The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS for "Ashes to Ashes, "the nineth episode of the CW series, “Reaper.”  Some women have the worst taste in men. In fact, Mimi’s (Melinda Clarke) boyfriend is literally the Devil. Sam (Bret Harrison) is surprised when the Devil (Ray Wise) shows up at the Work Bench with a toolbox that is really - well, a toolbox. In addition to capturing a soul that kills with cremation ashes, he wants Sam to fix Mimi’s plumbing problems. Unfortunately, Sam decides to help her with her relationship problems and encourages her to break off her on-again, off-again relationship with "Jerry" that she’s continued for over 20 years.  Needless to say, Sam’s hellacious boss is not pleased. And to further complicate things, Sam struggles with his own relationship issues regarding Andi (Missy Peregrym), and Ben (Rick Gonzalez) refuses to introduce his friends to his grandmother. Sam and Sock (Tyler Labine) are hurt, but Ben explains that his grandmother is a heavy-handed matriarch who has the “sight,” and if she doesn’t like them - or suspects their relationship with the Prince of Darkness - he will be shunned by the rest of his family. Truthfully, she is a stern woman who makes the Godfather look warm and cuddly by comparison. Eventually, the boys capture the soul, save some lives, get the grandmother’s blessing, and survive the wrathful broken heart of the Devil. All in a day’s work. Plus, Sam decides to stop pining over Andi and falls for Mimi’s daughter. There’s only one complication:  she might be the Devil’s daughter. What Worked Loved, loved, loved the angry and vengeful Devil! It was truly enjoyable to watch the Prince of Darkness flex some seriously unholy muscles. Especially when he told Sam that his job isn’t to save lives, it’s to capture escaped souls. This helps clarify a point that had been bothering me:  why would the Devil care enough about mere mortals to send a bounty hunter to save them? Answer: he doesn’t. He just wants his souls back. So he can torture them nice and slow. Awesome. And Satan reigned supreme when he stitched Sam’s mouth together. Wise is certainly an actor who can handle some range, so I hope the writers keep up with his character development. (I almost wish he wasn’t so good that I had to praise his performance every week. I feel like I’m typing my way to hell.) Also, the introduction of a new love interest is a great move to breathe some life into an increasingly stale storyline. And the fact that she may be the Devil’s daughter just ups the ante. What Didn’t Work Andi. Seriously, it’s like no one knows what to do with her. Sure she’s pretty, but she seems so schizo that it’s amazing any guy would want to have anything to do with her. It makes me wonder why they even had her in the first place. Unfortunately, this is all too common a problem. For some reason, creating realistic female characters seems to prove too difficult for most genre shows. I have yet to figure out why this is. Sure, there’s shallow eye candy (think “Charmed”), damsels in distress (think Lana Lang in “Smallville”), and too crazy and emotional to manage their emotions (think Andi in “Reaper”), but rarely is a show blessed with a competent woman. Of course, there are exceptions, but not enough to disprove the theory that only men get the really cool roles in most genre shows. - Joss Whedon, we need you! Credit where Credit is Due “Ashes to Ashes” was written by Thomas Schnauz (“The Lone Gunmen”) and directed by Victoria Hochberg (“Ally McBeal”). “Reaper” airs Tuesday nights at 9/8c on the CW.  Julie Pyle is a staff writer and reviewer for Rabid Doll, writing out of Vancouver, Canada.  If you would like to drop her a line, please leave her a message in the form below.