Dead Like Me
Aug. 15th, 2004 11:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sharelleSome thoughts on tonight's "The Shallow End" before I finish spamming LJ for the day.
- First off, the central theme for this episode really rang true for me, as I'm sure it did for many viewers. One of the things I like best about this show is how the underlying commentary on life in general tends to strike a chord. (The fact that this commentary is being made through the insight of dead people also provides an ironic twist.) The idea that "withholding love" and acting cruel and aloof will win one more friends, or at the very least people scrounging for your attention, does seem to be a focus in many people's lives. I can recall many occasions where I felt that being nice got me absolutely nowhere. I can also, honestly, admit that acting contrary to the way I felt I should sometimes resulted in the rapt attention of someone I was trying to avoid. (One girl, in particular, from elementary school springs to mind. Even then, I could sadly admit to not being as nice to her as I should have.) Some themes, like this one, leave us with valuable self-evaluation – who hasn't been faced with hoping for a crumb of acceptance from people who are unkind to us (either from peers – [George & the 'in' crowd] – or even from our own families – [Joy & Reggie]), feeling betrayal from those we thought had viewed us as special (Reggie with the retail girl), or longing for that idyllic view of yourself in the eyes of others (Mason's naked reap).
- Just an observation, Britt McKillip (who plays Reggie) really is a beautiful little girl.
- Daisy, Daisy Adair certainly has gotten much softer, and hasn't been afraid to show it in increasingly more obvious ways. (All starting from her run-in with Chris, her artist reap, last season.) Tonight's scene at the church was very moving – a characteristic I never used to associate with scenes revolving around Daisy. (Not until the "Why doesn’t anyone love me?" revelation during the all-nighter at Happy Time, at least.) She's much more soft-spoken and conscientious of others' feelings and seems to be taking a definite stand on religion. I found it strange that a program dealing so much with themes of death and afterlife hadn't touched much on the subject of God's role in such a thing. In fact, it's curious that the Reapers seem to be just as uncertain in regard to the 'beyond,' if not more so, than those whose souls they take. I was made to recall the times in the past where this showed through – the "Where did Betty go?" question, Rube's occasional vigil to finally talk with the "person" who drops off the assignments, etc.
- Something Daisy did in the church scene raised another question for me. When the stained glass window broke and she ran out to yell at the children who had done it, at first I'd thought she'd left to avoid seeing something unpleasant – a symbolic wrath of God, perhaps. While that turned out to not be the case, it left me wondering what would happen if a soul goes to hell. All the reaps we've seen so far seem to be ushered into their own version of paradise, their individualized "Great Beyond." Would we see a different side of the crossing-over if the soul was bound for some type of perpetual punishment? Questions, questions.
- Do the Gravelings choose the Reapers? Or do they have a hand in it, at least? I was very surprised to see that George had encountered them as a ten-year-old child. (Clearly during an accident which could have turned tragic for her.) And while it wasn't yet her time, much to the apparent disappointment of one of the Gravelings, did it leave her "marked" to become a Reaper somehow? Does she remember seeing them now that she's grown?
- Rube's claim that he's incapable of love continues to interest me. Obviously, there's some kind of loss in his background, most likely dealing with a child – one that he may have lost either because of the child's death or Rube's own. He probably sees his own trials in what George continues to go through. We don't know nearly enough about him.
- Is it just me, or do Rube and Roxy seem to have a thing for each other? For instance, aside from the softer looks and the niceties, he never lets anyone touch his little booklet containing the post-it assignments and tonight, instead of giving Roxy her post-it, he passed her the whole book so she could take her own. Very interesting.
Excellent show as always! Looking forward to next week.
EDIT: I just realized that the actor who played Ethan at Happy Time (Neil Grayston) is the same one who played Alec the Mouth-Breather on Wonderfalls. Hee!
- First off, the central theme for this episode really rang true for me, as I'm sure it did for many viewers. One of the things I like best about this show is how the underlying commentary on life in general tends to strike a chord. (The fact that this commentary is being made through the insight of dead people also provides an ironic twist.) The idea that "withholding love" and acting cruel and aloof will win one more friends, or at the very least people scrounging for your attention, does seem to be a focus in many people's lives. I can recall many occasions where I felt that being nice got me absolutely nowhere. I can also, honestly, admit that acting contrary to the way I felt I should sometimes resulted in the rapt attention of someone I was trying to avoid. (One girl, in particular, from elementary school springs to mind. Even then, I could sadly admit to not being as nice to her as I should have.) Some themes, like this one, leave us with valuable self-evaluation – who hasn't been faced with hoping for a crumb of acceptance from people who are unkind to us (either from peers – [George & the 'in' crowd] – or even from our own families – [Joy & Reggie]), feeling betrayal from those we thought had viewed us as special (Reggie with the retail girl), or longing for that idyllic view of yourself in the eyes of others (Mason's naked reap).
- Just an observation, Britt McKillip (who plays Reggie) really is a beautiful little girl.
- Daisy, Daisy Adair certainly has gotten much softer, and hasn't been afraid to show it in increasingly more obvious ways. (All starting from her run-in with Chris, her artist reap, last season.) Tonight's scene at the church was very moving – a characteristic I never used to associate with scenes revolving around Daisy. (Not until the "Why doesn’t anyone love me?" revelation during the all-nighter at Happy Time, at least.) She's much more soft-spoken and conscientious of others' feelings and seems to be taking a definite stand on religion. I found it strange that a program dealing so much with themes of death and afterlife hadn't touched much on the subject of God's role in such a thing. In fact, it's curious that the Reapers seem to be just as uncertain in regard to the 'beyond,' if not more so, than those whose souls they take. I was made to recall the times in the past where this showed through – the "Where did Betty go?" question, Rube's occasional vigil to finally talk with the "person" who drops off the assignments, etc.
- Something Daisy did in the church scene raised another question for me. When the stained glass window broke and she ran out to yell at the children who had done it, at first I'd thought she'd left to avoid seeing something unpleasant – a symbolic wrath of God, perhaps. While that turned out to not be the case, it left me wondering what would happen if a soul goes to hell. All the reaps we've seen so far seem to be ushered into their own version of paradise, their individualized "Great Beyond." Would we see a different side of the crossing-over if the soul was bound for some type of perpetual punishment? Questions, questions.
- Do the Gravelings choose the Reapers? Or do they have a hand in it, at least? I was very surprised to see that George had encountered them as a ten-year-old child. (Clearly during an accident which could have turned tragic for her.) And while it wasn't yet her time, much to the apparent disappointment of one of the Gravelings, did it leave her "marked" to become a Reaper somehow? Does she remember seeing them now that she's grown?
- Rube's claim that he's incapable of love continues to interest me. Obviously, there's some kind of loss in his background, most likely dealing with a child – one that he may have lost either because of the child's death or Rube's own. He probably sees his own trials in what George continues to go through. We don't know nearly enough about him.
- Is it just me, or do Rube and Roxy seem to have a thing for each other? For instance, aside from the softer looks and the niceties, he never lets anyone touch his little booklet containing the post-it assignments and tonight, instead of giving Roxy her post-it, he passed her the whole book so she could take her own. Very interesting.
Excellent show as always! Looking forward to next week.
EDIT: I just realized that the actor who played Ethan at Happy Time (Neil Grayston) is the same one who played Alec the Mouth-Breather on Wonderfalls. Hee!
