Reaper: Season Two

Previously on Reaper: 21-year-old slacker Sam Oliver's (Bret Harrison) parents have taken it upon themselves to hock his soul to the devil (Ray Wise), who also turns out to be his real dad. As a result, Sam is deputized as a Reaper, an unhallowed repo man who collects the souls of those who have managed to escape hell. With the aid of his two bumbling buddies Ben (Rick Gonzalez) and "Sock" (Tyler Labine), Sam spends each episode tracking down runaway souls and trapping them in a magical device called a vessel, all while trying to keep his job and make time with his lovely girlfriend (Missy Peregrym). All caught up? Good. Season two adheres to the program's established formula, with Sam and company balancing bounty hunting with their work lives and 20-something personal problems. It also has Sam chasing down a hell spawn fugitive named Alan Townsend (Sean Patrick Thomas) who has somehow managed to break has bond with Lucifer and get a second chance at a mortal life. Conceptually, the show often suffers from second-hand Whedon-isms and latex demon costumes that look like they're recycled from Sam Raimi's Saturday afternoon Hercules: The Legendary Journeys series. But given Reaper's obvious Dawson's-meets-Dante premise, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. In keeping with this tenor, Reaper does the whole dramedy thing competently, even if a lot of the jokes are as lacklustre as the special effects. Ray Wise is perfectly cast as the playful, suave, Armani-attired devil, regularly proving to be the show's most compelling aspect. It's not a great series but it's enough to slate the supernatural thirst of anyone raised on Buffy, Angel or even Sabrina. The season two set comes packaged with some so-so extras: the mandatory making-of doc and a gag reel that suffers from most of the cast being only marginally funny.