The reapers can no longer meet at Der Waffle Haus because it burns down, but they must continue to extract the souls of those about to die. Rube has moved on to the next life and they have a new boss, Cameron Kane (Henry Ian Cusick), a businessman who died falling from the Trade Center on 9-11. He has none of Rube’s charm or fatherly ways and insists on reaping efficiently. He gives the reapers color co-ordinated smartphones instead of post-it notes.
As a result, the reapers feel like cogs in a machine and decide that nothing they do matters. Roxy (Jasmine Guy) starts to save lives instead of reaping souls, Mason (Callum Blue) abuses immortality for financial gain, Daisy (now played by Sarah Wynter, who once played Laura Harris’s sister on the series 24) lets the souls wander free. George (Ellen Muth) is fired from the Happy Time Agency when she argues with a worker who sues for harassment. She reveals herself to her sister Reggie (Britt McKillup) and helps her cope with the death of her boyfriend Hudson Hart (Jordan Hudyman).
The reapers decide to kill their boss but find it harder than they thought. They shoot him, drown him, dismember and cremate him, and finally launch his ashes into space with Delores’s (Christine Willes) cat Murray. It turns out the employee who sued George had done this before at other companies and George is reinstated with a corner office. Then she is inundated with post-it notes falling from the sky. She realizes she is now stuck with Rube’s job.
The TV-movie was directed by Stephen Herek and written by John Masius and Stephen Godchaux. Mandy Patinkin didn’t care for the script and declined to appear. His absence is conspicuous. It was released on Superchannel in Canada and Syfy in the U.S. Most people thought it was a big comedown after the brilliant and quirky series, though many reviewers were glad to see the likable George and others again for 87 minutes. Someone asked: Why do the good TV series only last two years? I think, considering what creative people are up against in the TV business, it’s amazing that series as good as this one ever get launched. The TV-movie doesn’t have the satirical impact of the best of the series, but there’s a good dose of black humour and the relationship between George and Reggie is really quite touching.