I watched the first two Smallville episodes and then stopped watching, but I definitely agree with you. The writers of both Smallville and Reaper were very formulaic at the beginning of the shows because they were trying to nail down the character interactions and fully introduce and develop the characters. Once that was done, they were able to get into more complex story lines that involved many more characters. Both shows became more interesting after that.

I'm glad the writers of Reaper decided to switch things up and make the show more complex (especially in the last 5 episodes). I think that is what ultimately saved Reaper from cancellation.