TV Guilty Pleasures # 16: 'Reaper'

Everyone feels guilty about different things; some feel guilty about eating twelve doughnuts, but others might see it as an everyday breakfast. Some might feel guilty about stealing someone’s lawn gnome, while more mischievous folks might feel fine. And, of course, there are a number of people who would feel bad about rooting for an agent of the Devil, which is why “Reaper” might be a guilty pleasure for some.

Originally airing on The CW, “Reaper” ran for two seasons with a total of 31 episodes. Our hero, Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison), is a slacker trying to find his way in life. He dropped out of college because it “made him sleepy,” lives with his parents, and he works at a hardware store called The Work Bench. He’s having fun, but all his parents see is how his life is going nowhere fast. At the beginning of the series, Sam turns 21 and finds his parents acting strange… well, stranger than usual.

As it turns out, his parents are acting suspicious for a pretty good reason- they kinda, sorta, maybe sold his soul to the Devil before he was born. Back then his dad’s health was fading, and the Devil, being the cunning trickster that he is, gave the dad his health back in exchange for their firstborn child. I don’t think Mister Oliver’ll be getting father of the year…ever. Now, Sam has to work as a Reaper for the Devil himself, collecting souls that have escaped from Hell and doing anything else the Devil might assign him. And some say you can’t get a good job without going to college!

Despite “Reaper” having such a brief run, and despite its penchant for comedy, there are some pretty good character arcs here. Sam and his best buddies, Sock (Tyler Labine) the super goofball and Ben (Rick Gonzalez) the worrywart start off as mega slackers, with Sam in particular having a really defeatist attitude. Sam lacks confidence and acts pretty passively when it comes to everything in life- job, love, friendships. The Devil actually helps them out by giving their group a purpose in life, helping them to develop ambition and confidence by the end of the show. You can’t help but develop a little bit of confidence after fighting evil Hell souls, even if you’re actively trying not to.

“Reaper” mixes drama and comedy extremely well, giving it a natural feel. It’s hard for an hour long episode to keep up the laughs the whole time, so blending it with drama gives it more substance and keeps the jokes from becoming forced and stale. Without a doubt, Tyler Labine (Tucker & Dale vs. Evil) is the main reason “Reaper” is so funny. He unintentionally steals every scene he’s in because of his immaculate comedic delivery and timing. An example of his pick-up lines include “Excuse me, you’re standing on my penis” and singing “You’re going to be my baby’s mamma.” His character, Sock, is so easy going and friendly, you can’t help but like him.

Whenever Sam reveals that he thinks he has special powers, Sock instantly picks up something and throws it at Sam’s head. Why? He’s testing his powers! Instead of the typical disbelief and “you’re crazy” attitude that we see so often in shows, Sock believes him without hesitation and thinks it’s the coolest thing in the world. He’s a fresh, positive character that goes along with everything without question.

Ray Wise is the Devil, and the best Devil they could have possibly chosen. He can be saying the most horrific things like, “If you don’t do it, I’ll kill you,” with a smile on his face like he’s so nice and sweet, but his eyes look so menacing. He’s gleefully evil, which is the worst kind of evil to be. And he’s manipulative. When Sam’s parents sold their firstborn to the Devil, they thought they’d beat him by not having children. So the Devil tricked them into thinking they couldn’t have children, thus they had Sam. Wise portrays a perfect unassuming but totally evil Devil.

Aside from Labine being a comedy genius and Wise being the perfect embodiment of the Devil, the “soul of week” and ways of catching them are clever and one of a kind. Sam is given a vessel to capture each escaped soul. Rather than being the same thing every time, or even being remotely related to soul catching, the vessels are disguised as normal items, like a lighter, toaster, and dust buster. Part of the entertainment of the show is not only seeing how they find the lost soul, but how they use the vessel to capture said soul. Things get really creative when you’re given these items, like a remote control car, to trap an escaped soul. And “Reaper” confirms everyone’s suspicions about the DMV: it is one of the gateways to Hell, and a lot of demons work there.

“Reaper’s” last episode ends on sort of a cliffhanger, opening all these new doors of possibilities that never get to be explored; but, it’s not as bad as, say, “Veronica Mars.” It’s a lot of fun to watch and one of the few shows that will make you root for an agent of the Devil. Sam isn’t evil though, so you can feel good about that. He just does work that straddles the line between good and evil.