DVD Review: Dead Like Me The Complete Series
Showtime Series and Movie About Everyday Reapers Hit DVD
Mar 11, 2009
An inventive take on the concept of death, the afterlife, and the bureaucracy in between, Dead Like Me follows a small group of happy-go-lucky "undead" reapers, tasked with reaping souls from people scheduled to die in all manner of bizarre ways, in Seattle.
Dead Like Me Synopsis:
Georgia "George" Lass (Ellen Muth) is a typical sarcastic misfit teen, who is asked by her parents to go out into the world and get a day job, having graduated high school and having dropped out of college.
Upon her first day at a monotonous temp agency (ironically called "Happy Time"), George takes a lunch break, only to be hit by a flaming meteorite from space, which turns out to be the toilet seat from Mir. Interestingly enough, George seems to survive the explosion (though seeing her pulverized remains in the resulting crater) only to be told by a nearby man, named Rube Sofer (Mandy Patinkin, The Princess Bride), that she has just been recruited as a reaper, an agent of the afterlife tasked with removing the souls of the soon to be departed, before their mortal coils meet their demise.
In her new occupation (well, one of them, anyways...reapers still need to eat and live somewhere, so they pick up day jobs --- mortals don't see who they used to be, for fear of recognizing deceased reapers), George encounters some of her new colleagues, including a former starlet from the late 30's (Laura Harris), a moody meter maid (Jasmine Guy), and an irresponsible British punk rocker (Callum Blue).
Each morning, this ragtag group meets at their favorite waffle restaurant, where Rube assigns them names of souls to be reaped, at a given place and time, using handy yellow post-its (product placement?)
What's the challenge? Well, it seems "The Powers That Be" who provide the names to Rube, only provide a first initial and a last name. It's then up to each reaper to figure out who their assigned reap is, before they die horribly, due to external forces caused by invisible gremlin-like creatures called "gravelings". Each reaper's adventures in solving this peculiar riddle prior to reaping the right soul, is the source of many jokes throughout the course of the series.
Dead Like Me: The Complete Series Overall Analysis
Dead Like Me is what fun television is all about. While it doesn't necessarily fall in the dramedy category, the show has enough of a balance between dark humor, and some sadder elements, such as how George's already dysfunctional family deal with her passing, unaware she still exists in town, as an undead agent of the hereafter.
And so much of the drama revolves around grief-stricken mother Joy (Cynthia Stevenson), unhappy dad Clancy (Greg Kean), and emotionally disconnected little sister Reggie (Britt McKillip). Though their situation wasn't exactly pristine prior to George's death, her untimely passing only aggravates their conflicts, as each one deals with their loss. Though reapers are usually forbidden from communicating with their loved ones, the ever-so stubborn George still finds ways to keep track of her family's affairs, much to Rube's disapproval.
While the above may be filled with drama and sorrow, the true essence of the show rests with the comedic daily interactions between reapers. Mandy Patinkin's Rube is a real treat, as he handles his subordinates with affectionate authority, while still insisting on maintaining a moral measure of sanctity to his team's tasks.Much of the power of this show comes from dialogue stemming from Rube and George, as he slowly acts as a surrogate father to her, in her new role.
As for Callum Blue and Jasmine Guy, their characters are played for comical effect, with Mason (Blue) always getting into some sort of trouble, and Roxy (Guy) always at the ready pointing out where he went wrong in his latest scheme. Laura Harris' character of Daisy is somewhat unimportant, save for the purpose of serving as eye candy for the lecherous Mason.
Dead Like Me The Complete Series DVD Features
The complete set incorporates both seasons of the show, and also include this year's follow-up TV movie, Dead Like Me: Life After Death, which picks up the storyline five years after the final episode. In the movie, each reaper is still hard at work grabbing souls in a timely fashion, however Rube is no longer in charge (Mandy Patinkin wasn't available for the film project, and was promptly written out of the storyline.)
The film mostly deals with how the team (if we can call them that) handles the arrival of a new head reaper, named Cameron Kane (Henry Ian Cusick, best known as Desmond Hume on Lost ), who has no real intention to carry on business as usual, preferring to use up the gift of immortality bestowed on reapers to enjoy all of the best things in life instead.
Though it is fun to see all of our favorite characters in action (minus Laura Harris, who plays starlet Daisy, Harris wasn't available either, and so she is played by Sarah Wynter in the movie), the movie just didn't have the same intensity and fun that the show had on a weekly basis, and so Patinkin's absence is really felt, and hurts the project's quality overall.
The nine disc set also includes some cast interviews, and some special effects features, explaining the often intricate process of simulating accidents which take the lives of the recently departed, on the show. Another interesting feature explains how the show creators came up with the final look of the nasty little gravelings, as seen in all of the episodes.
8/10 for the show itself, for being consistent and of great television value.
5/10 for the standalone movie, for failing to maintain the tone of the show.
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