Tag: Reaper

‘Reaper’ Season Finale: ‘The Devil and Sam Oliver’

Now let's see Daniel Webster play quarters.

I have to say after watching the season finale of Reaper I must admit I can see this show going on for at least two more seasons. It would almost seem, with where they left it off, that they’ve opened up a whole new can of worms and practically have a whole new story line they can explore. And with the way, I’m pretty sure, they want to go with it it’s definitely going to need more than the one season that I thought is all they needed to get everything done and wrapped up. There’s just so much they brought into the last ten minutes of the finale that really just changed everything.

But let me say if it does get picked up for another season and somehow does stay on The CW than it really needs to learn how to push this show. First off the commercials they had for this show were terrible and if you weren’t familiar with the show and how good it was the commercials might’ve turned you off because they made the show seem a bit weirder than it actually was, if that’s possible.
Also the pairing up of it with 90210 on the same night was the worst idea ever. Nobody watching 90210 is going to be the same audience that would dig Reaper. As I believe one commenter, thank you Heath, pointed out, that new show The Vampire Diaries would be a nice show to pair it up with.

As for the season finale I couldn’t have been happier with the way they went with it in almost all respects. They had the capturing of the soul and luckily it was one where the soul didn’t matter so much and they caught him in the first five minutes, of course not before the Devil made Sam dance like a monkey in honor of the passing of the Devil’s favorite street performer. Also what they did with the continued relationship of Ben and Nina was good and decently tensioned filled as his grandmother yet again tries to butt into his relationship but this time almost with extreme force as she brings a priest in to perform an exorcism on a special someone. I loved what they did with Sock here and how he’s racing to stop it but gets a little distracted thanks to what was crawling around in his slurpy.

And then we’ve got what we all came to see and that is the match up between Sam and the Devil and the quarters match for Sam’s soul. I thought what they did with this was pretty ingenious and that’s why I thought they may be able to finish everything off in this last episode but man was I wrong. I thought there was a chance he might be able to win his soul back all nice and clean but the way they are able to drag out through the whole episode with different twists and turns and extra souls being offered up, it was done very well. The guest appearance by Michael Ian Black as the former demon now close to being angel Steve was hilarious and actually used very well. Instead of him coming in for a few scenes and a few jokes he’s used very well throughout this episode.

Well now that’s it all over and done with we can only hope some station is willing to take a gamble on this show and let it ride out the story it has left. I don’t know why it couldn’t move to cable and do fine. Most of those shows don’t expect to get huge ratings and I think with the ratings it’s currently delivering it’d be alright. I have heard talks that ABC Studios is in negotiations to possibly put the show into syndication and would air on Sunday nights on The CW which has given the air time over to the affiliates so really that seems to be the last hope we for this show at the moment. Of course several issues have risen up there with the producers leaving the show and Tyler Labine (Sock) already being in another show on Fox next season and if it was in syndication it would have less money to work with but I think it might still have a fighting chance here.

‘Reaper’ Season Finale Tonight, plus “Business Casualty”

Bring it on CW, I got the Devil on my side.
Bring it on CW, I got the Devil on my side.

So tonight is the season finale of Reaper and what I must sadly inform you is that this will most likely be the series finale as well. Yes sadly I happened upon the Saint Louis Post Dispatch this past weekend and they had an article on renewed and cancelled shows. Reaper happened to fall under the cancelled section, as did the rest of CW’s comedy shows, and I got to say more than likely, after tonight, it will be lost to us forever. Though it’s possible buying the second season on DVD may save it from cancellation hell, but I wouldn’t pin too many hopes on it. We must accept its fate as a show too smart for most audiences, ala Pushing Daisies, and we must watch it be crushed while middling dreck, ala Two and a Half Men, gets picked up for what feels like it must now be in the double digit seasons.

But lets not feel too down as the cancellation of great genre pushing shows has become as standard as brushing our teeth. Let’s just revel in what we have left and enjoy the many fond memories this show doled out. Such as in this episode where Sam climbs up the ruthless corporate ladder, in now way I’ve ever seen it climbed before, and finds out how much the Devil keeps his eye in practically any wrong doing a generic office skyscraper can produce. After he’s shown exactly what goes on in the top floor it’s not soon after we then find out his dad, and his cell phone bars of strength, has what he needs to get out of his deal with the Devil. The catch, of course, being that he’s stuck in the third circle of hell and there’s very little chance of him getting out. Luckily Nina, her being of the demon spawn genus, can enter, yet not without some hesitancy of having to face her love of torture, and she and Ben have a cutesy goodbye before entering the fiery flames of an elevator to Hades.

I was really hoping we’d get some glimpses into hell when her journey was made. After two seasons and enough references to the way things seem to be run down there, I was looking forward to maybe just getting a little peak into the whole operation. Also Sock gets a fun little story this week as Nina tries to set him up with a demon friend and after not digging her look too much she informs him of her ability to look like anyone, even pieces of them thrown together. This puts Sock into a Frankenstein like sequence of snapping body part pics of hot girls and jumbles them together into his most sought after beauty.

Well I hope everyone enjoys the season finale tonight. From the commercial I saw it looked like a good one and it seemed like Sam might actually be battling the Devil for his soul, so maybe we’ll actually get everything wrapped up tonight and we can all end this happily instead of leaving off in a weird spot with questions unresolved. We can hope anyway, and maybe the creators of this show will get another crack at making something just as good in the future. I’ll miss reviewing this show, it was one of my favorites, and I was glad it at least got two great seasons while others continue to plod along and destroy themselves, ala The Simpsons.

‘Reaper’ Season 3 Request!, plus ‘To Sprong, with Love’

I guess we'll just sit and wait for the CW to call us.
I guess we'll just sit and wait for the CW to call us.

Well with tonight’s episode of Reaper being the second to last episode of the season, things are heating up on the old Work Bench front. Not only with the characters themselves but the show on a whole as it continues the good fight to stave off cancellation. I read in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the show is being considered a “bubble” show which means nothing has been decided for its fate but the outlook is pretty bleak. So right now I urge all true blue Reaper fans to buy the second season when it comes out in June. Yes, it is surprising to see the season go from just ending to DVD sale so hurriedly but that only goes to prove that this might be the last fight Reaper is going to take on. If enough people buy the season than it can only help a third season come about. So make sure you buy that second season in a store where you know your purchase will count towards the shows benefit.

Now I’m not saying this show should go on for season after season to come, but it’s still got one more good season in it where they can wrap everything up all nicely. I mean Sam is already on a quest to get out of his contract and with the info he already knows, plus the fact that his dad is in hell with the best cell phone coverage known to man, I think one more season could really give us the ending we deserve. Plus how can you not love any of the antics Sock gets himself into whether its stripper clowns or, like in this episode, where he becomes the new Work Bench mascot Wrenchie Bench and he completely owns it. I’ve never seen a better corporate mascot in my life and he really pulls off a good mascot mashup grudge match.

Then there’s the ever budding romances of the other characters as Sam and Andi seem poised to yet again get back together but they continue to dangle that string over our heads and pull it back up one more time. In this episode we also get to see Ben protect Nina as she devolves into her more primal demon instincts and goes into a demon heat. Yes it’s mating season for all hell spawn and there’s nothing they want more than some of Nina. Fortunately Ben will be having none of it and has a little mashup grudge match of his own as he suits up, armor and chain mail style, and lets no demon get to his woman.

And if that’s not enough to keep this show around there’s still the main soul ctaching plot point where they have to capture their old biology teacher. He’s played here by Michael McDonald of MadTV dame and he’s decently funny as the assholiest teacher you may have had in your past, but may not actually be the soul they so desire. So tonight make sure to watch you some Reaper for we are approaching the end of the season and more than likely the show itself. Just remember that in the end the fans hold the true fate of a show and if we can rally and get shows like Jericho and Roswell, if anyone remembers saving that one, back on for at least one more season than don’t we owe the Devil’s favorite slackers the same?

TV Review: ‘Reaper’ Episode: ‘My Brother’s Reaper’

Who brings a gun to a demon fight?
Who brings a gun to a demon fight?

Many of you may know of my love for calling Sam’s fellow devil brother Morgan a douche. It’s hard not to when there’s not a scene he’s in where he’s not acting like a flaming douche bag to all those around him. Well guess who’s coming to dinner then? Actually instead of coming to dinner, since all of his money and fancy lifestyle has been drained away, he is coming to live with Sam and the guys in this episode. And that’s not all! After their fiery reconciliation that left her den of sin in cinders, Nina has decided to move in as well and basically we’ve got a real Full House situation on our hands. Now I could waste everyone’s time and go through this whole article trying to figure out which character corresponds most precisely to that of the characters of that charming 90s sitcom, but there’s really more pressing story lines to be told.

To be perfectly frank this whole episode is full of nothing more than one douche bag move after another. Not only do we get Morgan’s regular none so benign attitude towards everyone but we also see that Nina is attracted to the bad boy type, and Morgan plans on taking full advantage. Then we have an extreme douche maneuver pulled pretty late in the game by none other than Ted the former manager in I guess could be an evil bid to reclaim what rightfully should be his. Now that only leaves the main crux of the story that involves a douche extraordinaire that refuses to sign his soul away to the devil and plans on repenting minutes before his death and get absolved from all the less than kind things he’s done in his life. In this episode alone he shoots a butler with a paintball gun, tosses beer cans whichever way possible, and has Sam chased by a polar bear.

I like that Reaper is branching off as much as possible from soul catching territory and allows Sam to deal with other aspects of hell such as just simply getting a guy to sign his soul away forever. I know they did that last season as well with the episode where Jamie Kennedy guest starred as a musician who kind of sucked major balls. I do feel kind of bad for Jamie Kennedy though. I mean the guys been in some decent movies but I think he really ruined himself with that Jamie Kennedy Experiment Show, and Son of the Mask didn’t look so hot either. But anyway, back to what really matters. This episode has stripper clowns. Yes stripper clowns, which is actually a brilliant combo devised by Sock and Ben for a bachelor party they throw for Ted who asked the girl after only one date and surprise surprise ends up getting freaked and dumping him.

We also get a little Michael Ian Black back in this episode as the gay demon that died but apparently ascended back up to heaven. His fellow demon lover, Ken Marino, who is always hilarious, check him out in Wet Hot American Summer, now holds some kind of demon support group that attempts to stay good and possibly follow in the same lines as Mr. Blacks demon. All in all this show continues to keep it light and funny and the characters endearing and I assume we are soon to be approaching the end of the season as the second season is already being marketed for DVD release sometime in June I believe. I’m interested in seeing what they leave us with the whole storyline of Sam trying to get out of his deal with the devil and now that his dad is apparently in hell and can still get cell service, wonder what his plan is, it would seem that might have something good cooking for the end. I personally think more episodes with stripper clowns in it is more than necessary and I’m sure they can’t be that hard to write into the show. I’m just saying, stripper clowns are brilliant.

‘Reaper’ Recap Roundup: Three Episodes In One!

We are the Rubbersuit Men, fear us?
We are the Rubbersuit Men, fear us?

First off I’d like to say sorry to anyone that has been looking for my good old usual Reaper coverage. Several events over the past few weeks have made it difficult to keep a handle on the show. Most notably the week before last which saw the interruption of an episode for a hockey game and the subsequent airing of that episode moved to a more unwatchable time slot of seven PM on a Saturday. So I thought I’d take my time here, before the airing of tonight’s episode, to fill in the gaps that will lead up to tonight’s most likely hellishly, I thought it was clever, good episode.

I guess I’ll break it down more into chunks of plot if nothing else and give the basic summary of what’s going down. For one we’ve got the continuous return of the devil’s favorite douche bag of a son as he continues his training in soul catching with Sam. After a bad incident with a soul just looking to lose his virginity, we really get to see how big of a douche he really is as he screws over that soul pretty big after we think everything’s been wrapped up nicely. There’s also an addition of an old surly dude to the Work Bench staff who I find to be a bit of an annoying character. He’s mostly just there as a punch line and sad to say some of his jokes fall a little flat and are a bit predictable and expected. I think we’ve all gotten past the whole old man who can talk dirty and be weird routine.

All of this though helps in Sam finding Allen though, the guy who escaped from hell, and we soon see Sam pursuing him in an effort to find out how he was able to get out of his contract. Basically it all leads back to the famous Crossroads tale and challenging the devil to something, anything you apparently might be good at. Of course though Allen refuses to reveal all until he knows he’s safe from the devil and things don’t turn out decidedly well. Now besides that we also get to see Sam and the douche pitted against each other for who can catch the next soul with the prize being that who ever wins will be the Devil’s right hand man on Earth. The loser of curse will get a less than adequate parting gift.

Besides all that soul catching, Allen losing, and prize winning, we have the further love tale of Ben and Nina. She ends up meeting his grandma, who we all know can somehow see evil in someone, and disastrous effects ensue. This causes Ben to have to make a decision, which ultimately might be the wrong one, and he breaks up with Nina. After a few hilarious scenes where Nina wreaks havoc upon him and Sock in her demon form, and one pretty hot scene with Nina in her underwear trying to seduce Sock and having her catapult up my hotties I’d like to do list, they reconcile and realize they can’t be without each other. Of course that reconciliation comes in the midst of Sock trying to burn down her demon lair after she scared the willies out of him during one of his dreams. There’s also a weird little romance that Sam has with a woman that’s supposed to be his tutor in the ways of being evil and things get a little heated when the Devil shows a little interest in her as well.

So that’s what we’ve come up to at the present moment in the Reaper universe. Everything is still going right for the show and they’ve been able to keep the characters very engaging throughout. Even Sam and Andi’s break up and their will they or won’t they, but more than likely will, get back together shtick works better than most shows that try to pull off this same, tired routine. So stay tuned everyone, until the end, and get your friends into to and let’s hope this show doesn’t tragically see its end coming near because it really is one of the more interesting shows currently on network TV. They even provide a consistent amount of intrigue and humor throughout each episode and I rarely know which way they’re going to go with it next.

TV Review: ‘Reaper’ Episode: ‘Underbelly’

I know this is actually from the first season, but why don't they ever wear these kick ass outfits again?

Nothing starts off a good episode of Reaper better than a good old fashioned fight between a scorpion and a tarantula, strange that the spider is the one that’s kicking more ass. Well pretty much right from there we our lead into who the soul is and it’s apparently a guy that had an old mining town, Dove Hollow it has a nice ring to it, and got people to come there and then took all their money and for some unexplained reason is now a giant tentacle monster that is hiding out in the old mine and getting people lured to come on in so he can have a snack. This is actually a pretty soul heavy episode which is fine to have every now and then; this episode still leaves plenty to be thrown in concerning a bunch of the characters.

Then we see Ben and his demon girlfriend Nina and yet again their relationship going through a bit of a rough patch as Ben is coming on a bit strong and clingy and all Nina wants to do is to be alone for a little bit and apparently eat a live llama, which we hilariously get to see her fattening up in a later scene. He invites her to join them on their journey but she refuses to go. Sam on the other hand wants to try to use this little get away to Dove Hollow as a romantic weekend for him and Annie but she has been slightly perturbed recently after finding out he is the son of the devil and already a few people mentioning that underneath it all he may be a little evil himself.

So they reach Dove Hollow, which is as empty as can be except for the people in various stores that are delightfully off-kilter creepy and seem to just slide along whatever desk or counter top they are always perpetually stuck behind. At the hotel Sock finds out they only have three rooms and that he must share a bed with his step-sister, not exactly something he planned but something that does tickle him pink. Strangely though everyone they encounter tells them to go visit the mine and how great the mine is and that they shouldn’t waste time for a great experience at the mine awaits them, like its more impressive than the invention of the light bulb or frozen yogurt or something.

As they figure out what they could possibly do to catch the soul we find out Ben has been calling Nina almost every half hour and it now must be pointed out to him that he is looking a teensy bit needy. Of course as soon as he stops we see Nina actually notices this and is worried and decides to make the trip up Dove Hollow way. Sam and Annie decide to check out the mine, possibly swayed by all that good word of mouth, and Sam surprises her with a bottle of wine of some type. Upon finding he has no corkscrew he tells her as well that he has some kind of devil powers, which I’ve been wondering where had run off to. She gets a little freaked out and is seeming like all this devil business is starting to get to her and then accidentally makes the bottle explode and not help his point at all.

Then there’s Sock, who so wants to sleep with his step sister that upon finding out that their room actually has a spare bed that he tosses it out the window onto a car that starts beeping like mad and when the step sister comes back in and sees she finds out his true intentions, finally for Gods sake. They actually do start talking about it though and he feels terrible because he thought she felt the same way but she says she doesn’t. But then like three minutes later she meets him at the bar and they do a little flirting thing and it’s off to the bedroom with them. Sadly for him the next morning he proclaims his love for her by opening the window and seeing that he has smashed the extra bed onto a police car and is asked if it’s his and he says yes in a mighty declaration. He is then arrested and the sheriff tells them he is holding him until Wednesday. I was surprised he didn’t follow that sentence up by telling them to go visit the glorious old mine.

Annie then leaves with the stepsister and they find that the sheriff is on their side after Ben finds Nina’s purse in the bar, she had shown up and been digested by one of the strange people which turns out to be one of the creatures tentacles, and the sheriff blows half the tentacle away with a shotgun. So Sam, Ben, and Sock go up to the mine and actually catch the soul in pretty quick order and upon returning find out that the sheriff is crazy and had double crossed them and told the soul they were coming up there and is now hunting them through the town with his shotgun. All three steal away in his cop car and in a pretty cool scene they go head to head with the sheriff and he blows enough of the car away to have it stop just a few feet from him, you gotta love when someone can pull off a feat like that.

Eventually he chases Sam up to the mine and we find that Nina is still alive and she quite hungrily wants to rip out the sheriff’s heart but Sam convinces her not to by saying that killing him will be bad because it’s better to leave him alive and suffer with what he’s done. As they head back into town Nina tells him how evil that actually is and apparently it turns her on because she jumps him and kisses him and now Sam has a whole bunch of new dilemmas to deal with. In the end Sock talks to his step sister because she was embarrassed about being caught by the sheriff having sex with her step brother but they work it out and plan to head up to bed but who should show up to perform the greatest cock block the world has ever known but his mom and his new step dad, ouch. And sadly we must leave off with the Devil warning Sam that something bad maybe be coming his way and then Annie shows up and it ends with her possibly on the verge of saying she wants to break up with him. Stay tuned, you can expect me to.

Review: Reaper “I Want My Baby Back”

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The one thing I can say about Reaper is that they definitely give you enough story for your time and dollar every episode. After watching this I had written down so many plot points and different goings on that I was thoroughly impressed by how much they could give me in an hours time. First off we finally get the explanation of what happened to Sam’s dad in that his deal with the devil was so he wouldn’t die and apparently thus dying in the last season he has become undead. Now he just kind of hangs around and doesn’t have much to do as his wife won’t let him in the house so he tries reconnecting with his son through various times in the episode, more or less with decent comic effect. But sadly Sam is busy, as he usually is with escaped souls and what not, and his dad makes those sad puppy dog eyes and looks quite hurt. Eventually Sam tells him that he believes he is not his son and that the Devil is actually his father. His dad is no help as he can’t reveal anything about the deal he made with the Devil without dying but seeing how he is now undead and his wife has left him and his son doesn’t want to hang with him all that much, would that be the worst thing to have happen?
Now getting to the soul it is apparently a woman who was a vampire or thinks she was a vampire, it’s never made quite clear, but doesn’t really matter anyway as the soul is dispatched quicker than usual, in the first five minutes really, and the true story comes from the fact that she escaped hell so that her baby, apparently souls can get down and nasty and pregnant in hell, could stay in the real world. Having it get left with Sam, Sock, and Ben might not have been the option she was looking for and now we get the oddest parody of Three Men and a Baby I’ve ever seen. They even go so far as taking parenting advice from the movie Honey I Blew Up the Kid and luckily for them Tony, the gay demon from the first season, shows up and falls heads over heals for the baby and pretty much wants to take it off their hands right then and there. I first thought it was because he might want to eat the baby, but nothing ever comes of that disturbing notion of mine.
Though the Devil does come to Sam and say that he wants that baby’s soul because nobody escapes from hell on his watch. Also it apparently has something to do with the baby growing up to be evil and do terrible things, so now they must find some way to get the baby away from Tony who now never lets it out of his loving sight. In this episode we also get to see the return of the douche favorite son who tries to take out Annie and tricks her into coming to a restaurant that she thinks Sam has invited her to. Luckily she will have none of it and calls him out on it and he, being of supreme douche bag stock, tells her that Sam is the son of the devil which is apparently something he has neglected to let her know. She ends up becoming pissed off and even more so after she confronts him and he lets her know that Sock and Ben both know his secret.
Then we have Sock’s tale which is the continuing on of him wanting to bang his step sister as, pretty much throughout the whole episode, she is singing karaoke like she’s the grand master siren of karaoke or something. He eventually decides that he must quell his appetite for her and take anti-erection pills but as he is doing so she catches him and says she won’t let him contain the person that he is, not knowing of course that he wants to get it out step sister style. So she asks what she could possibly do to help and it turns out a good game of racquetball is all Sock needs to keep the demons at bay.
So back to the baby as Sam and the gang are forced to get Tony out his apartment, cleverly saying how the tomatoes in the salad are too ripe and that he must get new ones, and then stab the baby with a stake. Unfortunately for them they can’t gather up the strength to stab a baby and Tony walks back into find them all ready to stab up a kid. He then switches into pissed off demon mode and is about to kick all their asses when they figure out a baptism might be the best way to save the babies apparently evil soul, so now it’s off to the church! Annie meets them there as the baby needs “parents† to be with during the baptism and Tony can’t do it because he’ll burst into pretty much flames so her and Sam are forced to pair up together. She has actually forgiven Sam for the most part because she knows he’s a really good guy and it’s not really his fault he’s the son of the devil.
But as the baptism gets underway the Devil tries to suck the carriage, baby inside, towards a portal to hell but Sam will have none of it. He comes to the babies rescue and says that it will be better to keep the baby on earth because it will get more souls for the Devil, all of us knowing he’s just saying so cause he doubts how evil this kid could get. The Devil does agree though only in so much to prove his point that nature will take ride over nurture. So from there the episode leaves off with the douche coming back to depart some words of advice to Annie that it’s really the most evil that can trick you and seem like a good person and then he walks off in all his tool like glory.