tek's rating:

Reaper, on The CW
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Caution: spoilers.

Season One
Okay. There's this slacker named Sam Oliver, who just turned 21. He's a college dropout with a dead-end job at a home improvement store called the Work Bench. His parents have always been incredibly easy on him, and now we find out why. Long ago, his father was sick, and would have died if not for the fact that the Devil (Ray Wise) offered him and his wife a deal. He gave them a cure, and in exchange, they promised him the soul of their first born when he turned 21. They intended to simply avoid ever having children, but of course the Devil isn't so easy to cheat, and found a way to trick them. So, Sam was born, and out of guilt they coddled him his whole life. (He has a younger brother named Kyle, but I don't recall ever seeing him after the first episode.)

Anyway. Satan shows up and tells Sam he now has to serve as a bounty hunter, capturing souls that have escaped from Hell. (The Devil can of course be funny and charming, but Sam will eventually see that he can also be quite intimidating.) And Satan will give him vessels to contain his bounties til he can deliver them back to Hell (generally this means passing along the vessel to a demon named Gladys, who works at the DMV). It took Sam awhile to get his head around this new duty. Naturally he was freaked at first, but eventually he decided it might be cool. He gets some help from his friends Bert 'Sock' Wysocki (Tyler Labine) and Ben Gonzalez, both of whom work with him at the Work Bench. Another coworker there is a girl named Andi Prendergast (Missy Peregrym), who Sam would like to ask out, but so far hasn't. She's a friend, but she doesn't know about all the Devil stuff and bounty hunting. And then there's Sock's ex-girlfriend, Josie, who'll provide some help, though she also doesn't know the truth. She works for the D.A.'s office. She's constantly exchanging barbs with Sock; they can't stand each other, but she does seem to be friends with Sam.

Well, various stuff happens over the course of the first season. After awhile, the guys move into a new apartment, and get new neighbors, Tony and Steve, a gay couple who turn out to be demons, involved in a group that's plotting to overthrow the Devil. And Andi eventually starts dating Sam, and later still, she learns the truth about him. And there are some mysteries concerning the contract Sam's parents took out with the Devil, and stuff about his father that is unclear (most notably, he was killed, but seems to still be alive, though Sam doesn't know this). And then there's the question of whether the Devil might actually be Sam's real father. And... you know, all sorts of stuff.

Season Two
Sam, Sock, and Ben have been on a road trip for a month, while Sam tries to get over the death of his father. Also, the three of them seem to be pretty sure that the Devil is his real father, though I don't recall it ever having been more than a possibility. Anyway... when they get back home, Andi is mad at Sam, and the three of them have been fired by Ted (their boss at the Work Bench, whom no one takes seriously, ever). But they manage to get their jobs back. However, they had also been evicted from their apartment, so now they stay at Sock's mom's place. In season 1, she had married a guy named Morris. At the start of season 2, they're away on their honeymoon, and Sock finds a woman named Kristen (Eriko Tamura) living there, who is his new step-sister. She's very happy to have a new big brother, though Sock would rather date her than think of her as a sister. Also, Sam gets some hope that he may eventually be able to get out of his contract (because someone named Alan Townsend had once done so). And Ben starts dating a demon named Nina (Jenny Wade), who had originally be sent to kill Sam, but then becomes an ally. We also occasionally see a guy named Morgan (Armie Hammer), who is the Devil's son, and vies with Sam to take over "the family business" from the Devil, someday, even though Sam doesn't want the job. Also, Sam finds out his father is still alive... or rather, not alive or dead, since his deal with the Devil means he can't die, even though he was killed, so now... he's sort of zombielike in appearance, but otherwise seems the same as ever. And he starts living in Sam and the guys' garage.

Anyway, it's a really funny and cool show. I'm leaving plenty of details out, and I certainly don't want to say how the second season ends. But... it got cancelled, so there's a great deal that never got resolved, which really sucks. The show definitely needed at least one more season....


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