Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Favorite Characters: Mason (Dead Like Me)

 
The best description of my favorite character from Dead Like Me would be “all of them (except Clancy,)” but I can’t do justice to them all in one post, can I?  So today, we’re only focusing on Mason, easily the best undead druggie to ever grace the small screen.
 
Oh, Mason, Mason, Mason.  He’s George’s buddy, a screw-up for Roxy to keep in line, Daisy’s would-be suiter, and an eternal thorn in Rube’s side.  He died in the ‘60s trying to chase a permanent high, and while his decades as a grim reaper have matured him a little, he hasn’t made much headway.  Mason’s reaps are often haphazard and last-minute, and they’re frequently accompanied by a little petty larceny among the effects of the dear departed.  Roxy and George use day jobs to pay for their afterlifestyle, but not Mason.  He’d rather break into parking meters, smuggle drugs, and have little old dead ladies teach him their signatures so he can collect their social security.
 
In other words, Mason is an incalculable narrative presence.  He’s always stirring things up and getting into trouble, which opens up plenty of entertaining plot possibilities.  It offers clashes with Rube and Roxy, it’s part of what makes Daisy just string him along, and it means he tends to play the devil on George’s shoulder.  This last point is especially fun since, particularly in season one, he’s a sort-of mentor for George, and his lessons on the ways of the reaper aren’t what you’d call entirely reliable.
 
And of course, many of these antics are hilarious.  The best is, naturally, the episode in which Mason gets accidentally high from the drugs he’s muling.  His paranoia and rambling non-sequiturs are priceless, and his wild, almost-tearful admission “I’ve got illegals in my bottom!” might be the funniest line uttered on the show.  But, great as it is, it’s in excellent company.  There’s also pepper-spraying his eggs and holding a yard sale in someone else’s yard, along with countless others.
 
While comic relief obviously = a good thing, it’s not all there is to Mason.  Sometimes his cavalier attitude and reckless behavior have serious consequences, and more importantly, we get just enough hints of Mason’s serious side to see that he has deeper qualities.  He has an awesome subplot where he reaps one of his aging rock idols; eventually revealing his true nature to the front man, he confesses that immortality “isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”  Another great story comes when he’s forced to really think about the possibility of moving on and tells the people in his life what he thinks about them.  For once, his advice to George (while disjointed) is dead-on, and his genuine affection for her is utterly sweet.
 
And every now and then, he actually makes good.  I love the episode where he reaps a gay couple and, after a lot of insistence that he’s not supposed to, gives in and relays a message from the first man killed to his still-living partner.  Even though it’s against reaper protocol, it’s compassionate and emotionally sound.  And then there’s giving a final moment of happiness to a soon-to-be-dead little boy.  These scenes are always fantastic – Mason brings such warmth to them and shows you who he can be beneath the substance abuse, the stupid decisions, and, the years stuck on earth taking souls.  In moments like these, I root for him to find his way more often.  Not all the time, though!  Foolhardy Mason is comedy gold.

No comments:

Post a Comment