"Dead to Me": "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," with Plot Twists

C.S. Lewis wrote that when he was a kid, he loved being sick, because he could stay in bed all day and read.  When I'm sick, I lie on the couch all day and watch tv.  And yesterday I binge watched the Netflix drama Dead to Me.

Jen Harding (Christina Applegate) has a perfect life.  A job selling amazing mansions to hot 30-something multimillionaires.  A hot husband named Ted.  Two perfect kids. 

That all changes in an instant when Ted is killed by a hit-and-run driver, who flees the scene.  Jen is too busy trying to track down the murderer to work, so she loses commissions and has trouble paying the mortgage.  Her oldest son starts selling pills, and brings a gun to school.

Judy Hale (Linda Cardellini) had a perfect life, too. She sold her paintings for $30,000 each, had a fulfilling job at a retirement home, a hot fiancee named Steve (the big-handed James Marsden) and one of those amazing mansions that Jen sells.  Until Steve died.

The two meet at a wacky grief support group (the only comedy touch in this drama), bond, and become close friends very quickly.  Before you know it, Judy is moving into Jen's guest house and mothering her kids.

That's when the jaw-dropping plot twists begin.

There's at least one per episode, enough to keep you wondering "What crazy game-changer will they come up with next?"  I'm not going to reveal them all -- I don't think I could even remember all of the twists and turns -- but to tweak your appetite,

Guess whose fiancee isn't actually dead?
Guess who was driving the car that killed Jen's husband?

Of course, Jen gets some plot twists as well:
Her anger issues were causing her to lose sales long before Ted's death.
Ted wasn't actually out on an evening run when he was killed.

The series is beautifully shot.  Every house and public area belongs on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, every character belongs on magazine covers. No such thing as poverty or crime in this world.

Gay characters: Max (Christopher Doyle), Jen's business partner, is gay.  We know because we are told; he doesn't actually do anything gay, like date men.  However, he is deeply involved in the church, which is a welcome change in a tv landscape where gay men are never shown as religious.

It's also nice to see a church that isn't Catholic.  Usually tv writers are not aware that Protestants exist.

Neither of Jen's sons express any heterosexual interest,  and the younger, Henry (Luke Roessler), wants to become a singer, which is usually code for "gay" in tv.  (Pictured: the older, played by Sam McCarthy).

Beefcake: This is a female-buddy movie, so the men are not particularly important except as plot devices, but there are a couple of hotties.

Like Brandon Scott as Nick, the police officer who Judy starts dating, who has secrets of his own.

Face it, in this series, it's secrets all the way down.