Bret Harrison listens to his fans.
The Oregon native plays Sam on CW’s “Reaper,” which returns for a second season Tuesday night at 8 on WLVI [website] (Ch. 56).
On his 21st birthday, Sam learned that his parents had sold his soul to the devil and he is contractually obligated to be Satan’s bounty hunter.
“I can’t tell the fans enough how much I appreciate their support,” Harrison said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles.
“Everybody who is into the show is extremely into it. Kevin Smith directed the pilot, and he was kind of a big inspiration to me on how much interacting with your fan base helps in terms of the creative process. If you can create a synergy with your fans, you know how to appreciate what they want.”
Harrison regularly communicates with fans via his Web site, krakoom.com.
He and the producers discovered fans wanted to see more of the relationships between the characters.
“That’s the key. The capturing of souls, I think that’s the backdrop.”
Viewers can expect the return of Ken Marino and Michael Ian Black as demons, a showdown with the man Sam thought was his father, big romances for Sam’s pals Sock (Tyler Labine) and Ben (Rick Gonzalez) and the introduction of a half-brother for Sam. Sam will also meet Alan (Sean Patrick Thomas), a man who successfully got out of his deal with the devil.
His romance with Andi (Missy Peregrym) will blossom now that she knows Sam’s secret.
“We actually explore Andi’s character in depth and see her as a person instead of a storytelling conflict device. There’s a really cool thing at the end that happens (Tuesday night) with Sam and Andi.”
When the series ended a year ago, Sam learned that he was actually the son of the devil (Ray Wise). Sam will continue to wrestle with this unsettling fact.
“Sam is always doing the right thing,” Harrison said. “He’s the hero you want to root for, but I am constantly trying to push him a little bit more toward the dark side and have him a little more flawed. Because I think it’s interesting to watch him go that way and give him a hole to crawl out of.”
The second season consists of 13 episodes, not the usual 22 typically ordered for a network series. Harrison isn’t bothered.
“Weirdly enough, I think 13 is perfect,” he said. “The way it unravels and tells the whole season-two arc, I thought it was perfect. I always think less is more. We packed a lot in those 13 episodes, and in every episode there are huge reveals. A lot of things happen.”
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