TV episode review
US airdate 20 May 2008 (The CW)

Sam thinks he is seeing deceased demon Steve everywhere – including as a mould stain on the Work Bench wall and as a ghostly image on a security camera tape. Meanwhile, Tony and his demon crew have a dark plan to use Sam to attack the Devil, and Sock falls for a succubus who feeds off human life…

Events move at a rapid pace following last episode's revelation that Sam may be so close to the Devil because he is, in fact, the child of Satan. This episode, the last of the season, really gets a kick from having so much going on, and eschews the soul-of-the-week formulaic feel. Rebel demon leader Tony is convinced of Sam's heritage at last, and (thanks to the handy use of Sock's Work Bench discount card) puts a plan into motion to gather the components for a giant cage of ancient power. He tells Sam that this will ensnare the Devil, but in fact Tony means to use the cage to trap…Sam.

Though the soul that Sock and Sam have to dispatch is easily dealt with thanks to the Devil's baseball, she has time to reveal to Sam that there is much his parents are hiding from him. Sam is baffled by revelations that chime with his dad's recent weird behaviour, and then by the ghostly appearances from supposedly dead demon Steve. What is going on? Who really is Sam's father? Why is Mr. Oliver acting so odd? By the episode's end, some questions are answered, but even more raised (making it handy that Reaper has been given a second season to tie this all up).

Sock's sub-plot in with he gets mixed up with a hot succubus who takes off one year of his life per kiss (he's counting on those being the crappy ass-end years) is not really relevant to the main plot. But any sub-plot that offers an excuse for Tyler Labine's antics is funny, and maybe that's all that matters. Meanwhile, Ray Wise's Satan gets a few choice one-liners, massive scary grins and some great scenes with Sam as always (the sequence where he reveals to Sam that he invented the state lottery to ensure repeat misery for low wage earners is a blast: “I like to call it the idiot tax!”).

Roll on season two. Owen Van Spall

VERDICT: 7/10