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Here's some background information about your favorite characters!
On Rube :
A lengthy comment by Bonzo regarding the origin of Mandy Patinkins Character, Rube:
This past week I came across an early press release about DLM (released and published in June) that included a lengthy interview with the show's creator and original executive producer, Bryan Fuller. It contained some interesting info on a couple of the favorite topics of this board --- "who is Rube?" and the concept of the show. Here's what I learned:
(1)According to Fuller, the character of Rube was written as a 19th century Southern gentleman --- hypothetically, that could very well fit the hypothetical Civil War theory, it fits my hypothetical slave trader theory (a "Southern gentleman" implies aristocratic slave owner), and it hypothetically gives credence to Rube's apparent obsession with horse racing, because that was considered the "gentleman's sporting game" in the South, particularly in Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Hypothetically, however, it is still possible that he could have been a Union officer because all of those states, as well as northcentral Alabama, had strong pockets of pro-Union populations, and they all had Union governments in exile during the war (Virginia being the best example--- the people west of the Shenandoah Valley broke away from Virginia in 1863 to rejoin the Union as West Virginia). It's important to note that while these people were pro-Union, they were not against slavery, and many of them were slaveowners. And that's a historical fact, not a hypothetical one.
(2)Fuller added, however, that once Mandy Patinkin (who is not a southerner) was cast as Rube, the character was modified to some extent, although he did not elaborate. I found an interview Mandy Patinkin gave after the filming for the season ended, published last week, in which Mandy says that even he still does not know who Rube was or what he did before he died, or even how he died. My guess, and it's only a hypothetical guess, is that the writers are still developing the characters as they go along and haven't decided exactly what to say about Rube, despite the little clues Fuller dropped in the early episodes he wrote and produced before he left the show.
On Mason :
(3)Mason lovers, listen up --- according to Fuller, George and Rube are the main characters of this show. In fact, Fuller said the show is all about George, the lessons she has to learn and her personal development. Rube is a mentor who is there to help guide her in the right direction. He said almost nothing about the other characters, and Ellen Muth was the only member of the cast who was also interviewed for this piece.
On Dead Like Me :
(4)Fuller also said the show is entirely character driven, not plot driven (which may explain why there are occasional "plot holes" or puzzling situations), and that the basic concept is that the reapers are people who are picked at random to become reapers, but who must remain on earth and are not allowed to cross over until they deal with unresolved issues. He also mentioned the "quota" thing, but he didn't elaborate or say how the two seemingly contradictory concepts come together. My guess, hypothetically, of course, is that at the time of this interview, which was well before the show went on the air, Fuller was still developing his ideas and hadn't yet thought them through completely. I suppose, hypothetically again, that after he left, the new producer John Masius and the writers had to develop the characters and concepts on their own, based on what was already filmed.
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