Not Dead Yet: Grade Gina Rodriguez's Ghostly New ABC Comedy

Ghosts‘ Sam isn’t the only who can see the dead on broadcast TV.

The series premiere of ABC’s Not Dead Yet on Wednesday introduced viewers to Nell (played by Jane the Virgin‘s Gina Rodriguez), a 37-year-old journalist who gave up her promising career and moved to London for a man five years ago. Now, the engagement is off, and Nell is back at her old job, but not in her former position. She thought she’d pick up where she left off, but instead, Nell is assigned to the obituary beat by her boss/friend Dennis (Upload‘s Joshua Banday).

Perhaps the worst change is that, in the time that Nell’s been gone, her best gal pal Sam (New Girl‘s Hannah Simone) has become good friends with their former work nemesis Lexi (Superstore‘s Lauren Ash), whom they used to call Scotch Tape because she’s stuck up and believes things like that Old Navy is a branch of the military. Not only did Lexi become close with Sam, but she’s also a nepo baby who is now everyone’s boss because her dad owns the paper. So when Lexi crashes Nell’s birthday drinks, Nell gets pretty drunk and spills the beans to Lexi about her unflattering nickname, which visibly hurts Lexi’s feelings.

Back at home, Nell is shocked when Monty (guest star Martin Mull) appears in the apartment she shares with her roommate Edward (As We See It‘s Rick Glassman), an environmental lawyer with autism spectrum disorder. Turns out Monty is the bubble gum jingle creator that Nell’s been writing an obit for, meaning he’s very much dead. Nell freaks out and refuses to believe what she’s seeing, but Monty is still there the next morning, with no idea why, as Nell points a handheld vacuum at him. All her attempts to flee his presence fail, so she’s forced to confront him. When Nell basically says he was a loser, Monty responds that she’s no catch herself: She drinks too much, is jealous of other people’s happiness and runs away from any difficulty.

Meanwhile, Sam suggests that Nell apologize to Lexi since she’s the big boss. But instead of a sincere apology, Nell ends up telling Lexi that she’s not good enough to be friends with Sam, after which Lexi reveals that she only hired Nell back because Sam pleaded her case. So one mistake, and she’s out.

Nell goes to dinner by herself at a fancy restaurant with Monty by her side. He shares his story and dreams with her and how he, too, was a mess until he met his wife Cricket (On My Block‘s Angela Gibbs)… who is sitting alone at a nearby table. Nell approaches the woman and tells her she looks beautiful, like Monty wishes he could do. Even though it is a little weird, the two women end up having drinks and becoming friends. That seems to be the closure Monty needs to move on as Nell submits her thoughtfully written obit and the ghostly subject of her next obit appears.

What did you think of Not Dead Yet? Grade it below, then hit the comments!

 

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