Let me give you the low-down: college dropout Georgia "George" Lass (Ellen Muth) is going nowhere in life, just got a job at a temp agency, and is set to live with her parents for the foreseeable future (i.e., the rest of her life). Then, on her first day at Happy Time (temp agency), she takes a fateful lunch break and is hit by a rogue toilet seat hurtling toward Earth from a space station--but not before she has an awkward encounter with a man who is very content to stroke her arm just enough to make her uncomfortable. Now George has certainly been impacted by the toilet seat, but she is somehow outside the impact crater. As it turns out, when her arm was uncomfortably rubbed by a stranger, her soul was reaped. There's more: George is next in line to replace this man as a reaper of souls. And so, she meets the other reapers in her "department (accidental death)", is acquainted with Gravelings, the creatures who trigger accidents that cause the deaths of those she is destined to reap, and is assigned a new identity--now that George is dead, she occupies a new body, and she's homeless. And her family can't know that she's (not?) alive.
So, the stage is set. We have a brilliant cast here, including Mandy Patinkin as the mysterious, wise Rube, the ring leader of our little league soul-reaping team. Ellen Muth plays a stellar George: totally apathetic, down to the core--sounds boring, but in practice is splendid to behold. A dull, dead-inside character sounds painfully boring to watch, but George has a fascinating demeanor. It's the kind of personality that, after seeing something thought-provoking, inspires one to speculate "What would George think about that?" I love a good bitter disposition.
For me, something about this show is home. By the end of the series Der Waffle Haus was my favorite breakfast restaurant (now in direct competition with Parks & Rec's JJ's Diner). I long to sit in one of its booths, for the waitress to know my order. Maybe I'm just sentimental, but I appreciate all the warm fuzzies the show throws at you along the way: flashbacks to George's storybook childhood amid heartwarming story arcs. For a show about death, it's pretty feel-good.
The show explores many deep themes, asking big questions. Some of my favorite parts of the series are George's narrations of different themes--like time, uncertainty, and obviously death. This is, of course, coming from Bryan Fuller, the creator of Pushing Daisies (you know, the other one with the undead girl) and contributor to many darker works such as NBC's Hannibal.
Dead Like Me is a totally underrated, greatly overlooked piece of work. It is wholly entertaining, stirring, and satisfying to watch. You need to watch Dead Like Me.
For me, something about this show is home. By the end of the series Der Waffle Haus was my favorite breakfast restaurant (now in direct competition with Parks & Rec's JJ's Diner). I long to sit in one of its booths, for the waitress to know my order. Maybe I'm just sentimental, but I appreciate all the warm fuzzies the show throws at you along the way: flashbacks to George's storybook childhood amid heartwarming story arcs. For a show about death, it's pretty feel-good.
The show explores many deep themes, asking big questions. Some of my favorite parts of the series are George's narrations of different themes--like time, uncertainty, and obviously death. This is, of course, coming from Bryan Fuller, the creator of Pushing Daisies (you know, the other one with the undead girl) and contributor to many darker works such as NBC's Hannibal.
Dead Like Me is a totally underrated, greatly overlooked piece of work. It is wholly entertaining, stirring, and satisfying to watch. You need to watch Dead Like Me.
No comments:
Post a Comment