense the breath of season 3 in less than 5000 words. Plus, we didn’t even get to discuss Judy’s fashion sense, motherhood, memorable quotes (there are SO many), or the great guest stars on this show.
Beth: I think I’m breathless just reading this synopsis. Is this possible? I thought this only happened when I ran 2 consecutive minutes on a Peloton workout at 6.0 mph. So much ground to cover! Ok, so I guess we have another letter to write?
We will hear from JenMac & Beth on season 3, guest stars, memorable quotes, and more in the FINAL installment of our letters exchange which will be posted on Jen’s Substack on Wednesday and linked to from here. Stay tuned!
We interrupt this post for something a tad more serious. As this show covers off on Cervical Cancer, it only seems fitting to share some information related to screening.
When cervical cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, the 5-year relative survival rate is 92%.
When cervical cancer is diagnosed after it has spread to nearby tissues, organs, or regional lymph nodes, the 5-year relative survival rate is 59%
The best prevention is screening.
Women: Learn about screening guidelines. Be up to date on your Pap.
Allies (Friends/Partners): Support your female friends in discussing these topics.
Learn more about the technology and tools .
Important stats that may be be useful.
I’m impressed you even attempted to try and summarize season three! Each season is kind of like a three book trilogy so I think you would have needed close to 100,000 words to do it justice. That the show is able to tie together so many plot lines is beyond admirable. it’s miraculous.
We still haven’t finished season two, so I’m still not reading these posts. Gah!
I haven’t been able to binge the show, and can only handle one episode at a time. It fits within a specific genre of stress that I can’t handle, which is lying/coverup/secrets. I feel the stress of these stories in my body - increased heart rate, anxiety, etc.
I promise to come back once i finally make it through!