TV Show Info:
Writers: Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas, with contributions from Craig DiGregorio, Thomas Schnauz, Tom Spezialy, Jeff Vlaming, Chris Dingess, James Eagan, Kevin Etten, Kevin Murphy, and Michael Daley
Directors: Stephen Cragg, Ron Underwood, Kevin Dowling, John Fortenberry
Cast: Bret Harrison, Tyler Labine, Rick Gonzales, Missy Peregrym, Andrew Airlie, Ray Wise, Donavon Stinson, Christine Willes, Jenny Wade, Ken Marino, Eriko Tamura, Michael Ian Black, Armie Hammer
Rating: NR
Studio: Lionsgate
Release Info:
Original Air Dates: March-May, 2009
DVD Box Set Release Date: June 6, 2009
Episodes:…A New Hope; Dirty Sexy Mongol; The Sweet Science; The Favorite; I Want My Baby Back; Underbelly; The Good Soil; The Home Stretch; No Reaper Left Behind; My Brother’s Reaper; To Sprong, with Love; Business Casualty; The Devil and Sam Oliver
Online Availability: Amazon for $29.99
Reaper is the story of Sam Oliver, a slacker in his early 20s who, despite his lack of a sense of purpose in life, finds that he has a destiny to fulfill as the Devil’s bounty hunter, thanks to a Faustian deal his parents made before he was conceived. On the surface, his life is straight out of Reality Bites, replete with a 1990s retro style of disenfranchised angst. Sam (Bret Harrison, perhaps best known for his role as Brad O’Keefe in Grounded for Life) isn’t a complete loser, but success seems to always elude him by just enough of a lead that he can’t catch up with it. He’s employed, but in a dead-end job at The Work Bench, an obvious parody of The Home Depot. And he does get the girl, eventually — but he never quite seems to “get” the girl.
The girl in this case is Andi Prendergast (Missy Peregrym ofLife As We Know It and Heroes), a fellow employee at The Work Bench who has more ambition, more intelligence, and in general, more going for her than Sam or his slacker pals, Sock and Ben, who also work there. In contrast, Bert “Sock” Wysocki (Canadian actor, Tyler Labine) and Ben Gonzalez (Rick Gonzalez of Boston Public and The Rookie), manage to make Sam look good by comparison. While Sam is an “everyman” type of guy, the impulsive party boy, Sock, and the compassionate, rule-following, and slightly wimpy Ben, could be described, respectively, as the id and superego to his ego. Or, to put it in terms more appropriate to the show, they’re like the devil and angel on this average guy’s shoulders.
The real Devil in Sam’s life, however, is Satan himself, a slick and charming trickster portrayed by prolific character actor, Ray Wise (Dallas, Twin Peaks and 24. As was revealed in the first season, before Sam was born or even conceived, his parents signed away the soul of their firstborn in exchange for his father’s continued health in the face of grave illness. They intended to cheat the Devil by never having children, but he outmaneuvered them, and on Sam’s 21st birthday, the terms of the deal come due: Sam must work for the Devil as his personal bounty hunter, tracking down and capturing souls escaped from Hell. While at first Sam is horrified by this, the Devil convinces him that he is not doing evil by serving the Devil, but rather, he is helping enforce the balance between good and evil.
However, the easy morality of the show’s first few episodes is challenged in later episodes, and this continues to escalate in the second season. Sam’s role is no longer unambiguous, and his choices aren’t all black and white. Several revelations of the first season thrust Sam firmly into the gray area, bringing his friends with him. Even while they resist maturing and taking on adult responsibilities and roles, all are dealing with complicated family situations such as extreme sibling rivalry and torn loyalties.
While they remain outwardly easy going slackers bumbling through their day jobs at The Work Bench, Sam, Sock, Ben and Andi find themselves moonlighting for increasingly complex assignments from the Devil. The second season leaves the team pondering the consequences of recapturing souls they feel sorry for, and what to do with the innocent lives left behind after a soul is reclaimed. They also have reason to question whether certain beings are inherently evil, or if even demons deserve a second chance.
The second season of Reaper was as strong and enjoyable as the first season, although the fact that the show was not renewed for a third season left the final episode with a feeling of incompleteness. Despite this, there was at least some sense of closure, and a sense of where various story arcs were heading. However, the last episode raised as many questions as it answered, making it a perfect season two finale – if only there was going to be a season three.
As evidenced by this DVD, Reaper was a quality show with an interesting and deceptively complex concept, a cast with great chemistry, and a balance between black humor, slapstick adventure, and coming-of-age bildungsroman, that should have been a recipe for success. All that was missing was an appreciative audience – an ingredient that perhaps the DVD’s release can garner.
The Reaper: Season Two Plot
This collection contains the complete second (and final, as the show was not renewed) season of Reaper. There are (appropriately enough!) 13 episodes; a summary of each follows:
“…A New Hope”: Back from an impulsive road trip, Sam, Sock and Ben return to find several changes waiting for them. Still reeling from revelations at the end of season one, Sam is now facing bigger challenges than before, as the scope of his job as the devil’s bounty hunter are expanded. The guys also begin to realize that there are consequences to their actions when they find that because they didn’t tell anyone how long they would be gone, Andi is mad at Sam, all three of them have lost their jobs, and there’s a girl they don’t recognize living at Sock’s mother’s house – which complicates their plan to crash there.
“Dirty Sexy Mongol”: Sam encounters a soul who managed to get out of his deal with the devil, and becomes obsessed with tracking him down and finding out how he did it. Ben begins a new relationship that might be too good to be true, because it seems like his girl is hiding something.
“The Sweet Science”: Sam must take a hands-on approach to capturing the soul of a boxer who threw a fight and just wants one more chance to do the right thing.
“The Favorite”: Sam must work with the devil’s favorite son, Morgan, whose work ethic and outlook on life differs vastly from his own. Meanwhile, Sock comes up with a creative scheme to make more money while doing less work; Ben questions his relationship with new girlfriend Nina; Sam learns new information about what actually happened to his father.
“I Want My Baby Back”: The boys must decide what to do with the human child of a soul they sent back. Meanwhile, Sam must deal with his father in a new way; Andi learns information Sam has been holding back from her; Sock goes to extreme measures to get his hormones in check.
“Underbelly”: Sam tries to work out his relationship with Andi by taking her on a working road trip with they guys; Sock also uses the trip to negotiate his relationship with sexy stepsister, Kristen. Nina shows up unexpectedly, and with disastrous results.
“The Good Soil”: Once again teamed up with Morgan, Sam tries to interfere on behalf of a soul, but inadvertently creates a situation that raises the stakes.
“The Home Stretch”: Sam is forced unwillingly into a competition with fellow reaper, Morgan. Meanwhile, he finally tracks down Alan, the soul who got out of his deal with the devil. Ben is put in a difficult situation when his grandmother can’t accept Nina for who she is.
“No Reaper Left Behind”: Sam learns more than the devil bargained on when he sets him up with a private tutor. Alan is tempted back to Hell, and someone must go after him in order to learn his secrets for Sam.
“My Brother’s Reaper”: Sam is given the task of negotiating a contract between the devil and a soul he seeks. Morgan and Nina both move in with the guys while each of them considers their options for the future. Ted asks Andi for a favor – but does he have a hidden agenda?
“To Sprong, with Love”: Assuming the worst of a former teacher who made their high school experience hellish, the guys mistakenly target Mr. Sprong with the vessel, only to find out he was the escaped soul’s victim, not an escaped soul himself. Ben realizes just what it takes to be Nina’s boyfriend, and feels he must prove himself.
“Business Casualty”: The devil gets Sam a corporate job in order to groom him for success as his representative on Earth; but Sam discovers that his new responsibilities also offer freedom of access to help him better plot against the devil.
“The Devil and Sam Oliver”: Sam finally learns the secret to winning his soul back – but will he be able to? And is reformed demon, Steve, more of a help or a hindrance? The final episode resolves some ongoing storylines, while leaving some questions unanswered.
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Audio/Visual:
This DVD set is presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic) video, with English Dolby Digital 5.1 or Dolby Digital Surround audio. Closed Captioning is available, along with subtitles in English and Spanish.
The almost harsh lighting offers a crisp contrast, in keeping with the film-style cinematography of a show that was actually shot on video. Visual effects, such as the capturing of souls in a different vessel for each episode are nicely done, and the effects for the Devil’s tricks as well as the ways in which souls and demons are depicted are very effective without being too over-the-top. Special effects flow in an almost-believable way – they are impressive, without stealing attention from the plot.
Audio effects, also, are done in a way that supports the show’s overall theme and ambiance without distracting from the dialogue, which is clearly enunciated. Background noises add to realism without muffling sounds more integral to the plot, and sound effects and edgy music add to the show’s style without muddying the audio experience.
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Bonus Features:
Bonus features include deleted scenes, a gag reel, and a featurette on the making of the series.
The deleted scenes included scenes from four different episodes, but didn’t really seem to include much new material. Rather than being completely new scenes, they seemed to be simply different takes on scenes that did make it into the show. While these versions of the scenes were slightly longer, they didn’t seem to really add anything in terms of insights into the show. It also didn’t really make sense to me that they were listed under bonus material on the second disc, rather than being options to select from the episode menu for each disc, so that they could be easily viewed right after watching each episode for which a deleted scene was included. I might have found them more interesting if viewed at that time than as an option to view later, after having seen the rest of the episodes.
The gag reel, however, was more promising. Featuring more than 8 minutes of outtakes, it offered a glimpse behind the scenes. There were some really funny blunders and great moments included, but beyond that, what the gag reel really afforded me was insight into the atmosphere on the set and the true chemistry between the actors. Watching the gag reel left me with the impression that this was a fun series to create, and that the actors (and crew) involved enjoyed their roles in creating it, and really fed off of the group energy.
This served to further my opinion of this show as a quality series undeserving of such a limited run. The gag reel worked well as a montage, rather than as separate offerings linked to each episode. Just as the series itself did, it left me wanting to see more from this group of people working together.
The featurette, “The Devil Made Me Do It: A Look Back at the Making of Reaper,” focused on the first season of the show, and hopes for the (still upcoming, at the time the featurette was created) second season. Running 15 minutes and 15 seconds, it offered an in-depth look at the concepts behind the series, the character development, the special effects and cinematography, the locations and props, and interviews with actors and crew, including Kevin Smith, who was the director and executive producer for the pilot episode and was a consultant for the first season. This was an excellent addition to the set, but it would have been nice to see something similar for the second season as well, especially considering its untimely end. A similar feature could have wrapped up some loose ends, or, as a friend of mine likes to say, resolved the “fish in the glove box” left behind by a hasty end to the series.
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Bottom Line:
Reaper was a great, and greatly overlooked, show that ended too soon. Because the show was so short-lived, I would have preferred a “complete series” box set to separately packaged single seasons. However, owning season two – and enjoying watching it multiple times – has inspired me to purchase the first season as well, a purchase I might otherwise not have made. While this show was largely overlooked during its brief run on television, I hope that its availability on DVD will help it to gain the wider audience it deserves. I would wholeheartedly recommend this series to fans of similarly short-lived metaphysical head trips such as Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies.
Overall Rating:
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