Reaper was one of the three or four best pilots of this fall season.  There was a lot of love doled out by critics for the pilot, directed by Kevin Smith, and I was no exception.  When it comes to the second episode of a new series, you always have to be wary.  If the quality remains high, then you know the show might be on to something.  Tonight's sophomore effort from Reaper wasn't near as good as the pilot, but it did leave me believing in its potential, and it was a fun hour of TV. 

The Vessel...and some Andi

Sam receives his new vessel at his bedside to begin the episode, but doesn't want to open it.  In fact, he tries for the better part of the day to avoid it.  Sock picks Sam up and they head to work.  Sock gives a nice shout out to Guitar Hero (best game ever).  The chest that holds Sam's vessel magically appears in the back seat, freaking out Sam and putting a smile on Sock's face.  They try and ditch it in the of rest, but no dice: it follows them back to the work bench. 

Sam is happy to learn that he and Andi have been given shopping cart duty for the week, which basically means they can skip out on work and hang out.  While discussing this wonderful turn of events, Sam gets distracted by the Devil (who tells him to open the vessel.  Sock has been throwing paint cans (or something, I forget) but thanks to the Devil, Sam misses it and it hits an old man and bloodies him up.  As punishment, Sam's boss puts Sock and Sam on the night shift and given the task of doing inventory on the entire store.  No more hanging out with Andi.  Later in the episode, Andi is caught by the boss for being eight dollars short in the cash register.  It was clearly an honest mistake, but Andi tries to get in trouble and banished to the night shift so she can hang out with Sam.  The boss catches on to the ruse and declines to punish her.

(OK, so Missy Peregrym got very little screen time in this episode, which is a damn shame.  And, really, I don't see how she can get enough screen time if Sam keeps his Devil work a secret from her.  She won't ever be involved in the main story.  Of course, it's pretty obvious that Sam's Devil tasks will constantly get in the way of him being with Andi.  But, do we really need another will they/won't they couple on TV?  Reaper, find some more time for Andi.)

People are dying around the city, and the reason is lightning strikes.  The Devil has a talk with Sam and tells him that unless he opens the vessel and gets started tracking down the escaped soul, more people will die.  Sam, alone, finally opens the chest and finds that the vessel is a remote control car, complete with remote. 


No More Mom Secrets

The main sub-plot of the episode revolved around Sam and his father keeping his “sending escaped souls back to Hell” job a secret from Mom.  Sam's dad is insistent that they not tell her, that she doesn't need to know.  He even buys Sam a new car, a hybrid, bribing him to keep his mouth shut.  At the end of the episode, however, Sam decides to tell his mother about the whole business.  She takes it quite well.


Arthur Ferry's Vendetta

People are dying via lightning strike all around the city.  Weather is bad in the Northwest, we get it.  I live in Seattle, and I was going to do a little rant about how it's not always raining and that Hollywood loves to make it seem that way, but...it's actually raining right now.  Anyway, Sam, Sock and Ben catch wind that a lightning strike has hit at local hospital.  They find where the bolt hit, and it's on the outside wall of the hospital, exposing an old sign.  Some investigation (at the bar, while taking shots of Dr. Cuervo, Dr. Jack, and Dr. Captain Morgan) reveals that the hospital used to be named after Arthur Ferry.

Arthur Ferry, they find, was a rick man who got busted for stealing power from the city and selling it to private companies.  He was also a philanthropist, hence the hospital wing named after him.  Same catches his first glimpse of Mr. Ferry at a business school which used to be named after Ferry. Ferry wears a torn up business suit and his face is all burnt.

Following lightning strikes, the trio later head to a large dam, where they find Ferry powering up.  Sam decides to try out the vessel.  However, right when he places the car in the road, it gets run over buy a semi.  Out of luck.  Ferry sees Sam and approaches him.  Words are exchanged and Sam acts pretty tough, telling him that he's Satan's bounty hunter and that he'll be sending him back to Hell. To the guys' surprise, Arthur up and leaves, flying into the sky.

The next night, the three guys are back working the nigh shift at The Work Bench.  It seems that Artur Ferry is now after Sam and he arrives at The Work Bench, driving Sam's new hybrid.  Ferry is kind of like Magneto, able to control anything metal.  Ben gets hit by a nail gun and Sock laughs at him.  Sam musters up, realizing that they don't need the broken car, just the remote, because it acts as a lightning rod.  Sam goes outside and points the remote at Ferry and the evil soul disappears into the remote.  They take it to the DMV and that is that. 


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of The CW)