Not Dead Yet (Season 1) Episode 5: Episode 5 of Not Dead Yet, starring Gina Rodriguez as the protagonist, makes things more enjoyable. The characters are more detailed as each has something to share from their plate. Things are more about dealing with your loss and grief and eventually moving ahead in life with time.
Nell has a lot to share, but unfortunately, as you get older, you don’t quite know how to share things with your close ones. Shutting oneself from people that are constantly trying to help you out is a stubborn way of life and will hurt you more than help you. The latest episode shows us precisely this and how Nell finds the courage to share the nitty gritty detail about her breakup with the love of her life – Phillip.
Not Dead Yet (Season 1) Episode 5 Recap:
It is a new day for Nell, and the first thing she sees when she wakes up in the morning is a handsome guy sitting next to her, watching her drool in her sleep. She hasn’t even checked her email, and this ghost is already in front of her eyes. As she prepares for her day, she realizes this particular ghost is more interesting than any of the dead ones she has seen. It turns out that while Nell’s ex-boyfriend has moved on in his life with a pastry chef in Paris – Nell, on the other hand, went on a date with a hot guy who, funnily enough, is the same dead man lingering around her.
The guy is new to being dead, and the news hasn’t sunk into him. Since Nell has become really good at quickly recognizing the dead people for whom she must write obituaries, it was expected of her that she would be able to recognize this guy as well.
After settling in the office, Nell gets an exciting visit from Sam, who is really happy to find BOGO coupons that allow one to enjoy two-for-one pasta and unlimited supplies of breadsticks the whole night at Fettuccine Factory. It has been a while since Nell returned to the city, and the two girls never got to sit down together and catch up.
Sam is also concerned about how Nell is taking up her life and whether she has been doing well mentally and emotionally after her breakup with Phillip. Hence, she is determined that she and Nell will enjoy a fantastic chatty night together over breadsticks dipped in Fettuccine sauce.
Next, we see Nell sneaking into Mason’s room to speak to the recently deceased Jesse. She asks for basic information, and we learn that Jesse is a pediatrician with a picturesque hobby of diving into the deep sea. He also volunteered for the California Anthropology Commission, where he found an underwater cave village right outside the coast of Catalina. And it turns out that he died after getting killed by the great white sharks in the deep sea. Somehow, Nell dismisses him and gets mad at Jesse for being the perfect guy dead.
The constant shift of Nell’s mood indicates that she has not been feeling okay and constantly distracting herself from feeling her emotions. Even Jesse could tell she was agitated and wanted things to be perfect as soon as possible, but she was far from perfect. When he suggests that it is okay not to be okay, Nell gets even madder and tells him that any woman would be angry if the ideal man showed up, only to find out he was dead.
In the meantime, we see Cricket getting a random visit from Edward, who wants to work from her café that day. Edward wants to get a nudge from an experienced person with a healthy relationship to understand how to bring more spontaneity into his relationship with his long-distance girlfriend. When he sees a piano, he can’t resist but play a few notes, only to be stopped by Cricket as she doesn’t want anyone touching the piano that was once her dead husband, Monty’s most prized possession.
Later we see Nell and Jesse hanging out in a park outside the hospital where he worked. She recently got to know more details about Jesse from his coworkers. We learn that Jesse was popular among them because of his excellent work and great people relationship skills. The way Nell shares her energy with Jesse indicates that she got some feelings for the dead guy because he is perfect in every sense. The two get so indulged in their conversation that there comes a moment when Nell leans forward to kiss him, only to get interrupted by Monty (from Episode 1).
Seeing Monty takes Nell by surprise because all this while, we have seen her seeing ghosts up until she submits the obituaries. She asks Monty why she can still see him, but he doesn’t have any answer to the situation. Instead, he takes her aside and warns her about what she has been doing with her life. She can not fall in love with a distraction, and she must conjure up the courage to face the consequences of her life. However, it seems that Nell is doing well otherwise, but somehow she still has to come to terms with her life’s recent history. She still thinks about Philip and would casually drop his name, talking about the beautiful days she spent with him in the relationship. And it is a clear indication she has not gotten over him and still misses his presence in her life.
It is 3’o clock, and Nell has lost track of her time while conversing with Jesse. When Sam had called her to ask where she was because they were meant to meet for the girl’s catch-up session, Nell had told her that she was on a date. However, when Sam realizes calling Lexi to fill in for her friend’s place who ghosted her was a bad call, she comes rushing to the café. Meanwhile, seeing Monty will not leave her alone with Jesse, Nell takes the dead pediatrician to Cricket’s café to distract Monty with the sight of his beautiful wife.
In the meantime, Sam sees Nell enjoying a glass of wine by herself (but we know the protagonist sandwiched between Monty advising not to fall for Jesse and the doctor appreciating her for the beautiful time he has been having). Sam gets upset with Nell for ditching her like that, but it isn’t very easy for Nell to explain what is happening. Sam feels that Nell is not telling her anything, and Nell finds everything utterly confusing to begin talking about. Distressed about how everything gets complicated and overwhelming simultaneously, Nell yells at Sam, and the latter gets upset and leaves with the bottle of wine her friend was enjoying.
Not Dead Yet (Season 1), Episode 5 Ending, Explained:
What had happened with Nell and her ex-boyfriend?
Monty sees everything around him and asks Nell why there is so much quietness in the café. Nell finds it odd for him to ask this, so Monty requests her to ask her new friend why no one plays the piano like always during happy hour. Nell goes to Cricket and asks the same, only to discover that even she has not moved on in her life. And she has been keeping her dead husband’s memories intact by not dealing with it. This particular conversation translates well with the situation Nell has been facing through. Monty tells her that she has been trying to find ways to distract herself rather than deal with what’s at hand. She also says that she needs to move on in order to have a happy and satisfying life.
At the same time, Cricket feels Monty’s presence around her, and somehow she feels free and asks Edward to play the piano, and he immediately agrees. While video-calling with her girlfriend, he goes ahead and plays the song that they both like. Everyone in the café enjoys the music, and Nell realizes it is about time she says goodbye to Jesse and be thankful to him for showing her how she needs to move forward. She sends the obituary to her boss, Dennis, and we see Jesse instantly disappearing.
Later we see Nell visiting Sam at her place with the same breadsticks that they were supposed to enjoy together at the BOHO outlet. She apologizes to her friend for standing her up on their date, and we soon learn more details about Nell and why she had a breakup.
It turns out that right before their wedding date, Nell found out she was expecting; however, before sharing the news with everyone, she has a miscarraige. Things slowly turned dry between Nell and Phillip as the latter felt his wife-to-be was dwelling too much on something that had already happened. Nell wanted the child, but losing her baby made her resent the relationship as she became a totally different personality. Things soon turned sour between the couple, and they eventually parted ways.
Keeping inside such traumatic news all by herself and being unable to process things, had taken a toll on her. Thus, Sam assures her that Nell wouldn’t have to deal with things by herself anymore as she is there for her. The two girls hug one another, and Nell asks her to bring the sauce she stole from the Fettuccine Factory. The episode ends on that note as the girls enjoy their breadsticks and share more things about the guy Nell went on a date with.
