Really? This is how they’re going to end “Reaper”? Ugh.
** SPOILER ALERT **
“Reaper” fans have known for several weeks now that the show probably wasn’t going to return in the fall, but we kept watching in the hopes that the series would at least wrap up with some sense of closure.
“Reaper” has been pretty good this season though with the late premiere date it was obvious that it was on the cutting block. Let’s just hope that [Michele] Fazekas and [Tara] Butters can wrap up the series properly instead of letting “Reaper” simply go dark. No one wants that.
Denied.
For most of the season/series finale, “The Devil & Sam Oliver,” it looked like we might get some sort of a satisfying ending. Sam had discovered a way to get out of his deal with the Devil and had picked a contest — “Quarters” — that would give him a legitimate shot of succeeding. (No pun intended.) Even when Steve showed up and broke his right hand, I still held out hope that he’d manage to beat the Devil with his left hand.
Nope.
Instead, with the souls of both Sam and now Andi owned by the Devil, we are treated to a scene of Steve (sort of) explaining that his orders came from “up above.” He shows off his wings and joins a bunch of other angels in the night sky. Cut to Sam and Andi looking up in wonderment. Fade to black.
WTF?
This should be filed under “How Not to Handle a Finale.” The series was on the chopping block for the last couple of months, and even if producers Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters wrapped up production a while ago, they (or the network) should have had the foresight to shoot an alternate ending or two to give them the option of going in another direction if the show were canceled.
How hard would it have been to shoot a scene of Sam knocking a couple of quarters in with his left hand? Or what about cutting the scene where Steve breaks his hand and have the Devil figure out to cover his eyes after the first miss and force Sam to make all five shots with his right hand? Sam gets his soul back, Andi is safe and the series can end with some sense of closure.
Instead, the series is sent spinning off into another direction, and we’ll never really know how how the story of Sam, Andi, Sock, Ben and the Devil really ends. If we had some closure, I might recommend that my friends watch the show on DVD. But why would I subject them to this painful ending?
Shame on the CW for not insisting that multiple endings be shot. Shame on Butters and Fazekas for the same thing, and for jumping ship even before the fate of “Reaper” was sealed. This finale is a slap in the face of all the fans who stuck with the show for its entire run. Say what you will about ABC’s decision to cancel “Life On Mars,” at least the network and the producers were on the same page in that both sides wanted to give the series an appropriate ending.
More commentary on the “Reaper” finale:
Posted in: Reaper, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi
Tags: CW, Life On Mars finale, Michele Fazekas, Reaper, Reaper canceled, Reaper ending, Reaper finale, Tara Butters, Tara Butters Michele Fazekas
Great post, and I couldn’t agree more. This was downright awful. “WTF?” is right. My wife was pissed at me for dragging her into the series this season, only to be left staring blankly at the screen when the credits rolled.
What a waste.
It made sense as a season finale – Sam stays in his position as bounty hunter because he is of tremendous value to the good guys to be behind enemy lines, as it were – but as a series finale, it’s a colossal dud. So disappointed.
I avoided reading most of this as I still have several episodes sitting on my DVR. Now, I’m wondering if I should even bother though, having gotten the gist that the series finale is no finale at all (or maybe somehow something worse). Clearly, they didn’t follow the “Buffy” example of ending every season on some kind of conclusion in case of cancellation. Maybe they should have just cut randomly as Sam, Sock, and Ben were eating cheeseburgers at a diner or something and Andi was just about to walk through the door.
I have to wonder how this all happened. It’s not exactly common for creators to jump ship like that even before their show has been officially canceled. I don’t remember ever reading about something like that before, actually. It’s a shame because “Reaper” was a really nice little show. Not very ambitious, but not everything needs to be.
I thought it was a great finale, especially given that when it was written the show had been told it had a decent shot at renewal.
BTW – Industry insiders confirm Hollywood Reporter’s article that ABC Studios is actively trying to sell Reaper. Syndication is a very real possiblity right now, but EVERYONE is recommending writing your affiliates! Help out! All details here: http://community.livejournal.com/reaperdmv/46875.html or visit http://reaperdmv.com for the most up-to-date information.
Oh I forgot. Michele and Tara didn’t “jump ship”. They will still remain involved in the show even with their FOX contracts.
http://community.livejournal.com/reaperdmv/42680.html
Fair enough, ReaperDMV, but being a showrunner and acting as a “consultant” are two very different things. Why would the CW want to renew a show when the creators are already moving on to other things? Granted, Butters and Fazekas may have seen the writing on the wall, and they have every right to sign another deal. But in that case the least they could do is give us a proper ending.
The CW never wanted to renew the show, with or without Butters and Fazekas. Too many males for Dawn Ostroff’s taste. It was ABC Studios and the WB (the CW’s parent network) that were pushing for the show. Tyler even wrote about it on his Facebook, but the CW forced him to take it down.
And have you seen the crew credits? There’s a ton of people still left on the show, and many still in high places. Tom Spezialy, Mark Gordon, etc. etc. And a great many shows have lost their “creators” – including I might add “Lost” first season – and gone on still fine.
Also, your timeline is off. Episode 2×13 finished production at the end of December. Butters and Fazekas made their deal April 5th. In December, things still looked great for the show, April not so much.
I should’ve known that the fine folks at ReaperDMV would get the jump on me, but I was also going to mention the timeframe of the show’s production schedule. I agree that it would’ve been preferable if they’d filmed a couple of possible endings, in case of cancellation, but with that said, it wouldn’t be unheard of for the studio to be thinking in terms of a possible straight-to-DVD movie. If that happens, then they’d want an open-ended conclusion…and, boy, this sure qualifies.
“In December, things still looked great for the show”
Really? As I remember, it barely got a second season pickup and it got pushed back to 2009 instead of running in 2008. Things looked pretty grim from the start.
OK, so Butters and Fazekas didn’t jump ship in the middle or at the end of production, but they knew how the season was going to end and they knew that a third season was a long shot, so why not prepare for it? The CW deserves as much blame, for sure.
Will — you are too kind. It would have been “preferable” if they had filmed a couple of different endings? This is the end of a series we’re talking about. Viewers have invested 31 hours of their lives in these characters and no one has a reasonable plan to wrap things up? A straight-to-DVD movie would be great. If that’s the plan, go ahead and announce it already!
I know what you’re saying about the lack of wrap up, but as one who is still hoping that the deal for first-run syndication will go through, I’m glad they left it open-ended. Maybe I’m overly optimistic, but it seems like there’s still a good chance for this. Finish watching the season, then, and see where you’d like the show to go from here!
Personally, I’m kinda glad the show didn’t take the copout. Reaper’s done nothing but have to write to potential series finales since it started, due to the writer’s strike and the CW interference. If Andi was supposed to lose her soul, then so be it if that’s part of the bigger story that they as yet have had no real time to tell.
I am so tired of watching Reaper episodes that were obviously written to accomodate outside forces. That’s one of the main reasons I want them to have a season three – and away from the CW’s interference. To let this guys write.
And to be honest, I’m also kinda happy we would be getting new showrunners. Michele and Tara aren’t exactly cut out for it, as shown by the lack of continuity between S1 and S2.
Blue Sunflower — Usually, shows don’t get “saved”. Tyler Labine has already moved on to another series, so if “Reaper” were to get a third season, it would presumably be without him. Do we really want a season of “Reaper” without Sock?
So if this is really the end of “Reaper,” is it satisfying for you? I’d rather have some sense of closure than have Andi lose her soul and have no idea how any of this was supposed to turn out.
John Paulsen, do you enjoy arguing with everyone on this blog? Someone posts something that is their own opinion and then you seem to think it’s your duty to come in and tell them why they’re wrong and you’re right. I’ve seen you do it on this post, you’ve done it on the Life on Mars posts, and I’ve seen you do it on The Scores Report (the sports blog) too.
I know blogs are supposed to encourage debate but you seem to think that your opinion is the only one that matters, and if someone disagrees with you or has an opinion different from yours, you seem unable to let it be. “Here’s why you’re wrong.” Newsflash: your opinion isn’t the only one that matters.
Ultimately Good wins over Evil and THAT’S how the show should have ended! I just told someone about the concept of the show and they request info on how to watch the show and now this!? REDICULOUS! I’m getting sick of the CW not closing out shows right. First Girlfriends and now this???!!! I think Donald Trump said it best…”YOU’RE FIRED!!!”
Slappy, I’m sorry to have offended your delicate sensibilities, though I’m not sure where I left the impression that I think my opinion “is the only one that matters.”
ReaperDMV and Blue Sunflower stated opinions that directly contradicted mine, and I’m not allowed to respond? You said yourself that blogs are supposed to encourage debate, yet you criticize me for engaging in a debate. I’m confused.
From what I’ve seen on the two blogs I mentioned, you rarely actively engage in an exchange of ideas. You state your opinion, dig in your heels, and refuse to concede anything. You’re often smug and talk down to the other posters, saying things like “I’m not sure what so-and-so is talking about.” That’s where you leave the impression that your opinion is the only valid one, because you often imply that someone else (Blue Sunflower, on this thread) is silly for seeing something differently than you see it. And I’m curious — are you physically incapable of letting someone else have the last word?
The funny thing is, I generally like your posts here and on the sports blog. I just wish you’d step down off your pedestal every so often.
I find it funny when someone attacks someone else and then when that person responds, the attacker insinuates that the person has to have the last word. I don’t have to have the last word, but I’m going to defend myself when attacked. Let’s examine the response that offended you:
Blue Sunflower — Usually, shows don’t get “saved”. Tyler Labine has already moved on to another series, so if “Reaper” were to get a third season, it would presumably be without him. Do we really want a season of “Reaper” without Sock?
So if this is really the end of “Reaper,” is it satisfying for you? I’d rather have some sense of closure than have Andi lose her soul and have no idea how any of this was supposed to turn out.
I started the first paragraph with a fact. When a show is on the chopping block — in this case “Reaper” was not on CW’s schedule — very rarely does it get saved. Maybe my using quotes offended you, I don’t know. I wasn’t quoting Blue Sunflower, I surrounded the word in quotes so that it would mean any number of things that it could mean: that it gets picked up by CW, that it goes to another network, that it gets sold to affiliates, whatever. The second sentence states another fact (Tyler Labine is moving to another show) setting up a legitimate question — do we really want “Reaper” without Sock? My answer would be “no,” but Blue Sunflower is welcome to describe how a Sock-less show might work.
(If this isn’t an active exchange of ideas, I don’t know what is.)
I started the second paragraph with another question. Blue Sunflower is talking about how the show is going to get picked up and how “we” have new showrunners, yet right now things are looking pretty dead. If this is truly the end, is it satisfying? My final point is that I would like to have some sense of closure rather than have an open ending and a slim chance at a third season.
I honestly have no idea what you could take offense to in this post. I didn’t talk down to the commenter — I simply asked him/her to expand on their opinion. Maybe I didn’t do it super-politely, but it’s not impolite, either. I think a vast majority of “Reaper” fans are upset about the ending and I’d like to know that if this is truly the end, is Blue Sunflower happy with the way the series ended. He went out of his way to comment on this thread and disagree fully with my opinion, but most of it had to do with the assumption that there will be a third season.
I’m going to ignore the rest of your insults and move on.
I’m probably jumping into this debate a little too late, but there’s one important fact that no one has mentioned. While Tyler Labine does have another show set up at FOX, he’s contractually obligated to return to “Reaper” if it returns. So, if “Reaper” were to somehow magically be renewed thanks to the wonders of syndication, his new show wouldn’t be picked up, or his role would be recast.
So you see, there’s no reason to argue about a Sock-less “Reaper,” because it wouldn’t happen.
Jason — That’s interesting news, so I did a few quick searches and nobody has been able to confirm whether or not Tyler’s “Reaper” contract trumps his new show if “Reaper” goes on in first-run syndication. If the CW were to renew it, yes, he would have to come back, but not necessarily as a first-run syndie.
If you have information that clears this up, a link would be much appreciated.
I don’t know why there isn’t more talk of a two-hour straight to DVD movie to wrap up the show properly.
There was a rumor yesterday that SyFy Channel was going to pick up the show (I heard it was 90% for sure), but now that seems to have fallen through.
SyFy seems like the perfect place to move it, but I would be worried what kind of budget cuts that would mean for the series.
Here’s a quote from Tyler on Facebook:
This means that a syndicated network would be our only hope. In which case our budget would be cut drastically and our writing staff would be almost completely switched out. The only thing that would stay the same would be the name and our lovely faces. Because of this our contracts will be null and void and new ones will be put forth. They will not be good, I assure you. Bret and I have officially withdrawn from doing a show that is a shell of the show we have come to adore. I can’t speak for any one else but I bet it would be the same for the rest of the core cast.
It sounds like his contract would be voided (and he wouldn’t be contractually obligated) and that he’s not interested in doing another season if it’s a first run syndie.
All right, gentlemen (and ladies, just to cover my bases), it looks like I’ll be doing an interview with Tyler this afternoon, so I’ll be sure to get him to clarify the situation definitively.
What´s a syndicated? Great show. Here in Btazil Universal will pass second season. BTW, if CW cancels most of their shows, why they pass it anyway? I mean, why to shows if they cancel after? Dont understand this…. I´m so sad with this news.
I’m actually really disappointed.Can’t believe they did this to us.Now it feels like a week of my life was completely wasted as i’ve been watching it constantly. Such shame. Can’t they at least let us know, post somewhere or whatever what happens in the end ??? This is ridiculous!
Thank you America !!!..this series would have been successful in the Uk for sure but now it’s like a lot of money and time wasted for nothing cause no one is happy with the result in the end.
I will have the last word … eat that, John Paulsen