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Dead to Me’s Many, Many, Many Cliffhangers: An Episodic Guide

Photo: Saeed Adyani/Netflix

Dead to Me, Netflix’s dramedy about suburban women tied together by secrets and murder and friendship, led by Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, has a lot of things going for it: excellent performances across the board; an insightful exploration of grief; an ability to turn cursing into an art form; sharp, dark comedy; wine. The list goes on. But what the show really does best is embrace the binge — almost every episode in its three seasons ends with some type of big reveal or cliffhanger. The dismounts of each episode are perfect in that they immediately push you forward into the next episode. Even if Netflix didn’t have that insanely fast auto-play option, you’d be hitting play on the next episode of your own volition. (Can you even imagine? What are we, cave people?)

Some of these cliffhangers are more effective than others. A great cliffhanger will have shock value — this is exciting and surprising and HOLY HELL I NEED TO SEE MORE. It will also have plot value — the twist or reveal shouldn’t be easily explained away, and the best ones have long-lasting ramifications for the show. To figure out which Dead to Me cliffhangers thrill the most, we’re going episode by episode to see how this show worked its binge-magic. All cliffhangers will be rated on a scale of how many fucks it elicits — whether from shock, anger, fear, or excitement — because Queen of Cursing Jen Harding has shown us that a well-placed fuck is really the only way to properly express your emotions.

Season One, Episode One: ‘Pilot’

We discover that Judy is keeping her Mustang in her storage unit, and the front is all smashed up as if she had hit … Oh my God, Judy killed her new best friend Jen’s husband!!!!!

You want to talk about long-lasting ramifications on the plot? After that moment, you view Judy and Jen’s friendship in a completely different way than before that moment. Suddenly, you are watching a different show. It amps the tension and stakes way the hell up. This information is a ticking time bomb, and like any good cliffhanger should, it forces the audience to ask questions it will want to have answered, and therefore press play on episode two: What exactly is Judy up to by inserting herself in this family’s life? Is she an outright villain? Is this all a trick that will be negated in episode two? When will Jen find out? But also, WHEN WILL JEN FIND OUT?

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: 5 fucks out of 5.

Season One, Episode Two: ‘Maybe I’m Crazy’

Jen takes a golf club to the neighborhood douchebag’s Lambo!

This ending reveals the depths of Jen’s anger issues, but doesn’t do much in regard to twisty-turny plot points. Sure, that may make this ending one of the least gasp-worthy, but it’s a smart move, narratively speaking. The previous episode’s ending is so shocking and revelatory that trying to top it immediately would make the cliffhanger ending feel gimmicky. Plus, that guy deserved it.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: 0 fucks out of 5.

Season One, Episode 3: ‘It’s All My Fault’

Jen gets on Ted’s computer to play video games with her son, only to learn that Ted’s been chatting with someone named Bambi and she really, really misses his cock. 

This cliffhanger has very high shock value: Up until this point, we’d been led to believe that Ted was the perfect husband and father, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Also, just the sentence “I miss your cock†is a little alarming, you know? Once again, a reveal that could be deemed soap operatic doesn’t feel that way because of how it’s resolved in the next episode: Without much fanfare, the ladies go hunting for answers and learn that Bambi is a young, hot waitress slinging guaca-dillas, whom Ted had been dating for a year and a half. This reveal, yes, adds complexity to Jen’s grief, but probably the best thing it does for the series is drive home the idea that everyone in idyllic suburbia has secrets.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: 3 fucks out of 5.

Season One, Episode 4: ‘I Can’t Go Back’

After learning that Ted effectively killed her so he could start banging a 20-something, Jen says she’s glad her husband’s dead — and Judy can’t help but smile as she drives them home.

Let’s be real: This is not a cliffhanger. If you paused here in your viewing to, you know, breathe in real, fresh air or put on clean pants, no one would blame you. It does ratchet up the tension a smidge, because it makes you wonder if Judy now sees her accidental plowing into Ted as a good thing and, if so, will she confess? She’s done very, very dumb things before.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: 1 fuck out of 5.

Season One, Episode 5: ‘I’ve Gotta Get Away’

Judy introduces Jen to her grief-retreat hookup, Nick, who just happens to be a cop — a cop who’s solved hit-and-run cases before. Grief ’treat, baby!

Reading this reveal typed out, it admittedly sounds like a snoozer, but when you’re watching it, this really plays as an episode-ending moment. It’s insane, honestly. Why would Judy lead Jen right into the hands of someone who can really help her solve her husband’s murder? A person who could unravel Judy’s lie? It’s a reveal the show could’ve easily washed away as a gag in the following episode, but Dead to Me isn’t dumb, and it doubles down on this moment by really letting Nick get into Ted’s case. Damn it, Judy. Just leave the hot guy who enjoys lush poontang out of your accidental murdering shenanigans, would you?

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: Honestly, what the fuck? 3 fucks out of 5.

Season One, Episode 6: ‘Oh My God’

Budding sociopath Shandy and her very underrated-as-a-character mother arrive at Jen’s door with a piece of the headlight from Ted’s crime scene. Judy heads to the storage unit to check on the one thing connecting her to the crime, only to find that the car is missing.

The missing car — which we learn pretty quickly in the next episode is with Steve, who is dismantling it — isn’t nearly as interesting a cliffhanger as the emergence of the headlight. Bless Shandy, you guys. She arrives as creepy as ever with information that signals the walls might be closing in on Judy. Now her plan to bring Nick into the investigation seems extra dumb, doesn’t it?

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: Fucking Shandy. 3 fucks out of 5.

Season One, Episode 7: ‘I Can Handle It’

We learn that Ted owned a hell of a lot of sneakers, and Jen was lying to Nick about what Ted was doing in Vans the night he died. Also, Jen tells Judy the good news: Thanks to the headlight, they know the car that killed Ted was a 1966 Mustang, and they have a list of everyone in the county who owns one. Basically: Ticktock, Judes.

The first reveal is a bit of a red herring: The truth behind the sneakers isn’t as sinister as the end of this episode implies. Jen’s been lying, but mostly about the state of her marriage. Ted left the house the night he died not to go for a run, but because Jen and Ted got in a doozy of a fight. The explanation is a letdown from the reveal moment, but it does add guilt to the mix of terrible things Jen’s feeling right now. The second reveal is another gradual tightening of the noose, which makes sense since we’re now in episode seven out of ten. It’s not a jaw-dropper, but it is a throw-up-in-the-sink … er.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: This is getting fucking serious. 4 fucks out of 5.

Season One, Episode 8: ‘Try to Stop Me’

Judy might’ve dumped Nick, but he’s still going through the list of Mustang owners in the area, including an art gallery that happens to sell Judy’s creepy missing-heart paintings. 

Let’s see, how do I properly sum up the cliffhanger in which someone has finally connected the dots between Judy Hale and Ted’s death? Oh shiiiiiiiiiit. The good news is that this is another cliffhanger the show could’ve washed away but doesn’t. Nick goes to Detective Perez with his hunch about Judy and Steve. Again, for those in the back: Oh shiiiiiiiiiit. If you are not immediately pressing play to find out what Nick does, I cannot help you.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: 4 fucks out of 5. Fuck!!!

Season One, Episode 9: ‘I Have to Be Honest’

After Judy confesses to Jen (!) and Jen tells Judy that she can die (!!), Detective Perez raids Steve’s money-laundering storage unit and can tell a car was stashed there (!!!), and Jen goes and grabs the gun from the safe (!!!!!). It’s all set to “Sing, Sing, Sing,†so it is objectively awesome.

These episode enders are less shocking than inevitable, but they do signal that the string of tension that’s been tightening all season is about to snap. All of these cliffhangers perfectly set up the finale and have enough momentum to force us right into it. Exactly what a cliffhanger is supposed to do.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: 3 fucks out of 5.

Season One, Episode 10: “You Have to Go’

Well, friends, Jen and Steve get into a fight over who’s to blame for Ted’s death; Judy almost walks straight into oncoming traffic; and then, you know, just Jen showing Judy Steve’s dead body floating in her pool. Cool, cool, cool. Everything is fine here.

Steve floating facedown in Jen’s gorgeous pool is a gasp-worthy moment, but also, looking back on it, maybe just a touch inevitable given Steve’s assholery, Jen’s anger issues, and the impossibility of Dead to Me ending on a happy note. What did you do when you saw Steve in the pool? I guzzled a glass of California Chard and immediately said, “When’s season two?â€

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. All the fucks out of 5.

Season Two, Episode One: ‘You Know What You Did’

Jen and Judy answer a knock at the door, and there is a man standing there who looks very much like Dead Steve. In fact, he looks exactly like Dead Steve (it’s James Marsden). 

Never in my life have the words “good morning!†produced such a visceral reaction from my body. I feel bad for anyone who has this reveal spoiled because it is so insane and also a true delight. The reveal works so well because of the setup. Sure, we know Marsden will be back in season two, but we also have been assuming Steve is, like, so, so dead. Steve would be showing up in flashbacks, right? The show does a very smart thing in not revealing exactly what happened that night in Jen’s backyard, nor does it show us what the ladies did with Steve’s body. So when he’s standing there with that gosh-dang gorgeous smile on his face, for a split second you might be so confused that you think, Did Steve … somehow survive? Is this a zombie show now? And then, finally, you’ll land on twin shenanigans. It’s twin shenanigans, of course! But thanks to the setup and, let’s be honest, Marsden’s performance, which makes Steve’s dorky chiropractor brother, Ben, feel like an actual human being in just two words, it doesn’t feel like a desperate soap-opera stunt — it feels like the promise of something weird and fun and very Dead to Me.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: That is fucking hilarious. 4 fucks out of 5.

Season Two, Episode Two: ‘Where Have You Been’

Steve’s body has been in the freezer in Jen’s garage this whole time!!

Like season one, there’s no use trying to top the premiere’s big ending. This reveal isn’t much of a cliffhanger, but it does immediately present a problem that we know will need to be solved pretty quickly. We all know that dead bodies don’t stay buried — or, uh, frozen.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: 1 fuck out of 5.

Season Two, Episode 3: ‘You Can’t Live Like This’

In a desperate move inspired by an ill-timed power outage and a dead body in the freezer, Jen and Judy head to the Angeles National Forest to get rid of their dead weight (you’re welcome).

Although this ending certainly piques interest for the next episode, since you’re left wondering how and if Jen and Judy are really going to be able to bury a body and get away with it, it is one of the least shocking endings of the entire series. From the moment creepy Shandy (said with love) offers up her suggestion for how to get rid of a body, it’s just too specific to be a throwaway. You know Jen and Judy and Dead Steve are eventually headed to the Angeles National Forest. Emotionally, the payoff comes immediately in the next episode, as the experience drives a wedge between Jen and Judy. Plot-wise, the payoff comes much, much later.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: 1 fuck out of 5.

Season Two, Episode 4: ‘Between You and Me’

Jen’s evidence isn’t staying hidden: Henry finds the bird she used to kill Steve, and, more worrisome, Charlie finds Steve’s Benz in their storage unit. Kids, amiright?

Dead to Me sure loves ending episodes with people finding incriminating shit in storage units, huh? This one isn’t the most exciting or surprising, but it’s an important one because it introduces an entirely new set of problems for Jen and Judy — ones that play out for the rest of the season.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: Well, this is going to be a fucking problem. 3 fucks out of 5.

Season Two, Episode 5: ‘The Price You Pay’

After Charlie and his awful girlfriend, Parker, take Steve’s car for a joyride and end up running out of gas, Jen and Judy come to rescue them. And then Jen lights that car on fire right on the side of the road. Seems very chill. 

Jen gets high marks for dramatic flair, but this is not the sort of cliffhanger ending that propels us into the next episode — there’s no way it won’t be discovered, you know? In fact, it’s found in the very next episode, by none other than Nick Prager. As we’ll learn later, the car being found burnt to a crisp is the least of the problems with the car. This ending is all flash with little payoff.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: Oh wow, fuck. 2 fucks out of 5.

Season Two, Episode 6: ‘You Don’t Have To’

“Of all the lesbians in Laguna!â€

Yes, this is the episode that ends with the ridiculous reveal that Judy’s new girlfriend Michelle’s ex-girlfriend and current roommate just happens to be Detective Perez. It’s so outrageous that even the show is self-aware enough to joke about the contrivance. From Jen’s aforementioned exclamation when she learns of the coincidence to Judy’s comment that the whole setup “happened pretty organically, actually,†Dead to Me knows this is a true leap. The initial reveal to the audience is a hoot, but the situation within the show resolves itself pretty quickly when Judy and Perez bump into each other in the kitchen the next morning. Sure, it helps Perez see both Judy and eventually Jen in a different light, but otherwise it’s not the most necessary twist plot-wise.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: Oh, fuck me. 2 fucks out of 5.

Season Two, Episode 7: ‘If You Only Knew’

Steve’s vigil is quite the party: Not only does Judy catch Jen making out with Ben, but Charlie sees a photo of Steve with a very familiar Mercedes-Benz and starts connecting dots.

You’ve gotta love a kissing cliffhanger. Although many of Dead to Me’s cliffhangers are resolved by the next episode, the show wisely takes its time dealing with the complexity of falling for the identical twin of the man you murdered. On the Charlie front, this cliffhanger is worth the price of admission for the conversation between Charlie, Jen, and Judy in which the ladies try to explain why Jen would have Steve’s car, and it ends with Jen realizing that she’s gaslighting her own child. The conversation is not effective in getting Charlie to drop his hunch that something weird is going on.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: Well, fuck. 2 fucks out of 5.

Season Two, Episode 8: ‘It Had to Be You’

Charlie uses the shady phone in Steve’s car and ends up calling the man involved with Steve’s Greek Mafia money-laundering scheme — the chief of police. Hell hath no fury like an Instagram influencer scorned, and a heartbroken Parker sends the photos of Charlie with Steve’s car to Nick Prager. Oh, and be still, my heart: Ben of course remembers kissing Jen; it’s “all [he] remembers about anything.†And in a crazy twist no one saw coming, I actually died watching that moment. So RIP, me. 

Just over here living for all the romantic cliffhangers Dead to Me is serving up in season two. Sure, this one implodes immediately the next morning when Jen is overwhelmed by the fact that she’s found this guy who is wonderful and thinks she’s wonderful, but she, like, secretly murdered his brother. Still, it provides a great, swoony button for episode eight. The other two cliffhangers in this episode have a much bigger effect on the overall plot and will pay off in the next two episodes. They feel important — it’s more of those the-walls-are-closing-in beats — and that’s because they are important. Perhaps the most important nitty-gritty plot cliffhangers of the season. As for me? Leave me to mourn the short-lived love affair of Jen and Ben. We’ll always have them slow-dancing to an improvised nerdy chiropractor song.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: Oh, fuck me. 4 fucks out of 5.

Season Two, Episode 9: ‘It’s Not You, It’s Me’

Jen finally tells Judy that she didn’t murder Steve in self-defense — he was walking away, and she got angry. After learning the cops have evidence that points toward Charlie in Steve’s death, Jen arrives at Detective Perez’s door with something to confess.

This is obviously the Big Cliffhanger on which the entire season hinges. Since it’s happening at the end of episode nine and it’s doubtful that this series will end with Jen in prison, you might assume this will be a big fake-out — but Dead to Me doesn’t really do worthless fake-outs. Jen really confesses to killing Steve Wood … what Perez does with that confession is a different story.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: Ah! Fuck! 4 fucks out of 5.

Season Two, Episode 10: ‘Where Do We Go From Here’

With Perez and Prager focusing on their case against the chief of police and Jen unable to show Perez where they buried Steve’s body, Jen and Judy think they’re in the clear. And then a pesky dog starts digging around in Angeles National Forest. Oh, and the ladies celebrate Jen getting her stop sign built, only to be slammed by another car which then speeds away. Uh, guys, the driver of the car is a very drunk Ben.

I appreciate the symmetry of ending this thing with a hit-and-run, but it’s not as shocking as, say, a dead body in a pool, especially since it looks like both Judy and Jen are alive and speaking. It does, however, set up a whole host of new questions to be asked and problems to be solved. I’m not, like, standing up and going OH SHIT STEVE IS DEAD IN THAT POOL, but I am anxiously awaiting a season-three renewal, if that makes sense.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: Fucking Ben?! 3 fucks out of 5.

Season 3, Episode One: ‘We’ve Been Here Before’

Jen and Judy spend the day at the hospital being tended to (or not tended to, as it were) after their hit-and-run. While Judy’s off stealing pain pills and learning that Steve’s body was found in the woods, the doctor mistakes Jen for Judy because he’s terrible at his job, and gives her some bad news: They found shadows on Judy’s scans and it’s most likely cancer. When Judy returns, Jen decides to keep the news to herself.

The Judy stuff is obviously devastating and if we were rating on a Sad Scale of Tears it would get, like, so many tears! But as far as a cliffhanger, we know it’s only a matter of time before Jen relays the news. Jen’s a murderer, not a psycho! Especially when it comes to being there for her best friend. Now, Steve’s body resurfacing … that’s much more concerning.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: Not Judy! Fuck! 2 fucks out of 5

Season 3, Episode Two: ‘We Need to Talk’

Ben’s drowning his sorrows about his dead asshole brother at the bar and winds up leaving behind the wooden bird with the missing tail that Henry gave him as a sweet way to offer comfort. Sweet for Henry, anyway — we know that bird is the same one Jen smashed over Steve’s head. That’s not comforting at all! Nor is the fact that Nick also happens to be at that bar, notices Ben left the bird, and grabs it.

Nick doesn’t know he’s holding the big murder weapon in his very hands, but we know Nick is a pretty resourceful cop. Who knows exactly what Nick will do with it, but it’s too close for comfort!! Why didn’t these women get rid of this bird when they had the chance?! Get your head in the game, ladies!

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: 3 fucks out of 5 for This! Fucking! Bird!

Season 3, Episode 3: ‘Look at What We Have Here’

Jen and Judy finally get to burn the bird and get rid of the murder weapon once and for all. That’s good! But FBI Agent Moranis is suspicious of the women after an awkward interaction with Judy, and we find him sitting in his car staking out Jen’s house. That’s bad!

Agent Moranis is described as “the MVP of the FBI†so Judy inadvertently putting him on their scent really ups the tension for the season thus far, but it’s less of a shock than it is sort of inevitable. Why introduce the MVP of the FBI and not have him put the pressure on Jen and Judy?

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: 2 out of 5 fucks

Season 3, Episode 4: ‘Where Do We Go Now?’

After Steve’s funeral, Ben tells Jen that he was the hit-and-run driver and her response is to put her mouth on his mouth. While they’re busy have vigorous car sex, Judy and Michelle have reunited and are also doing the deed! 

Just because they’re dealing with murder and cancer and the thought of that weird twin doll room doesn’t mean our girls don’t have needs! It’s great to see them both getting some. Jen and Ben are obviously crazy about each other and Judy gets some nice closure with Michelle while also having someone she can admit she has cancer to (even if Michelle is asleep when she says it). This isn’t much of a cliffhanger, but damn it if we all don’t leave this episode feeling pretty satisfied.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: 0 out of 5 fucks (but also 2 real good fucks, if you know what I mean)

Season 3, Episode 5: ‘We Didn’t Think This Through’

Judy finally tells Jen that she has cervical cancer and Jen tearfully tells her that they’ve got this. Meanwhile, after making a drunken spectacle of himself yet again, and Charlie warning him to stay away from his mom, Ben walks into the police station and tells Nick … that he’s an alcoholic who needs help. Oh, and then Jen’s tub falls through the kitchen ceiling.

The end of this episode is a ride! Ben walking into the police station not to confess to the hit-and-run but to have Nick help him get to rehab is a big-time fake out and feels a little cheap in the grand scheme of things, although it is a big character moment for Ben and reveals how much he cares about Jen — James Marsden remains so freaking good on this show. The tub falling through the ceiling is less of a cliffhanger and more of a hilariously timed symbol of the shit hitting the fan — er, the tub hitting the kitchen island.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: 1 fuck out of 5

Season 3, Episode 6: ‘We’re Going to Beat This Thing’

Jen’s pregnant with Ben’s baby!!

I love this show and I love this reveal. “Woman winds up pregnant by the twin brother of the man she killed†is so ridiculously soapy and yet Dead to Me makes it work on so many levels. It’s both surprising and, come on, kind of hilarious. It gives new meaning to karmic punishment for Jen and dials up the intensity of the guilt she feels for still not having come clean with Ben. Plus, we know it’ll add a little wrinkle to Jen and Judy’s friendship — Judy’s dying of cancer and will never have the baby she’s always wanted and Jen gets knocked up at 47? That’s complicated.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: We’re having a fucking baby?! 4 fucks out of 5

Season 3, Episode 7: ‘Can We Be Honest?’

In the hopes of bringing Jen and Ben together before he moves away (and to push Jen to tell him about the baby), Judy tells Ben about Ted and then Ben and Judy reveal that Ben was actually in the car the night they hit Ted — he was a drunken mess and Judy and Steve were driving him home and he is so sorry for the part he played in that. Just as Jen is about to make some confessions of her own, Perez and Nick show up and arrest Ben for the hit-and-run!

Oof, this one stings! Jen confided in Perez that Ben was the one who hit her and Judy because Nick had spotted Charlie in a banged-up car (it was Ben’s) on CCTV near the scene of the crime and she wanted to make sure her son was cleared. You never think Perez is going to use that information! Sure, she’s put in a tough spot because Nick is a pain in her ass (see also: doing his job; very competent) and can tell she’s being cagey about something, but still. They’re hauling sweet Ben away!

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: Not fucking cool, guys! 3 fucks out of 5

Season 3, Episode 8: ‘We’ll Find a Way’

Karen for the win! Our favorite Mexican lasagna-loving neighbor shows Jen security footage of a man rifling through her trash and then stuffing a used water bottle in a plastic bag — the man is Agent Moranis. Jen’s already paranoid that Moranis is building a case against her and earlier had “joked†that they should poison him via scones. This footage pushes her over the edge and at the end of the episode, she knocks on Moranis’s motel door holding … a container of freshly baked scones. 

She wouldn’t, would she? She couldn’t, right?? The episode perfectly builds to this fun little end note and even though I do not believe Jen Harding is just going to start murdering all over town, you better believe I was pressing play on the next episode immediately.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: Fucking baked goods, 4 fucks out of 5

Season 3, Episode 9: ‘We’re Almost Out of Time’

Knowing her cancer is terminal, Judy confesses to Steve’s murder to Nick and claims Jen doesn’t know anything about it. Jen strikes a deal to let Judy go to the cancer clinical trial in San Francisco for three weeks, she can wear a tracker and Nick can turn her in after it’s over. He agrees — but the real plan is for Judy’s mom to wear the tracker and head to San Fran for three weeks (a parting gift for her daughter) while Jen and Judy take that vacation to Mexico they’ve been talking about. Oh, also, Moranis is found dead and Perez steals all of his files on Steve’s case and it looks like she’s planning to torch them.

This episode ending isn’t much of a cliffhanger because with one episode left, the path to the end of the series is so devastatingly clear. Still, the reveal of Jen’s real plan is lovely and moving and oh god, will we ever stop crying? Maybe hearing Jen call a doctor a “fucking dick fuck†again will help. Nope, never mind!

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: You fucking dick fucks! 2 fucks out of 5

Season 3, Episode 10: ‘We’ve Reached the End’

With Judy “out to sea,†Ben out of prison, and the Greeks implicated in Steve’s murder, Jen settles into the next phase of her life. Even though she’s building a happy life with her three kids (welcome, baby Joey!) and Ben, she knows that Judy was right when she told her that she wouldn’t be able to truly build something real with Ben until he knows the truth about Steve’s death. And so on an otherwise happy day, with the family playing by the pool, Jen turns to Ben and says “I need to tell you something†before the show cuts to black. 

Oh, as if this show, Queen of the Cliffhangers, wasn’t going to go out on one of its signature endings. And it’s a good one, too. Jen’s final act is a fitting tribute to Judy, a great conclusion to her own character arc, and even though we’re pretty sure Ben will eventually be able to forgive Jen and they’ll get a happy ending, there’s just enough room to make us curious to see how it all goes down. Like the cliffhanger connoisseur it is, Dead to Me leaves us wanting more.

Cliffhanger Curse Rating: Fuck you, Dead to Me! 4 fucks out of 5

Dead to Me’s Many, Many Cliffhangers: An Episodic Guide