Dead to Me returns even wilder, cranking up the soap-opera-style drama in Season 2

Vulture

"At its heart, Dead to Me remains, as it was in season one, a female buddy dramedy," says Jen Chaney of the Netflix series starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini. "It’s also correct to call it a crime show and a thriller and an incredibly bingeable work of television. As in the first season, each of the ten episodes in season two ends on some sort of major reveal or cliffhanger, making it just so easy to surrender to Netflix and allow the next episode to play." Chaney adds: "Suffice to say that creator Liz Feldman and her fellow writers crank up the soap-opera-style drama this season, but they manage to keep Dead to Me from sailing off into the atmosphere of stupid television, thanks to the show’s sharp sense of humor and the grounded emotional moments that make what’s happening feel almost real. A lot of credit for obeying the laws of TV gravity also goes to the two leads. Applegate continues to do the best work of her career as Jen, a role that enables her to explore moments of deep grief and fear while also playing to her strengths as a comedic actor who creates her best art in the medium of sarcasm. Cardellini is great, too, forever the naïve optimist and New Age flake who can elicit giggles and empathy every time she breaks down in tears. Both of them are playing women who have made completely freaking out their default setting, but they freak out in distinct ways."

ALSO:

• Just as Dead to Me emulated the successes of Big Little Lies’ first season, there is a danger that it might fall victim to the same issues that plagued the HBO series’ second season
• The Dead to Me writers continue to be inordinately perceptive at observing how connected anger and grief are
• Season 2 is a wild ride -- it’s fun, sad, highly entertaining, but often just a little too cringeworthy
• Natalie Morales is a Season 2 scene-stealer
• The transition from Season 1 to Season 2 is so seamless you may struggle to keep up
• Creator Liz Feldman explains how she came up with Season 2's "insane" twist
• James Marsden on Season 2: "I’ll be honest, I was nervous"
• Feldman on Season 1 vs. Season 2: “If the first season was about grief, loss, forgiveness, friendship, this season is very much about truth, consequences, guilt. And there are some other themes that I hope that people will just pick up on without me having to say.”