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| Monday, January 14, 2008 08:55 AM |
| On the Viewer - Reaper ("Pilot") |
 by Fëanor |
I'm going to have to watch this show, whether on iTunes or on DVD via Netflix, because the pilot is fantastic. It's about a guy named Sam who learns on his 21st birthday that his parents sold his soul to the devil and now he has to work for the guy as a bounty hunter, capturing escaped souls and returning them to hell. His parents aren't complete dicks, though; in fact they're pretty nice people. What happened is that his Dad got sick, and the devil came to them offering a cure if they'd agree to give him the soul of their firstborn on his 21st birthday. They agreed, but planned not to have children. In fact, their doctor told them good old Dad was sterile, so they figured they were all good. Unfortunately for them, their doctor had a gambling problem and had made his own deal with the devil to lie to them about the sterility thing. Thus Sam.
Luckily for Sam, the bounty hunting gig comes with some cool supernatural powers, and his friends at work are willing to help him out on his missions. But he's hoping to keep the whole thing from his hot co-worker and the secret love of his life, Andi.
The show is actually quite similar to Chuck in many ways, which I hadn't realized when I was purchasing the pilots for both shows at the same time on iTunes. As in Chuck, our main character is a bit of a loser and a quitter who works in a dead-end retail job and lives with his family (in this case, with his parents), but one day something happens to him that gives him special abilities and changes his life in a way he must keep secret from those closest to him. But Reaper is even funnier and cooler than Chuck in that Sam works for the devil - who is played by the fantastic Ray Wise, a man who was practically born to portray Satan - and he has superpowers. Plus his buddy Bert "Sock" Wysocki is freaking hilarious. In fact, the dialogue in general is hilarious, not to mention the clever story and cool action. This probably has something to do with the fact that it's directed by Kevin Smith, which is something I didn't realize until I saw the dude's name in the credits. The show definitely has the flavor of one of his movies - and I mean that as a big, big compliment. |
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