Jason Perez
Second Unit
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2003
- Messages
- 310
Dead Like Me – The Complete Second Season
Studio: MGM
Year: 2004
Rated: Not Rated
Program Length: 11 Hours 42 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16x9 Enhanced Widescreen (1.78:1)
Subtitles: None
Audio: English – Dolby Digital 5.1
Release Date:
July 19th, 2005
This four disc set contains the second season of the hip, humorous series Dead Like Me, which continues the otherworldly adventures of a young grim reaper named Georgia “George” Lass (Ellen Muth). The poor lass was dealt a very cruel hand by fate, as she was killed instantly by a commode that fell off the Mir space station, at the tender age of eighteen. After her death, George was assigned to a team of undead “grim reapers” that collect the souls of the living shortly before they are scheduled to die, and then help see them to their Final Destination in the afterlife.
As the series continues, we get to see how George continues coping with the fact she died so young, the transition into adulthood that she is going through in her afterlife, and the peculiarities/challenges associated with her new job. Speaking of which, if you are unfamiliar with the show, it bears mention that there are some really important rules that reapers must follow, which can really complicate their afterlives! Among them are:
** Fate must not be interfered with, especially by helping those who are scheduled to die avoid their fate.
** The identity of a particular soul must be verified prior to extraction, as Rube only provides the first initial, last name, and estimated time of death (ETD) on the Post-It-Notes he gives to his team of reapers!
** Reapers must lead souls to their Final Destination, but can never follow them into it.
Though not exactly characterized as rules, there are a few other fascinating aspects of the “reaper” lifestyle”! For instance, the living can see and interact with the dead, but the dead appear physically different to the living than they did while they were alive. Secondly, despite the demanding nature of the job, pay and housing are not provided, so most of the reapers also have to work at "normal jobs", such as a traffic officer!
While it really revolves around George, Dead Like Me also chronicles the adventures of her co-reapers, played by Callum Blue, Jasmine Guy, Laura Harris, and Mandy Patinkin, and her surviving family’s members’ lives as well. For a show about death, these characters are really very funny, and I think these episodes exhibit improved upon the show’s very strong first season in all areas – the writing is crisper, the actors seem to have really become at home in their characters, and the show’s humor is even more wicked! Quite frankly, there really isn’t much else on the Showtime channel that is of interest to me, but I do my best to never miss a new episode of Dead Like Me!
DISC ONE:
--- “Send In The Clown”
In the first episode from Season Two, George formulates plans to take her crush on an intern at the Happy Time Temp Agency to another level, despite stern warnings from her friends to avoid getting involved. In the meantime, Mason (Callum Blue) becomes depressed when he is tasked with collecting a soul at a child’s birthday party.
--- “The Ledger”
In this installment, George makes the baseless assumption that the bad luck she had in life means that her afterlife should be charmed. However, when her bike is stolen, and she learns that her parents are getting divorced, George comes to the realization that even her afterlife may require some effort to be put in!
--- “Ghost Story”
Despite being a reaper for a while, George still feels like an outsider. As such, she decides to let her duties slide and attend Happy Time’s yearly camping retreat. Meanwhile, Daisy (Laura Harris) and Mason are frantically searching for a Post-It note he misplaced, before horrible consequences occur.
--- “The Shallow End”
In “The Shallow End”, George recalls a very traumatic experience from her adolescence, which convinces her that she is too nice, and needs to adopt a tougher attitude. Mason also faces a tough challenge – to convince a man whose soul he collected that he cannot be present at his own funeral service.
DISC TWO:
--- “Hurry”
In this episode, a consultant comes to Happy Time, which causes George’s boss to push her employees to ratchet up their production! In the meantime, George’s co-reaper Daisy is racing against time to collect a soul at a “speed-dating” event.
--- “In Escrow”
Here, George has become emotionally exhausted due to work-related difficulties, while her still-living sister, Reggie (Britt McKillip), is fear-stricken after being left home alone when mom (Cynthia Stevenson) goes out on a date.
--- “Rites of Passage”
In “Rites of Passage” George’s colleagues become jealous when she is assigned to collect a rock star’s soul, but her task becomes a real challenge as she tries to make her way past the celebrity’s interfering entourage!
--- “The Escape Artist”
In this intriguing episode, George develops feelings for a fellow reaper, Rube (Mandy Patinkin) goes undercover as a second-grade teacher, and Roxy (Jasmine Guy) enjoys an assignment in beautiful Cancun, Mexico.
DISC THREE:
--- “Be Still My Heart”
This time out, George attends a funeral to pursue the new object of her affection, and her sister develops a science experiment that puts their parents at each other’s throats!
--- “Death Defying”
After George finally loses her virginity, and never gets another phone call from her lover, she declares that she is done with men! In the meantime, Daisy is getting hot and heavy with a television executive, and Rube is busy looking into his past.
--- “Ashes to Ashes”
In this episode, George gets into trouble for helping a transient die with an identity. Meanwhile, Mason is forced to re-evaluate his feelings for Daisy as her relationship with the aforementioned television executive grows.
--- “Forget Me Not”
In “Forget Me Not”, George cannot get a decease person with Alzheimer’s to acknowledge her own passing, and ends up trapped inside of a hospital, while her mother Joy looks for a job…at Happy Time. Elsewhere, Mason decides to challenge Daisy’s man to a boxing match!
DISC FOUR:
--- “Last Call”
In “Last Call” George ponders all of the things she never got to accomplish in life, while Mason is forced to consider all he has done in his afterlife. In the meantime, Roxy becomes convinced that Daisy is keeping a secret that pertains to her now-missing ex-boyfriend.
--- “Always”
After a homeless man is barred from the Waffle House, George pleads with Daisy to let him stay with them! Meanwhile, in the land of the living, George’s family deals with yet another loss.
--- “Haunted”
In the season finale, a serial killer strikes on Halloween, sending George and her fellow reapers into action to collect his victims’ souls!
SO, HOW DOES IT LOOK?
MGM offers the first season of Dead Like Me in 16x9 enhanced widescreen (1.78:1), and as was the case with Season One, the episodes in this set look terrific! In particular, colors are rendered splendidly, without smearing or noise, and flesh tones have a pleasant, natural appearance at all times. Blacks are also deep and well defined, leading to plenty of detail in dimly lit sequences, excellent image depth, and a tangible sense of texture.
In addition, these episodes contained no noticeable print flaws, and exhibited a tremendous amount of detail, especially in close ups. Better yet, MGM appears to have “reaped” all compression artifacts, edge enhancement, or other digital nasties from the image! For all of these reasons, I must say that I was just as impressed by the show’s visuals as I was with the first season set - they really look great, and should make fans of the series every bit as happy as I was!
WHAT IS THAT NOISE?
Dead Like Me is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, and the show uses each of the six channels to good effect. Of course, the primary element of the soundtracks is dialogue, and I am happy to report that it is reproduced in a clear, precise manner, from Jasmine Guy’s Southern drawl to Ellen Muth’s rich, throaty voice. As such, it never takes an extra effort to determine what the actors are saying.
In terms of music, Stewart Copeland’s intriguing score is also situated nicely within the spacious soundstage, and boasts natural sounding timbres and tangible instrument separation. Further, during pivotal moments within each episode, such as the many intriguing “death” scenes, the rear channels become involved, creating a truly engaging sonic experience. As you might have expected, the rear channels are also assigned to more typical duties, such as enriching the aforementioned score by filling in the soundstage.
In many instances, particularly when someone is about to be meet their end, an appropriate level of LFE support is employed, giving viewers the chance to “feel” the impact of what is transpiring onscreen. On the whole, it is not as active and dynamic as the 5.1 mix for a big-budget film like Master and Commander, but as television product goes, the episodes in this set are surprisingly active and atmospheric! This should not only help you get involved in the show, but keep you interested as well!
Frankly, given the audio quality on the season one set, I was expecting as much, but MGM still deserved kudos for a job well done!!!
NOTE: As was the case with the season one set, one thing which may disappoint some people is that there are no subtitles available, in any language. A real shame, if you ask me, as those with hearing impairments will not be able to enjoy this fine show! :frowning:
EXTRAS, EXTRAS!!!
The extras, included on Disc Four, are as follows:
Deleted Scenes
There are a total of 9 deleted scenes (non-anamorphic widescreen), running approximately 10-minutes, included. These scenes, which are rather inconsequential, can be viewed either individually or as one continuous reel. They are entitled:
--- Taste Buds
--- What I Want
--- Life Line
--- The Envelope
--- Just Show Up
--- Campus Tour
--- Filing In
--- The Real Story
--- Organizing Candy
I do not want to spoil the experience of watching these deleted scenes for you, so I will purposely withhold details on their content, but I will say this: Honestly, most of what was cut was just a line of dialogue or two from a particular sequence. As such, the majority of these deletions are really not all that worthwhile. Nevertheless, they can be breezed through in 10 minutes, so fans should check them out.
Dead Like Me…Again
This congratulatory featurette consists of interviews with the principal cast (Ellen Muth, Mandy Patinkin, Jasmine Guy, Laura Harris, and Callum Blue, among others), as well as a nominal amount of behind-the-scenes footage. Basically, the participants offer their thoughts on what makes the series special, and how the characters have evolved from the first season to the second, and how great all of their fellow actors are.
Running only 11 minutes, this featurette is brief, and not particularly informative, so it is a bit of a disappointment. Frankly, it contains nothing that fans of the show do not already know, or that would not be obvious from just watching the series’ episodes.
Putting Life Into Death
This series of very short featurettes (1 or 2 minutes each) gives viewers a look at how some of the show’s visual effects are created, through interviews with one of the show’s producers and some of its special effects technicians! The featurettes are entitled:
--- “Gravelings”
--- “Dirty Old Man”
--- “Falling Flower”
--- “Death Ripple”
--- “Disco Priest”
--- “Bouncing Glass”
Photo Gallery
Approximately 60 color production/behind-the-scenes photographs are included in this photo gallery.
Promotional Materials[/i]
In the “Other MGM Releases” section, viewers can select from:
--- An “MGM Means Great Movies” promotional piece
--- The trailer for the Stargate Atlantis Rising DVD
--- The trailer for the Dead Like Me: The Complete First Season DVD set
--- The trailer for Stargate: SG-1 DVD Product
SCORE CARD
(on a five-point scale)
Episodes: :star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2
Video: :star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2
Audio: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Extras: :star: :star: 1/2
Overall: :star: :star: :star: :star:
THE LAST WORD
Dead Like Me really grabbed me during its inaugural season, as a fresh, interesting, and funny series, which is remarkable considering death is usually such a somber and humorless subject. Even more remarkable is that the series noticeably raised its game in season two, with crisper writing and editing, improved acting across the board (which was already good), and very high production values!
In terms of presentation, MGM has certainly done justice to the show’s sophomore year, as the episodes of Dead Like Me included exhibit excellent visual quality and engaging audio tracks. The extras, including the deleted scenes and some short F/X featurettes, are not very enjoyable or insightful, but the series’ episodes are given a really good A/V treatment, which makes this set worth the coin if you enjoy the series. Just watch out for “gravelings” on the way down to your local DVD outlet.
Recommended!!! Stay tuned…
