Not Dead Yet Season 1 Episode 4 Review: Not Dating Yet
It’s always tough to see an ex move on. It’s even harder when it’s the ex you upturned your life for. This is where Nell finds herself on Not Dead Yet Season 1 Episode 4, “Not Dating Yet.”
Her friends realize that she’s not as fine as she claims to be, and it doesn’t help that they’ve also begun to pick up on her talking to people who aren’t there. It’s honestly taken them longer than it should have, but they were bound to notice eventually.
There’s something off about the ghost of the week. At least—spoiler alert!—we assume that’s who he is. He offers Nell advice, but his own storyline is little more than a math problem he can’t solve. And Nell sends him on before he finally nails it. (Oops.)
LAUREN ASH, JOSH BANDAY
The main characters give this show its heart, but the guest spirits are what make it stand out, so the absence of backstory feels a little off-putting. There’s more to learn eventually, but until then, it feels like our plot and Nell’s obit are both missing something.
In its wake, we get a series of blind dates in varying degrees of awkwardness. The work bestie group means well, but they either find dates that aren’t compatible at all or find ones that are a great match for themselves instead of Nell.
This is standard sitcom fair. Because none of these matches would ever work, the point isn’t that Nell isn’t ready to date again, as she claims. It’s that she’s not dealing with her grief over the love she thought would last forever.
GINA RODRIGUEZ
That all comes out when she runs headlong into a guy who is immediately different from any of the others she’s been forcibly paired with. A single embarrassing moment leads to her spilling her emotional turmoil to someone who actually gets it.
What follows is a storybook meet-cute. They share heartaches and similar quirks. They laugh on kiddie rides and commiserate as Nell drops two consecutive churros on the group. A minor tragedy in itself, but at least it’s all part of Nell realizing she can find her best match on her own. Right?
It’s an episode full of tropes and cliches, which might help veil the truth. He’s too good to be true, and I mean that in the sense that he doesn’t really exist. When Nell stops to take a photo with him at the end of the night, he’s not in it. He’s not there at all.
HANNAH SIMONE, LAUREN ASH, JOSH BANDAY
Mr. Perfect being a ghost is about as big a plot twist as you’re going to see on a show like this, and it’s pulled off surprisingly well. Even those who are suspicious enough to see it coming can relate to the blow Nell must feel when she realizes.
It’s likely we’ll see our heroine on more dates in the very near future. The biggest lasting impact of this plot is to give her the first step in finding closure. It’s a good thing for her own backstory, which has been a bit of an elephant in the room since it’s introduction.
We may also wonder if this will give Nell trust issues. Will she sabotage more dates by wondering if they even exist? With people noticing her new behaviors, this may be an inevitability. There is a lot of comic potential, but I hope it doesn’t stand in the way of a real love interest down the line.
What did you think of this episode of Not Dead Yet? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Not Dead Yet airs Wednesdays at 9:30/8:30c on ABC.
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Caitlin Wyneken
Caitlin is an elder millennial with an only slightly unhealthy dedication to a random selection of TV shows, from PBS Masterpiece dramas to some of the less popular series on popular networks. Outside of screen time, she's dedicated to the public sector and worthy nonprofits, working to make a difference in the world outside of media.
4 comments
I really loved this episode ❤️. And you’re right- I saw it coming but I wanted to believe in their cute fated date anyway. The reveal hurt, but I think it’s the nudge Nell needed to process her loss and start healing on her own. They were so beautiful together though. So sad his life seemed short!
Does this mean Nell can see ghosts unrelated to her writing an obit about them?
I really liked this episode, it made me me feel a fuzzy feeling when she I saw how thr night developed after she met Mr. Perfect. I felt sad for her at the end, somehow I didn’t see that coming… I was tooting for her.
I didn’t see that ending coming because she usually only sees ghosts that she will be writing an obit about. Was he there to complete his mission of helping Jane–err–Nell with her dating delimma? Not sure what was going on in the episode. Will this ghost be in episode 5 to be written about? If so, why did he disappear?
OR is Nell starting to lose it and imagined the whole thing?
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