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'Reaper' works Devilish magic
So what did we learn from Satan on Tuesday (Oct. 16) night's episode of Reaper? Never to trust carnie magicians, always keep your important Devilish contracts in a climate controlled location and sarcasm is the lowest form of social discourse. See you in Hell, kids!
[Standard boilerplate about spoilers, even though this blog is called "It Happened Last Night," which means if you don't know what happened or don't wanna know, you probably shouldn't be reading.]
Let's talk about "Magic"...
Infernal Indicator o' the Week: Things are vanishing from Sam's hands -- car keys, money, beer. After Satan indicates to Sam that this week's soul's name was Bellifiore, the reaper eventually figures out that magic is involved. I'm told the Lord works in mysterious ways, but he's got nothing on Old Scratch. Have we figured out why Lucifer wants things to be so complicated for Sam? He could save himself a lot of trouble and several trips by just shooting Sam an e-mail with full name, address, standard hours of business, etc. It's pretty obvious that thus far, left to his own devices Sam wouldn't be able to return a Netflix DVD to the mailbox, much less a soul to the underworld.
Freak o' the Week: Bellifiore was a magician in the 1920s, underappreciated in his own time and doomed to damnation with a sword in his chest. Once escaped, he's posing as Dash Ariell, a magician who takes out his anger at the blase attitudes of his audience by killing a volunteer every show. As villains go, I put the Magic Man well below last week's Bug Woman. He felt like a lot of work for one Criss Angel/Cameron Diaz joke.
Vessel o' the Week: If Bellifiore was a disappointment, this week's vessel was pretty darned good, a white dove that brought out all of the nurturing instincts from Ben, who couldn't have pets as a child. Since I find Rick Gonzalez's Ben to be a far more winning sidekick than Tyler Labine's predictably quirky Sock, I appreciated the extra exposure for the character. Ben named the bird Winston (Sock's list of more suitable bird appellations included Flappy and Paul) and fed his feathered new friend, but ultimately got a little freaked out when Winston metamorphosed into a dole of doves (that's your phrase-of-the-day -- "dole of doves") and devoured the soul.
After being kept entirely on the outside of last week's main adventure, Missy Peregrym's Andi finally managed to make it to the periphery of the action. Heck, she met Beelzebub, saw the escaped soul and was even in the vague proximity of the eventual entrapment. That doesn't mean that the show has really found a way to work her into the plot yet.
This week's Andi subplot found our favorite perky, broad shouldered (in a good way) Work Bench employee trying to entice Sam on a roadtrip to Idaho to see The Flaming Lips. This caused problems because, at least so far as he knows, Sam's contract with El Diablo doesn't include days off. This struck a chord with me because of a long discussion at Zap2it today about how many of our hypothetical days off can be rolled over from year-to-year, considering that none of us can escape from blogging long enough to get away. Anyway, Andi was most being unreasonably frustrated with Sam and Sam was being unreasonably frustrated with Andi and she said something about how he's her closest friend even though they can't spend time alone together, which is a little odd because we haven't seen them have a single conversation that didn't mostly revolve around nervous stuttering.
I'm not usually a fan of rushing plots along, but Andi needs to find out about Sam and the Lord of the Flies soon, because my tolerance for having her in the dark is going to wear thin fast.
A few vintage lines from Ray Wise's always brilliant Mephistopheles:
Evil Boss Ted)
And how about a few Sock lines?
Funniest line of the entire night, though?
What'd you think of "Magic"?
Sock is one of the most irritating characters on prime time TV today. He's just a unrelentingly dumb frat boy with no redeeming features and makes me want to throw something at the TV. Given that the rest of the show is that great, I'm afraid that this is the last week I willed tuning in.
tacitus | Oct 16, 2007 10:13:07 PM | #Of course, the last sentence should read "... isn't that great, ..."
tacitus | Oct 16, 2007 10:16:03 PM | #Ugh! And "... will be tuning in". Sorry about that!
tacitus | Oct 16, 2007 10:16:49 PM | #I agree about Andi finding out like yesterday about Sam. There are only so many rediculous excuses that can be used about the 3 guys bumbling about before we get the obligatory 'gay' reference. I see that coming in the next week or 2 if they don't tell Andi about their deal. It's not like she couldn't be anymore useless than Ben and to a lesser extent Sock when it comes to fighting the evil souls.
Rishi | Oct 16, 2007 11:12:00 PM | #I mean really-- why tell Sock and Ben and now Andi? If knowing about being Satan's Bounty Hunter would be "dangerous" for Andi, why isn't it dangerous for Sock and Ben? Hell, I think that Andi would be totally into ghostbusting...err.. I mean soul catching! She seems like a cool chick.
Sid | Oct 16, 2007 11:36:54 PM | #*and NOT Andi...
Sid | Oct 16, 2007 11:42:10 PM | #Keep me on record here -- even though this IS "just a guess" -- Sock is a minor demon, sent by Satan to befriend Sam and 'keep an eye on the devil's investment.' This readily explains Sock's ULTRA-weird behavior, penchant for oddity, and often rather deeply dark sense of humor. He's a netherworlder-count on it. Oh, and later on in the season, I'm betting Satan makes Sam collect Andi's dead father. (Probably THAT is when she will find out what's going on. Sam will save her from her father -- but have to "bust-a-cap-in-his-soul" to do it.) (Fun stuff, huh?)
Phillip | Oct 17, 2007 3:58:42 AM | #you forgot the best Sock line of the night. When asked how much the TV cost, he responded $1million, go to Best Buy. That was just hilarious. I love that guy and he makes this show even better to me. They are going to have to step it up with the plot developing though. The freak of the week thing will wear thin pretty fast. Andi needs to find out what the deal is too. She's too cute to be regulated to the sidelines. I also like Sock's ex too, but i don't know how they are going to be able to fit her in the way things are set up now unless she winds up working at the Work Bench.
steve | Oct 17, 2007 6:19:52 AM | #Thanks for your comment about spoilers, Daniel.
I think the stuff about the contract is a good sign. It's really the first sign of something beyond the escaped-soul-of-the-week format. Hopefully they can start doing more of that, because the show could definitely use some forward momentum. But I'm certainly enjoying it in the meantime!
Shell | Oct 17, 2007 7:04:47 AM | #Well, I will keep watching this series as long as Ray Wise gets air time (why isn't he in the credits as "...And Ray Wise"? He certainly deserves it. Maybe his agent should've worked a bit harder), but as much as I love Missy and Bret, this show is not nearly as fun or amusing as it ought to be.
I mean, I used to DVR House and watch Veronica Mars. Reaper is nowhere near that point right now. I'm not saying this show has to be as good as Veronica Mars, but it certainly could use an influx of the witty dialogue that peppered every episode of that show.
I did love that "I'm not Google, Sam." That was priceless. Maybe this show just needs more screen time for Ray Wise.
Mark | Oct 17, 2007 7:32:50 AM | #Ray Wise and Tyler Labine continue to impress, but this show seriously lacks forward momentum. As others have pointed out, not letting Andi in on the secret makes no sense (she could even be helpful). Brett Harrison and Missy Peregrym do not have enough chemistry for us to patiently wait (unlike say Jim and Pam on 'The Office'). And the contract... are we seriosuly supposed to believe Sam has enough intelligence to find a hole in it?
AC | Oct 17, 2007 10:44:40 AM | #Sock is the best new supporting character and i wouldn't be surprised if he gets an emmy. "How much is that flat screen" "A million dollars, go to Best Buy"
Tony | Oct 17, 2007 11:14:46 AM | #Interesting ideas, Phillip. I've often wondered if Andi is working for the devil, or, conversely, a guardian angel.
Sock doesn't annoy me, mostly because he is so laid back and picks on himself.
Goph | Oct 17, 2007 1:00:29 PM | #Of course Andi will become a part of the Soul Patrol (trademarked!) before long. They just don't want to waste the dramatic possibilities. It'll probably go something like this: The boys get into trouble, on the verge of certain death, when who should save them at the last minute? A smug-faced Andi, hands-on-hips, with something impeccably droll to say.
Steve | Oct 17, 2007 2:01:31 PM | #I think the clue is this: Every week (starting with week 2), in the "previously on" segment at the beginning of the upcoming episode, they have shown the same scene of Sam & Sock in the bathroom of "their bar (hangout)". Sam says that he won't ever tell Andi about the "bounty hunter for the devil" thing. I think this is an indicator that Andi will be clued in sooner, rather than later. I also agree that the show needs more forward momentum. Telling Andi is essential for the overall success of this show. It's like a modern-day, live-action Scooby Doo. Well, they've got the three guys (Sock is the Scooby, not Benji), and Andi and Sock's Ex complete the team. It'll happen by February.
Eric | Oct 17, 2007 3:58:30 PM | #I love the above guess about Andi's father. That would make a good season finale.
But yeah, Sam needs to quit bumbling around Andi and either tell her the truth or ask her out: probably both.
And although I've enjoyed every episode I've seen so far, I'm just not sure that these self-contained episodes will keep me excited enough to keep on turning in every week for the rest of the year. I can only watch so much TV in a week, and some of my shows don't even premiere until January.
Billiam | Oct 17, 2007 4:48:28 PM | #I'm glad to see that there are other people besides me that like this show. However, I don't see what everyone's hurry to have Andi get in on the secret. It's only the fourth episode, can't we be a little more patient?
eahilbert | Oct 17, 2007 9:07:46 PM | #I figure that Lucifer is making things difficult for Sam because Lucifer is the devil and part of his job is making people miserable. Sure he could do it himself better and faster but that would let Sam off the hook. In addition, I suspect the contract has an escape clause so that when Sam goes to hell, Lucifer could show him the contract and say, "Gee, if you had the moxie to just read the contract, you wouldn't have to be here."
Rudolf | Oct 18, 2007 7:59:36 AM | #"Lack of forward momentum" is the complaint heard all over the blog-o-sphere lately. I'm blaming you, "Lost!"
Anyway, it is a testiment to the humor and concept of Reaper that it is so funny and engaging, nonetheless. Andi will find out soon enough. I'm lovin' this show.
Gregory | Oct 18, 2007 11:00:29 AM | #Darn it! Second week in a row without a snarky comment from Gladys at the counter of the "epartment" of Motor Vehicles (love that little sight gag). The first two episodes had me really looking forward to this becoming a running gag. A big missed opportunity, IMHO.
She has just the right amount of disdain for the hapless trio. Even a joke as groan-worthy as, "I see the boss gave you an appropriate vessel . . . BIRD BRAIN!" would be hilarious coming from her.
Mike | Oct 18, 2007 11:07:11 AM | #I actually like the fact that they are minimizing Ray Wise's appearance on the show. If they started to expand the part it would reduce the impact the character has and our fondness of it. JMO (which should go without saying but I am anyways.)
Rishi | Oct 18, 2007 10:35:20 PM | #
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