By Kayla Ross, Back Page Editor

Not married yet. Not happy yet. Not stable yet. 

Gina Rodriguez stars as a lost 30-something in a new dramedy, Not Dead Yet, airing on Hulu and ABC. In this sitcom, Nell (Rodriguez) is a newly single, flopping journalist who has just moved back to Pasadena, Calif. after a failed five-year engagement that took her to London. She attempts to return to her previous job as a journalist at the SoCal Independent, only to find that the only role left available for her is that of obituary writer. 

With the help of her best friend Sam (Hannah Simone–who previously acted as Cece in New Girl), Nell grudgingly accepts her first assignment. And in turn, she accepts her first ghost mentorship. She is suddenly being haunted by what seems to be a wannabe musician, Monty (Martin Mull), who forces her to learn about the paths of love and friendship. 

Nell is a disaster. She can’t stop watching Bachelor in Paradise. She leaves Cheeto dust on the walls. She drinks too much. She can’t stop thinking about her ex. She hates her straight-line, uptight roommate. Her boss, Lexi, (Lauren Ash of Superstore) is a terror. And now, she’s being haunted. 

Monty’s ghost leads Nell to his favorite restaurant and leads her straight to his grieving wife, Cricket (Angela Elayne Gibbs). Cricket is a bohemian, mid-to-late 60s woman, who happens to own a wine bar down the street from Nell’s apartment. Cricket quickly befriends Nell, and teaches her that grief is natural and necessary. Together, they start learning how to go on without the person they thought they would be with forever. 

With the help of the various spirits she is assigned to, Nell continues to learn more about herself. She sticks up for herself, earns a front page assignment and gains the courage to leave her ex-fiance a second time after he comes back to California for her. Nell even learns to love her tricky roommate, Edward (Rick Glassman), with a little push from Cricket and some guidance from her assigned spirits. 

I love this show. It has the best life lesson beat of comedy writing since The Good Place, combined with the comedic timing and tenderness Rodriguez brings to the screen. 

More than anything, this show is entirely too relatable. Not Dead Yet continuously explores the desperate need to build a sense of self-identity, the fear of missing out that comes with growing up and the mess that follows leaving a serious relationship. 

In the very last scene of the season one finale, Edward and Nell share an intimately framed moment after Nell has left a rooftop party in her honor and finally decided that she is done with her ex-fiance. Soon after, they rejoin the rooftop party and once again share a passionate glance inadvertently. However, nothing gets by Cricket. The screen pans over the party while Cricket gives the ground a knowing smile and closes on the happy group of unlikely friends. As Monty said, “You never doubt a woman named Cricket.” 

The season two premiere aired last Wednesday (Feb. 7). In this first episode, Edward’s gaze has been refocused to Lexi, Nell’s horrible boss. In a twist I was certainly not expecting, Edward and Lexi hook up in the breakroom of the SoCal Independent office. 

Although this was unexpected, I think fans are in for a much bigger surprise: an enemies to friends to lovers pipeline. I predict that in this season the ghosts mentoring Nell will lead her to realize that her true match was under her nose the whole time. Edward, the bothersome roommate turned friend, has been the one constant in Nell’s second attempt at love in Pasadena. 

Not Dead Yet will continue to teach us lessons about love and loss, while also teaching us to expect the unexpected.