Dispatches from the sunburned wastelands

There's an amazing video rental place here in Halifax, called "Video difference". They stock a lot of international movies, documentaries, and TV shows not normally found in your run of the mill neighbourhood video store. They also allow you to borrow a whole DVD boxed set containing a full season of a specific TV series, for 1 or 2 weeks at a time (unlike most of the other places). So, we rented Dead Like Me (Season 2), and watched the whole thing, three or four episodes a night (that's major gluttony for you!). This HBO series is currently airing on Showcase here in Canada, but we couldn't wait...The premise of the show is that there are grim reapers among us, people who've died and were chosen to act as 'reapers' of other people's souls when they die. The soul is taken moments before death, and ensures that no pain is felt during the expeience of death. The show follows the "life" of a young woman (Georgia) who dies when a toilet seat (falling from an orbiting space station) slams into her head, and is then offered the chance to stay on earth, in exchange for the position of Reaper. She adjusts to her new life with much difficulty, and finds it hard to let go of her family and old neighbourhoud, which lands her in all sorts of trouble. Another surprise is that a Grim Reapers, although supernatural and undead, still has to eat. Georgia thus have to find herself a "day job", just like the living. She gets employed at the office where her living self had briefly worked, and as she adjusts to her life as reaper, she also has to cope with the reponsibilities and trials of her first real job, her first car, and even her first boyfriend... The show is at once funny, poignant and sad, and is highly recommended. Like most HBO series, it stands head and shoulders above the mediocre offerings of the major networks.

Posted by HannesB at 12:57 AM Comments