I didn't expect to be as excited as I was about seeing the DEAD LIKE ME DVDs at my rental place, but I nabbed them when they became available (while I watched vols 1 and 2 on separate weekends, I watched vols 3 & 4 over the same weekend).

I found that I occasionally had to stifle yawns during the viewing. It may have had to do with fatigue, but I don't think so. The show was bound to lose some of its freshness. And this time, the stories spent more time on the relationships between the reapers and less on the victims' stories. Maybe that partly accounts for it.

While I remain puzzled about why they dwelled on George's family, with the young sister taking more of the focus, it became more interesting to me (I just wish she were a better actress). I wish there were more episodes like the one where coicidence brought the mother and sister very close to encountering George.

What made it worth while for me were the wonderful actors. Because of the writing and the acting, I enjoyed the waffle house scenes more than anything else. (Who knew how important Post-Its would become?)

Another characteristic of the show I enjoyed was rich color. While most other shows are reducing their palettes, this one remained high-key and full-spectrumed.

Two scenes stick in my mind. The fake heart-attack scene in George's workplace (ep 9, I think) and the morgue scene with George and Mason checking out the John Doe corpses (ep 11, I think).

I wonder if the writers' derived the heart attack scene from a Seattle factoid: Seattle has the highest proportion of civilians trained in CPR than just about anywhere. Over 50% of coronary victims are treated immediately by a bystander. I bet many Seattlites watching that episode were amazed that no one acted to save the supposed heart attack victim.

The morgue scene was written to be extremely over-the-top but Callum Blue's comic performance makes it palatable and fun. Especially since he switches to an American accent--a thick Southern one, contrasting with his supposed sister's (George's) General American one. I wonder how many Americans would have noticed that, in the earlier scene, Mason mocked Rube by pronouncing "morgue" with the "r". Well, some may have noticed just because he shaped-his lips in an obvious way when he said the word.

Because I didn't get to see this show as it is aired (I saw it only when it becomes available on DVD), I wasn't distressed at the news of its cancellation. Still, even tho I didn't care as much for Season 2 as Season 1, I thought it remained at a very watchable level. So I'm sorry that I can't look forward to a new season on the DVD shelves a year from now.

Is CPR taught in schools or can anyone go on free courses for it - does that account for the high numbers of people trained in it ? :shrug:

It is probably taught in schools, but I know for sure it is taught for free just about anywhere -- at recreational centers all around the city (where people can take classes in yoga, knitting, etc), and at the workplace by Red Cross or Emergency professionals.

Here's an article I found on the web. Statistics disagree as to how many people have CPR administered to them (I've heard over 50%, the article says almost 50%), and how many victims survive (the article says 45%, another article says 30%).

Big thumbs up for Seattle ! :thumbsup: