Not Dead Yet Season 1 Episode 5 Review: Not Moving On Yet
You know how you can meet the perfect guy only to realize he’s dead? Okay, probably not. But Nell does, and Jesse sticks around for Not Dead Yet Season 1 Episode 5, “Not Moving On Yet.”
Their “meet-cute” of the previous episode is a lot more awkward now considering Nell was talking to someone who wasn’t there the whole time. And as perfect as Jesse is otherwise, her inability to let him go once she knows the truth is telling.
This gives us a good and expected dose of both humor and second-hand embarrassment because she spends a considerable percentage of the half hour still basically dating this guy. And yet amidst people walking in at very embarrassing moments, there’s a lot of drama, too.
As the title implies, this episode is dedicated to the pain we don’t deal with, and in this case it’s a moment that for Nell goes even deeper than breaking up with the man she left her job for—a miscarriage in the early stages of a wanted pregnancy.
It’s a heavy moment even for a comedy that works in a lot of emotion, and it takes both a reconciling for her feeling towards Jesse and the re-appearance of Monty(!) before she’s able to confess it to Sam, though only after standing her friend up to keep chasing a ghost.
The revelation does feel a bit out of left field. Until now, Nell has come across as someone more heartbroken and resentful about a breakup that as someone who has experienced this level of loss. Still, Monty’s insistence that she’s repressed her feelings is a reasonable explanation.
I’m more concerned about how this will come up in the future. Sitcoms have handled matters of this weight before with grace, but it’s all about balance. The show needs to keep its spunky heroine relatively light while recognizing that telling one person isn’t nearly enough closure.
Understandably, this can also overshadow every other plot of the episode, which is actually as funny as any other, save for those last couple minutes. It can make the subplots feel as though they’re just tacked on to the end.
Apart from some moments of Lexi stepping in for BOGO breadsticks and taking her personality beautifully over the top, the friend date at the restaurant is really just there for Nell to neglect Sam long enough to highlight her own current mindset. It’s a long way to get to a needed point.
There is more to Cricket being unable to let Edward or anyone else play the piano that once belonged to Monty. As convenient as his reappearance is for Nell, it’s a more believable reason for him to return from wherever he’s “gone on” to.
It also offers a bit more direct symbolism. Cricket thinks she can’t bear to hear music from that piano without Monty playing it, but the music itself is what she needs and Monty wants. Nell can’t begin to heal if she can’t even acknowledge her grief.
In the end, Edward is allowed to play the instrument to the appreciation of both his girlfriend and Cricket. Nell, meanwhile, takes the first few steps in being able to process that part of her life. I just really hope that process involves a therapist, too.
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 Wednedays 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.