If the first week of "Bored to Death" was about setting the premise, week two was about better developing the three character's at the show's core. To recap from last week, writer Jonathan Ames battles the loss of his girlfriend and trouble following up his debut novel by posting an ad on Craigslist offering his services as a private detective. Improbably, he gets calls and takes cases.

Last week, he took a missing persons case; this week it was following a guy for a jealous girlfriend. While there is plenty of potential in a show about an average guy trying to emulate the great pulp noir detectives of 40s and 50s fiction, thus far it is being used as little more than a device to bring Jonathan into strange situations. As such, the stories have been a bit thin. That's OK, however, as the real treat has been the interaction among the characters.

Jonathan, played by Jason Schwartzman, is almost Seinfeldian; he is the straight man around which revolves a cast of strange characters. We learn a bit more about his two closest friends, Ray, the comic artist played by Zach Galifianakis, and George, the magazine editor played by Ted Danson.

Ray, who has troubles with his girlfriend, Leah, goes for a colonic at her behest. Explaining it to Jonathan, he implores his friend to go with him: "I have a real phobia around my ass," he explains.

Meanwhile, George hits Jonathan with a description of life that explains his rather clingy, lonely existence, and plays up a theme of duplicity and falsehood in the episode. He tells Jonathan that relationships and love are based on projection; no one loves someone else for who they are. He tells Jonathan that they are featured in each other's movie, but that they are different movies, a nice set up for a later quip about "Fight Club."

As for the case: Kristin Wiig from "Saturday Night Live" plays the same character she plays in everything else as a drunken girlfriend who fears her boyfriend is cheating on her. Jonathan follows the guy, engages in conversation, and eventually tracks him to an Alanon meeting. There, he sees his ex-girlfriend, and fears his prey and his ex are an item. A confrontation leaves things a mess, though Jonathan seems to take hope from something Wiig mentions when he tells her he saw the boyfriend at Alanon: "He must really love me" to go to those lengths, she says.

Best lines:

Jonathan: "I'm kind of a non-practicing vegan."

Jonathan (outside the Alanon meeting): I don't mean to be insensitive, but do you know where there's a bar around here where I could kill some time?"

George (to Jonathan): "You need to be sane when I'm insane."

Best costuming: Ray wears a bed-sheet cape while drawing himself as a super hero.

Labels: Bored to Death, HBO, Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson, Zach Galifianakis