
Warning: This post contains some spoilers for Netflix’s Dead To Me.
When Christina Applegate‘s character Jen in the undeniably addictive Netflix tragicomedy Dead to Me reveals her double mastectomy, it’s a seemingly small detail used to soften Jen’s somewhat prickly exterior.
The veteran actress, 48, plays a resentful widow who unknowingly befriends her husband’s killer Judy, played by Linda Cardellini.

In the fourth episode of season one, Jen reveals she had her breasts removed as a precaution after her mother died of breast cancer.
In actuality, Applegate had the detail written in to the show to reflect a traumatic aspect of her own life, shedding light on what she sees as an under-represented trauma so many women go through.
Watch the trailer for the second season of Dead to Me below. Post continues after video.
"It hasn’t really been discussed on shows before; I don’t think there’s a lot of characters out there with double mastectomies," the actress told USA Today.
Top Comments
Have always admired this actress for her brave decision. I had surgery and radiation for cancer on my face and, like Christina, I see the results every day. My cancer will return, I can’t have my face permanently removed, but I hope it’s not for a few more years yet.
Was it really necessary to include spoilers about a Netflix show in an article that is ostensively more about Applegate's decision to undergo prophylactic surgeries in the setting of being BRCA positive? You could have written the article without the spoilers and it still would have been relevant, and reached a bunch of people who would otherwise not have read (because they were avoiding the irrelevant spoilers).
Yes, I believe it was "necessary" and a great opportunity for the topic to be addressed and brought to people's attention who may otherwise not even be aware of the BRCA gene. And was it really that big of a "spoiler", that it affected the show in any way? You seem to have missed the point entirely about Christina Applegate's intentions of bringing awareness to people. Additionally, having tested positive for the BRCA, but not having a breast cancer diagnosis, I elected to have prophylactic bilateral mastectomies. In Christina Applegate's case, she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Therefore, her surgery would not be considered prophylactic.