When popular supernatural dramedy Reaper ended its two-year run on The CW last season, fans were left with key unanswered mythology questions. Series creators Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters provided closure this week in a rare post-mortem Q&A. Here’s the shocker: Sam (Bret Harrison) was not the devil’s son. “Sam’s dad (Andrew Airlie) was a demon, who made a deal with the devil,” they tell CliqueClack. “He fell in love with Sam’s mom and wanted to marry her, so the deal was, fine, you’re not a demon anymore. But he was never fully human, either, which is why you can’t kill him.” Part of the deal was that he could never tell Sam the truth—and that’s what was written on the contract pages Dad mysteriously ripped out and burned. Sam’s special abilities came from his father, and the devil paid so much attention to him because he “was really worried that this kid was going to be his downfall. Throughout the series, he’s trying to tempt Sam to be bad (so he) isn’t a threat anymore.” Here are a few other interesting nuggets:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer favorites Anthony Stewart Head (Giles) and James Marsters (Spike) both read for the role of the devil, “but as soon as Ray Wise auditioned, he was the one.” The Akron native embodied what the producers were looking for. “He was amazing, he just blew people away.”
Andi (Missy Peregrym) gambled her own soul in the finale to try and save Sam. Had the show continued, she would’ve worked in the DMV alongside Gladys. “Christine Willes is just so much fun, and we thought she and Andi had a great way of sparring with each other.”
The character of Ben became a dark-horse favorite of the writers. “He had such an interesting love story with Nina; and more than any other person on the show, (Rick Gonzalez) formed that character. Ben became a much different person toward the end.”
Ben and Sock were not secret guardians of Sam. “Tyler Labine had this storyline worked out that he and Rick were like archangels, but we had never intended for that. They were just good friends helping out their buddy.”
Reaper would’ve had a happy ending. “Sam would have gotten the girl and he would have gotten out of his deal with the devil. We would’ve found a way to get there.”
