By Brandon Nolta

For once, faithful viewers, we don’t have to wait for most of the episode to go by before Sam (Bret Harrison) and the boys snag a soul. Within the first few minutes, nutjob and former Presidential assassin Leon (guest star Patton Oswalt) is in the can, and the boys are congratulating themselves on a job well-done. Unfortunately, it’s going to have to be a job postponed, as their usual vessel-taking demon at the DMV is on vacation. It’s not just her, as Sam finds out when he talks to a surprisingly subdued Satan (Ray Wise); the Devil hates Halloween, seeing it as a crass commercialization of evil, and so lets Hell take a break over All Hallows Eve.

Wrap your mind around that for a moment while we continue. Anyway, the Devil decides to take his mind off his issues by giving Sam a nasty job. There’s a serial killer back on patrol after sixty years known as the Butcher (not the most original moniker, true), and he’s a mean motor scooter. Sam gets right on the job, in part to get his mind off the total debacle that is his relationship with Andi (Missy Peregrym). Meanwhile, Sock (Tyler Labine) forms a bond with the soul in the vessel, playing nasty jokes on Ted the managerial douche bag and other socially redeeming activities.


Anyway, Sam and the boys track the soul easily enough, but it’s manifesting as a big-ass werewolf, which makes it less than approachable. Will the tiny Hellhound that’s been hanging around be any help? Will Sam find a way to let go of the stress and uncertainty in his new life? Will Sock letting Leon out backfire on them all? We’re talking about the damned here. More importantly, Sock and Sam get a chance to hash out some issues, though their timing could certainly stand some improvement.

This episode isn’t quite as fun as past ones, partly because it flirts with some surprisingly weighty issues. Sam is undergoing a crisis of sorts with how he tries to fit Andi, his friends and his new job all in the same life, and Harrison makes it believable. By episode’s end, Sam seems to be learning to be his own man and it’s a welcome change. Wise plays the Devil in a more ambiguous vein this go-round; my suspicion is that Satan actually does feel fatherly toward Sam, though why that would be so is unclear, and Wise’s actions could be construed as tough love. Then again, he could just be the subtlest mean bastard you ever saw, and Wise is a brilliant choice because it could go either way. Ben even gets to pop up some philosophical thoughts concerning the idea that maybe, just maybe, eternal suffering is not a just judgment. Put away the pitchforks, though; it’s just a show.


By the end, Sam not only takes a stand with Andi, thus reclaiming her friendship (maybe her love; who knows?), but with Satan as well. It’s a good thing to see, and REAPER will be better for it. As long as Satan keeps the upper … well, maybe the lower hand.