Death: The High Cost of Living

S01E02

In the van, Nate and Federico are chatting about what The Late Nate might have been thinking when he left half the business to The Live Nate. Federico suggests that the old man might have been upset with David, but also seems a little sad that he wasn't included as well.

Cut to Claire's school, where she walks out to find Gabriel (the crackhead boyfriend) chatting it up with a couple of girls. He follows her to her car and they flirt a bit, which mostly consists of Claire's whining that everyone treats her differently now. Gabriel proceeds to demonstrate a previously unseen softer side. "You know, you're different now," he tells her. "You can see through walls." I don't even know what that means. Did her father's death give her superpowers? Am I watching The Greatest American Hero (which, by the way, was the greatest show ever)? Claire doesn't seem to get it either, and asks, "Don't your skanks need to be walked?" Heh, again.

House of Stiffs. Mom is futzing about in the garden when Matthew Gilardi (the annoyingly coiffed funeral-home-chain representative) approaches her. She leads him inside, and he reiterates his offer to sell. He's just as smarmy as always, explaining that Kroehner Service International is "a family of death care facilities." I knew I didn't like this guy. I can't respect anyone who uses the phrase "death care" without irony. Or, in fact, at all. He insists that she look at the numbers, especially the stock options. Sars suggested the same thing when I signed up at MBTV, and now my 401(K) features a six-figure balance. I'm just saying. Anyway, Mom looks pensive as he leaves.

At the nursing home, Nate wanders the hall, pushing a gurney and warmly greeting the residents who are...well, still warm, I guess. He's not very popular, which Rico attributes to everyone's knowing why they're there. That surprises me somewhat, because I can think of so many other reasons why Nate might not be popular that the stubble isn't even cracking the top twelve. Federico's pregnant wife, who works at the nursing home and referred the body them, suddenly appears and banters with Nate while they walk to the room. Incidentally, here's where esteemed Queen of Obscure Guest-Stars Wing Chun tells me if I'm correct in my belief that this actress also played Nicholas Turturro's also pregnant wife a few years back on NYPD Blue. ["I got nothing. I haven't watched that show since Caruso left." -- Wing Chun] The wife tells him that her sister can't pick up their other kid from school because she got a callback for a cat-food commercial, and she insists that Federico leave work early to take care of it. He claims he can't, because it "would make David's head explode," but Nate reminds him who the new boss is and says he can go. Federico looks wary, but takes him up on it. He tosses over a pair of latex gloves, causing Nate to flash back to the flashback from episode one, and they load the body onto the gurney. Start-to-Corpse = 783. I still give the episode a C+, though. Sometimes, you've just got to go with your gut instead of the math. Of course, that strategy didn't work out too well when I tried it on the SATs, but I guess you can't have everything. As they lift the body, the sheet comes away, and Alan Ball totally decides to disregard last week's female-nudity advice and instead gives us a big ol' penis shot. I can't think of a delicate way to put this that doesn't involve an unfortunate rigor mortis joke, so I'll just come right out and say that the guy is erect. Federico describes the phenomenon as "Angel lust," and Nate once again looks suitably skeeved.