Bored to Death week 5: Back on track

This is more like it. After a disappointing fourth episode, “Bored to Death” is back on track with a funny episode that offers the fullest exploration to date of the possibilities of Jonathan as an amateur sleuth.

Things are more promising right from the fade in as the story begins with some cloak-and-dagger intrigue as Jonathan meets a mysterious Russian by “The Prison Ship Martyr’s Monument,” complete with code words to assure identities (which Jonathan of course bungles).

The man asks Jonathan to find a woman he was with only once… before he was sent off to prison. The woman, Irina the Lonely Dove, sings at a Russian nightclub. The search, for a change, is the main story of the episode, and it allows Jonathan to draw Ray and the two men’s girlfriends (or in Jonathan’s case, ex-girlfriend) into the story. That leaves poor Ted Danson’s George out in the cold in terms of screen time, but his short story line is perhaps the richest of the show. The upshot is that for the first time, Jonathan doesn’t feel like a bit player in his own series.

That said, there is little detective work here; he goes where the Russian tells him to and finds the girl almost immediately. The fun here is in the immersion into a different culture and the unintended consequences for the two couples.

George, however, steals the show. His magazine’s readership numbers are dropping, and they are losing women at a fast clip. His therapist suggests that he try bisexuality to get in touch with his feminine side, so he decides to give it a shot. He calls a male escort, and finds that he has quite a bit in common with the guy… except for their attraction to men, it seems. It gives Danson yet another showcase for his talents. Though he is the catalyst for this show, I’d rather see him on a show of his own. His work here and on past seasons of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” prove he is better by far than “Becker.”

One note, the Russian songbird is Branka Katic, who also played Bill’s Russian girlfriend-almost fourth wife on HBO’s “Big Love.”

Best lines:

Jonathan (to George after the latter tells him of his bisexuality plan): “But if you experiment with bisexuality, it’ll just make you more gay, not necessarily more feminine.”

Ray (to Jonathan after the latter complains of a big hangover): “You’ve got to write something. I do my best work hungover. I have less brain cells to confuse the issue.”