Granny knows you're BFFs with Satan.

Reaper – Ashes to Ashes
Sam does plumbing work for a woman (Melinda Clarke) he discovers is dating the devil, and he finds himself attracted to her daughter, but he wonders who her father really is. Meanwhile, Ben refuses to introduce Sam and Sock to his family. Photo © The CW.

Julie Cooper returns to TV!

Reaper's theme-of-the-week: "Is it worth waiting around for someone to decide they're ready to commit?" Apparently, the answer is no. Sam meets Mimi (Melinda Clarke), who is dating the devil but thinks he's just a nice guy named "Jerry." And naturally, she is unfulfilled in the relationship, so Sam tells her that maybe it's time to stop waiting. Which naturally parallels the issues he's having with Andi, who he has asked out again and who keeps saying no. So Mimi and Sam both decide to move on, and Sam ends up meeting Mimi's daughter, Cady, who is super cute but who Sam suspects may be the offspring of the devil.

In "Ashes to Ashes," Sam is hunting the soul of a crematorium owner who used to sell people's body parts before cremating them (ew) and who uses the ashes of his victims to take corporeal form (this is actually kinda cool). The boys go around collecting all of the ashes so the soul can't take form -- Sock being charming as usual while Ben & Sam swipe the goods. Except rather than taking care of the ashes, Sock leaves them all in the trunk of his car. Which doesn't bode well when they capture the soul in a vacuum cleaner and then put the vacuum in the trunk. Oops!

This week had a nice little departure from the norm, in that Sam doesn't technically capture the soul in the devil-provided vessel. When they come face to face with the swirling-ash-figure, Sam doesn't have the vessel so Sock grabs the closest thing, which happens to be a vacuum cleaner. And this works! They suck the soul up and transport it to where the vessel is, and when it escapes from the vacuum they nab it with the vessel instead.

"Ashes to Ashes" also focused somewhat on Ben, and we learned that Ben is ashamed of Sock and Sam. When his grandmother comes into The Work Bench to pick up some items for a big family party, she is very suspicious of Sam, and Ben admits that she has "The Eye" and that his family believes she can see the future. He also admits that he is a huge disappointment to Grandma, who had wanted him to be a priest. Sam eventually asks for Grandma's help to "see" where the soul is, and though for a moment it seems like she will help, instead she stabs him in the hand with a fork and screams "El Diablo!" Which was awesome. Of course, one could easily predict that she would come around in the end, and when she accidentally sees them conquer the soul, she tells Ben that he is doing God's work.

As for the Andi-Sam relationship, GOOD LORD!!!!! I have nothing against Missy Peregrym, but come on! After she turns Sam down twice more, Ben tells Andi to "stop being a guy" and asks why she's torturing him. And she admits that Sam still has a chance with her. But, when Sam decides to give up on waiting for Andi, Ben keeps his trap shut (thank god). So obviously she'll be jealous when Sam starts dating Cady, but hopefully the new relationship will last and we will see a little less of Andi.

Top Sock moments:
On persistence: "Little waves of Sam crashing on the shores of Andi until she wears down."
Eulogy for the ashes: "We saved your families from a giant ash monster. You're welcome."

And finally, Sam's dad appeared in this episode and made me remember -- whatever happened to the hinted-at deeper connection between Sam's dad and the devil?!? Get it together, Reaper!