Fall Preview: Reaper

Premiere Date: Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Airs: Tuesdays @ 9pm on The CW

For the first 20 years of his life, Sam (Bret Harrison) wondered why his parents went so easy on him. Whether it was school, sports or career choices, Sam’s mom (Allison Hossack) and dad (Andrew Airlie) always let him get by with the least possible effort. As a result, Sam skipped college, took a dead-end job at the local Work Bench home improvement store and now wastes endless hours playing video games. Everything in his slacker world changed the day Sam turned 21 and discovered the ungodly reason his parents let him slide: they sold his soul to the devil before he was even born.

When Satan himself (Ray Wise) drops by to personally explain that Sam must now serve as his bounty hunter, tracking down evil souls that have escaped and returning them to Hell, Sam refuses to accept his bizarre fate. After getting just a glimpse of Satan’s temper, however, Sam realizes that breaking a deal with the devil has consequences that are very, very bad. Still, Sam is fascinated by the devil’s charm and his flattering insistence that Sam is full of untapped potential.Though his life has suddenly turned weird and scary, Sam is surprised to find that he somehow feels good about his newfound “mission” — removing evil-doers from the world and sending them back where they belong. Back when nothing was expected of him, Sam never had to push himself to achieve. Now, with his friends and his trusty vessel-of-the-week at his side, Sam is ready to face his destiny as the Reaper.

REAPER is getting some pretty rave reviews and has landed near the top of many critics picks for the Fall season. It didn’t land in my top five but I’m certainly not writing it off just yet. Let me start off by saying that if I were giving this show a yay or a nay I would definitely give it a yay – but maybe not an enthusiastic yay. I liked REAPER enough but I didn’t fall in love with it as some TV critics I respect did. The premise is funny, the actors are great, and there was a lot of hilarious stuff in the pilot but I was left feeling a little underwhelmed. Maybe by the time I finally saw it at Comic-Con my expectations were a bit to high. I guess the good news is that I can’t really point out anything bad with the show. I think you will all love Bret Harrison as the reluctant hero and his best friend Sock (played by Tyler Labine) is going to be perhaps the biggest scene stealer of any show this Fall season. Ray Wise is the perfect choice to play The Devil – his deadpanned approach will have you rolling – I thought he was the best part of the entire pilot. So yeah, how about that for a mixed review. REAPER is on my watchlist. I think it has potential. I’m going to rewatch the pilot again when it premieres on the 25th to see if my opinion changes. I can’t wait until you all see it and to hear what you think.

REAPER Videos:

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