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‘dead like me’ S1: More clever version of good ‘Reaper’
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George and the reapers
As my article on the direct-to-DVD ‘dead like me’ movie “Life After Death” stated, this release includes the two seasons of this wonderfully quirky dramedy that first ran on Showtime beginning in 2003. The first season episodes reminded me of the more comedic show “Reaper,” which is in its second season on the CW network.
However, ‘dead’ is more artistic and has greater depth than “Reaper.” It is simply the type of odd quirky show that often thrives on cable. In some respects, this terrific show can also be thought of as whistling while walking past a graveyard.
Georgia “George” Lass, who is the lead character on “dead,” was an 18 year-old slacker who was killed during her first day on a tedious dead-end temp. filing job. Sam, who is the lead character on “Reaper,” is a 20-something slacker with a dead-end job at a poorly disguised version of Home Depot.
George has the job of freeing souls from their bodies just before someone died as a result of a murder, a suicide, or an (usually hilarious but still gruesome) accident. Her “day job” consists of clerical work at the temp. agency that hired her for the filing. Sam has the job of capturing condemned souls who have escaped from hell.
George was forced into the job because her soul was the last one of an undesignated number that a reaper freed just before George and a falling flaming toilet seat from a space station had a fatal encounter. A contract, which Sam’s mother and her husband entered, that gave the devil Sam’s soul is why he must reap.
An additional similarity is that these two characters are actually doing good deeds. Freeing a soul before death saves it from the pain, and frequent disfigurement, from that death. Returning souls to Hell ends the murders and other evil acts that they have committed after their escape from Hell.
The two shows are even both set in Seattle; my guess is that this is because this very nice city appeals to the shows’ younger, or younger at heart, core audiences.
The issues that ‘dead’ addresses include the randomness of death and how not dying when whoever or whatever has determined to be your time can have a domino effect that can include dire consequences. It also has a nice surreal look that includes very nice magical images of the entry into the afterlife that is very typical of the wonderful fairy-tale style of series creator Bryan Fuller.
“dead” also has a great cast of characters that include Mandy Patinkin, who plays the manager of the reapers as a cynical father figure with a heart of gold. His scenes in which he is training George are among the best in the season.
British slacker, womanizer, and pre-grave robber Mason is the most interesting of George’s peers. His stoner mentality and boneheaded crimes are very amusing. Further, the way in which Mason died shows the difficulty of drilling things in his head.
As always, comments are welcome as additions to this entry and as an e-mail to tvdvdguy@gmail.com.
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