Post by novium on Apr 18, 2009 14:00:50 GMT -5
Ah, reaper-y goodness. This week, we have a light opening, with Ben trying to convince Sam of the wonders of a healthy breakfast, and in this particular case, embodied by flax. Sam is not convinced, and I have to say, I agree with him here. I’m against eating anything that can be made into fabric. For his next trick, Ben takes it upon himself to recap where we are in this season: Andi just broke up with Sam, Sam is the Spawn of Satan, and the Devil is evil. Ben expresses his condolences. Sam vows to win Andi back. Ben applauds Sam on his willingness to ignore reality. Sam is cheered by this for half a second, until he realizes that it’s not really a compliment.
I’m going to drop all pretension of subtlety here and just give it to you straight: this week’s theme is relationships, and the show wants you to know it. By giving it to you straight, we can skip right past some more interminable Sock and Kristin scenes. This week’s Sock B-plot involves attempting to spend quality time with Kristin’s dad. Kristin is against the idea. Hilarity, as they say, will not ensue. Oh, and apparently Sock’s mom and new step-dad randomly moved out of the house, so the boys aren’t homeless again. I think the pub in the Purgatory of Forgotten, Discarded, and MIA characters will have two new customers after this episode. Kyle, Sam’s mom, Josie, Cassidy, and Cady will be so pleased. Random other note: apparently Kristin showers with her hair done up and her make up on.
Next scene! Ben and Sock are having lunch with Andi. Andi’s stressed about work, and wants to spend a little quality time with the boys, who rightly point out, if in a stupid way, that that would be ridiculously awkward. Andi resorts to abusing her position of power and bribes to bring them over to “her side”. What does that even mean? But we’re not left long to ponder, because just as abruptly as this scene started, it ends. We switch to evening in what looks like the Work Bench parking lot. Ben is playing fetch with Nina. No, really. With a frisbee and everything.
As odd as that sounds, this scene isn’t half bad. Ben and Nina spend a little time getting all mushy over the looming prospect of their two-month anniversary. Nina nostalgically recalls kidnapping Ben, and mentions that she wants to share something really special him: flying. There’s room here for some Superman jokes, I’m sure, but let’s not and say we did. Ben is less than convinced that this is a good idea, that much is obvious, but Nina is in raptures over the idea, and from how she describes it, I’m sure that if it weren’t for Ben’s fear of heights or flying or whatever it is, he’d be right on board. Ben is a romantic down to his very bones, and we see here that Nina hides a romantic streak that runs just as deep. This relationship constantly surprises me. I expected it to be as painful and random as Sock and Kristin, but it works, and it’s fun to boot. That does not prevent Ben’s subplot this week from being predictable from the get go, but at least it’s still enjoyable. In the time honored tradition of every sitcom ever, Ben covers his apprehension by saying they should save the flying for their special day.
The next day, Ben tells Sam and Sock about the whole thing. But there’s something odd going on here: instead of the usual “how should I hide my real reason for lying” plot, we take an abrupt turn into Scrubs-land.JD Ben says that all his relationships have had a “fatal flaw,” but we all know that this is just JD’s usual relationship sabotage. I mean Ben’s. Actually, no. We’ve not actually seen this. The one with Sarah was a fake, so you can’t count that, and the one with Cassidy apparently had to do with her cheating on him. ANYWAY! Hoping to avoid all the Scrubs dithering, Sock tells Ben to buck up and go flying. They hug (awww), Ben leaves, and Sock confides to Sam that he thinks Ben is doomed. Ah well.
Enter Morgan, this week’s way of segueing into the main plot. Hello, Mr. Tall and Sexy. I wish you were given more lines with your deep, sexy voice. Yes. Mmm. Oh wait! The plot. Yes. Quick rewind to actually pay attention to the dialogue. Ok, so the long and short of it is that Morgan’s been cruelly yanked from his carefree life of hedonism by the Devil, who wants him to get to work. Being even more allergic to work than Sam, he offers to pay him the big bucks to capture the soul for him. He half-assedly attempts to flatter Sam in a way that also denigrates him. Note to Morgan: Work on your flattery skills. How do you expect to take over the family business if you can’t charm, beguile, and tempt worth a damn? Yes, I know, the show just wants to make it obvious that you’re an ass. Ah, well, guess you can’t win ‘em all. Anyway, he makes it clear he knows that Sam is just perfect for reaping (and nothing else, presumably), and that he, Morgan, is too much above it all. I love the way they filmed that bit: they switch the camera angle just for that one line, and he’s looming over Sam like the jolly green giant. Except not green or jolly. Anyway, Sam just wants him to get lost, but Sock convinces him that it’s a good deal, and they’re off. Or not. Because it is floor sweeping time, the most important time of all.
At least until it starts raining betting slips. Sam bends down to pick one up (he really should know how this works by now) and he’s whisked away to the races. Hurray! It’s our favorite embodiment of evil. The Devil gives him the low-down on the new soul, although he does spend sometime pretending to be reluctant to do so. He’s not proud of having this particular soul in Hell: apparently the poor guy went to hell because he was thinking lecherous thoughts about his neighbor’s wife just before being hit by a truck. I’d say this would have interesting implications for the dynamics of the Reaper universe, but in the next breath, we’re treated to a joke about people previously going to hell for eating shrimp, so I don’t think it’s been taken all that seriously. But it is kind of amusing that the next scene takes place in a seafood restaurant, which is apparently the favorite hangout of the Soul, one Billy Boyland. Who happens to be in the restaurant at that very moment. The boys slide into his booth and introduce themselves. The vessel is a dodge ball, which is oddly appropriate for this episode. Billy throws himself on their mercy. Sock has none, but Sam does. After the most obvious diversion ever, Billy makes a run for it. Sam and Co really aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer. Although I have to admit, I’m kind of curious as to how Billy made his escape. You really can’t squeeze under those booths. There’s no room. He doesn’t seem to have a soul power, so maybe that was it? Anyway, let’s get back to the running. The boys run after Billy, yelling things like, “wait, Billy, wait!” Like he’s going to listen to that, like that’s ever worked. Boys, what kind of idiots are you? Oh, I know: Loveable idiots. So that’s alright.
Billy attempts to climb over a chain link fence, but fails. There’s a pseudo-dramatic moment when he suddenly reaches for something in his pocket, but it turns out just to be his inhaler. After getting his breath back, Billy begs for his life (well, sort of), and successfully throws himself on Sock’s mercy by admitting to being a virgin. Sam is kind of shocked that this works, but Ben and Sock both agree that “virgin” is apparently the magic word. Urgh. I’m with Sam on this one. I’ve always hated this trope. But that’s where the show has gone, so that’s where we must go too.
The boys vow that they’re going to help the intrepid Billy B get some lovin’. They float the usual ideas, namely, a hooker, before Billy convinces them that what he really wants to do is pick up an older woman in a cougar bar. And then we’re catapulted right back into the Sock B-plot. The less said about that, the better. Some notes: Sock’s new step-dad is apparently no longer Texan. Sock’s mom forces Morris to take Sock fly-fishing. And then we’re back to the Billy plot! Hurray. They’re hanging out in the bar, and Billy spots the woman of his dreams. Ben is enlisted as wingman, to lure away her psychotherapist friend. Ben seizes the opportunity to unload his problems on this poor woman and get some relationship advice. She convinces him that he sabotages his relationships (stop channeling JD, Ben!), because he does not believe himself to be worthy of love . The therapist then tries to jumpJD’s Ben’s bones, but Ben is whisked away by Sam and Sock. Billy’s on the move, apparently. The boys decide to wait outside the woman’s house and nab Billy when he leaves the next morning. This leads to an absolutely adorable shot of the three boys asleep in the backseat. Aww, they’re cute. The wake up, and freak that Billy may have escaped. They run to the house and knock on the door. Billy answers, half naked, and tells them that he can’t go back to hell, as he and Cindy “really connected’ and are soulmates. The boys try to convince him that he’s confused sex for love, but he tells them that (surprise, surprise) a)Cindy is the woman he went to hell for coveting , and b) she’s now she’s available. After some passionate apparent morning-after-kisses, Billy tells the boys that they can’t send him back. Omnia vincit Amor.
Our heroes are at something of a loss, but this is a natural state for them, so that’s OK. Sam immediately goes to Andi for help, and while this is a transparent attempt on his part to win her back, he really could probably use her help. He’s trying to butter her up by saying that she’s the smart one, but there’s a little irony here because it too is absolutely true. The next scene takes place in the car as they stake out Cindy’s house. Sam rambles on about wanting love to win out over the devil while offering Andi strawberries and string cheese. She looks a bit uncomfortable and very quickly catches on, especially when she finds the bottle of bubbly. I think what I like most about this scene is how while you can’t mistake her annoyance, the primary emotion that comes across is her dismay. And that makes this whole storyline something other than the usual get together/break up/make up cycle of sitcom relationships. Andi, unlike our favorite trio, is better at looking at the big picture, at the implications and consequences. And she’s freaked. And she’s even more freaked out by the fact that Sam isn’t, especially because she loves him. Which is why our favorite reaper has really stepped in it this time. Andi points out to Sam that he’s acting like the Devil or Morgan would, using manipulation and lies to get his way. Sam completely misses the point, and tells her he was trying to be charming. Andi’s face falls at that and she leaves, telling Sam that charm isn’t the point. Sam is confused. Poor Sam. He should be used to it by now. Confused is a good look on him, fortunately.
We switch back to the Ben and Nina storyline. Nina’s decorated her barn with human furniture to make Ben feel more comfortable. Ben’s carrying a large pinboard of some sort. He admits his fear of flying, but lets her know he’s overcome it, with the help of his “vision board”, which reminds him of all the things he loves about himself. Sadly, we next return to the Sock subplot. Sock is....attempting to flyfish, and making a fool out of himself. There’s some really painful dialogue, Sock admits to sleeping with Kristin, and the step-dad wails on him with his fishing gear.
And we’re back to Sam! Hurray! Sam next goes to his dadcicle for advice. They’re having a bit of a heart-to-heart, Dad bemoans his dead body status, and Sam has a lightbulb moment. We next see the boys traipsing through a cemetery with shovels, presumably to do a little grave desecration. It's such a familiar scene, I keep half expecting them to cross paths with Scully and Mulder, or the boys from Supernatural. Their plan is to send Billy’s old dead body to hell in his place. It’s kind of a good idea, for them, but short-sighted as always. Ben’s a little discomforted at the idea of disturbing the dead, but Sam rightfully points out that the dead in this case is at this moment shacking up with his new girlfriend, so they get on with it, and we go off to a commercial break.
When we return, they’ve apparently finished and have gone home and washed up, because we rejoin the Ben and Nina subplot mid-date. They’re standing on top of a tall building, but Ben chickens out about this whole flying thing again. Nina tells him a story about overcoming her fear of blood. She tells him he must confront his fear, and follows up by throwing him off the building. HA!
Sam is back at the Bench, apparently doing inventory. It’s very dark. I wonder how he can read what is written on the boxes. It’s immaterial, because a box suddenly flies up out of nowhere and smacks Sam in the face. Suddenly, a whole legion of boxes are attacking Sam, and he runs through the aisle in a vain attempt to escape them. No luck, though. It’s the Devil, of course, and he is not happy. He continues to express his displeasure by flinging boxes at Sam while he explains that Sam gummed up the works in Hell with his little switcheroo. Sam....well. He’s a bit of a pushover when threatened with pain, so it doesn’t take much before he’s begging the Devil to stop and swearing to capture ol’ Billy. The Devil explains that it won’t do any good, because “The Ender” is now tracking Billy and will destroy his soul, and there’s nothing he can do to stop it. On that note, the Devil leaves, but sends off a few parting shots in Sam’s direction. Sam, not bright enough to leave well alone, decides to taunt him with “missed me!” which ends just as well as you’d expect.
Sam immediately runs over to Cindy’s to tell Billy that he has to go back to hell. He attempts to sweeten up the bad news by reminding Billy that he’s both fallen in love and lost his virginity. But Billy admits that he hasn’t done the deed yet, as he wanted to build an emotional connection before creating a physical one. I find this hard to believe in light of the whole half-naked/kissing scene, and the fact that he and Cindy apparently already had some sort of emotional relationship before he died (which reminds me: what exactly does Cindy think about his return from the dead? She seems to be taking it well.). Still, this is the device the writers chose to propel the plot forward, so we’re stuck with it. “The Ender” seems to be heralded by one scary-looking storm, which makes things a little easier on Sam. Sam convinces Billy that he and Cindy need to get out of there, so Sam can try to “buy them some time”. I'm not sure how he plans to accomplish that. Back at the house, Ben is setting up a romantic love nest for the two, and enthusing about the flying to Sock. He and Sock get lost when Billy and Cindy show up, although Sock does linger long enough to invite the happy couple to peruse his collection of erotica. Cindy’s a bit weirded out by all this, but Billy says they’re there to wait out the storm with friends. She should still be pretty weirded out, but hey. They go off into the bedroom, and Ben, Sock, and Sam go and wait in the living room. They’re impressed by how long Billy's taking. He's not going to have much longer, judging by that freaky strike of lightning.The Ender appears a second later, rising out of the ground. It’s so silly looking I have to laugh, especially at the Boys’ terror-stricken faces. The Ender inexorably floats forward, pointing a hooked claw/nail at all obstacles in its path. In short order, it Ends the door, the table, and something unseen. It pauses before the door into the bedroom, turns around and leaves, much to the astonishment of the Boys. I wonder how they’re going to explain all the missing furniture to Sock’s parents.
The next day, Billy comes to see the Boys at the Bench. The congratulate him. He gives them his inhaler, saying that he doesn’t need it anymore. The Boys are a little confused by this until Billy explains that Cindy gets them for free. Billy asks why the Ender didn’t come for him. Ben’s theory is that by consummating their love, two souls became one, and the Ender lost Billy’s scent. Sam does a callback to Greg, Schmeg and reminds us that the Devil has no dominion over true love. He should have said it more like the hippy-demon did. He made that phrase sound cooler. Everything seems to be good- Sam thinks the Devil thinks Billy has been Ended, and Sam doesn’t even have a vessel anymore. Billy thanks them and strides off. The boys are congratulating themselves when Morgan suddenly pulls up in the parking lot, tricks Billy into walking up to the door, and pegs him with the Vessel-ball, to the dismay of our favorite trio.They run after Morgan, who parks the car and explains that the Devil sent him to do the job Sam couldn’t do. He snarks, “your conscience is clear, I’ll send him to hell, and everyone’s happy” before peeling off.
Sam goes in to see Andi, asking if he can talk for a minute. Andi asks if there’s going to be a bottle of champagne this time, too, but she’s not angry. She just sounds tired. And sad. Sam says he actually has to talk to her about work. He needs to get off early tonight. Andi tells him she’ll need a better reason than that, and Sam tells her what happened with Billy. Sam’s upset. He tells her that whenever he find something that makes the whole situation more tolerable, it’s taken away from him. Andi immediately gives him the rest of the night off. Sam thanks her, promises to make it up to her, and she asks if he’d like some company... as long as it’s not a date. Sam tells her that it’s definitely not. His voice betrays how deeply upset he is over the whole Billy thing, which is a nice touch.
We go from this to our hopefully last-ever Kristin and Sock scene. Basically, she tells him that she’s going back to Japan, and she didn’t tell him because she thought it’d cause too much pain. This scene is not actually all that painful. Sock is genuinely upset, and said that he thought they’d be able to be happy together (“...once your dad gets over beating me all the time...”). If this is how this whole relationship had been played, it wouldn’t have been half bad. Anyway, Kristin explains that she came to America to discover who she was, and that Sock helped her learn so much about herself (when? She's still a fairly 2-D character!). She says she owes all of that to Sock. (Uh, what?) Now, as sweet as this maybe, I don’t buy it. But whatever, as long as it means we never have to sit through more Sock/Kristin shenanigans. I give the actor points for pulling off this scene so well, even if it doesn’t make any sense. He’s a much better actor than they’ve been giving him material for.
Then we’re back to Sam and Andi, who are back in the graveyard. Sam puts Billy’s inhaler on his gravestone, and apologizes to him. I wonder if anyone went back to explain things to Cindy. Andi shrugs and says that Billy was happy for a little while at least, and that has to mean something. Sam says he hopes so. Someone suddenly shines a very bright flashlight in their faces and yells that they’re trespassing. That someone drops the light out of their faces and tells them he’s going to call the cops. It’s none other than Alan, escaped soul extraordinaire! Sam recognizes him right away, but it takes Alan a moment to recognize Sam. As soon as he does, he takes to his heels, with Andi and Sam in fast pursuit. Note to Sam: I think you should have learned by now that yelling “wait” while pursuing someone is not effective. Sam and Andi are unable to catch up to Alan, who manages to lose them. Sam is both out of breath and disappointed. Further note to Sam: Less yelling, more air for running. Sam ignores my helpful note and yells, “Alan! I know you’re out there! I’m gonna FIND YOU!” That sentence sounds like something out of a slasher film. So not helpful there, Sam.
I’m going to drop all pretension of subtlety here and just give it to you straight: this week’s theme is relationships, and the show wants you to know it. By giving it to you straight, we can skip right past some more interminable Sock and Kristin scenes. This week’s Sock B-plot involves attempting to spend quality time with Kristin’s dad. Kristin is against the idea. Hilarity, as they say, will not ensue. Oh, and apparently Sock’s mom and new step-dad randomly moved out of the house, so the boys aren’t homeless again. I think the pub in the Purgatory of Forgotten, Discarded, and MIA characters will have two new customers after this episode. Kyle, Sam’s mom, Josie, Cassidy, and Cady will be so pleased. Random other note: apparently Kristin showers with her hair done up and her make up on.
Next scene! Ben and Sock are having lunch with Andi. Andi’s stressed about work, and wants to spend a little quality time with the boys, who rightly point out, if in a stupid way, that that would be ridiculously awkward. Andi resorts to abusing her position of power and bribes to bring them over to “her side”. What does that even mean? But we’re not left long to ponder, because just as abruptly as this scene started, it ends. We switch to evening in what looks like the Work Bench parking lot. Ben is playing fetch with Nina. No, really. With a frisbee and everything.
As odd as that sounds, this scene isn’t half bad. Ben and Nina spend a little time getting all mushy over the looming prospect of their two-month anniversary. Nina nostalgically recalls kidnapping Ben, and mentions that she wants to share something really special him: flying. There’s room here for some Superman jokes, I’m sure, but let’s not and say we did. Ben is less than convinced that this is a good idea, that much is obvious, but Nina is in raptures over the idea, and from how she describes it, I’m sure that if it weren’t for Ben’s fear of heights or flying or whatever it is, he’d be right on board. Ben is a romantic down to his very bones, and we see here that Nina hides a romantic streak that runs just as deep. This relationship constantly surprises me. I expected it to be as painful and random as Sock and Kristin, but it works, and it’s fun to boot. That does not prevent Ben’s subplot this week from being predictable from the get go, but at least it’s still enjoyable. In the time honored tradition of every sitcom ever, Ben covers his apprehension by saying they should save the flying for their special day.
The next day, Ben tells Sam and Sock about the whole thing. But there’s something odd going on here: instead of the usual “how should I hide my real reason for lying” plot, we take an abrupt turn into Scrubs-land.
Enter Morgan, this week’s way of segueing into the main plot. Hello, Mr. Tall and Sexy. I wish you were given more lines with your deep, sexy voice. Yes. Mmm. Oh wait! The plot. Yes. Quick rewind to actually pay attention to the dialogue. Ok, so the long and short of it is that Morgan’s been cruelly yanked from his carefree life of hedonism by the Devil, who wants him to get to work. Being even more allergic to work than Sam, he offers to pay him the big bucks to capture the soul for him. He half-assedly attempts to flatter Sam in a way that also denigrates him. Note to Morgan: Work on your flattery skills. How do you expect to take over the family business if you can’t charm, beguile, and tempt worth a damn? Yes, I know, the show just wants to make it obvious that you’re an ass. Ah, well, guess you can’t win ‘em all. Anyway, he makes it clear he knows that Sam is just perfect for reaping (and nothing else, presumably), and that he, Morgan, is too much above it all. I love the way they filmed that bit: they switch the camera angle just for that one line, and he’s looming over Sam like the jolly green giant. Except not green or jolly. Anyway, Sam just wants him to get lost, but Sock convinces him that it’s a good deal, and they’re off. Or not. Because it is floor sweeping time, the most important time of all.
At least until it starts raining betting slips. Sam bends down to pick one up (he really should know how this works by now) and he’s whisked away to the races. Hurray! It’s our favorite embodiment of evil. The Devil gives him the low-down on the new soul, although he does spend sometime pretending to be reluctant to do so. He’s not proud of having this particular soul in Hell: apparently the poor guy went to hell because he was thinking lecherous thoughts about his neighbor’s wife just before being hit by a truck. I’d say this would have interesting implications for the dynamics of the Reaper universe, but in the next breath, we’re treated to a joke about people previously going to hell for eating shrimp, so I don’t think it’s been taken all that seriously. But it is kind of amusing that the next scene takes place in a seafood restaurant, which is apparently the favorite hangout of the Soul, one Billy Boyland. Who happens to be in the restaurant at that very moment. The boys slide into his booth and introduce themselves. The vessel is a dodge ball, which is oddly appropriate for this episode. Billy throws himself on their mercy. Sock has none, but Sam does. After the most obvious diversion ever, Billy makes a run for it. Sam and Co really aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer. Although I have to admit, I’m kind of curious as to how Billy made his escape. You really can’t squeeze under those booths. There’s no room. He doesn’t seem to have a soul power, so maybe that was it? Anyway, let’s get back to the running. The boys run after Billy, yelling things like, “wait, Billy, wait!” Like he’s going to listen to that, like that’s ever worked. Boys, what kind of idiots are you? Oh, I know: Loveable idiots. So that’s alright.
Billy attempts to climb over a chain link fence, but fails. There’s a pseudo-dramatic moment when he suddenly reaches for something in his pocket, but it turns out just to be his inhaler. After getting his breath back, Billy begs for his life (well, sort of), and successfully throws himself on Sock’s mercy by admitting to being a virgin. Sam is kind of shocked that this works, but Ben and Sock both agree that “virgin” is apparently the magic word. Urgh. I’m with Sam on this one. I’ve always hated this trope. But that’s where the show has gone, so that’s where we must go too.
The boys vow that they’re going to help the intrepid Billy B get some lovin’. They float the usual ideas, namely, a hooker, before Billy convinces them that what he really wants to do is pick up an older woman in a cougar bar. And then we’re catapulted right back into the Sock B-plot. The less said about that, the better. Some notes: Sock’s new step-dad is apparently no longer Texan. Sock’s mom forces Morris to take Sock fly-fishing. And then we’re back to the Billy plot! Hurray. They’re hanging out in the bar, and Billy spots the woman of his dreams. Ben is enlisted as wingman, to lure away her psychotherapist friend. Ben seizes the opportunity to unload his problems on this poor woman and get some relationship advice. She convinces him that he sabotages his relationships (stop channeling JD, Ben!), because he does not believe himself to be worthy of love . The therapist then tries to jump
Our heroes are at something of a loss, but this is a natural state for them, so that’s OK. Sam immediately goes to Andi for help, and while this is a transparent attempt on his part to win her back, he really could probably use her help. He’s trying to butter her up by saying that she’s the smart one, but there’s a little irony here because it too is absolutely true. The next scene takes place in the car as they stake out Cindy’s house. Sam rambles on about wanting love to win out over the devil while offering Andi strawberries and string cheese. She looks a bit uncomfortable and very quickly catches on, especially when she finds the bottle of bubbly. I think what I like most about this scene is how while you can’t mistake her annoyance, the primary emotion that comes across is her dismay. And that makes this whole storyline something other than the usual get together/break up/make up cycle of sitcom relationships. Andi, unlike our favorite trio, is better at looking at the big picture, at the implications and consequences. And she’s freaked. And she’s even more freaked out by the fact that Sam isn’t, especially because she loves him. Which is why our favorite reaper has really stepped in it this time. Andi points out to Sam that he’s acting like the Devil or Morgan would, using manipulation and lies to get his way. Sam completely misses the point, and tells her he was trying to be charming. Andi’s face falls at that and she leaves, telling Sam that charm isn’t the point. Sam is confused. Poor Sam. He should be used to it by now. Confused is a good look on him, fortunately.
We switch back to the Ben and Nina storyline. Nina’s decorated her barn with human furniture to make Ben feel more comfortable. Ben’s carrying a large pinboard of some sort. He admits his fear of flying, but lets her know he’s overcome it, with the help of his “vision board”, which reminds him of all the things he loves about himself. Sadly, we next return to the Sock subplot. Sock is....attempting to flyfish, and making a fool out of himself. There’s some really painful dialogue, Sock admits to sleeping with Kristin, and the step-dad wails on him with his fishing gear.
And we’re back to Sam! Hurray! Sam next goes to his dadcicle for advice. They’re having a bit of a heart-to-heart, Dad bemoans his dead body status, and Sam has a lightbulb moment. We next see the boys traipsing through a cemetery with shovels, presumably to do a little grave desecration. It's such a familiar scene, I keep half expecting them to cross paths with Scully and Mulder, or the boys from Supernatural. Their plan is to send Billy’s old dead body to hell in his place. It’s kind of a good idea, for them, but short-sighted as always. Ben’s a little discomforted at the idea of disturbing the dead, but Sam rightfully points out that the dead in this case is at this moment shacking up with his new girlfriend, so they get on with it, and we go off to a commercial break.
When we return, they’ve apparently finished and have gone home and washed up, because we rejoin the Ben and Nina subplot mid-date. They’re standing on top of a tall building, but Ben chickens out about this whole flying thing again. Nina tells him a story about overcoming her fear of blood. She tells him he must confront his fear, and follows up by throwing him off the building. HA!
Sam is back at the Bench, apparently doing inventory. It’s very dark. I wonder how he can read what is written on the boxes. It’s immaterial, because a box suddenly flies up out of nowhere and smacks Sam in the face. Suddenly, a whole legion of boxes are attacking Sam, and he runs through the aisle in a vain attempt to escape them. No luck, though. It’s the Devil, of course, and he is not happy. He continues to express his displeasure by flinging boxes at Sam while he explains that Sam gummed up the works in Hell with his little switcheroo. Sam....well. He’s a bit of a pushover when threatened with pain, so it doesn’t take much before he’s begging the Devil to stop and swearing to capture ol’ Billy. The Devil explains that it won’t do any good, because “The Ender” is now tracking Billy and will destroy his soul, and there’s nothing he can do to stop it. On that note, the Devil leaves, but sends off a few parting shots in Sam’s direction. Sam, not bright enough to leave well alone, decides to taunt him with “missed me!” which ends just as well as you’d expect.
Sam immediately runs over to Cindy’s to tell Billy that he has to go back to hell. He attempts to sweeten up the bad news by reminding Billy that he’s both fallen in love and lost his virginity. But Billy admits that he hasn’t done the deed yet, as he wanted to build an emotional connection before creating a physical one. I find this hard to believe in light of the whole half-naked/kissing scene, and the fact that he and Cindy apparently already had some sort of emotional relationship before he died (which reminds me: what exactly does Cindy think about his return from the dead? She seems to be taking it well.). Still, this is the device the writers chose to propel the plot forward, so we’re stuck with it. “The Ender” seems to be heralded by one scary-looking storm, which makes things a little easier on Sam. Sam convinces Billy that he and Cindy need to get out of there, so Sam can try to “buy them some time”. I'm not sure how he plans to accomplish that. Back at the house, Ben is setting up a romantic love nest for the two, and enthusing about the flying to Sock. He and Sock get lost when Billy and Cindy show up, although Sock does linger long enough to invite the happy couple to peruse his collection of erotica. Cindy’s a bit weirded out by all this, but Billy says they’re there to wait out the storm with friends. She should still be pretty weirded out, but hey. They go off into the bedroom, and Ben, Sock, and Sam go and wait in the living room. They’re impressed by how long Billy's taking. He's not going to have much longer, judging by that freaky strike of lightning.The Ender appears a second later, rising out of the ground. It’s so silly looking I have to laugh, especially at the Boys’ terror-stricken faces. The Ender inexorably floats forward, pointing a hooked claw/nail at all obstacles in its path. In short order, it Ends the door, the table, and something unseen. It pauses before the door into the bedroom, turns around and leaves, much to the astonishment of the Boys. I wonder how they’re going to explain all the missing furniture to Sock’s parents.
The next day, Billy comes to see the Boys at the Bench. The congratulate him. He gives them his inhaler, saying that he doesn’t need it anymore. The Boys are a little confused by this until Billy explains that Cindy gets them for free. Billy asks why the Ender didn’t come for him. Ben’s theory is that by consummating their love, two souls became one, and the Ender lost Billy’s scent. Sam does a callback to Greg, Schmeg and reminds us that the Devil has no dominion over true love. He should have said it more like the hippy-demon did. He made that phrase sound cooler. Everything seems to be good- Sam thinks the Devil thinks Billy has been Ended, and Sam doesn’t even have a vessel anymore. Billy thanks them and strides off. The boys are congratulating themselves when Morgan suddenly pulls up in the parking lot, tricks Billy into walking up to the door, and pegs him with the Vessel-ball, to the dismay of our favorite trio.They run after Morgan, who parks the car and explains that the Devil sent him to do the job Sam couldn’t do. He snarks, “your conscience is clear, I’ll send him to hell, and everyone’s happy” before peeling off.
Sam goes in to see Andi, asking if he can talk for a minute. Andi asks if there’s going to be a bottle of champagne this time, too, but she’s not angry. She just sounds tired. And sad. Sam says he actually has to talk to her about work. He needs to get off early tonight. Andi tells him she’ll need a better reason than that, and Sam tells her what happened with Billy. Sam’s upset. He tells her that whenever he find something that makes the whole situation more tolerable, it’s taken away from him. Andi immediately gives him the rest of the night off. Sam thanks her, promises to make it up to her, and she asks if he’d like some company... as long as it’s not a date. Sam tells her that it’s definitely not. His voice betrays how deeply upset he is over the whole Billy thing, which is a nice touch.
We go from this to our hopefully last-ever Kristin and Sock scene. Basically, she tells him that she’s going back to Japan, and she didn’t tell him because she thought it’d cause too much pain. This scene is not actually all that painful. Sock is genuinely upset, and said that he thought they’d be able to be happy together (“...once your dad gets over beating me all the time...”). If this is how this whole relationship had been played, it wouldn’t have been half bad. Anyway, Kristin explains that she came to America to discover who she was, and that Sock helped her learn so much about herself (when? She's still a fairly 2-D character!). She says she owes all of that to Sock. (Uh, what?) Now, as sweet as this maybe, I don’t buy it. But whatever, as long as it means we never have to sit through more Sock/Kristin shenanigans. I give the actor points for pulling off this scene so well, even if it doesn’t make any sense. He’s a much better actor than they’ve been giving him material for.
Then we’re back to Sam and Andi, who are back in the graveyard. Sam puts Billy’s inhaler on his gravestone, and apologizes to him. I wonder if anyone went back to explain things to Cindy. Andi shrugs and says that Billy was happy for a little while at least, and that has to mean something. Sam says he hopes so. Someone suddenly shines a very bright flashlight in their faces and yells that they’re trespassing. That someone drops the light out of their faces and tells them he’s going to call the cops. It’s none other than Alan, escaped soul extraordinaire! Sam recognizes him right away, but it takes Alan a moment to recognize Sam. As soon as he does, he takes to his heels, with Andi and Sam in fast pursuit. Note to Sam: I think you should have learned by now that yelling “wait” while pursuing someone is not effective. Sam and Andi are unable to catch up to Alan, who manages to lose them. Sam is both out of breath and disappointed. Further note to Sam: Less yelling, more air for running. Sam ignores my helpful note and yells, “Alan! I know you’re out there! I’m gonna FIND YOU!” That sentence sounds like something out of a slasher film. So not helpful there, Sam.