Rowdy Roddy Reaper Returns

Tonight at 8:00 PM EST on the CW Network, a favorite series from last year returns after having been off the air for ten months. Reaper was a breakout hit last season, for me anyway, and one of my best picks of the year. In fact, in recommending only one TV show to a friend to watch, Reaper was the undeniable best choice.

Quick recap: Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison), a perennial slacker who dropped out of college because classes made him tired, discovers that prior to his birth, his parents sold his soul to the Devil (Ray Wise). Now charged with the task of being Hell's bounty hunter, he must capture and return the escaped souls to Lucifer's dark domain. Armed with an eclectic arsenal of vessels, a stun gun, snow globe and radio controlled car to name a few, and equally lazy best friends, Bert "Sock" Wysocki (Tyler Labine) and Ben Gonzalez (Rick Gonzalez), Sam must balance his new bad ass role with his earthly dead-end profession at the Work Bench and his romantic pursuit of the equally sweet and pretty Andi Prendergast (Missy Peregrym).

SEASON ONE SPOILERS FOLLOW. The first third of the season tended to come off a bit procedurally with the weekly soul-catching becoming a bit repetitive, however this was only to allow the audience to get used to the premise and to establish the characters. Starting with Sam's quest to obtain his contract from the Devil, in order to find an escape clause, the audience discovered that Sam's parents aren't being entirely truthful about their deal with the Devil. Sam, in an attempt to get over Andi, becomes involved with Cady (Jessica Stroup), a girl the Devil has a personal tie to of his own: possible parentage. Not to be outdone, it's alluded to that perhaps Sam may also be an offspring of Satan, seeing as how Sam is the only one the Devil actually appears and talks to. A fact that a demon uprising, led by loving couple Tony (Ken Marino) and Steve (Michael Ian Black), hope to use to their advantage in overthrowing the devil and rejoining the ranks of angels in the heavens. The first season ends with San questioning if he truly is the son of the Devil following the loss, or so he thinks, of the man he previously thought was his father.

Reaper is by no means great television. It will probably never win major awards or even survive its sophomore season, coming late in the year on a fledgling network and competing against mega-hit American Idol. What it is though is an escape. It's fun television filled with amusing characters and interesting plot twists. While wisely choosing not to become too enmeshed in religious or philosophical implications, season one proves that the show is treating its subject matter with a sincerity to the unique beings that inhabit this universe. The Devil is never the ultimate personification of evil one would expect. He's charming, smooth and hilarious. The demons Sam has met are the fallen angels who followed Lucifer away from God, not the freak show monsters as other shows have portrayed them. It's a world populated with characters where you want to see what happens next. And tonight we get the next chapter in the life of Sam Oliver.