Reap what you sow
Have you caught the CW Network show Reaper yet? I’ve managed to watch the first three episodes (after the fact, the show conflicts with House and it can’t compete with Hugh Laurie) and it’s actually better than I expected. OK, I had very low expectations. The concept isn’t the most original but the cast seems fresh and the somewhat talented. Ray Wise is a typical suave villain and Bret Harrison is they typical twenty-something lead. There is something very atypical about it.
This comes in the form of Tyler Labine. (Anyone know how his last name is pronounced? Is it La-Bean or La-b-eye-n?) Labine’s Bert Wysocki is a friendly, harmless slacker with a sometimes quick wit and a fierce loyalty to his best friend. Labine’s appearance is very atypical of our overly image conscious society. He’s a bearded, scruffy and not exactly taught bear of a man, exemplified in the second episode when he (and the other two members of team Soul Retrieval) wear skin tight scuba suits. Some might think this an example of talent overcoming appearance, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To me, he’s the sexiest thing on the show; a lovely friendly, witty bearcub. I first encountered Labine in the movie Antitrust. This second rate Hackers (it’s less exciting and well written, but the computing part is much more accurate) didn’t give him a showcase for his talents, but I look forward to his other work. In fact Invasion is in the Netflix queue.
I suspect that Reaper won’t last past the original thirteen episode order and that some of those may never be broadcast, but I can hope I’m wrong in this case.