| The
Review: |
In Season One, George was recruited
into the ranks of the Grim Reapers, those spirits in human
bodies that take the souls from people just moments before
they’re to die, after her unfortunate death from a falling
toilet from the space station Mir. Her supervisor for Unnatural
Deaths, Rube (Mandy Patinkin) uses yellow post it notes containing
the name, place and ETD or estimated time of death to inform
George and her fellow Reapers, who is about to die. The reap,
which is how they describe their job, requires them to make
personal contact, through touch, which frees the soul from
the impending fatality to the body. She is taken under the
wing of others who suffer from the same fate, and even has
to work a job at Happy Time to pay rent in the real world...
using a different body of course. Ellen Muth returns as Georgia
Lass, a teen-aged Grim Reaper.
Season Two furthers George’s emotional
growth from Season One’s generally bad attitude about being
cheated of her young life. George spends time between fellow
reapers Rube (Mandy Patinkin), the team’s leader; Daisy (Laura
Harris), a vain actress that died on the set of Gone with
the Wind; Mason (Callum Blue), a British junkie who overdosed;
and Roxy (Jasmine Guy), a meter maid murdered in the early
‘80s – and her coworkers at Happy Time, a temp agency where
George works.
This second season allowed the audience
to get to know George, Rube and the small band of reapers
in a far more intimate and human way than the first season.
The show has three basic story lines running through it…one
is George’s interaction with her fellow Reapers, Happy Time,
the temp agency where George works, and on the periphery,
George’s still living family. George was lackadaisical in
life. In death, during Season Two, she learns about life,
taking responsibility and caring about others… even though,
technically, she’s dead. The angst of growing up from a unique
perspective.
Season 2’s all about change is reflected
in her day job at Happy Time as Millie, where she flirts with
and kisses the entirely-too-dumb-for-words new employee thus
leading to a promotion, and as a reaper where life’s questions
get answered while she deals with death. Delores Herbig (Christine
Willes) Millie’s Boss at Happy Time, is by far one of the
most entertaining characters. She truly is fun to watch.
Another thing that happens within
this season is love. The beauty of the relationships in this
season are that they seem completely unconventional yet entirely
natural. Daisy and Mason play theirs off so wonderfully, even
when newcomer Ray (Will and Grace's Eric McCormack) steps
in and leads Daisy by the bullhorns. Good storylines. George's
family, mainly mother, Joy (Cynthia Stevenson) and younger
sister, Reggie (Britt McKillip) are amazing. Joy is a woman
who continues to lose everything she loves. Her daughter gets
blasted by a toilet seat, her other daughter seems to be losing
her mind, and then her husband cheats on her with a student.
The following divorce and attempted move really make Joy's
life wonderful. The appearance of Joy's mother, a free-spirited
drifter brings a little happiness to Reggie's life, and a
lot of painful memories to Joy's.
The show writers have given the
ensemble characters more depth by revealing their life prior
to their new employment. Rube the Head Reaper, has a young
daughter, whose existence we were given a brief glimpse in
Season One. In season Two we are given real insights in what
motivates Rube, how long he has been doing his job, and perhaps
a dark past. The show’s characters are juicy enough to care
for or to become disgusted with… the sign of a good show.
At least this reviewer thought so but alas the network cancelled
further production of the series. The stories are very original,
just like the concept of the show, although some of the subplots
of George's family and her temp agency are weak, all are well
worth watching.
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| The
Extras: |
All extras
are on the fourth disc. “Dead Like Me…Again” (10:51), is a
featurette with interviews with the cast and crew. The “Putting
Life Into Death” menu presents six short featurettes that
take viewers behind-the-scenes of the show’s special effects:
“Gravelings” (3:05), “Dirty Old Man” (1:30), “Falling Flower”
(2:13), “Death Ripple” (1:40), “Disco Priest” (1:24), and
“Bouncing Glass” (1:32). Nothing new here if you are familiar
with the special effect process.
The nine deleted scenes at times reveal even more of the
various storylines they are from. Worth watching. There is
also a fully navigable “Photo Gallery” that contains 57 publicity
and production stills.
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