Judy Hale

**Judy Hale** is a main character on *Dead to Me* portrayed by Linda Cardellini. She is free spirted, optimistic, altruistic, and kind.

## Biography

### Pre-Show

Judy's mother was absent a lot in Judy's early life and she learned how to take care of herself and her mother. Overall, she had to be very independent. Judy and her mother were also homeless for a year and, slept in a car. It is also mentioned in Season 1 that Judy never knew her father.

Judy later mentions in Season 3 that as a child, her mother would have her fake seizures at hospitals to distract the staff while her mother would steal drugs, in order to fulfill her addiction. As a reward, Judy would receive a 'Happy Meal'.

## History

### Season One

A big part of Judy’s past is that she has suffered through five miscarriages, and an even bigger part of her past, is she has committed manslaughter, by a hit and run. When she and her toxic, verbally abusive fiancé, Steve Wood, were driving late at night, Judy hit a man with her car, as she goes to turn back and check on him Steve yells at her saying “What are you doing?! Drive the car stupid!” resulting in her painfully turning around. It is later revealed in Season 3 that Ben Wood was also in the car alongside the two from a resulting conflict between him and his brother.

Steve leaves Judy for her inability to carry a child full term, and the crime they committed, leaving Judy to move out of his large mansion, and into an open bedroom, at the assisted living facility she volunteers at. In the beginning of Season One Judy meets Jen, a hot-headed widow, at a grief support group. When Judy tells the grief group her fiancé died of a heart attack, her and Jen become fast friends, as Jen feels she has met someone who understands what she’s going through, however Jen soon finds out she lied, and when she confronts Judy the next day, Judy shares with the group that her fiancé didn’t die, but he left her after having 5 miscarriages.

Realizing it’s easier for her to say Steve died, rather than talking about the miscarriages, Jen forgives Judy and invites her to move into her guesthouse (her husband’s former music room before his death) However at the end of the episode it is shockingly revealed that Jen is the wife of the man she and Steve hit in their hit and run.

Judy eventually admits to Jen that she was the one driving the car that caused Ted’s death, which causes Jen to tell her that she can die. When Jen is confronted by an irate Steve, she frantically calls Judy, who has fallen into a pit of despair and attempts to kill herself by stepping out onto a road before she gets the phone call. Jen tells her to come home and it is revealed that Steve is floating face down in her swimming pool surrounded by blood.

## Appearances

### Season One

"Pilot"
"Maybe I'm Crazy"
"It's All My Fault"
"I Can't Go Back"
"I've Gotta Get Away"
"Oh My God"
"I Can Handle It"
"Try to Stop Me"
"I Have to Be Honest"
"You Have to Go"
### Season Two

"You Know What You Did"
"Where Have You Been"
"You Can't Live Like This"
"Between You and Me"
"The Price You Pay"
"You Don't Have To"
"If Only You Knew"
"It Had to Be You"
"It's Not You, It's Me"
"Where Do We Go from Here"
### Season Three

"We've Been Here Before"
"We Need to Talk"
"Look at What We Have Here"
"Where Do We Go Now?"
"We Didn't Think This Through"
"We're Gonna Beat This Thing"
"Can We Be Honest?"
"We'll Find a Way"
"We're Almost Out of Time"
"We've Reached the End"

## Trivia

* she is a pisces
* she’s attracted to both men and women
* she’s artistically talented
* smokes weed
* self harms
* unable to get angry
* believes in crystals
* she is a witch