Dead Like ME - 8/22

Anyone watching?

We learn a little bit more about Rube. That letter had been sitting in the dead letter office for 80 years, meaning it was sent in 1924. I had thought that the rumor was that Rube died sometime before that. However, was this an anomynous letter to his daughter and wife? I couldn’t tell if what the return address said.

As usual, Delores cracks me up, and George seems to have gained quite a bit of self confidence. Daisy is growing on me. I did not like her at all when she was first introduced, but the writers are fleshing her out abou. All her sex stories were getting a little tiresome.

Joy needs to get laid. That’s all there is to it. Reggie needs to be slapped out of her bad attitude, and Dad just needs to be slapped, period.

I had hoped that something would develop between Roxie and the guy at the airport. Did you get the idea the writers were taking a jab at the French in the airport reap?

I agree about Reggie - my, but she’s a little bitch - but so’s her mother, so I can’t want to slap Dad too much. The writers give Joy an excuse for her behavior through her husband’s affair, but everything they’ve really shown has put him in a much more sympathetic light than her.

Delores is consistently my favorite character, and last night’s episode was no exception. This has nothing to do with the fact that I have a cat named Murray. Seriously. “I have a mole”. heh.

Definitely. And is it just me, or was that the worst french accent heard on television for a while?

I thought it was a good episode. But there was something about it that was different. George was hot, as usual, and she was funny in this episode. You can tell she’s really starting to open up to her coworkers. Roxy was bad ass. But this week, we see a softer side of her again. Yes, she was mean to the french chick (she desereved it), but you could tell she had taken a liking to the airport guy. Daisy was sweet. We’re continuing to see another side to her. She’s still “Daisy” around the reapers, but she’s different when she’s not around them. Mason was funny. As was George. Although I love the drama portion of the show (I think it’s what separates it from the other shows), I’m glad they hadn’t forgotten that this is a comedy, and it was such tonight.

Two really touching moments. Daisy was sweet, but it didn’t really “touch” me. Mostly, it was Rube’s storyline. I’m glad we’re finally starting to get a glimpse into his former life. That he was like George, couldn’t let go. And in a sense, he still can’t, as we saw in this episode, and in the season opener. What also got me was when Reggie almost got hit by the car. The actress who plays “Joy” was great. If I weren’t me, I’da cried. To here the quiver in her voice as she almost lost her second child was heartbreaking.

I had forgotten the part when Reggie was almost hit by the car. Man, what Joy must have gone through in that split second! As to the French woman and her atrocius accent, I thought the accent was Chinese and could not understand why she was speaking that way. It took me a few moments of listening to her to decide she was French.

In a way, I do hope that Rube’s demise is never revealed. I kinda like trying to figure him out.

I was quite impressed with this as well. It was a nice bit of plotting and a great bit of acting. Probably one of the strongest little moments so far this season.

I don’t share the Reggie hate that seems to be common in these threads - she has gone from just quirkly assertive last season to rather snotty this season, but the show seems to be careful in casting it as partly emerging adolescent angst, which works for me.

Similarly I find Clancy and Joy about equally repugnant and likeable ( both compared to each other and in general :wink: ). Joy be a snarky, inflexible bitch at times, but Clancy is a passive-aggressive sap ( even aside from the apparently serial womanizing ). Both also have redeeming features, but I have to say Joy seems to be a better drawn character ( or she is just the better actor ).

The Roxy character never did much for me, but works as part of an ensemble. Daisy is sloooowly growing on me. George, Rube, and particularly Dolores are great. But Mason is losing me this season - he seems to be coming more and more of a caricature, even while Daisy is becoming a little less of one. His storylines are not involving me much at all.

  • Tamerlane

Since Rube was sending an envelope filled with a sizeable amount of money (by 1924 standards), I am wondering if perhaps Rube was a criminal of some kind. Perhaps he was sending the money from some bank job he pulled before he died during the commission of the crime.

Committing some bad act like that could be why Rube has had such a long tenure as a Reaper

I don’t think he’s a criminal. He just doesn’t seem to be the right type of person to do that sort of thing. He seems well educated, so he could have invested in order to get that money.

I liked Geroge’s/Reggies moms reaction to the car near miss. Not only was it intense, but it showed both her vulnerability and inbred screamer reaction - she just can’t get out of her own way. So intense, so controlling

By the way, was it just me or was George’s father having a gay, not straight affair? Did I miss something or just get confused by the NJ governor’s story?

I love Rube. “Is everyone in this line an asshole?” I’m not sure if he was dead or not by '24. It seems like Betty died in the late teens or early twenties, and he was already an established reaper when she died.

I think that when it was first hinted at that Clancy was having an affair, it was with a male student. I din’t remember any names being mentioned since then, but could be that is why Joy is so bitter. Your husband of thwent years having an affair is one thing, but with a male student?

I don’t see the criminal element in Rube either, but I cannot explain where that money came from. Didn’t George ask him if he robbed a bank when she saw it?

Yeah, but long before freedom fries, the French were used as caricatures of snobbery and effetism. I do agree this was a very good episode.

Now that I think about it, Rube was likely dead by 1924, but I suppose he had a job of some kind while reaping and he was sending money to his family anonymously, but it never got there. Or the Gravelings intercepted it.

I think Rube died in the early 1900s or late 1800s. The picture of the little girl in his wallet looks really old.

Rube was dead no later than 1937 since he reaped Amelia Earhart. Any early is up in the air, sure to be revealed as the series goes on.

Best line in the show, maybe series: “Is everyone in line behind you an asshole? No? Then it’s just you.”

Great stuff.

No, earlier than the 20’s. He reaped flapper Beverly too (I can’t remember the exact death year on her tombstone).

You may be thinking about Betty in 1926. He didn’t reap her but took over for the person who did because he reaped her.

I’m really not getting the Delores love that everyone has. Maybe it’s because I’m something of a George, and have known way too many Deloreses for my liking, but the woman grates on me.

Reggie needs a slapping, to be sure, but she’s growing on me. I really wish she and Joy were given less screen time, still, but…Reg is definitely growing on me. Is it me, or does she seem to be actively trying to be more like George?

Anyone get a good count of how much money Rube had? I guessed something on the order of 2-3k - certainly no less than that, possibly more. Not a bad chunk of change. I’m afraid I can’t get with the people who think Rube couldn’t have been a crook. He doesn’t come across as neccessarily having been one, but nothing about him precludes it for me. I can definitely see him as having been a thief or, even better, a con artist in life/early death… And, now that I think of it, that idea does put his advice about the shell game to Mas a few episodes ago in a new light.

I’m loving Daisy and Mason more every episode (so, I guess file the Mas-hate with the Delores-love) - Mas seems like my kind of fellow, and Daisy’s just too sweet without being painfully naive. It’s a good combination.

Hmm. Rube’s money brings something up…

George works for Happy Time.
Roxy is a cop.
Mas seems to be continuing his life of petty crime.
What do Daisy and Rube do?

And, ‘Is everyone in the line behind you an asshole?’ is a great line.

My favorite character is Crystal.

The letter wasn’t exactly anonymous. My best guess is that Rube died just after sending the letter - otherwise, he might have known that it hadn’t arrived.

Roxy being a cop is problematic if you follow the series from the first episode. Reapers are supposed to live on the fringes of society, never making real connections and not being permanently based. Much of this was explained at the start when George first became a reaper and was looking for a place to live. Problem is, being a cop requires a background check. Does Afterlife, Inc. provide you with a new Social Security number and a fake life history that can stand up to inspection?

Daisy and Rube, having been dead a long time, could be living off of investments made early on in their reaper “careers”.