"My Dead Friend Zoe" begins with a Rihanna clip: When the sun shines, we'll shine together. Told you I'll be here forever. Said I'll always be your friend. Took an oath, I'ma stick it out to the end.... Two friends, Zoe and Merit, are killing time. There is a little drop of sexual harassment from a colleague; there is a threat of death on the horizon. Also, the radio stops working. Zoe sort of likes her stint in Afghanistan; she has a sense of structure and purpose. Back home, she felt that school wasn't her thing. She thinks she might return to war right after completing her commitment. But Merit has academic ambitions, and she wants more for Zoe. She persuades Zoe to take a shot at civilian life. This doesn't work out well; adrift, drinking heavily, caught in a dead-end job, Civilian Zoe begins to contemplate suicide. Merit isn't answering her phone in a dependable way. A gun appears on a coffee table; you can fill in the blanks. Later, in mou...