Chuque:  I will do my best to keep this a spoiler free review; if I let something slip I am sorry.
First for the completly clueless I offer

The season starts with another recap of the series so far, as well as explaining the fantasy aspects and abilities of the main character.  It is at times like this I wonder if I am alone in that I treat TV shows like books and start at the beginning.  I never start watching a TV show part way through just like I never start reading a book somewhere in chapter 5.  Anyway yes we get another history lesson. 

The dialogue at the top of act 1 as they practically discus speaking to dead fathers shows the talent of these writers.  Chi McBride; what is there to say? Personally I would love to see him and Stephen Root in some type of buddy film.  In this episode our victim was swarmed by bees from her place of employment.  What a terrible way to die.  Me? I hope my final exit doesn’t involve any insects at all. 

The plot of this episode move forward in the most of predictable ways, but that doesn’t make it less watchable, in fact it is the simplicity of the plot that allows for the dialogue to flourish and not seem out of place. 

A quick note on this week’s guest stars. We have the ever lovely Missi Pyle, who just doesn’t get enough good roles. Also the ever funny French Stewart joins the list of possible suspect.

At the close of act one some of the arcing plot for the season, (um no doubt there is a term for that any of you experienced types feel free to clue me on) is revealed and let me just say that Ellen Greene and Swoosie Kurtz are great in their roles, another example of what great actors can do with a good script.  In fact the only less than stellar actress would be Kristin Chenoweth. Maybe it is just the sound of her voice, but her character grates on me, and I could easily see some other actresses in that role.

Act 2 opens with some back and forth with Ned and Chuck as they try to move their relationship forward.  And we’re back to solving the case of the dead model and we hear what has to be the quote of this episode

“Mother was a Methodist and father was a pragmatist so ‘god must have put those bees there for a reason’ , they were right”

This act continues to move both the episode and larger arcs forward at an acceptable pace.  The episode wraps up with closest thing to a predicament this show has seen with Chuck as the damsel again, and Olive tries to sort out her issues.  The episode closes nicely.

This episode played more like a series pilot rather than a season premier. I can only assume because of the strike and all and a whopping 9 episode first season they are hoping that new audience will feel like they are in fact starting from the beginning.

Finally a note about narration; normally I am not a fan of driving narration.  In fact that alone is the reason I am one of 2 people I know that wasn’t a huge fan of Arrested Development (the other having never seen the show)  that part of the show annoyed me to the point I may have to shoot Ron Howard on site.  However I think the narration often compliments the sweeping pans and zooms the camera is doing during the majority of narrations. 

I may add some spoilers to this tonight, but honestly I hope you all just watch the show!