FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Lucifer

Tom Ellis as Lucifer
Image source: moviepilot.com

The small screen has had its fair share of the devil over the years, sometimes as a one off guest character, elsewhere in a recurring role. What’s rarer is a show where Satan is the hero, rarer still when he’s played with such effortless charisma. If you’re curious, that’s exactly what you’re getting with Lucifer.

Lucifer, adapted from a comic book of the same name, follows Satan after his retirement from running hell (which is a thing you can apparently do). The one time fallen angel now runs a seedy but stylish nightclub in Los Angeles, occasionally getting passive aggressive visits from God’s angels ordering him back to hell. Also there’s a washed up pop idol who struck a deal with the devil popping by for a heart to heart with old Lucifer before (spoilers) getting riddled with bullets outside his club. Hey, it’s a procedural – there has to be a crime.

All the above paragraph transpires in roughly five minutes, leading to a slightly shaky start to the episode, but it gets the world building out of the way quickly so we can focus on the meat of the episode. It’s a simple premise when you get right down to it: Lucifer teams with an inscrutable lady cop to find the pop star’s real killer, adding some pretty funny moments along the way. Expect this to be the format going forward – think somewhere between Constantine and Sleepy Hollow, if you’re looking for a comparison.

Which brings us to Lucifer Morningstar himself (played by Brit, Tom Ellis), who adds a mixture of charm and childishness to his ruler of hell. See, Lucifer only half heartedly hides his demonic nature to lady cop Chloe Decker (Lauren German of Chicago Fire). The guy can’t keep schtum that  he’s immortal and even refers to people as “you humans” at one point. There’s the impression that he’s fascinated by humans, but doesn’t quite understand how we tick. He’s also slick and sarcastic, in the way only a British person can get away with.

Lucifer’s foil is Detective Decker, a cop still struggling to live down a short acting career in her youth which included a famous topless scene. If you think this makes her a push over though, you’d be all kinds of wrong. Somehow she’s immune to Lucifer’s magical desire powers, and she’s also a kick ass single mother. German could easily be here just to play the straight man to Lucifer, but she furnishes her character with a put up on cynicism – as if she can’t quite shift the feeling this strange English dude is messing with her.

Lauren German as Decker
Image source:
businessinsider.com

What plot there is adheres pretty closely to cop procedural formula, with clues and red herrings evenly spread across the episode. With a less interesting cast and premise this would be tedious, but as Castle has proven for eight seasons mysteries of the week don’t have to be complicated as long as they’re entertaining. For your information: Lucifer is most definitely entertaining, and there is certainly chemistry enough between the two leads to carry the show through its less compelling moments.

A show that’s having fun can be rather refreshing in an era of TV that’s bought us Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead, so it’s cathartic to see Lucifer paint its murder suspects so broadly. There’s a devious music producer, a gun happy rap star and a pair of dim witted movie stars, each getting their own scene to shine. In the end though it doesn’t really matter who the killer is, as long as we got to see Lucifer mince around like he owns the place.

If there are qualms to be had here it’s that occasionally the writing doesn’t quite equal the charm of the performances. Also, while Tom Ellis gives a suitably smarmy smart guy performance as the resident devil, there doesn’t seem to be much menace to the character. This is most definitely a trickster Satan rather than a demonic punisher, and a certain type of person might be frustrated with Ellis’s performance.

Lucifer show

If you’re not into procedurals Lucifer is unlikely to tempt you over either. Despite what this might have looked like on a comic book page it’s most definitely a mystery of the week show. In fact, the handful of serialised moments in the episode end up being the least interesting. All the stuff about God wanting Lucifer back in Hell, and sending angels to order him back, is far too reminiscent of Constantine to have us invested yet. The show should realise this is not a strength and focus on simple mysteries and witty back and forth.

Lucifer isn’t going to rewrite any books on television drama (or even any chapters for that matter – a page or two might need tweaking), but it’s fun and it’s added some colourful wrapping around a well worn formula. The supernatural procedural is a growing market these days, and Lucifer should fit right in with the rest. It’s first episode unsurprisingly got solid ratings, so expect it to stick around if it doesn’t stray too far away from fun.

Lucifer airs on Fox in the United States and Amazon Prime in the United Kingdom.

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