Reaper hits us up with a Halloween episode tonight and we learn that Beelzebub is not a big fan of the popular holiday.  Who doesn't like Halloween?  It's crazy.  I've been pining for some the writers to decide how they want to utilize Andi.  I'm still of the opinion that she should be brought into the loop and help the guys find the escaped souls, because at this juncture her character doesn't serve much of a purpose except for frustrating Sam.  Tonight, the Devil gets angry at Gladys the DMV Employees for taking a vacation and decides to take it out on Sam.  Also, the great comedian Patton Oswalt guest stars as Leon on tonight's Reaper.

We pick up as Sam, Sock and Ben capture a very insane escaped soul, played by the great Patton Oswalt.  He's about to shoot himself, or the guys, with a big shotgun, when Sam breaks a snow globe (the vessel) and captures him.  They head to the DMV to drop off that soul, but find out that Gladys is on vacation, so they can't deposit their soul.  The other employees have no idea why they're trying to deposit a snow globe. 

At the Work Bench, Ted is dressed up as Jack Sparrow two days before Halloween.  He wants to know who will dress up as the lucky pumpkin.  Ted wants Andi to be the pumpkin, but she doesn't want to.  Andi won't talk Sam, still mad at him about the slutty twins from last episode, so Sam tries to appease her by offering to dress up as the pumpkin. 

Sam, Sock, and Ben talk to Patton Oswalt while he's inside the snow globe.  Sock eggs him on.  Sam tries to talk to Andi again, but she's still pissed off.  Sam asks what he can do to make it up to her.  Andi wonders if their friendship is what they thought it was.  Andi says she can't do it anymore.  Ouch. 

A dog shows up at work and starts barking at Sam, then runs away.  Sam follows it and finds himself transported to a dark alley with the Devil.  The Devil smokes a cigarette, and cries a little.  He says he's depressed at the holidays and he hates Halloween with every fiber of his being.  He doesn't like the commercialization of evil.  The Devil is pretty angry at Gladys for going on vacation.  He shows Sam an abandoned slaughterhouse. The former butcher of the place is on the loose.  They never found any of the butcher's victims. 

Back at The Work Bench, Sam sees Andi laughing it up with a friend about some pictures.  Sock tells him that she's crying on the inside.  He also took out Patton the snow globe out to trivia night the night before.  One hundred years ago, Leon (Patton) assassinated President McKinley.  At the bar, Leon helped Sock out with his mother issues. He thinks they should let him go because he's trying to get better.

Sam is ordered to put on the pumpkin costume.  He has to stand outside and greet customers.  Sock tells him that Leon says Sam might have some self-esteem issues.  Sam receives his new vessel – it's a meat thermometer.  They discuss how to find the butcher.  They kick a little kid off the store computer with excess force.  Ben found news about the butcher: Barney Kirkwood, the Butcher of Ballard.  He was never charged, because they couldn't find the victims. 

The team heads to Ballard, a real neighborhood in Seattle, known for its high concentration of Norwegians. 

That night, Andi finds Sock laughing to himself in the back room at the Work bench.  He was actually talking with Patton.  He pulled a prank on Ted in the bathroom, pretending to be the voice of God. 

Sam, Sock and Ben enter the old slaughterhouse at night.  They quickly run away when a vicious beast chases them.  They lock it inside.  Sam tries to stab it with the thermometer, but drops it inside.  A hole emerges and a little tiny dog, Spike, emerges. 

The three guys head to the bar and talk about the butcher turned Spike into some sort of dog monster.  Sock's idea is to ask Leon for help.  Leon thinks he knows this butcher guy.  He wants to help.  Ben thinks it's time to let Leon help them.  Sam, frustrated, head to the DMV after hours to try and deposit the soul.  No dice. 

Sam, back at his house, gets out of the shower and finds the Devil waiting for him.  He tells Sam that he's losing it.  Sam kind of is a little messed up here.  Sam begs the Devil to take the soul away.  The Devil turns the conversation to Andi.  He says that betrayal is the defining trait of humanity – his friends will always let him down, the girl will always leave.  He calls humans the most unreliable species on earth – except for bears.  Funny speech. 

It's Halloween at the Bench and Sam is back in the pumpkin costume.  He tries to talk to Andi, but she thinks they shouldn't socialize or talk about anything other than work, ever.  Sam is devastated.  Sam finds the snow globe empty.  Leon is out.  Sock let him out, but only to help.  Leon seems willing.

Sam is pissed at Sock.  Leon asks to prove himself to Sam.  He believes that the butcher is a day sleeper and they should find him early in the day and use the element of surprise.  Sam grudgingly agrees.  They get the vessel and head out to a Chinese restaurant, sans Ben.  Sock and Sam are bitter at each other, not talking.  Leon goes in alone, to keep his street cred intact, while Sock and Sam wait in the car.  Sam says that he can't trust Sock.  He really gives it to Sock.  Leon returns and says that he got a hot tip and they should head to the Pleasure Pit, a strip club.  Leon sneaks a stripper/hooker into the car.  Leon drops her off at the strip club, and he thinks he nows where the vessel is. 

Leon takes them right back to the slaughterhouse.   But, this time they find a secret underground entrance.  Leon whips out a big gun and points it at Sam.  He demands Sam hand over the vessel to him.  He tells them to both go down in the hole, where the creature will kill Sam.  Sock tries to stand up to Leon, and they both enter the hatch.  Leon shuts the hatch above them. 

Sam and Sock are now down underground, using a flashlight to see what's up.  The share a man hug.  Sock feels the empty snow globe in Sam's back pack.  They wonder if it will work.   Sam hurls it at the beast and it explodes, expelling Sam and Sock out of the hatch.  Sock finds the vessel – the meat thermometer – in the trash and throws it to Sam.  Before Sam can get a hold of it, he's jumped on by the monster.  Sam manages to reach the vessel and stabs the monster with it, trapping the dog monster.  Sam and Sock make up.

The next day, Sam, Sock and Ben find Leon at his therapist.  Leon whips out a gun and puts it under Sock's chin.  Sam calls Leon's bluff, knowing that he's no longer a killer.  They recapture him and deposit him at the DMV. 

At The Work Bench, Sam approaches Andi and issues a big apology.  He tells her that their friendship is bigger than one mistake and that he misses her friendship.  Andi is surprised that Sam took a stand, something he rarely does.  Andi  takes him back, and admits that she was miserable during the silent treatment, that she's no good at being in an argument.  They agree to get a beer after work.  The Devil is in the paring lot hitting mini-pumpkins with a golf club.  He's happy that Halloween is over and happy that Sam did a great job on the butcher.  He tells the Devil that he was totally wrong about humanity, that you can trust people. 

Great episode, by the way. 


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