Reaper Season 2 Premieres Tonight on The CW

Reaper, one of The Blot’s favorite new shows from last year, is finally making its Season 2 debut tonight (Tuesday, March 3, 2009). I have no idea why The CW pushed back the show’s season premiere to mid-season, but I’m just glad to finally have Sam, Sock and the rest of the Work Bench crew back on television. Reaper is really the only show I watch on The CW and for some reason I think its network affiliation scares off a lot of potential viewers. But if you love shows like NBC’s Chuck then you will definitely enjoy Reaper, so check it out! Plus, Ray Wise’s Satan might be the best character on television!


There are lots of unresolved issues from last year’s season finale, but for those of you who missed out on Reaper Season 1 it’s nothing a quick recap can’t fix. Season two finds Sam wrestling with the recent discovery that he may be the son of the Devil. He quickly learns that getting groomed to take over the "family business" comes with a whole new litany of headaches, like the fact that the demon rebellion he once collaborated with is now out to kill him - a conflict further complicated when Sam’s friend Ben starts dating the demon assassin tasked with the job of hunting Sam down and killing him. Plus, Sam must now decide whether to reveal any of this news to his girlfriend Andi who's already wary of his extracurricular activities for Hell. (link) It all sounds a little intense, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, at its heart Reaper is still a fun, hip comedy that any fan of pop culture will enjoy.

Reaper airs Tuesday nights on The CW at 8/7c.

The CW Revives Reaper

This is the second great television renewal announcement The Blot’s heard this week. After being left for dead and multiple reputable sources reporting that the freshman comedy would not be renewed, The CW announced this week that they have officially “picked up cult-favorite supernatural drama Reaper for a second season.” (link) I have to say that no show seems to have benefited more from the writers strike hiatus than Reaper. If you haven’t been watching this show the past few weeks then you’re missing out on one of the best freshman shows currently on the air.


Before the start of the current season I had extremely high hopes for Reaper, especially after seeing the pilot episode directed by fan favorite Kevin Smith. Then as the season progressed the show got bogged down in its ghoul of the week storytelling. There was a point when I considered taking Reaper off of my DVR, but I stuck with it and then something mysterious happened…it actually got good! The show broke its stagnation by moving away from its mystery of the week (and from the will they /won’t they relationship between Sam and Andi) and found its rhythm as a serialized story.

With the addition of Michael Ian Black and Ken Marino as fallen angels waging a demon rebellion against Ray Wise’s Devil and Ben’s secondary immigration storyline, the show has hit its creative stride and become must watch, appointment TV for The Blot. In all honesty, it’s been the only show, other than Lost, that The Blot has to watch the night it comes on. If you haven’t been watching Reaper, what are you waiting for!?! The season finale airs this Tuesday on The CW at 9/8 central, but be on the lookout for repeats this summer on The CW or for the soon to be released DVD box set of Reaper Season 1. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait a while for your next Reaper fix because the show is not slated to return until midseason of next year. (link)

Reaper Returns Thursday To The CW

Thursday marks the return of new episodes of one of The Blot’s favorite new shows this season, Reaper. Reaper airs on The CW Thursday nights at 9/8 central and is actually pretty good for a scripted show on The CW. So don’t let that scare you away right off the bat. I was planning on writing about Reaper way back when, but the Writers strike kind of screwed up my plans. If you like Chuck then do yourself a favor and watch the last few remaining new episodes of Reaper.


Here’s a quick recap of Reaper so far. The star of the show is Bret Harrison (Grounded For Life, The Loop) who as Sam Oliver had his soul sold to the Devil before he was even born in exchange for the Devil saving his father’s life. 21 years later the Devil’s back to collect on Sam’s parents’ debt. Now the Devil is forcing Sam to act as his Reaper or bounty hunter, “tracking down evil souls that have escaped and returning them to Hell.” (link) While Sam tries to buy time to figure out why this is happening and how to get out of it, he and his two best friends Tyler Labine (Invasion) as Sock and Rick Gonzalez (Coach Carter) as Ben travel around town doing the Devil’s bidding and recapturing lost souls.

It really reminds me of a collection of shows crammed into one. It has the monster of the week theme and Scooby gang like feel to it that Buffy used to have, but the cast is really set up more like Chuck. You see Sam and his friends all work at the Work Bench, which is basically a Home Depot knock off. Sam’s got an annoying but funny boss, the wacky sidekick in Sock and the best friend/unrequited love interest in Missy Peregrym (Heroes) as Andi.

But, what really makes this show great is the Devil himself Ray Wise (Twin Peaks). He’s one of those actors you know even if you don’t know his name and he was made for this role. Wise pulls off a classic Devil, being friend, mentor and tormentor to Sam all at once. He really is the devilish heart and soul of the show and is worth tuning in every week to watch.

While the fact that Kevin Smith directed the pilot is what brought me to watch the show at first, the show’s relaxed, mindless fun is what’s kept me around. Reaper reminds me of Psych in that way. While the mysteries aren’t hard to figure out, they make for fun stories that you don’t have to pay attention to every little thing said to know what’s going on. There are only a handful of new shows left and Reaper is on the bubble as to whether it is going to be renewed or not, so there’s also no commitment expected if you do start to like it. I’m not sure if that’s a plus or a minus, but I’ll let you decide that one. Reaper is aimed at a younger demographic, but if you’re looking for a new comedy/adventure/fantasy show to watch that you don’t have to keep tabs on, like Lost, you should really check it out.