Arts & Entertainment

Reaper: the Best Show You Aren’t Watching

Written by Trick on May 14, 2008 8:57 am EST

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Reaper is the best show on TV that you’re not watching, hands down. It reminds me of the early Buffy with enough camp to make you laugh out loud at it, and enough drama to make you worried they might actually kill the main character.

It was started on the right foot when the show’s producers got Kevin Smith (Silent Bob) to direct it. He’s a huge comic book geek and he set the tone and mood of the show in fantastic fashion.

The show follows the life of a guy who discovers his parents sold his soul to the devil, indenturing him as the Devil’s bounty hunter, sent to recapture evil souls which escape from Hell. These souls range from the mundane (a pervert who replicates himself) to the freaky (the woman who turned into a swarm of insects) but they’re still murderers in the end.

It presents fresh concepts and while each episode is fairly stand-alone, it has an over-arching storyline which they have been developing involving a rebellion against the Devil.

Of all the characters, I enjoy Ray Wise’s performance as the Devil the most. You might know Ray Wise from Twin Peaks, Good Night and Good Luck, or from his appearances on 24. He’s got a huge grin and is always dressed in a suit. He brings the duality of the character into clear focus with his ability to instantly switch between a smiling congenial being and the grimacing intimidating form of the Devil.

Thankfully, they don’t load the show down with religion but they do reference God. In a specific episode they have a surprisingly touching moment when the Devil (who also goes by Jerry) discusses when he knew true love, as an angel for God. Overall religion is just a footnote in the story as you follow the show.

To complicate the show further, they include the necessary boy loves girl, girl loves boy, but girl doesn’t know about boy’s secret life. They’ve rather surprisingly handled that this season, for now I suspect.

Overall the show is indeed formulaic, but not so much so that you get bored after fifteen minutes and as the plot of their long storyline develops it promises to shake up the show. The crazy antics of the main characters mixing with the mysterious subplots which are weaved in make this one of my favorite shows of the week.

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