Dead to Me (2019) * * * (First two seasons on Netflix)

Starring:  Christina Applegate, Linda Cardellini, James Marsden, Luke Roessler, Sam McCarthy, Max Jenkins, Brandon Scott, Ed Asner, Valerie Mahaffey

Dead to Me is billed as a dark comedy, but it owes more of its inspiration to soap operas and 80's night time dramas.   This is not a criticism by any stretch.   One of the joys of watching such fare was the insane twists and turns which relied on startling coincidences we should have seen coming.   But, we were happily swerved and couldn't wait to tune in next week to see how it plays out.   With streaming, you only have to wait another few minutes.

Jen (Applegate) recently lost her husband Ted, who was hit by a car one dark and stormy night.  The car fled the scene, and the police have been unable to come up with any suspects.    Jen's response to Ted's death is one of seething anger.   That's her go-to emotion, which rears its ugly head numerous times throughout the show's two seasons.   As a real estate agent, having a short fuse doesn't bode well for future sales or employment.   Her business partner (Jenkins) can only stand by and witness this implosion for so long before having to step in for a Come to Jesus meeting with his temperamental friend and partner.

Jen reluctantly attends a grief therapy group session and crosses paths with Judy (Cardellini), another hurting soul who at first Jen cruelly dismisses with sarcasm and putdowns.   But then they become friends and share their grief.   Judy's fiancee recently passed from a heart attack in the prime of life.  Couple that with five miscarriages, and we see Judy in shambles desperately needing a friend.    I will say, without giving much away, that all is not what it seems with Judy, Jen, or anything else. 

Applegate and Cardellini have spot-on chemistry, and the more Jen tries to rid herself of Judy, the more she finds they need each other, and not simply emotionally.   You'll see what I mean.   Boy, will you see.   Dead to Me successfully relies on its cliffhanger formula most of the time.    What you think you know is turned upside down with a flashback which cleverly omits the truth until it doesn't or sheer happenstance involving one or several of the supporting players, including Judy's on-again, off-again slick lawyer boyfriend Steve (Marsden), who alternates between selfish prick and caring, doting romantic partner almost on a dime.   Steve plays heavily into future events, and even past ones.

Dead to Me is somehow fun with material you wouldn't expect to be the liftoff point for a good time.  There is a lot of pain and anger beneath the surface, or in Jen's case right out in front for the world to see.   The ending to season two pushes the idea of coincidental events between characters past plausible and into the absurd.    I had a theory involving Steve and his twin brother Ben (also played by Marsden) who is introduced in the second season which I thought would be the shocker.   It's darker and more macabre, owing a lot to The Prestige, but I think it would've been a more fitting cliffhanger considering how Ben was a 180 degree difference from Steve in nearly every way.   Or was he?  Hmmmm.