For the last few months, I've been enjoying Reaper on reruns, a show about a boy whose soul was sold to the devil by his parents -- or was it? Wink, wink. I know, it doesn't sound very promising, and the first four or five episodes weren't that great, but show after show, the writers have really beefed it up so that there's a real nice minty enjoyment after-buzz.
Like Buffy, Farscape, Firefly, this show works because of the little details. I wasn't at all surprised that Kevin Smith is a consultant. This show walks on Smith's kind of dialog and trademark characters like Sock and Gladys, the demon who works out of the DMV. Of course, none of this would work without the excellent acting. Ray Wise is fun as the devil. Ken Marino is fantastic as the sweet, gay demon with a heart of evil. And Tyler Labine really knows how to stay on this side of obnoxious.
It's at heart a very old-fashioned show. Actions have consequences -- I mean, that doesn't even happen in real life. When Ben tries to defraud the government by taking money for a Green-card marriage, not only is he caught, but he goes to jail. The writers don't create some cute, impossible situation to rescue him. They just give him a "Go Straight To Jail" card. Excellent. And the writers know how to do it right: no tedious trial scene, no moral lectures, no jail scenes! So refreshing. Anyway, to continue with another obligatory example, when Steve, the reformed demon, tries to take the devil down through Ghandi-like methods, he's rewarded and sent to heaven. All this makes Reaper strangely more modern than anything going. I mean, it's so old-fashioned, like Biblical old-fashioned, it's new. I like that.
5 comments:
I love the show too. Ausiello just put a spoiler out that raises even more questions about Sam's family. There's actually a ton of spoilers out for episodes 1, 2, and 3 if you are interested. I organized them on our board. No registration - you can just check them out (use the password "broken circle:), since there's way too many to post in a comment.
http://reapertwop.proboards58.com/index.cgi?board=spoilers
Thanks, blue-sunflowers! That's a fun site! Usually, I love spoilers, but for some reason, I want to be surprised as far as Reaper is concerned. It hangs by such a thin string, I don't want to take anything away from it! Having seen the Season One finale, it does seem like his parents are demons ... or angels?
Oh thanks! We have some members who feel the same way. I'm a spoiler-whore though. :) I do hope if you ever want to talk about Reaper you consider joining us. There are a few of us who *definitely* like to talk. All. The. Time. :)
Anyways, I try and keep the site as up-to-date media-wise as possible so at least check in from time to time. There was an announcement today that the DVDs will have deleted scenes and cast and crew commentary. No Blu-Ray though. :(
Augh! All that and I forgot to mention that my theory is Sam's parents aren't his parents at all. Hope that confuses things!
Thanks for being so nice!
Sam as a changeling! That's an awesome theory! Why didn't I think of that! :)
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