Geekshow

TV Review: Reaper

“Meet Satan’s Biggest Tools”

Returning to the airwaves this week is the CW’s Reaper. It is a fun show similar in vein to NBC’s Chuck. Reaper is the story of Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison), a twenty-something slacker who has dropped out of college and is working at The Work Bench (The Work Bench is to Home Depot what the Buy More is to Best Buy). At work he is surrounded by his two best friends Bert “Sock” Wysocki (Tyler Labine) and Ben Gonzalez (Rick Gonzalez). He also pines for his co-worker and long-time friend, Andi (played by Missy Peregrym for you Season 1 Heroes fans out there).

On Sam’s twenty-first birthday, his parents start acting strange. They finally reveal to him that in return for his father’s health when he was dying long before he was born, they sold their first-born son’s soul to the Devil. They had even tried to not have children, but of course the Devil had made sure Sam would come to be.

When Sam is later confronted by the Devil (played brilliantly by Ray Wise of in Twin Peaks fame), instead of being dragged to Hell, the Devil offers him a job. When Sam tries to back out of the deal, he’s told his mother’s soul will be forfeit. Sam will be Hell’s bounty hunter (or reaper), tracking down and capturing some of Hell’s worst lost souls that have escaped. For each soul he has to capture, he is sent a different vessel with which to capture it. These vessels have ranged from Dirt Devil Hand Vacs, Taser guns, and even a live dove.

The fun of this show is the character interactions. Sock is the slapstick comic relief and typical best-friend-bound-to-get-Sam-in-trouble. Ben is the punching bag for the trio, and sadly, the brains of the operation. His role has moved to a more behind the scenes nature while he plots the strategies that Sam and Sock carry out.

Andi has been newly let in on Sam’s dirty little secret. At the end of the first season, she witnessed one of Sam’s “Reaper” moments and he finally had to come clean, with permission from the Devil, of course. She now helps out the team, usually with research and is just coming to terms with Sam’s new life.

Supporting characters add as much to the show as reoccurring characters. Gladys, the DMV worker who Sam takes his collected souls to, has a love-hate relationship with Sock that grows funnier each episode. Steve and Tony, the gay neighbors of Sam, who also turn out to be demons sent to try to convince Sam to help in a demon-uprising against the Devil. Tony becomes a more significant character towards the end of the first season.

But the highlight of the show for me is The Devil. Ray Wise has been a favorite actor of mine since Twin Peaks. Wise plays the role of The Devil with such relish, you can’t help but enjoy him, even when he is being his worst. I once read of Wise that he has a smile that never reaches his eyes, and it is so very true. And it makes him perfect to portray the bureaucratic businessman who just so happens to be The Devil himself.

Reaper returns to the CW Tuesday, March 3 at 8:00 p.m. ET. I hope you get a chance to tune in. I’m sure there will be a re-cap of the last season that will fill you in enough for the current season’s story lines.  While it may not be up to the caliber of Chuck, there are enough differences, especially in the sense of humor of the show, that make it fun to watch. And any show that has Kevin Smith as a creative consultant has my vote.