11.14.2007

Reading gives you migraines.



Reaper - The Cop
Gladys the DMV demon comes to the Work Bench, her purchases lead Sock to believe she's hiding bodies in her house. Meanwhile, the Devil's gift of a watch to Sam turns out to be problematic.

Hooray for Reaper! "The Cop" was very different from previous episodes -- in a good way. Mitch Pileggi (a.k.a. Skinner) guest stars as a cop on the hunt for a copycat serial killer loose in Seattle. But Sam knows (thanks to the Devil) that it's no copycat -- it's an escaped soul on the loose, getting his revenge and killing all those who helped put him on death row.

The Devil gives Sam a fancy watch to thank him for being such a good employee, and although Sam is wary of this, he accepts the gift. However, after accidentally tasering a police officer (Pileggi) with the vessel du jour, Sam becomes the number one suspect in the case, because the watch turns out to belong to a prosecutor (or something) who was killed earlier in the episode. And the cop (wish I remembered his name) was the one who collared the soul in the first place. Sam, on the verge of being thrown in prison, completely loses it and tells the cop everything (escaped soul, bounty hunter, devil, etc). Naturally the cop thinks Sam is nuts, until he sees the soul with his own eyes. Sam then rescues the cop. And I'm thinking, "Woah! Someone else knows now? Someone in law enforcement? This could be kind of a cool twist."

And then BAM! Reaper pulls yet another cool twist on me! (Spoilers ahead). After Sam saves the cop from certain death, the cop turns his gun on him, telling Sam that he needs a high-profile arrest in order to restore his former glory. The devil intervenes, forces the cop to shoot himself in the head, and we learn that the cop had sold his soul to the devil years earlier in an effort to jumpstart his career. I did not see that coming.

Meanwhile, Sock and Ben stalk Gladys after she comes into the Work Bench and buys ten pounds of toilet paper. After a series of rather depressing incidents (including the neighborhood kids egging Gladys' house and calling her a monster) -- and after learning that all demons are just fallen angels -- Sock feels sorry for Gladys and goes to apologize. And they end up doing it on her couch.

BAM! Another twist! That last part was a dream, and Sock wakes up screaming. But I totally bought that it was real, and that it was happening. Nice one, Reaper!

Finally, Andi breaks up with Greg after he plans her a huge surprise party that she doesn't want. And Josie tries to help Andi realize that what she does want is Sam, but Andi says she doesn't want to date Sam because she's afraid of ruining their friendship. And Sam gives her a diamond necklace for her birthday, and Andi cries and refuses to accept it because it's not "something a friend would wear." (WTF?!?) And Sam, amazingly, actually makes a move and tells her "Then don't wear it as a friend." And Andi cries, and tells Sam he's too important to her as a friend, blah blah blah. This strife is great, it's exactly what I was hoping for ... except that the writers don't seem to have a clear notion of what Sam and Andi are actually supposed to mean to each other.

Sometimes they're "best friends." Sometimes they're "friends." Obviously they are attracted to each other. But one minute she's telling him they can't be friends anymore, and the next minute she's whisking him off to a secluded movie date and falling asleep on his shoulder. The way this is supposed to go is that they remain casual buddies on the surface while secretly (though obviously to us) pining for each other. Pam and Jim, anyone?

Also, Ted and Greg both said "aboot" instead of "about." Anyone else notice that? Eh?

The best bits:
Hooray, Ted is back!
The soul taking his tattoos off to kill people (i.e. barbed wire to strangle the judge).
Sam & Greg's slap fight.
Gladys telling Sock he has a pretty mouth.

And...

Sam: Don't do anything stupid.
Sock: I am almost definitely going to do something stupid.

1 comment:

Linzey said...

If the strike continues you just need to start doing classic recaps/commentary... start with Buffy Season One or Wonderfalls or something. I'd read! :)