TV WATCH 2007 (2)
REAPER Pilot

Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison; Grounded For Life and The Loop) is having his 21st birthday, and it’s turning out to be a strange one. Dogs are chasing him, he’s suddenly become telekinetic, and the Devil (genre icon Ray Wise) tried to carjack him.
Well, no, not really. The Devil couldn’t care less about Sam’s ride.
Actually, the Devil shows up in Sam’s life to tell him that even before he was born, his parents sold the soul of their firstborn to the Devil to save Sam’s father’s life. And Sam, being the Olivers’ firstborn, is now indentured to the Devil as the Prince of Darkness’ bounty hunter, whose task on the earthly realm is to hunt down and capture escapees from Hell.
Not bad for a 21st birthday gift.

The biggest draw for me to check out Reaper was to see whether Kevin Smith (who directed the Pilot) had managed to put together something that I might actually enjoy. (The last Smith film that agreed with me was Dogma, which was quite awhile back.)
And on that score, Reaper passes muster. Undoubtedly helped by the writing team of Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas (who’ve written for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Ed), Smith pulls this one off, his triumph being more notable considering this is also an effects-heavy piece, which isn’t normally Smith’s style.

He also manages his cast well, getting some good performances from Harrison and Tyler Labine (who was excellent in the sadly cancelled Invasion) as Bert “Sock” Wysocki, Sam’s partner-in-crime. And Wise clearly appears to be having a lot of fun as Old Scratch.
What’s interesting to note though is that Nikki Reed (who originally played Andi, Sam’s co-worker and erstwhile love interest at The Work Bench) is being replaced with Missy Peregrym (Candice from Heroes). I’m not entirely certain what the reason for the change is, and considering that Reed (who may be remembered by The O.C. viewers as Sadie Campbell) wasn’t horrible in the role, strikes me as a strange casting decision.

Whatever the case though, Reaper is a fun romp, and if it can avoid the pitfalls of becoming an episodic “demonic escapee of the week” show, it may lead to some interesting places.
I also hope the show can explore how something that may appear negative (working for the Man is one thing; working for the Devil… well…) can have positive effects. In the Pilot, they successfully argue how Sam is actually doing a good thing ‘cause he’s putting bad guys away, but down the road, I’d like to see Sam transform from the slacker he is to a motivated individual who sees his calling as far more important than himself.
Now whether they can do that and still keep things funny, I don’t know, but I think it would be good if they tried. Otherwise, the show will reek too much of sitcom.

(Images courtesy of about.com and nymag.com.)

HEROES
Volume One
Chapter 22
(WARNING:
SPOILERS)
“Landslide”

“… episode 21, 22 and 23 are three parts of one story. In fact, it’s less of a trilogy, and more like, Act one, Act two and Act three of a film.”
-- Greg Beeman
Director, “Landslide”

So here we are in the second act of the final story of Volume One, and all the plot threads move quite nicely towards that final shot of Sylar above the NY cityscape, his hands crackling with the nuclear energy he’s stolen from poor Ted. (I’m gonna miss the schmo.)

And in all of this major plot motion, it’s the small moments that stand out, particularly Candice’s, as she finally becomes a real person to me, with the intimation that she’s not actually the hot Missy Peregrym, but quite possibly a lonely, overweight social pariah, who’s helping Linderman because he’s promising to change the world and its prejudices.
And it’s in this plot thread where we also see what Linderman really wants with Micah. So that was it. I actually thought he wanted Micah for, like ICBM missile control or something, in case he needed a contingency plan for the Big Boom.

A bunch of covergences in this chapter as well, as all the major players are in New York. And where people meet and collide, there are bound to be casualties. I’ve already mentioned Ted, but we also lose Thompson (good riddance), D.L. (though I’m not 100% certain on that, cause didn’t he move a little in that last shot of Niki cradling him?), and, most surprising of all, Linderman. (Come on! He can’t die like that! Please tell me that was Candice covering for her boss. And even if it was her, I’d still feel like we were losing a lot of potential by icing her. Kind of like Eden all over again; except I really love Nora Zehetner, and I’m only kind’a warming up to Candice at the moment.)
Still, I hope that wasn’t the end of Linderman… (And if it was, at least he healed Mrs. P before he bought it.)

And, in the Hiro plot thread, we hear Daddy Sulu sing the same song Linderman did, about trying to save the world and people losing their way. So really, who lost whose way?
Presumably though, Daddy Sulu’s one of the “good” guys, as he’s willing to help stop Sylar, while Linderman is one of the “bad” guys, as he’s all too willing to have the city blown up so he can have a man inside the White House. (Of course, he claims to be doing it all for the greater good, so is that justification, or does he really believe his own press?)
Then of course, Grandma P. knows about Linderman’s plan and is all for it, so what does that make her? “Good”? “Bad”? (And what would Peter think if he knew that his mother was in on that plot? I mean, Peter is her favorite son; or so she claims.)
Oh, and Linderman confirms that Daddy P. did have some power or other…

Also, among the cliffhangers of this chapter, Ando most unwisely going off to face Sylar with a purchased katana (please don’t kill Ando!), and Mo and Mr. Bennet in a Mexican stand-off, Mo pointing his gun at Bennet, Bennet pointing his gun at poor little Molly Walker (can anyone say “trauma” and “therapy”?).
At least these are cliffhangers that will take a week to resolve.

Onward ho! Final chapter!

Parting shot 1: “Mr. Claremont,” huh? Gee, I wonder who he’s named after… (And appropriately enough, something to do with samurai swords...)
On top of getting Kirby Plaza last chapter.
Sweet.

Parting shot 2: The scene with Hiro and Nathan was just heartbreaking. The sense of betrayal Hiro feels is nearly palpable, and given that past Hiro-Nathan scenes have always had an element of comedy, this one’s all the more potent. (And it’s a play on their previous “billen” scene as well.)

(Image courtesy of comicbookresources.com.)

HEROES Season 1 Episode 18 (WARNING: SPOILERS)
“Parasite”

That is such an evil cliffhanger to leave us with for five weeks! Evil!!!
Not only is HRG in a whole heap’a trouble, but Mo’s stuck to the ceiling, and Peter’s getting his head sliced open by Sylar…
But hey, there’s all that good stuff too.
I’ve loved Mrs. B and Mrs. P since the get-go, but this episode just cements the deal. Finally, HRG lets Mrs. B in on the secret, and she doesn’t cave. Finally, he’s got an ally close to home. But given that Thompson’s on to him, I gotta wonder if maybe Mrs. B is in some hot water too.
And Mrs. P. Bosom buddies with the Haitian. Who’d’a thunk? And that scene between Claire and Mrs. P (or should that be Grandma P?). This is brilliant television, people!
All that and Ando’s back! (Of course, he and Hiro are in post-explosion NY, but hey, at least Hiro’s teleporting again. And he’s taking passengers now!)
There’s also a new b*tch on the block, in the (ever-)shifting form of Stick It’s Missy Peregrym. Jury’s still out on whether I’m happy with this new character or not.
What I am stoked about in terms of new additions to the cast is Malcolm freakin’ McDowell as Mr. Linderman! And he cooks too!
Just as I’m curious what Mrs. P is up to chit-chatting with the Haitian, I’m also wondering what Linderman’s game really is. Linderman knows a lot. And he’s got Felicity’s Javier (Ian Gomez) as a curator. And did I mention? He cooks!
Man, this is such a cool TV show.

Parting shot: Tim Kring indicates that “[Heroes is] a little more the 24 model than the Lost model.” Interesting choice, that. To make each season a self-contained story, adding new characters to the sprawling global phenomenon of people discovering they are now no longer as ordinary as they’d once thought.
I think there’s a certain sense of security that this kind of template gives to the audience, who can look forward to a story with a beginning, middle, and end, each season, as opposed to a serialized story that continues from one season to the next. It also affords the show’s writers fresh avenues to explore with each new season.
Of course, the trick here would be to ensure that the new characters to be introduced are just as interesting as the original group are (or were, as the show’s creative team seems to imply there may be at least one more death before episode 23 comes to its conclusion).
Well, all in good time. 5 weeks, then 5 more episodes.

Till then,
Are you on the list?