Summer TV Club: Dead Like Me – “Dead Girl Walking”

Dead Like Me is available to watch for free on Hulu or on Netflix Instant Streaming!

Even though it was over an hour long, the pilot of Dead Like Me is pretty heavy on the establishment of the world of the show instead of the characters. Sure, we got a little aquainted with George Lass, but really, we only got a light glossing over the rest of our cast of characters. “Dead Girl Walking” took the opposite approach: a relatively small bit of exposition was used as a method of figuring out who the Reapers and the Lass family are.

And we got some good bits. We learned that Mason died in the 1960s when he tried to drill a hole in his head to expand his consciousness, and Roxy is a hard ass parking attendant, and Betty sweetly takes pictures of the people she reaps. There’s also of course Rube, who doesn’t really except any bullshit and doesn’t understand the idea of bite sized food that isn’t bite sized. The surviving Lass family also gets a little bit more added to their biographies. Reggie, who I don’t think had a line in the pilot, tells people that Joy doesn’t let her go to the bathroom and steals toilet seats, which she uses to decorate a tree near the Lass home. Joy is tough, and has little tolerance for her daughter’s antics, while Clancy is softer on her, ultimately creating a bit of a riff with his wife.

George’s story in “Dead Girl Walking” revolves around her refusal to reap a soul assigned to her. She doesn’t want to do it, and since she never agreed to anything, feels she doesn’t have to. Despite tagging along with Betty on a reaping, and assisting Rube in another at Der Waffle House, she still doesn’t feel comfortable with the whole concept, and decides she doesn’t need to show up when Post-Its are dolled out. But as George quickly learns, she can’t escape her responsibility, and the consequences are dire. You see, when a soul isn’t reaped in time, the person can still die, their soul trapped inside. In this case, it leads to the traumatizing experience of a man experiencing his own autopsy. Though still stubborn about who’s responsibility it was, George learns her lesson.

What I liked most about “Dead Girl Walking” was that it had a secondary plot for George, which surrounded her adjustment to living on her own for the first time. Sure, the biggest change for her was dying and becoming a Reaper, but she also is an 18 year old girl that is forced to live on her own for the first time and can’t stay in contact with her parents. She doesn’t get anything to eat at Der Waffle House because she can’t afford it, and the crappy apartment she’d been squatting in needs rent payed on it soon. She keeps going back to her old house, and is depressed over the world that has kept turning since she died. Big changes other than her new job have happened very quickly to George, and rather than follow Mason’s example of stealing money from parking meters, George returns to Deloris Herbig (“As in her big brown eyes”) and the Happy Time Temp Agency, and starts anew as her alter ego, Millie Hagen.

“Dead Girl Walking” is the quintessential “second episode.” Even the best shows often need to have a second episode that is designed to help the viewer find their bearings within the show (examples: Lost, How I Met Your Mother). “Dead Girl Walking” slows down the lightening fast pace of “Pilot,” and pauses to illuminate some of the other things going on the in the story: George needing to make a living, Reggie’s rebellion, Joy and Clancy’s arguments. The problem though was that it was too slow. Aside from introducing some of these problems, it was clunky at points, and slow at others. Betty and George’s reaping was clearly designed to remind us of how that process works, but with George also taking the soul of the man at Der Waffle House, it seemed like the same point was being brought across too many times.

But I like all the bits with Mason, and the idea of a grim reaper working at a temp agency is actually very funny to me. “Dead Girl Walking” is far from a perfect episode, but it once again shows the potential of the show seen in “Pilot,” and adds to an already creative premise.

Michael’s Score: 65
TUiW Grade: B-

For more on our summer TV club, including the schedule and where to watch some of the shows, go here.