What Is the Significance of the Bird in ‘Dead to Me’ Season 3?
In Netflix‘s Dead to Me Season 3, Judy Hale (Linda Cardellini) and Jen Harding (Christina Applegate) work hard to keep their big secret: Jen killed Steve Wood (James Marsden). As the police and FBI come close to finding the truth, the best friends are desperate to get a wooden bird back in their possession before authorities can get their hands on it. Why is the bird so important to the case? Here’s a refresher on the significance of the bird in Dead to Me.
[Spoiler alert: The second and third sections of this story contain spoilers for Dead to Me Season 3.]
What’s up with the wooden bird in ‘Dead to Me’ Season 3?
To explain why the bird is so important in Dead to Me Season 3, we need to go all the way back to season 1. At the end of the first season, Jen killed Steve outside her home. She pulled a gun on him, and he was last seen floating dead in her pool. Fast-forward to season 2, where Jen confessed that she shot Steve in self-defense.
But that’s not the real story; Jen didn’t shoot him at all. It’s later revealed that yes, Jen did kill Steve, but she actually bludgeoned him with a toy bird that Judy gifted to Jen’s younger son, Henry (Luke Roessler). It happened in a fit of rage after Steve teased Jen about the way he and Judy hit Jen’s husband, Ted, with their car. Jen hid the gun and the real murder weapon in her safe. That’s where the bird remains at the beginning of season 3 — but not for long.
What happens to the bird figurine in ‘Dead to Me’?
The mystery of Steve’s death begins to unravel in Dead to Me Season 3 when police find his body. Upon further investigation, they find something stuck in Steve’s skull — the bird’s tail. They don’t really know what it is, so it’s not a problem for Jen as long as she keeps the bird hidden. Unfortunately, she loses it.
Jen’s older son, Charlie (Sam McCarthy), finds the bird and gives it back to Henry. However, Henry sees how upset Ben Wood (also Marsden) has become over his twin brother’s death, and he gives Ben the bird to make him feel better. Ben takes the bird with him to a local bar. Then, he accidentally leaves it behind, and police officer Nick (Brandon Scott) picks it up.
Nick returns the bird to Ben, but he starts to connect the dots. He realizes that the fragment in Steve’s skull is the bird’s tail. This leads Nick and FBI agent Glenn Moranis (Garret Dillahunt) back to Jen.
Thankfully, before police can confiscate the bird again, Ben repairs it and gives it back to Jen. She and Judy destroy the evidence by burning it and throwing away the remains.
Birds are a frequent symbol throughout the show
Aside from the bird’s literal significance as the murder weapon in Dead to Me, it’s also symbolic. Birds frequently appear throughout seasons 2 and 3 — the bird in Jen’s garage, Judy’s sparrow bracelet, the thousand paper cranes, and of course, the wooden bird. As Thayer Birding notes, some species of bird — including the sparrow and the crane — symbolize freedom. When Jen killed Steve with the wooden bird, it might have symbolized Judy finally being free from her abusive ex. Birds can also be a symbol of strength, grace, death, love, and happiness, all of which are explored throughout Dead to Me.
All three seasons of Dead to Me are now streaming on Netflix.
