Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison) lives at home with his parents (Andrew Airlie and Allison Hossack) in the Seattle area.

Sam dropped out of college ("It made him sleepy", his Mom explains) and took a dead-end job at the Work Bench, a home-repair superstore.

His father eventually claims that many years ago he was very sick, and in return for restoring his health he and his wife promised their firstborn child to the Devil (Ray Wise).

After informing him of his fate, the Devil explains to Sam that he must serve as his bounty hunter (or "Reaper"), tracking down souls that have escaped from Hell and sending them back using his new powers (which include telekinesis) and "vessels," varied objects said to have been hand-made in the bowels of perdition by the iniquitous and the vile.

Vessels appear inside a long wooden box sent for Sam to open (with the Italian inscription "Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate" ["Abandon all hope, ye who enter here"], as was written on the entrance to Hell in Dante's Inferno), and are specially designed for each job.

Unwilling to sacrifice his mother and convinced that he is doing good in the world by tracking down evil souls, Sam accepts his fate.

With the help of his slacker friends, Sock (Tyler Labine) and Ben (Rick Gonzalez), he begins his new life tracking down the corrupted souls trying to escape their own eternal punishment.

Reaper premiered on September 25, 2007 in the United States, airing on Tuesday nights at 9:00PM Eastern/8:00PM Central on the CW, following Beauty and the Geek.

Donovan Stinson and Andrew Airlie rounded out the cast as Ted Gallagher and John Oliver, Sam's boss and father respectively.

In July 2008, it was announced that Eriko Tamura had been cast as a season 2 recurring character, playing Sock's new stepsister and love interest.

[29] In February 2018, Bret Harrison and Tyler Labine reprised their roles from the show on an episode of Kevin (Probably) Saves the World.

[31] During the reunion cast members left open the possibility that a Kickstarter campaign could help finance the production of a season 3 of Reaper.

[32] Sam Oliver (played by Bret Harrison), the protagonist of the show, is a dropout and all-around slacker who, due to a deal that his parents made to save his father's life, is coerced into becoming a bounty hunter for the Devil after turning 21 years old.

In "No Reaper Left Behind", the Devil tells Sam, "I expect you to rise to the heights of political power here on Earth, seize control of the planet, and hasten the Apocalypse".

The lowest-performing salesperson at the Work Bench, Bert "Sock" Wysocki (played by Tyler Labine) spends most of his time sleeping on the stock shelves, planning his topless home supply store, and other time-wasting activities.

He also regularly steals supplies from the Work Bench, both to aid Sam in capturing souls and for fun (like making a mechanical bull from paint mixers and lumber).

In the final episode "The Devil & Sam Oliver," he severs the toad tongue of an escaped soul with a machete and sends it back to Hell.

However, in "Dirty Sexy Mongol" Ben shows a rare side of bravery by fending off a demon with a tiki torch, thereby saving Sam from the would-be assassin.

Ben is initially seen as the brains of the trio as he is usually the one responsible for coming up with tactics and strategies in aiding Sam capture escaped souls and is not above recommending and taking advantage of the Work Bench's merchandise as makeshift hunting gear whenever the three conduct a hunt; he initially sought training as a priest and has extensive knowledge of the Bible, and often raises theological questions about the nature of their missions and the Devil's involvement.

He had just given up on his search for the perfect girl, who happens to be independently wealthy, enjoys mixed martial arts, and reads Sue Grafton novels.

At the end of the episode "The Leak", Cassidy drives Ben to jail, telling Sock " When this is all over, my boyfriend will no longer be married".

Early in the next episode, "Cancun," Ben arrives at the Work Bench disappointed that his friends forgot to pick him up after serving his eight-day sentence.

Chancing to see him on duty, Andi watches Sam behead an escaped soul from a distance and initially threatens to go to the police.

Despite her obvious dislike for Sock, Josie remains friendly with Sam and agrees to provide information that helps him track down different souls, unaware of his work for the Devil.

This doesn't happen of his own volition but was apparently a curse given upon him by God shortly before he was cast out of Heaven, knowing how much he loves ice cream.

In the canonical (but yet unmade) season 3, it is revealed that John is actually Sam's father, but was unable to tell anyone as a part of the deal he made to become human.

Played by Donavon Stinson, Ted was the Work Bench's pompous, imperious manager (and recovering gambling addict) who gave his employees, especially Sam, Andi, Ben, and Sock, a hard time.

In episode 20 ("Dirty Sexy Mongol") Ted was fired from his job as manager at the Work Bench after sexually harassing a secret shopper sent from corporate.

After escaping Hell and returning to the earthly realm, not only do they regain a corporeal body with which to interact with the living world once again, but sometimes also exhibit supernatural powers that often reflect the nature of their crimes or punishments.

As the souls that Sam is sent to apprehend have already died once (along with the fact that they have various paranormal abilities), an attempt to capture or even kill them by a mere mortal could prove almost impossible.