DROP DEAD DIVA: Back from the Dead

Drop Dead Diva fans, you rock the house! I loved all your comments last week, and I am glad to know the show has a home here on the site.

The episode was kind of serious, didn’t you think? Once again, there were two cases running parallel throughout the hour. Jane represented a woman who wished to keep her missing son Daniel (Chad Lowe) from being presumed dead. The opposition is the son’s widow, who has re-married and wishes for her new husband (one of Dan’s former friends) to adopt the son she had with Dan. It gets complicated when Daniel re-appears, alive and interested in getting his life back, and at the very least, his son. What I really liked about this case was that there wasn’t really a villain. DDD can be kind of black and white in the whole good vs. evil thing, but this case had many more gray areas, with real, honest people not looking to get rich quick or screw someone over, and that is just so much more true to life (I hope). It was impossible to choose a side. Underneath all of that was Jane’s complete ability to understand what Dan was feeling. I loved when Dan described his life as not being gone, but like in a museum. Able to be seen, but not touched. Heartbreaking.

I loved this case. I loved Daniel being able to question Lindsey on the stand. I loved the small smile they shared earlier in the case. I loved the way Carl leaned forward, wanting to protect his wife. I also liked the sort of non-resolution with Daniel leaving town with his mother. It wasn’t completely satisfying, but it still felt right, if that makes sense.

The second case is handled by Kim. She is recruited by Jonathan Noble, a writer Parker thinks is a real man’s man. To both of their surprise, JN is a woman writing under a pseudonym. The man she hired to be Jonathan Noble on press photos and jacket covers is now trying to assume that identity. Meanwhile…I kind of imagined a hum of chemistry between Kim & Parker. What do you think? Either way, I really laughed at Parker kind of getting rejected on his date. I liked how their case turned out as well.

But back to Jane. Oh, girl! The three messages. The interrupting the ‘date’. The compliment of the blouse. Not to mention, seeing Deb everywhere. I felt bad for her.

Do you know who I’m absolutely crazy about this season? Stacy. We didn’t talk much about her last week, but with the way this episode began with her comforting Jane, how can we not talk about her now? She is such a great friend, and I think a lot of us have been in that exact situation, analyzing an unreturned phone message (or three) with a friend. And I loved the way she rescued Jane from the Tony disaster. How big was the disaster? “Remember when you died in that car accident? This is close.” Hahaha! But I also loved her genuine sadness about not being able to bring Jane to Grayson’s birthday gathering in Deb’s memory. It caught me off guard; the bubbly Stacy is dealing with Deb’s death. That she has Deb in Jane’s body is a nice buffer in some ways, and she has that more than Grayson has that in Jane, but it still has to be tough on her. How great was it that the show let us see just a flinch of Stacy’s pain?

Last week, I mentioned I think I’m a Grayson/Jane shipper, but after a re-watch and careful consideration during this episode, I also really liked Jane & Tony. First of all, David Denman is great, and secondly, I love how Tony pretty much gives it to Jane pretty straight. Jane’s “I don’t exist well in limbo” took my breath away. Her final conversation with Daniel at the airport was also touching. I love this show because it’s bubbly and funny and summerlicious, but that underlying theme of Jane/Deb/Old Jane, and all of the tension therein is incredibly compelling. This was an excellent second episode to a second season.

Final notes:

• I kind of like the idea of Fred assisting Kim at the office. It will give Fred’s character more purpose. Someone mentioned the idea of a Fred & Jane combo, now that he’s human, and to that, I say, hmmm…interesting! I like the idea.

• Grayson was basically MIA in this episode, but I was thinking about him a few times, with the whole Deb’s birthday thing. And I think his toast proved that he wasn’t as over Deb as maybe we thought.

• I don’t know you guys, but to me, this episode kind of settled that ‘fat vs thin’ argument once and for all. This show just scrapes all of that away to the pure ESSENCE of people. When Jane was watching through the bar window and then saw Deb watching HER life and then looked back and saw Deb’s life…her old life, her friends, her fiancée, her wine, her birthday cake…I cried. I think each of us, deep down, knows that what is on the surface isn’t all we have to offer. And even deeper down in there is that we want to be known. Just known for who we are. I am thankful for this show for really examining this issue.

Thoughts from you? Was I imagining the Kim&Parker chemistry? Is it curtains for Jane and Tony? Did you like this more serious side to the show? Do you think this is the last we’ll see of Deb? Let’s discuss!