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fandomhigh_ooc2007-03-18 03:11 am
actingreaper) wrote in fandomhigh_ooc2007-03-18 03:11 am
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Spotlight on Fandoms: Dead Like Me
Dead Like Me is a Showtime original series created by Brian Fuller that ran for two seasons starting in 2003. It's the story of Georgia "George" Lass, an 18 year old college drop out with no goals and less direction in her life, other than generally just being cynical and snarky as all get out. This all changes in the first episode, when George's mother orders her to get a job, and on her very first lunch break, she is struck dead by a deorbiting toilet seat from the MIR Space Station.
And that's where it all gets started.
George quickly learns that she is not just dead, but is in fact undead, having become a Grim Reaper, destined to pull the souls of the soon to be deceased and help them move on to whatever comes next. Problem is, well, George may be dead, but she's still cynical and snarky as all get out, and she's not big on playing by the rules . . . and ends up, in her undeath, learning to get a life.
The show is a very character driven show, and after the first few episodes of explaining some of the rules to being a reaper, it's really all about the people and how they connect, or disconnect, with one another.
But that's just the bare bones basics. Want more details?
(please note that there are some spoilers in every cut section, though I've tried to keep them very minor)
The Premise: or "just what is this reaper business you're talking about?"
So, it's taken me, like, six tries to write this up about the reapers and such without overdoing it on the rules of the show's universe and the role of the reaper, complete with episode citations and such . . . but I'm not here to summarize the show for you, I'm here to get you interested. If you want to read that other stuff, I'll be writing it up . . . maybe . . . eventually . . . I started an outline.
The basic idea of the show is that, when a person dies, there is a grim reaper assigned to the scene to take their soul before death and spare them the pain. The reaper is then there to help resolve any lingering issues and move the soul on to their next (and one assumes, final) destination. The reapers themselves are poor shmucks who, in dying, got roped with a job that pays nothing at all and gives very little information. The only information they get on the soon to be deceased is an initial and a last name, a place and an "ETD", or Estimated Time of Death. It's up to the reaper to figure out who the person is and get to them before their demise.
The show focuses on one team of reapers in Seacouverttle, Washington. They're a part of the outside influence division, those who reap the souls of people dying of outside influence. No one sick, or dying of old age for these guys. It's all murders, accidents, and suicides. Which leads to some very creative death sequences, which are a big part of the show's dark charm. The thing with these reapers, though, is that while they don't die or age, and they can heal wounds in seconds, they still have to eat, sleep, stay warm, all that good stuff. Since reaping doesn't pay anything, they either have to survive on what they can take from the dead, or get real jobs.
For George, that means Happy Time Temp Agency, which is . . . well, it's every bad office stereotype from a sitcom combined. It's kind of beautiful.
And so you have it: a show about dead people taking the souls of the soon-to-be-dead, but also a show about the living folks the dead people leave behind, the nature of life and death. About crappy jobs and growing up and living on your own for the first time, about finding yourself and finding friends and fitting in without losing your individuality. This show has it all, man, and a damned fine sense of black humor to go along with it.
The Characters: they're what really gets it going, after all
Main character:
Georgia "George" Lass: (Ellen Muth) Our protagonist (it wouldn't quite be accurate to call her a heroine). George seems, at first, to be your typical teenaged cynical burn out. She has a whole rant almost the instant you meet her about how she's found that life is much simpler and more enjoyable if you never bother to set goals for yourself. That way, there are no disappointments. Ever. She doesn't respect anyone who doesn't force that respect on her. She rarely, if ever, smiles. She purposefully digs at things she knows irritate the people around her, and she has an emotional wall put up so high that it takes something truly drastic, her own death, to bring it tumbling down. We're given glimpses into her youth (weetiny!George is played by Talia Ranger) and hints into the reasons why she's so bitter, cynical, and brittle when we first meet her in the series. She is forced to learn to get along and follow the rules as a reaper, though. The consequences are much more visible, the choices she has to make much more important to the grand scheme of things, and she has to do a lot of growing up. Ellen Muth plays it out beatifully through out.
There's something special about George. You'll have to watch to see what I mean.
The Reapers: When George dies, she joins up with a diverse and colorful group of reapers. This is them.
Rube Sofer: (Mandy Patinkin) No, he never says "hello, my name is Inigo Montoya", though I admit I spent the first few episodes half expecting it. He does, however, get to sing in season 2.
Rube is the leader of the Seattle team of the outside influence division. While I don't recall any specific date of death for him, we are shown that it was in the late 19th or early 20th century. He's the oldest of the group, and the one who tells the reapers who is going to reap whom. He does this by way of post-it notes.
Kind of makes you wonder what he did before post-its.
Rube has a fixation on food. He loves food. Food makes its way into every single metaphor he uses, and he uses plenty. He calls George "Peanut". He's a responsible, stand up kind of guy, and so long as you keep him on your good side, he'll walk through fire for you without more than a few snarky comments. He has a long, but explosive temper, and throughout the show, he remains the most mysterious of the reapers. He has a bloody beautiful storyline in the second season, though, that just might make you cry.
Betty Rhomer: (Rebecca Gayheart) Betty is a fun loving, free spirited girl straight from the roaring 20s. She's Rube's right hand lady for the first five episodes of the show, and she really and truly loves the reap. Unfortunately, it's her fun loving, risk taking nature that leads to her leaving the group very early on, and while her departure raises interesting questions and helps George along her way to maturity, we never really get to know Betty all that well.
Daisy Adair: (Laura Harris) Our one and only, our very own, Daisy Adair. Daisy is the reaper sent in from New York City to replace Betty after she leaves. At first she seems to be nothing more than a shallow knock-off of Betty's character, a swinger from the early 20th century, the hot chick to balance out George's youth and Rube's old crotchety nature. But we very quickly learn that Daisy runs far deeper than that. She is actually from the late 30s, and while she's embraced her reaper nature with her entire being and puts up a shallow, goofy exterior to the world, she is still troubled by issues that remain unresolved from her life as an actress. She's thrust upon George as a new colleague and roommate from her very first day in Seattle, and initially, George can't stand her. They develop a bond throughout the show, though, and Daisy ends up, I think, being something of a mentor for George, not that George will ever admit it.
Daisy has a true soft place in her heart for men who are trying to come to terms with themselves and who they are to the rest of the world, and through those characters, we see that she, herself, hasn't come to terms with her own death or her own place in the world, either. She searches for identity and love, but doesn't believe that she deserves either.
Mason: (Callum Blue) Mason is the bad-boy of the group. He's the congenital screw-up with even less direction than even George had in life. He's jobless and scrupple-less. He smuggles "illegals in [his] bottom" and while he's in constant fear of the consequences of his actions, he can't ever seem to get responsible enough to do things the way they're supposed to be done. He dates from 60s era England, but despite being one of the older reapers on the team, he is often less mature than George herself.
In the audio commentary of the series premiere, Callum states that he would love it if Mason never, ever grew or learned as a character. To some extent? He never does. He does balance the dual roles of being the sex symbol and the goofy comic relief extremely well, though.
Mason has a monstrous crush on Daisy from the first moment he lays eyes on her, and he pursues her throughout the series, despite having established some small UST with George early on. He sees himself as a sort of white knight to women in need, especially those being mistreated by other men, and some of his few great, successful moments are the ones where this side shines though. He is constantly on Rube's bad side, though he must have proven himself to the man at some point, because Rube is also willing to take care of him when he manages to screw something up enough that he can't fix it.
Mason cares deeply for the souls that he reaps, despite his seeming inability to do it properly. The best thing you can say for him is that he's trying, very, very hard.
He's just not very good at it.
Roxy Harvey: (Jasmine Guy) "She will kick your ass." Roxy is the token tough ethnic woman, and she does it very, very well. She takes herself and her job, both as a meter maid (and in the second season, a cop) and a reaper, very seriously. She answers to no one but Rube, and does not put up well with the antics of her fellow reapers. She dates from the 80s, making her the second youngest reaper on the crew, but her tough personae and no nonsense attitude makes her seem much older.
Rube loves Roxy in that he very seldom has to tell her to do anything twice. She gets her job done, though he doesn't always agree with her methods.
Like the others, she is still coming to terms with her life and her undeath. While she has very little patience for people's bull, she has a lot of empathy for those who try to make the world a better, easier place, and is willing to bend the rules for someone who has shown her regular kindness.
Roxy also is the one in the show who demonstrates one of the other aspects of the reaper's power: to pull the soul of the living even when they are not about to die. It's not something she does easily, but you get enough on her bad side, and she'll do whatever it takes to knock you down.
Seriously. In, like, the second episode, she ruthlessly runs down Mason in her meter-maid-mobile. It's awesome.
There are a few other reapers who make more than just cameo appearances in the show, including a child who reaps pets, and a woman who died on the Titanic and works with the old age division, but the ones above are the regulars.
The Living One of the things that makes this show great is that it doesn't just focus on Rube's crew of reapers. It also follows the stories of George's family and how they are affected by her death. Along with George's coworkers at her part-time job at the Happy Time Temp Agency, the Lasses make up a wonderful supporting cast and often have plots and stories that are even more powerful than those of the reapers.
Joy Lass: (Cynthia Stevenson) George's long suffering and just as cynical mother. It's no question throughout the series that Joy loves her daughters and her family very deeply, though she doesn't often show it around other people. She is pathologically afraid of balloons, and hates the word "moist". She thinks it's pornographic.
At the start of the show, we see her as the unhappy matriarch of a dysfunctional family, unable to really connect with any of the other people in her household, especially George. The last words she ever says to her eldest daughter while she's still alive are "There's going to be a funeral if you don't get that ass out of bed", and while this is used as a snarky joke when it occurs, it's obvious later that she deeply regrets them.
After George's death, Joy makes more of an effort to connect to her remaining daughter and to make things work with her husband, but the cards are stacked against her. Her entire life is turned upside down, and the effort of putting it back into shape is one that weighs on her heavily.
There are very brief hints to UST between her and Rube, whom she meets on occasion.
While Joy's methods of dealing with the loss of George and the other changes in her life may at times make you want to hate her, Cynthia plays them with such honesty that you can't help but sympathize with her grief and frustration.
Clancy Lass: (Greg Kean) George's distant and adulterous father. In the first few episodes, it's hinted that Clancy is actually gay. Much to many people's disappointment, this plot line was dropped after the original creator left the show, and we learn that he is having affairs with his female students at the university where he teaches literature. As with Joy, George's death is a catalyst for Clancy to make something of his life. Unfortunately, his relationship with Joy becomes even more rocky, and his attempts to connect with his remaining daughter are as unsuccessful as Joy's. We don't get to see as much of Clancy's struggle as we do of Joy's, but it is no less present.
Perhaps the best moments for Clancy are those that happen in flashbacks, where we see him interacting with young George and see the father/daughter bond at its best.
Reggie Lass: (Britt McKillip) George's younger sister. Our first introduction to Reggie is as a pair of floating glasses. When George is alive, she mostly ignores her younger sister. It's only after her death that she realizes what a mistake this was and tries to make up for it. Reggie is the only member of the Lass family who realizes that George, while dead, hasn't quite left. George often leaves her presents and hints, and early on, sneaks into her sister's room to watch over her.
Reggie idolized George in her life, and her death affects her greatly. She becomes more withdrawn and weirder, and her methods of dealing with her grief are at once hysterical and startling. This only puts more distance between her and her parents, who can't quite understand what she's trying to do, and think that her belief that George still comes back to visit her is a sign of a potential mental illness. Reggie also chooses to take on certain aspects of George after her death, namely her prickly, cynical nature, something which annoys and worries Joy, especially, to no end.
Watching Reggie grow from a floating pair of glasses into a more confident preteen with her own thoughts and ideas is great, and Reggie actually manages to come out of her grief stronger and more put together than either of her parents.
Delores Herbig: (Christine Willes) "As in 'her big brown eyes'" George's kooky, bizarre, aggressively cheerful boss at the Happy Time Temp Agency. Delores is a woman who has been through the ringer and come out the other side. When she first meets George (before the MIR toilet seat), she sees only a disaffected young woman who isn't even worth trying to fix. She sends her off to an assignment without much further thought. But when George returns after her death in the guise of Millie, the cheerful, albeit somewhat confused, young woman who actually wants a job, Delores takes to her instantly and takes her under her wing.
Delores is a kook. She has an aging pet cat named Murray. She bowls and keeps a scrap book. She has her entire house rigged with web cameras for a home improvement website, and the cameras are on 24/7. She goes on singles websites to find herself a man, and she role plays as a medieval Lady in her spare time. She . . . possibly sleeps with homeless people. She's a former crack addict with a soft spot for those who are trying to improve their lives and climb out of the gutter, and she sees George-as-Millie as a younger version of herself. She quickly becomes something of a surrogate mother for George, but is mostly a comic relief character.
Crystal: (Crystal Dahl) Crystal is . . . Crystal is weird. She's the receptionist at Happy Time. She doesn't say much. She stares a lot. She and George get into a prank war early on before forming a truce. There's something about Crystal that just isn't quite right. And that makes her brilliant as a secondary character.
There's a theory that Crystal is actually a reaper, and hints to that effect throughout the show. We do know, eventually, that she used to work in espionage.
That's really about all we know, though, except that she has a boyfriend at Happy Time who looks frighteningly like her and is, I believe, played by the same actress.
She's completely unflappable.
and last but not least:
Kiffany: (Patricia Idlette) Kiffany is a waitress at Der Wafflehouse, the IHOPish diner where the reapers meet every morning to receive their assignments. Despite the fact that she must have heard some extraordinary things out of that group over the years (or perhaps because of it), she doesn't seem to react much to the things they do or say or the odd things that seem to happen around them. Rube tips her well, and that seems to be good enough for her.
Well, that's all well and good, but why should I watch?
Because it's funny. Even and especially the death sequences. It's a show that manages an incredible balance between farcical absurdity and deep tragedy. It's a show about life and death, literally and metaphorically. About seizing every living moment and appreciating the things that you may eventually lose. It's about love and hate, moments of good fortune and bad, about growing up and growing old and moving on.
Each of the primary reaps in the show has an emotional theme, be it love for life, fear of death, fear of the unknown, personal identity, spritual awareness . . . but it very seldom ever gets into the realm of preachiness, and there's plenty of slapstick and verbal comedy to keep things going at a good pace. The mythology of the show is loose but mostly consistent and very real. The characters are well rounded and beautifully created, both by the writing and the acting.
And let's not forget the music, including Pink Martini, Metisse, the obligatory "Hell" by the Squirrel Nut Zippers, and some fantastic instrumentals . . . and every now and then you'll spot a delightful guest star.
Seriously, it's a damned good show. But don't just take my word for it, go and check it out and see.
Random videos for fun watchinationg!
Please note that these videos are from a Showtime show, so language and visuals may not be work-appropriate. That means cursing, violence, and sex, folks.
Character moments
Delores and George
Mason, Daisy, George, and Roxy
The reapers meet Crystal
Roxie and Mason
Rube
George and Delores with a side of Rube and just a smidge of Betty and Crystal
Guest star samples
Jewel Staite (definitely NWS)
Gavin Dewgraw
And, of course, the deaths, reaps, and aftermath
Death at the bank
Death at the Country music bar
Death at the country club
Aftermath: George effed up
Aftermath: she just doesn't get it
Aftermath: he should have been a girl
Alas, there were no videos of the Lasses that I could find on YouTube. This is a total travesty. At the very least, there ought to be some of Reggie and the taxidermy class. . . .
Convinced? Want more? Both seasons are available on DVD. Want more info first? Check it out on IMDb, on Wikipedia, or at the official website.
Now, go. Shoo. Let me know what you think.
And that's where it all gets started.
George quickly learns that she is not just dead, but is in fact undead, having become a Grim Reaper, destined to pull the souls of the soon to be deceased and help them move on to whatever comes next. Problem is, well, George may be dead, but she's still cynical and snarky as all get out, and she's not big on playing by the rules . . . and ends up, in her undeath, learning to get a life.
The show is a very character driven show, and after the first few episodes of explaining some of the rules to being a reaper, it's really all about the people and how they connect, or disconnect, with one another.
But that's just the bare bones basics. Want more details?
(please note that there are some spoilers in every cut section, though I've tried to keep them very minor)
So, it's taken me, like, six tries to write this up about the reapers and such without overdoing it on the rules of the show's universe and the role of the reaper, complete with episode citations and such . . . but I'm not here to summarize the show for you, I'm here to get you interested. If you want to read that other stuff, I'll be writing it up . . . maybe . . . eventually . . . I started an outline.
The basic idea of the show is that, when a person dies, there is a grim reaper assigned to the scene to take their soul before death and spare them the pain. The reaper is then there to help resolve any lingering issues and move the soul on to their next (and one assumes, final) destination. The reapers themselves are poor shmucks who, in dying, got roped with a job that pays nothing at all and gives very little information. The only information they get on the soon to be deceased is an initial and a last name, a place and an "ETD", or Estimated Time of Death. It's up to the reaper to figure out who the person is and get to them before their demise.
The show focuses on one team of reapers in Sea
For George, that means Happy Time Temp Agency, which is . . . well, it's every bad office stereotype from a sitcom combined. It's kind of beautiful.
And so you have it: a show about dead people taking the souls of the soon-to-be-dead, but also a show about the living folks the dead people leave behind, the nature of life and death. About crappy jobs and growing up and living on your own for the first time, about finding yourself and finding friends and fitting in without losing your individuality. This show has it all, man, and a damned fine sense of black humor to go along with it.
Main character:
Georgia "George" Lass: (Ellen Muth) Our protagonist (it wouldn't quite be accurate to call her a heroine). George seems, at first, to be your typical teenaged cynical burn out. She has a whole rant almost the instant you meet her about how she's found that life is much simpler and more enjoyable if you never bother to set goals for yourself. That way, there are no disappointments. Ever. She doesn't respect anyone who doesn't force that respect on her. She rarely, if ever, smiles. She purposefully digs at things she knows irritate the people around her, and she has an emotional wall put up so high that it takes something truly drastic, her own death, to bring it tumbling down. We're given glimpses into her youth (weetiny!George is played by Talia Ranger) and hints into the reasons why she's so bitter, cynical, and brittle when we first meet her in the series. She is forced to learn to get along and follow the rules as a reaper, though. The consequences are much more visible, the choices she has to make much more important to the grand scheme of things, and she has to do a lot of growing up. Ellen Muth plays it out beatifully through out.
There's something special about George. You'll have to watch to see what I mean.
The Reapers: When George dies, she joins up with a diverse and colorful group of reapers. This is them.
Rube Sofer: (Mandy Patinkin) No, he never says "hello, my name is Inigo Montoya", though I admit I spent the first few episodes half expecting it. He does, however, get to sing in season 2.
Rube is the leader of the Seattle team of the outside influence division. While I don't recall any specific date of death for him, we are shown that it was in the late 19th or early 20th century. He's the oldest of the group, and the one who tells the reapers who is going to reap whom. He does this by way of post-it notes.
Kind of makes you wonder what he did before post-its.
Rube has a fixation on food. He loves food. Food makes its way into every single metaphor he uses, and he uses plenty. He calls George "Peanut". He's a responsible, stand up kind of guy, and so long as you keep him on your good side, he'll walk through fire for you without more than a few snarky comments. He has a long, but explosive temper, and throughout the show, he remains the most mysterious of the reapers. He has a bloody beautiful storyline in the second season, though, that just might make you cry.
Betty Rhomer: (Rebecca Gayheart) Betty is a fun loving, free spirited girl straight from the roaring 20s. She's Rube's right hand lady for the first five episodes of the show, and she really and truly loves the reap. Unfortunately, it's her fun loving, risk taking nature that leads to her leaving the group very early on, and while her departure raises interesting questions and helps George along her way to maturity, we never really get to know Betty all that well.
Daisy Adair: (Laura Harris) Our one and only, our very own, Daisy Adair. Daisy is the reaper sent in from New York City to replace Betty after she leaves. At first she seems to be nothing more than a shallow knock-off of Betty's character, a swinger from the early 20th century, the hot chick to balance out George's youth and Rube's old crotchety nature. But we very quickly learn that Daisy runs far deeper than that. She is actually from the late 30s, and while she's embraced her reaper nature with her entire being and puts up a shallow, goofy exterior to the world, she is still troubled by issues that remain unresolved from her life as an actress. She's thrust upon George as a new colleague and roommate from her very first day in Seattle, and initially, George can't stand her. They develop a bond throughout the show, though, and Daisy ends up, I think, being something of a mentor for George, not that George will ever admit it.
Daisy has a true soft place in her heart for men who are trying to come to terms with themselves and who they are to the rest of the world, and through those characters, we see that she, herself, hasn't come to terms with her own death or her own place in the world, either. She searches for identity and love, but doesn't believe that she deserves either.
Mason: (Callum Blue) Mason is the bad-boy of the group. He's the congenital screw-up with even less direction than even George had in life. He's jobless and scrupple-less. He smuggles "illegals in [his] bottom" and while he's in constant fear of the consequences of his actions, he can't ever seem to get responsible enough to do things the way they're supposed to be done. He dates from 60s era England, but despite being one of the older reapers on the team, he is often less mature than George herself.
In the audio commentary of the series premiere, Callum states that he would love it if Mason never, ever grew or learned as a character. To some extent? He never does. He does balance the dual roles of being the sex symbol and the goofy comic relief extremely well, though.
Mason has a monstrous crush on Daisy from the first moment he lays eyes on her, and he pursues her throughout the series, despite having established some small UST with George early on. He sees himself as a sort of white knight to women in need, especially those being mistreated by other men, and some of his few great, successful moments are the ones where this side shines though. He is constantly on Rube's bad side, though he must have proven himself to the man at some point, because Rube is also willing to take care of him when he manages to screw something up enough that he can't fix it.
Mason cares deeply for the souls that he reaps, despite his seeming inability to do it properly. The best thing you can say for him is that he's trying, very, very hard.
He's just not very good at it.
Roxy Harvey: (Jasmine Guy) "She will kick your ass." Roxy is the token tough ethnic woman, and she does it very, very well. She takes herself and her job, both as a meter maid (and in the second season, a cop) and a reaper, very seriously. She answers to no one but Rube, and does not put up well with the antics of her fellow reapers. She dates from the 80s, making her the second youngest reaper on the crew, but her tough personae and no nonsense attitude makes her seem much older.
Rube loves Roxy in that he very seldom has to tell her to do anything twice. She gets her job done, though he doesn't always agree with her methods.
Like the others, she is still coming to terms with her life and her undeath. While she has very little patience for people's bull, she has a lot of empathy for those who try to make the world a better, easier place, and is willing to bend the rules for someone who has shown her regular kindness.
Roxy also is the one in the show who demonstrates one of the other aspects of the reaper's power: to pull the soul of the living even when they are not about to die. It's not something she does easily, but you get enough on her bad side, and she'll do whatever it takes to knock you down.
Seriously. In, like, the second episode, she ruthlessly runs down Mason in her meter-maid-mobile. It's awesome.
There are a few other reapers who make more than just cameo appearances in the show, including a child who reaps pets, and a woman who died on the Titanic and works with the old age division, but the ones above are the regulars.
The Living One of the things that makes this show great is that it doesn't just focus on Rube's crew of reapers. It also follows the stories of George's family and how they are affected by her death. Along with George's coworkers at her part-time job at the Happy Time Temp Agency, the Lasses make up a wonderful supporting cast and often have plots and stories that are even more powerful than those of the reapers.
Joy Lass: (Cynthia Stevenson) George's long suffering and just as cynical mother. It's no question throughout the series that Joy loves her daughters and her family very deeply, though she doesn't often show it around other people. She is pathologically afraid of balloons, and hates the word "moist". She thinks it's pornographic.
At the start of the show, we see her as the unhappy matriarch of a dysfunctional family, unable to really connect with any of the other people in her household, especially George. The last words she ever says to her eldest daughter while she's still alive are "There's going to be a funeral if you don't get that ass out of bed", and while this is used as a snarky joke when it occurs, it's obvious later that she deeply regrets them.
After George's death, Joy makes more of an effort to connect to her remaining daughter and to make things work with her husband, but the cards are stacked against her. Her entire life is turned upside down, and the effort of putting it back into shape is one that weighs on her heavily.
There are very brief hints to UST between her and Rube, whom she meets on occasion.
While Joy's methods of dealing with the loss of George and the other changes in her life may at times make you want to hate her, Cynthia plays them with such honesty that you can't help but sympathize with her grief and frustration.
Clancy Lass: (Greg Kean) George's distant and adulterous father. In the first few episodes, it's hinted that Clancy is actually gay. Much to many people's disappointment, this plot line was dropped after the original creator left the show, and we learn that he is having affairs with his female students at the university where he teaches literature. As with Joy, George's death is a catalyst for Clancy to make something of his life. Unfortunately, his relationship with Joy becomes even more rocky, and his attempts to connect with his remaining daughter are as unsuccessful as Joy's. We don't get to see as much of Clancy's struggle as we do of Joy's, but it is no less present.
Perhaps the best moments for Clancy are those that happen in flashbacks, where we see him interacting with young George and see the father/daughter bond at its best.
Reggie Lass: (Britt McKillip) George's younger sister. Our first introduction to Reggie is as a pair of floating glasses. When George is alive, she mostly ignores her younger sister. It's only after her death that she realizes what a mistake this was and tries to make up for it. Reggie is the only member of the Lass family who realizes that George, while dead, hasn't quite left. George often leaves her presents and hints, and early on, sneaks into her sister's room to watch over her.
Reggie idolized George in her life, and her death affects her greatly. She becomes more withdrawn and weirder, and her methods of dealing with her grief are at once hysterical and startling. This only puts more distance between her and her parents, who can't quite understand what she's trying to do, and think that her belief that George still comes back to visit her is a sign of a potential mental illness. Reggie also chooses to take on certain aspects of George after her death, namely her prickly, cynical nature, something which annoys and worries Joy, especially, to no end.
Watching Reggie grow from a floating pair of glasses into a more confident preteen with her own thoughts and ideas is great, and Reggie actually manages to come out of her grief stronger and more put together than either of her parents.
Delores Herbig: (Christine Willes) "As in 'her big brown eyes'" George's kooky, bizarre, aggressively cheerful boss at the Happy Time Temp Agency. Delores is a woman who has been through the ringer and come out the other side. When she first meets George (before the MIR toilet seat), she sees only a disaffected young woman who isn't even worth trying to fix. She sends her off to an assignment without much further thought. But when George returns after her death in the guise of Millie, the cheerful, albeit somewhat confused, young woman who actually wants a job, Delores takes to her instantly and takes her under her wing.
Delores is a kook. She has an aging pet cat named Murray. She bowls and keeps a scrap book. She has her entire house rigged with web cameras for a home improvement website, and the cameras are on 24/7. She goes on singles websites to find herself a man, and she role plays as a medieval Lady in her spare time. She . . . possibly sleeps with homeless people. She's a former crack addict with a soft spot for those who are trying to improve their lives and climb out of the gutter, and she sees George-as-Millie as a younger version of herself. She quickly becomes something of a surrogate mother for George, but is mostly a comic relief character.
Crystal: (Crystal Dahl) Crystal is . . . Crystal is weird. She's the receptionist at Happy Time. She doesn't say much. She stares a lot. She and George get into a prank war early on before forming a truce. There's something about Crystal that just isn't quite right. And that makes her brilliant as a secondary character.
There's a theory that Crystal is actually a reaper, and hints to that effect throughout the show. We do know, eventually, that she used to work in espionage.
That's really about all we know, though, except that she has a boyfriend at Happy Time who looks frighteningly like her and is, I believe, played by the same actress.
She's completely unflappable.
and last but not least:
Kiffany: (Patricia Idlette) Kiffany is a waitress at Der Wafflehouse, the IHOPish diner where the reapers meet every morning to receive their assignments. Despite the fact that she must have heard some extraordinary things out of that group over the years (or perhaps because of it), she doesn't seem to react much to the things they do or say or the odd things that seem to happen around them. Rube tips her well, and that seems to be good enough for her.
Because it's funny. Even and especially the death sequences. It's a show that manages an incredible balance between farcical absurdity and deep tragedy. It's a show about life and death, literally and metaphorically. About seizing every living moment and appreciating the things that you may eventually lose. It's about love and hate, moments of good fortune and bad, about growing up and growing old and moving on.
Each of the primary reaps in the show has an emotional theme, be it love for life, fear of death, fear of the unknown, personal identity, spritual awareness . . . but it very seldom ever gets into the realm of preachiness, and there's plenty of slapstick and verbal comedy to keep things going at a good pace. The mythology of the show is loose but mostly consistent and very real. The characters are well rounded and beautifully created, both by the writing and the acting.
And let's not forget the music, including Pink Martini, Metisse, the obligatory "Hell" by the Squirrel Nut Zippers, and some fantastic instrumentals . . . and every now and then you'll spot a delightful guest star.
Seriously, it's a damned good show. But don't just take my word for it, go and check it out and see.
Please note that these videos are from a Showtime show, so language and visuals may not be work-appropriate. That means cursing, violence, and sex, folks.
Character moments
Delores and George
Mason, Daisy, George, and Roxy
The reapers meet Crystal
Roxie and Mason
Rube
George and Delores with a side of Rube and just a smidge of Betty and Crystal
Guest star samples
Jewel Staite (definitely NWS)
Gavin Dewgraw
And, of course, the deaths, reaps, and aftermath
Death at the bank
Death at the Country music bar
Death at the country club
Aftermath: George effed up
Aftermath: she just doesn't get it
Aftermath: he should have been a girl
Alas, there were no videos of the Lasses that I could find on YouTube. This is a total travesty. At the very least, there ought to be some of Reggie and the taxidermy class. . . .
Convinced? Want more? Both seasons are available on DVD. Want more info first? Check it out on IMDb, on Wikipedia, or at the official website.
Now, go. Shoo. Let me know what you think.
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Also? I <3 Roxy. A lot.
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And yes. Roxy is the shit. ;D
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*is all over this post today*
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Also, I love the music. I DL'd an unofficial soundtrack at one point.
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There's an absolutely gorgeous Xena fanvid to that song, and I've been meaning to track down the MP3 ever since. :)
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I don't think I ever watched the last few episodes of season 2. I really should do that.
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All these clips are awesome.
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