What I’m Watching: Not Dead Yet

Not Dead Yet: Season 1, Episode 8 “Not Friends Yet” (B+)

Though the way she went about it wasn’t perfect, it’s good to see Nell advocate for her friend Edward’s wellbeing. She even managed to earn the distinction of being more than just his roommate, something that still doesn’t come with the freedom to let her toes hang out while they’re watching TV. He really did seem like a different person around Charlotte, who appeared to be going out of her way not to clean up messes and to force Edward to hide pieces of himself. He was absolutely superb at trivia and came right out of his shell, leading to the humorous moment in which Charlotte, upon learning that he had been bottling himself up to seem “normal,” confessed how much she hated the environment and was relieved to get that off her chest. They don’t seem like a great match, and hopefully Nell pushing Edward to speak up for himself will encourage him to give dating another try even after this breakup. Lexi was unsurprisingly out of control when it came to her trivia enthusiasm, but it was fun to see her do a great job holding herself back only to be unleashed by Sam and Dennis when their top competition proved to be impossibly irritating and very much deserving of her wrath. Lexi is being used well as a character, and I’m glad to see that she’s becoming more and more believable with each episode. Paula Pell’s guest appearance was also endearing, particularly when she lashed out at Nell for reducing her life to a soap opera.