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The Reaper and the Beelzebabe
Tuesday (Dec. 4) night's Reaper made me feel sad about all of the episodes we wasted on Sam-n-Andi. All hail Sam-n-Beelzebabe.
[If you look under the scalp of this recap, you may see the numbers "666," the sign of the Spoiler Beast.]
I know that if you look long enough and hard enough, you'll find 'shippers praying that just about every conceivable on-screen duo will go from friends to more-than-friends. I'm not interested in searching for them, but I'm guessing there are Sock-Josie, Sock-Ben and even Sam-Satan 'shippers out there, but can anybody really say that they've been rooting for Sam and Andi to get together since, say, the second week of the season? And I ask that as somebody perfectly fond of Missy Peregrym...
No, I was just amazed by how much better this week's episode flowed thanks to the chemistry between Bret Harrison's Sam and Jessica Stroup's Cady, the cutie who may or may not be the Spawn of the Devil. Sam-n-Cady were effortlessly appealing together and there's an underlying and ongoing tension involving her paternity (she initially claimed to be the daughter of one of the "News" [of "Huey Lewis and the..." fame]), but we didn't have to deal with a single second of "How am I going to tell the woman I like that I'm the Devil's bounty hunter?" We can get to that later, assuming Stroup sticks around (it appears that she's the opposite of Ned from Pushing Daisies, in that her random proximity thing seems to kill goldfish and flowers), but I'm all for any relationship that lets Harrison be less morose.
It helps that Stroup is utterly adorable and the character has been written as the kind of gal who will strip naked in a hot-tub to earn the trust of her boyfriend's buddies (assuming they follow suit) and also bring a dead pet to a date in a red felt-lined mini-coffin. She didn't encroach on any of the week's main plotlines, which also helped.
And actually being separated from Sam behooved Andi as well. No, she didn't have much to do, but seeing Peregrym play vaguely jealous was more interesting than seeing her play vaguely aloof, week after week. Plus, we saw hints that Josie and Andi are finally beginning to realize that their male associates have been acting mighty weird for the past 10 episodes.
This week's details:
Soul[s] o' the Week. We're not giving Reaper any points for maturity this week, since Sam and company were asked to go after bank robbers named Johnson and Huang (pronounced "Wang"). Get it? Johnson and Wang? Subtle. Anyway, they stole $10 million, killed each other out of greed and then escaped from Hell and started spending. [Part of me wants to point out that a robbery that took place 14 years ago couldn't have scored $10 million in New Big Face Benjamins (first printed in 1996), but that's the same part of me that figures that the serial numbers probably would have been recorded anyway.] Possession of said money allowed Ben to buy a shiny gold track suit ("You have never looked faster.") and Sock to repurchase a collection of Josie's possessions that burnt in a fire he started. The souls also led us to learn new things about Ted and his former gambling addiction on a trip to one of those underground card parlors that have been popping up everywhere on TV this season.
Vessel o' the Week. Just a simple metallic lighter. And the lighter worked exactly as one would expect it to, sucking up the soul. When they only collected the first escapee, we got to see that Gladys at the DMV has the ability to reject souls if they don't meet standards. I also liked the way they set up the final payoff when Johnson could pass through walls, but his jewelry couldn't.
The souls and vessel weren't necessarily the season's best, but the episode was packed full of funny dialogue, so I'm just gonna list a few of my favorite lines and turn the floor over to you, faithful readers.
Some Sock Zingers:
"Health insurance... A platinum belt buckle."
Non-Sock Favorites:
What'd you think of the episode? Do you like Cady? Did I leave out any good lines?
I love Cady, both for dating Sam (she has way more natural chemistry with Sam than Andi does) and for probably being the spawn of Satan. And I love Josie and Andi getting suspicious of the boys.
The show finally seems like it's getting some more depth, and I am so happy about that. I can only assume this is the last episode for a while, but I hope that when it does come back, it continues on this awesome track.
Sara | Dec 4, 2007 8:50:59 PM | #It's a review and a couple comments, but it seems unanimous: the devil spawn(?) and Sam are a better episode. My only concern is that it's moved so fast there's less of an emotional payoff. But hell- Sam needs fun! And a cute chick with an exhibitionist streak is a-ok with me!
Andi's character is a romantic foil only- and it's apparent now how she is being shoehorned into the show. Josie has at least unknowingly assisted with hunting.
Regardless, another show growing into its skin!
Casper | Dec 4, 2007 9:01:11 PM | #What's funny to me about the Omen scene was when I first saw it I thought Sock thought that "The Bible" stole it from "The Omen" not the other way around. I have to say that I worry myself when I think thoughts for characters :)
On the other hand, I disagree about the lack of chemistry b/w Sam and Andi. I think that there is a lot there, just they haven't been given any scenes together to just have fun and not worry the way Sam and Cady had in this ep. If they had, I don't think that this would be a point of contention for anyone.
Lastly, maybe it's just me, but for some reason, I think that the Devil and Cady are working together to keep Sam and Andi apart. Maybe it's just the conspiracy theorist in me, but I hope that this turns out to be true.
Rishi | Dec 4, 2007 11:03:41 PM | #Did anyone else think that that the Zippo was going to be used to burn the ill-gotten gains, as part of the soulcatching? Anyone? No? I guess it was just me then.
Steve | Dec 5, 2007 3:17:30 AM | #No, at first I thought Gladys was pointing out that the lighter had to take the money as well (not that there was a 2nd soul out). I like how Sam is staking his life and not his soul. Soon he might have nothing left to stake...
(Yay for Dr.House re-runs; this was the second episode of "Reaper" I've seen its entirety! So wicked!)
pakopako | Dec 5, 2007 6:40:26 AM | #Well, some other viewers and I have been predicting since the pilot that eventually Sam would fall for a beautiful woman who would turn out to be evil (looks like Cady, or she could be a red herring). Yes, it was good to see Sam having fun on a date, but I'm so accustomed to TV writers setting up certain characters as "soulmates" from their inception. Unless the producers grow to hate Missy Peregrym for some reason, I'll assume that Sam and Andi are supposed to be the real couple. Actually, I was more interested in finding out if Sock and Josie were going to get back together. :-)
Daniel, I had the same reaction as soon as I saw the newly designed $100 bills. I'm pretty sure that those large portrait Benjamin Franklins did not exist 14 years ago, so that really distracted me during this episode. (I blame it on watching too much Journeyman, where everyone in 1994 thought that a real $20 bill from 2007 was a counterfeit.)
In the next episode, I would like to see Josie and Andi investigate what the three guys are really doing. Apparently, the five of them have been friends for many years, so the girls should definitely be more intrigued by the Sam/Sock/Ben mystery.
Paige | Dec 5, 2007 7:42:55 AM | #I agree Paige about Andie/Josie investigating the boys. I would also like to see Sam's parents and maybe brother again.
Darius | Dec 5, 2007 8:40:15 AM | #I liked when the devil scolded Sam for his use of the "G word".
this show is still my favorite of the new season.
saney | Dec 5, 2007 12:24:00 PM | #Where Have I seen him before? Wasn't Huang/Wang Kim on Jeremiah...i miss Jeremiah
| Dec 5, 2007 12:24:21 PM | #I like Sam, Brett Harrison who I first saw on GROUNDED FOR LIFE and in, why was it cancelled?, THE LOOP; but for me Sock is the engine that drives this show. Sock's character is as close to SUPER BAD as TV will allow.
Overall REAPER is one to this season's best new shows.
Are they phasing out Sam's demon sense/power? I really liked the quirkiness of each power and how Sam and Sock dealt with them. It was always one of the highlights of each episode. Writers, if you see this, bring this demon sense/power back!
Yossarian | Dec 6, 2007 6:52:41 AM | #I did, Steve.
Mojo Nixon | Dec 7, 2007 9:32:23 PM | #Yeah, Reaper is my fav new show, also. I like how the soul-catching is generally taking less time in recent episodes, allowing more time for character development, new situations, etc. That shows awareness by the writers of the danger of becoming too one-note. And yes, time for some more stuff invovlving Sam's dad.
Fred M. | Dec 10, 2007 9:13:22 AM | #
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