I would like to state publicly, I was wrong about this Not Dead Yet. I was wrong that this show was meh. I was wrong that this show didn’t have heart. I should have given it more time to progress. Because it’s definitely done just that.
It has progressed.
The show has so much heart and so much love to give. Hell, it takes it to a new level when it manages to take the scariest things that we experience in life and make them funny and relatable. Even performance reviews or you know your father surprising you when you’ve been lying to him for quite some time.
But what I loved the most about this episode was that Nell was coming into her own. She’s been doing that for a bit – making it known how she feels and what she’s capable of. She knows that she can write a great obituary.
But Nell is down on herself. She is focusing on the negative in life and really doesn’t seem to look at anything but that. She’s a hot mess (I think that we all can relate to that) and ends up getting her into a car accident.
Not to mention that she’s avoiding her fathers phone calls. I don’t know an adult that hasn’t done that. Nell and her father have always been close and she’s feeling like she can’t let her father know how bad things have gotten for her, especially since she’s been lying to her father over and over again.
One person that she can always rely on is Sam. As a good best friend, you don’t judge the shit that your bestie is going through, even if you want to remind her that her life is a hot mess. Sam is the good influence on Nell and strives to make her feel better – though I wonder if she realizes that’s not necessarily always best.
When the two arrive at work, Lexi has a new toy. It’s an air horn that is loud AF and scared the crap out of even me. Really not sure it is why Lexi thinks that would make performance reviews fun, but I think we can all agree that Lexi is not logical.
Hell, she barely makes sense most of the time.
Her obituary this time is Tony Plana, an announcer that both her and her Dad love. What I have come to realize in this show is that everything in this show happens for a reason, so it is no surprise that her Dad shows up.
Nell is Daddy’s little girl. She’s afraid of letting her father down and you can tell, when immediately she starts lying to him. While we could go through all of the events that happen with her Dad and her, where he learns about the lies – the important thing here is that we see their bond.
Nell has done a lot of growing in this show. She’s not the woman that she was at the beginning. She’s not even close. Seeing her revert to the little girl that is desperate to her please her father is a reminder of who we all could be.
Her Dad wants her to come home as soon as he finds out what she’s going through and for a second – she considers it. But when a person remembers who they are, it’s kinda difficult to allow yourself to regress.
And Nell knows – she isn’t going to go back.
One of the hardest things in life is figuring out where you belong in this life. When things change and you aren’t there person you once were – is that a bad thing? Sometimes it’s a struggle to get back to where things were. But, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try.
Nell knows that she wants to be the writer that she once was. She wants to have success. Figuring out that it’s going to take a bit to get there isn’t easy. Yet she knows that she’s doing good work and telling great stories through her obituaries.
And she tells good ones. She is leaving a legacy, an important one, even if she doesn’t see it yet.
When Nell’s performance review comes up, she is ready to tell Lexi to fire her, but she manages to get through to her. She’s ready to tell her just how important what she does is. She’s ready to tell her how they are all important.
And maybe that is Nell’s strength – telling the stories for the people that don’t have the courage or the loudest voice. The truth is that she gives us the side of people that we don’t always see.
And well, maybe that”s the most beautiful thing about this show.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- I’ve kinda come to love Lexi
- Mason is the worst.
- Love the salad lady even though I can never remember her name.
- Can’t stop laughing over Nell’s roommate – he’s the MVP
Not Dead Yet airs on ABC.