Dorkgasm Gonzo Is God

The Devil's Due

By

Kenneth Holm
Senior Staff Writer

            Last night marked the premiere of the CW’s new comedy Reaper. Before I get into the actual beans of the show, let’s look at the set-up. Sam, (Bret Harrison, Boston Public, That 70’s Show) has just turned 21 years old. His parents, who have been surprisingly lax with Sam when compared to his brother, are acting a little bit odd. For one, his father is outwardly encouraging him to go out on a complete and utter bender. Then, his mother breaks down into tears and flees the room. We also meet his best friend Bert “Sock” Wysocki (Tyler Labine, Boston Legal), your typical Kevin Smith-esque disenfranchised slacker co-worker. Felling something is a wee bit amiss, Sam and Sock head off to work at The Work Bench, a thinly veiled take on Home Depot. Once in the parking lot, strange phenomena start occurring. A dog begins to mercilessly pounce on the car that Sam and Sock are in, and a shopping cart responds mysteriously to Sam’s will. Once inside, they have to attend the morning sales meeting, which establishes the duo as the slackers we know they are. Once the meeting runs through its obligatory introduction of the supporting characters of Andi (Missy Peregrym, Heroes, Smallville) and Ben (Rick Gonzalez, Boston Public, Old School), the plot really begins moving. Sam has quite the thing for Andi, but he makes absolutely no move to make his interest known to her. He says it is because Andi’s dad died, and it would be wrong to move after an event like that. Sock points out, however, that this was two years ago. During the workday, Sam diverts a major disaster, saving Andi from a crate falling off a forklift by jumping towards it heroically and pushing it out of the way. The only problem is, he never touched it. Severely shaken up by this, Sam leaves work and is “carjacked” by The Devil (Ray Wise, 24 and the upcoming One Missed Call). He explains that Sam is a special boy. He has special powers. His soul also happens to be owned by Hell. It seems Sam’s parents sold his soul before he was born. Don’t worry, folks, it’s explained later why the parents would do something stupid like that, and it actually works. Anyway, Sam is so startled by the revelation that he crashes into a Dumpster, whereupon his spiritual passenger disappears.

            The show continues to expand on the premise, with a father / son heart-to-heart talk and various conversations with Sock and Ben. The Devil appears soon afterwards to explain that Sam isn’t going to Hell yet. First, he’s going to act as a bounty hunter for Hades, capturing various escapee demons and returning them to the fiery depths. His first task is to track down a demonic arsonist, armed with a Dust Buster in which to capture the wayward soul. Julie (Valerie Rae Miller (Smith, Dark Angel), Sock’s mirthful ex-girlfriend, works as a paralegal and is instrumental in tracking down the hellion. Once Sam buckles down and is determined to do his job, he gets along quite well, even getting his telekinesis powers to work on cue. Once the demon is captured, it’s off to the depository (conveniently located at Hell on Earth, the DMV) to return the soul and move along.

            Now that the story is taken care of, let’s look at why this show kicks an unholy (Damn puns…) amount of ass. The chemistry between Sam and Sock is perfect. They act exactly how I act with my best friends. In fact, I have said and done many of the same things Sock does. There is a moment after the near-disaster at work where Sam tells Sock that he moved the crate with his mind. In perfect response, Sock chucks a bottle of window cleaner at Sam and hits him in the head, stating the obvious that Sam did not move that with his mind. Much of the humor of the show does come from Labine’s character and his reactions to this new development with his best friend. Someone might say the humor is a defense mechanism meant to deflect the love and worry he now feels for the friend that has been a part of his life for a long time. I say, that is just who he is. I joke at inappropriate times, and so does Sock. The character of Andi is not as well developed as she could have been, but the show could easily remedy this in later episodes. Rick Gonzalez’s Ben character was the only character I felt was totally unused. You never learned much about him, didn’t know why he stuck around for the fireworks (Shit, another pun…), or have any development at all. Apparently, he is the son of a preacher, but you wouldn’t know it from watching the premiere. Hopefully, Andi and Ben both get more opportunities to shine in later episodes. Fortunately, the show does succeed in one very important area. You cannot make a show like this without having a dynamic adversary.

            Ray Wise is, without a doubt in my mind, pitch-perfect as The Devil. His suit wearing Satan oozes charm and charisma, yet there are small, understated moments where you never doubt that he is an evil, evil man. He is very affectionate with Sam, calling him “Sammy” or “Kiddo”, and yet this is the man who will rip the soul from Sam’s body and cast it into Hell if he does not obey. I would love to congratulate the casting director for making this show a joy to watch. Another reason it works is the director. Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats, etc.) directs the pilot, and it does show at times. Other times, though, you completely forget that Kevin Smith is directing it at all, which is a benefit. It speaks of the show’s power overall, but also of Smith’s ability working with material other than his own.

Overall, I think this show is one of the best new shows of the season. Knowing what I know now, I would totally recast my vote in our New Show poll to support Reaper. There’s absolutely no way that Cavemen can even come close to this. The pilot episode is apparently being shown again on Thursday, September 27th, at 8pm on the CW. I will be there for a repeat watching, and I recommend you do the same. Seriously, or there will be The Devil to pay.