Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison) lives at home with his parents (Andrew Airlie and Allison Hossack) and brother in the Seattle area. He has always wondered why his mom and dad were so easy on him, whether it was sports, school, or career choices, and so hard on his younger brother. Sam dropped out of college ("It made him sleepy", Sock explains) and takes a dead-end job at the Work Bench, a home-repair superstore similar to Home Depot (the pilot was filmed at a Canadian Tire in Burnaby, British Columbia). He spends the rest of his time hanging out, playing video games, and pining for his co-worker, Andi (Missy Peregrym).
On Sam's 21st birthday, his parents are behaving very strangely, and Sam himself is seeing hellish visions and experiencing odd events. His father eventually explains that many years ago, he was very sick, and in return for restoring his health, he and his wife promised their firstborn child to the Devil (Ray Wise). Although the couple intended to cheat the Devil by having no children, this plan went awry when Satan convinced their doctor to lie and tell the couple that they could not conceive in exchange for wiping his gambling debts clean. Sam is born shortly thereafter.
After informing him of his fate, the Devil explains to Sam that he must serve as his bounty hunter (or "Reaper"), tracking down souls that have escaped from Hell and sending them back using his new powers (which have included telekinesis and electrical powers) and vessels, varied objects said to have been hand-made in the bowels of perdition by the iniquitous and the vile. Vessels appear inside a long wooden box sent for Sam to open as was written on the entrance to Hell in Dante's Inferno), and are specially designed for each job. Examples throughout the series have included a Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner, a Taser gun, and a cigarette lighter.
Although Sam initially balks, Satan tells him that should he refuse, then Sam's mother's soul is forfeit. Unwilling to sacrifice his mother, and convinced that he is doing good in the world by tracking down evil souls, Sam accepts his fate. With the help of his slacker friends Sock (Tyler Labine) and Ben (Rick Gonzalez), he begins his new life tracking down the corrupted souls trying to escape their own eternal rewards.
