The Collector, 2006
The Collector is a Canadian supernatural drama television series about a man attempting to help save people who havebargained their souls with the Devil. After over 600 years of "collecting" the souls of people at the end of their 10-year deals, Morgan Pym (Chris Kramer) negotiates with the Devil for the ability to aid the damned in redeeming themselves rather than sending them to Hell. Under the Devil's mocking gaze, Morgan assists his "clients" in undoing the damage their deals have done because of the devil shifting good luck towards the client and away from others.
The series is set in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where it was also filmed. CHUM cancelled the program after three seasons.
The Collector is a supernatural drama, in the tradition of Rod Serling's original Twilight Zone, about a man who collects souls for the Devil. MORGAN PYM appears to be in his mid 30's, but was in fact born in 1322 AD, in Nuremberg. In his native land, he was a monk who had the misfortune to fall in love with a servant girl (KATRINA), who lived near the monastery…and to reveal his love to her just before she came down with the plague. Enraged at God, he sold his soul to the Devil in return for 10 years of happiness with Katrina, which he received. But at the end of that time, Katrina became ill again and died; enraged, Morgan fought back against the Devil, and was offered a deal: he could escape the trip to Hell if he agrees to collect souls from others who have dealt with the Devil. As long as he does that, he'll continue to walk the earth, immortal, but the moment he stops, the deal ends. Miserable, lost, alone, Morgan took the deal, but didn't have courage enough to ask where Katrina's soul had gone.
Six centuries later, that still torments him, but he has tried to bury it in the mindless routine of a Collector's lonely existence: no sleep, no friends, just one call a week with a name of someone in the city of Vancouver. (The Devil has Collectors in every city in the world.) Morgan's simple task: to find the person, and let them know they have 48 hours until their ten years is up, then hang around until the moment comes to suck their soul down to Hell. Why the early warning? The Devil enjoys a good laugh, and watching people squirm for the last 48 hours is one of his great pleasures.
But in our first episode, something happens: Morgan meets a pretty young junkie named MAYA, who brings up all of his loss over Katrina, and his existence finally becomes intolerable. He goes to the Devil, but doesn't end his deal – instead, he renegotiates for the power to help his "clients" seek redemption in the last 48 hours of their existence. (The Devil's deals work by reapportioning Luck; the client gets 10 years of good luck, but the balancing bad luck goes elsewhere – to another person, a group of people, society, etc. To seek redemption, a client must take on the painful and nearly hopeless task of redressing this bad luck in their last 48 hours.) The Devil, intrigued by having a wild card in his otherwise predictable omnipotent existence, agrees to Morgan's request.
Not all of Morgan's clients will choose to seek redemption; of the ones that do, many will fail. As for those who achieve redemption, some will deserve and it and some won't; and sometimes evil people will get off easy – again, the Devil's sense of cruel irony always dominates the stories. The tone of the shows vary from serious to darkly comedic, according to the client of the week and the specific good luck they chose: stories may involve crime, family issues, science fact – any area of human endeavor imaginable. But regardless of the subject matter, Morgan's fundamental drive will always be to prove that everyone, no matter what they've done, can earn redemption…and that, perhaps, that may someday include himself.
episode: 3x08 "The Watchmaker"
role: Rudy Loets
This time Morgan gets no warning, suddenly his client, a watchmaker, appears in front of him and the time left is only 1.5 hours.
