By Brandon Nolta

OK, I thought Sam (Bret Harrison) was having a crappy time at the beginning of the last episode, but this week’s episode trumps that one by far. It’s another fine workday for Sam and his buds, except that every time Sam tries to put something in his mouth—food, toothpaste, gum—it ends up covered with bugs. Jumpin’ Jesus, that’s nasty. To further complicate things, Andi (Missy Peregrym), the hottie of his dreams, asks him to go with her to … a college lecture on primates, tripping his insecurity alert, and he gets offered the last thing he wants at work: a promotion to management. Of the plumbing department, no less, offering Sam the opportunity to become king of the porcelain thrones. I refer you to my “Jumpin’ Jesus” remark earlier in the review.

Anyway, the terrible trio of Sam, Sock (Tyler Labine) and Ben (Rick Gonzalez) go bug-hunting and track the source of all the insectoid shenanigans to one Harold Bunsen (guest star Robert Foxworth), chief suspect in his wife’s murder more than 30 years before … who was devoured by bugs in a compost heap. Icky. Of course, being themselves, they pooch their reconnaissance and tip off Mr. Bunsen and the diabolical swarm. Hilarity and many disgusting infestations ensue. Will Sam manage to tame the wild swarm and recapture the lost soul behind it all? Will he manage to make a date with Andi? Will he take the promotion to assistant manager of the plumbing department? And what the hell is up with the toaster?


There’s a lot to like about REAPER—the humor, the characters, Ray Wise—but what comes through the clearest in this episode is the odd, yet strangely welcome, choice of having Satan act as some kind of off-kilter father figure. Unlike the last really good portrayal of Satan on the tube (John Glover on BRIMSTONE, naturally), this Satan takes a paternal interest in his mortal employee. Why that should be true isn’t clear yet, but Wise and Harrison sell it nicely. Is it classical acting going on here? No, not really, but it is only the third episode.

What is apparent is the characters are developing enough for the stories’ needs, and the cast has an easy chemistry that makes them fun to watch. I mean, let’s face it: do you have friends close enough to you that they would help you hunt down souls escaped from Hell without being forced? This guy’s got two, and if Andi knew about it, there’d probably be three. Still, it’s probably better that she doesn’t help; she’s way too competent, and as long as Tweedledee and Tweedledum are assisting Sam, he’ll keep being forced to use his smarts and ingenuity to solve the outrageous situations he finds himself in week after week. I mean, I consider myself fairly smart, and I doubt I would have thought to improvise an impromptu bug zapper the way Sam does at episode’s end. Three cheers for the MacGyver approach! Me and Ray Wise approve.