Catching Up With Family Plots - A New Season Begins
Commentary By CaliGirl
August 10, 2004
What's The Latest?
There is a new season of this interesting, fascinating and at times, very amusing series. It's all about a Funeral Home in the San Diego, California area. This show has a very devoted and loyal core audience.
Ever since I conducted an interview with Shonna, middle daughter and embalmer of the clan, I have received a lot of mail from viewers who were inspired by her and the show and were anxious to know if and when a new series would begin.
I'm happy to report that season two of "Family Plots" has officially begun on the A&E Network.
The cast of characters includes Rick Sadler - Boss and owner, Shonna Smith - Senior Funeral Director, Emily Vigney - Office Manager, Melissa Wissmuller - Assistant Funeral Director, and their Dad, Chuck Wissmiller - Hearse Driver and ex-boxer who is having memory problems of late. Then we have John Greeney - Funeral Director and Apprentice Embalmer as well as David Moravee - Assistant Funeral Director. He appears to be the least involved with the rest of the gang.
Lloyd Bucher - Commander of the SS Pueblo
When the staff first gets the news about conducting services for a Commander Bucher they really have no clue about who this man was. Frankly, and neither did I. It was fascinating to unravel the mystery and history of this incredible man.
Commander Lloyd Bucher was captured by the North Koreans in 1968 and rather than sink his ship and lose lives of his men on board he chose to be taken captive. Some people might have viewed it as an act of cowardice, but history shows that he was a man of courage who valued human life above anything else. As Rick so eloquently states, "There is a certain symbology [sic] here. This is an American hero." Now, I'm not sure that there is such a word but I'm going to let Rick keep it. I won't even look it up on Dictionary.com.
As the calls come in from the media, the staff of Poway Bernardo Mortuary are more and more impressed with the Commander's history. His widow is a very touching presence in this particular episode. She doesn't want anything fancy in terms of a casket, because her husband wasn't "like that." She does choose one with a flag and stars that strikes her as very appropriate.
Meanwhile, the gang at the Mortuary talk about their own future demise. John says that not many people will come to his funeral and David starts singing "Celebrate." Shonna, my personal favorite, hopes that there is a life beyond death and she will meet her loved ones and that includes Frank Sinatra. "Frank and I will roll, I'll tell you that." Shonna is the best.
Commander Bucher will get the respect that he deserves from everyone at Poway Bernardo Mortuary, most especially Shonna, the embalmer. That title really sells her short, because she does so much more. The staff is inundated with floral arrangements as well as the service and burial. So little time, so much to do.
The Day of the Service
Shonna, after having worked her butt off getting the Commander to look his best even in death, now gets herself all dressed up and it's almost surprising how attractive she is. She is there to meet the family. This gets her more worked up than anything else. She gets caught up emotionally and can barely stop herself from bursting into tears. But that never stops her from stepping up to the plate and doing what she has to do. She will help arrange flowers, greet the family, and exude her natural warmth and charm.
She gets through it all and the widow, Mrs. Bucher, commends her and tells her what a fine job she has done. Shonna knows that she excels at her job. It's very important just as being a good wife and mother means a lot to her. She tries her best at everything she does and is always aware that time is finite and she spends most of it at the Mortuary where she does her best work.
David is the one that the Bucher family selects to transport the Commander's body (or earthly remains, as he refers to it) to the cemetery where the Lloyd Bucher is buried with full honors in Naval tradition. There is only one problem, David has never driven in a motorcade before and this is all new to him. Chuck is the one who is the veteran hearse driver. However, he gets to transport the flowers to the Chapel and not the Commander. Oh well, Chuck might get lost or forget something. As it is, he just about runs out of gas but makes it to the burial on time. Chuck is grateful to the Commander for "taking his place" which seems to indicate that he never was in the Service and it's his way of saying that he's glad that someone else did it for him. Not that he would have been a Naval Commander buried with full honors, but that's Chuck for you. He speaks his mind, and that's not a bad thing.
David's Last Words
This was a very big occasion for David and he marks it with the most poignant and moronic sentence I have ever heard him utter. As he drives back to the Mortuary from the cemetery, he looks out the window, spies a beautiful rainbow arcing across the sky and says, "Somewhere over that rainbow, is Commander Beeker [sic]." What a beautiful tribute. Too bad he screwed up the guy's name, at least in my ears.
We get to see his home where he proudly displays his Star Trek shrine and recites the time honored "Live long and prosper."
Summation
After not having viewed it for quite some time, I once again found this show to be endearing in its unique way. It is always interesting. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of the subject matter, but then again, I am an avid viewer of "Six Feet Under" which has lost something this season, but never mind that for now. You'll get a kick out of "Family Plots" on the A&E Network. It's shown every Monday night. You'll like the family and you'll especially like Shonna. I guarantee you that.
CaliGirl loves the Ocean, granola and winemaking. When not busy with that, writing is her biggest thrill, well almost. She can be reached at california_girl100@yahoo.com
