"Reaper" Review: Good, But...

I liked “Reaper” from the very beginning. But then the show started going down a darker and darker path, so I tuned out.

However, the season two premiere is a little bit of a reset that allowed me to remember what I liked about the show to begin with…

If you’ve never seen it, “Reaper” is about Sam (the always adorable Bret Harrison), who on his 21st birthday, discovers that his parents sold his soul to the Devil before he was born. When the Devil himself (a perfectly cast Ray Wise) shows up to collect, Sam is forced to work for him capturing escaped souls and sending them back to Hell. Sam’s assisted by his friends, Sock (Tyler Labine) and Ben (Rick Gonzalez). By the end of season one, Sam had managed to get together with his crush, Andi (Missy Peregrym). But then he was forced to deal with the revelation that the Devil is his father.

When season two begins, Sam is on the road with Sock and Ben trying to escape his life. But when he discovers that Sock didn’t mail a letter to Andi telling her where he’s at, they rush home. However, they come home to no job, nowhere to live and an angry Andi. Oh yeah. And the Devil, who’s ready for Sam to get back to work. But the job he gives Sam is not just any job, it’s capturing over 20 souls with a rechargeable cattle prod—a job so difficult that the Devil actually expects him to fail.

Meanwhile, Sock has to deal with his new stepsister—who he happens to be attracted to. And Sam has girl problems of his own as he tries to convince Andi to forgive him.

But an encounter with an escaped soul may hold the key to Sam eventually finding happiness with Andi by breaking free from the Devil.

The magic of “Reaper” is not in the Devil storyline (although Wise is great to watch). It’s in the friendship of Sam, Sock and Ben. Watching them try to capture the souls is the highlight of the show. And Labine is always fun to watch. In fact, I would love to see more of that and less of the supernatural aspects.

“Reaper” is a good show and I applaud The CW for giving it another shot—even if it is just 13 episodes up against “American Idol.” But I’m afraid it’s just not my thing anymore.

I think the whole Devil thing just freaks me out…

“Reaper” premieres Tuesday, March 3rd at 8 p.m. on The CW…

Photo Credit: Eric Ogden/The CW