The nunnery without Kristin Chenoweth singing something wasted the Sound of Music setting. The usual clever lines and twists were not joined by any visual unity this week. The Bees and Circus motifs in the previous two weeks gave those episodes more unity than this one.
Ned ignoring Olive in favor of untouchable childhood dream girl Chuck has not been incredibly mean and stupid because the show has been totally about the wonderful romanticness of the Ned/Chuck "relationship." Emerson Cod and a murder mystery were inflicted upon the series by the network suits so that there would actually be a story, instead of a mere situation each week. (Which proves that sometimes the suits are right.) Chuck moving out and Ned responding to Olive as a human being undercuts that premise. Failure to follow up will leave the show meandering.
But following up will completely change the show. (The Emerson's daughter storyline is not yet integrated into the show---it's just there sometimes, but not real story yet.) There may be dissonance between between a realistic emotional story and the clever stylistics of the dialogue, narration and sets. Or there may be a perpetual rediscovery of the wheel, as Ned and Chuck start to grow up, over and over, without ever quite changing. Fuller had a problem like that with George in Dead Like Me I think. Jaye in Wonderfalls was only save from that fate by early cancellation I suspect. And Claire in Heroes suffered the disease within mere episodes.
Now Fuller may have grown as a writer. Maybe he has Ned/Olive (and Chuck/Emerson? "Dead Girl" as meeting cute, Hollywood style?) in mind.
Or something else, novel but logical? Like tragedy? Unfortunately the ratings suggest we won't find out.
