Reaper Review

Reviewer's Note: This review is based on, and mostly about, the series premiere of this show.  If this show goes downhill, I'll update the review as necessary. 

I was a bit weirded out, to say the least, when the new fall show I wanted to see more than any other was going to air on the CW Network.  It'd be like being excited about a Fox show in 1988.

But such was the case with Reaper.  The idea felt like the defunct Showtime series Dead Like Me ran head on into Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I never watched Buffy, though people tell me I'd probably like it). 

Bret Harrison (best known for being the neighbor on Grounded For Life, also was on the under-rated and now cancelled The Loop) plays Sam Oliver, a young slacker working at a Home Depot type big box store.  On his 21st birthday, his parents tell him that before he was born, they sold his soul to the devil, and that the transfer happens when he turns 21.

Before long, the Devil (Ray Wise) has arrived.  He informs Sam that he'll be a sort of bounty hunter, recollecting the souls who have escaped hell.  He explains that he'll need to use a vessel to collect the souls, and will have to find a portal to hell to send them back.  Now, what's a vessel?  Well, it appears it will change with every episode, but in the series premiere it was a rechargable Dirt Devil dustbuster.   As for the portals?  Well, it's explained that anyplace on earth that feels  like hell on earth is a portal to hell.  For example?  The DMV.

Sam is joined in his chase for these souls by his best friend Sock (Tyler Labine) and his friend and co-worker Ben (Rick Gonzalez).  He is also friends with, and romantically interested in co-worker Andi (Missi Peregrym), but as of the series premiere, she remains in the dark about his new abilities and mission.

It's hard to base an opinion on a TV show after only one episode, but I haven't enjoyed a pilot as much as this one in a very long time.  The writing was crisp and very funny.  Harrison is the perfect actor to play Sam, and Wise is seeming to relish his role as the wise-cracking devil (he talks about how great chicken fried steak is, and how he's thankful he doesn't have arteries so he can eat it).  My main concern lies in that Kevin Smith (of Clerks and Chasing Amy fame) directed the pilot, another perfect choice.  But can someone else step into the director's chair and keep the series in tune with what was introduced?

No matter what, Reaper is a show you should definitely check out.  It airs Tuesdays at 9PM on the CW.

5 stars (based on the series premiere)