Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Dead Like Me: Life After Death (2009) Directed by Stephen Herek

Mason: Goody! That means we get to play, you know, "High Risk Factor"! Okay, ready?
Roxy Harvey: [Girl runs by] Running with scissors...
Mason: [Points to barber babbling very quickly with customer] Barber on drugs, razor at throat...
Roxy Harvey: [Sees vain lady babbling] Then there's her...
Mason: What's high risk about her?
Roxy Harvey: Nothing. I just want her dead.
Daisy Adair: [Frustrated] Baenziger!
Roxy Harvey: Oh good! Now we get to play "Last Minute Panic"!

Only the good die young.  For example, look at Rome, Carnivale, Firefly, and Dead Like Me.  All were brilliant series cancelled far too soon.   Some, like Firefly, gave it a shot at rebirth, trying to generate interest with a movie.  In Firefly's case, we got the most excellent movie Serenity, which if it did not relight the fire, gave the series a proper cremation. (Overworking the fire metaphors...)

Now we have the same thing with Dead Like Me.  Is this the new stanza in the saga of George Lass (Ellen Muth) a girl killed by a toilet seat from space, or the shows swan song, the definitive aria by the fat lady? (Overworking the musical metaphors...)

With any sort of reunion project, there is always the problem of what if someone can't make it?  Well, there were two in this case: Mandy Patinkin as the irascible Rube Sofer, and Laura Harris as the sensual Daisy Adair.  With Rube, they replaced him, moving him into the light, and gave his spot as leader of the ragtag band of grim reapers to Cameron Cain (Henry Ian Cusick) a rich wheeler dealer who leapt to his death on 9/11.  Regrettably, they recast Daisy Adair with Sarah Wynter which would be a little like recasting Bea Arthur's role on Golden Girls with Harvey Fierstein.

To sum up the series; some of the recently dead become undead grim reapers.  Their job is to hang on the edges of society, and take the souls of those about to die from their bodies, so the soul does not suffer; then they act as psychopomp, seeing the soul into the lights, and off to it's destination.  After an undefined number of reaps, Grim Reapers move along too, their last reap taking their place.

Gone is Rube and gone too, Der Waffle Haus; burnt to the ground.  Gone are the familiar post it notes, replaced by Blackberries.  And gone is the genial hands on approach of Rube as fatherly mentor to his cadre of soul catchers.  Cameron is a big business man, and like all big business men (seemingly) he does not believe in consequences.  Gone are the morning meetings over oatmeal with raisins, now they meet, if they meet, in a five star restaurant.  And Cameron has other benefits for his reapers.  Limo service.  There are fancy parties with Broadway producers for Daisy.  It's champagne, drugs, and hot and cold running Tiffanys for Mason.  He arranges a meeting with the police commissioner for Roxy.  Only George seems to be immune to the glamour Cameron is casting over them.

Of course, George has always had problems with rules.  And her particular weakness has been with her family.  Now, George is undergoing a real crisis; the blackberry did not get her to the scene of a reap on time, and the boy was taken away in an ambulance before George could touch him.

The others are having problems as well.   Daisy is more involved in acting than reaping. Mason, more involved in partying with the Tiffanys, and robbing men who rob liquor stores, and Roxy forgets her real role, and saves a man she is supposed to reap.

And George's failed reap; that was her sister Reggie's (Britt McKillip) secret boyfriend.  You just know George is going to break the rules over this one, somehow.

And every time you break the rules, there are consequences.  Everytime.  And the consequences can be dire.  That is probably something Cameron should have thought of before he crossed the likes of Roxy and Daisy.  And if Mason was willing to use a power drill on his own head, what makes Cameron think he won't use a chainsaw on him?  Reapers can't die.  But Roxy is a determined and creative woman.  And just because you can't die, doesn't mean you might not wish you could.

All in all, it was a lot like a reunion.  It was great to see how everyone was getting along.  Dolores (Christine Willes) the world's most annoying, but ultimately charming boss is dealing with death and dying as well; Murray, her cat, is now twenty.  Reggie is dealing with Hudson Hart (Jordan Hudyma) being in a coma, and with George...both her passing, and her presence.  Momma Joy (Cynthia Stevenson) was one of the most pleasant surprises.  She wrote a book on grieving, and became a grief councilor.  She loosened up a lot, and she and Reggie have a workable relationship.  Crystal (Crystal Dahl) is still Crystal. 

And yet, at the same time, a reunion reminds you you can't go home again.  Could they jump start the series?  Possibly.  But several of the themes would be gone.  George has grown up.  So has Reggie.  And they have moved on.  And I guess so should we.  Cue the fat lady.  Rest in Peace, George.

Entered into MsBunnylicious' Wicked Hallows Write Off.


Dead Like Me Season One

Dead Like Me Season Two

Dead Like Me The Movie.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older