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Small Screen Reviews: Lucifer
Take an unusual person with social traits and mannerisms which would normally make him/her someone you’d never want near a police investigation. Then, finagle it so that person is partnered-up with a detective and accompanies the latter on regular homicide investigations. What do get? About half the shows on television at the moment. Apparently, kooky lead and detective sidekick/love interest are all the rage these days. The latest, as you probably figured out from my title and illustration, is Fox’s Lucifer.
Yes, that Lucifer. Unlike most supernatural shows where the super tries to hide its true nature from the rest of the world, Lucifer — played by Tom Ellis — wants everyone he meets to know exactly who he is. In fact his one thorn in his side is the fact his detective partner just never seems to believe him entirely. The story is that Lucifer, who rebelled against God and was banished from Heaven is now … rebelling and hanging out in Los Angeles. Better to run a nightclub than serve in Heaven. In your face, Milton!
In the first episode, a young woman is killed outside Lucifer’s nightclub. As it’s someone whose career he helped along, he takes it personally and takes it upon himself to find the killer. Enter Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German) who believes there’s more to the crime than is being let on. Of course, the two of them end up working together. Actually, it takes several episodes for the show to establish just why he is allowed to accompany Decker. He’s disruptive, he fouls up crime scenes and investigations, he doesn’t seem to help as much as get in the way, but it takes several episodes before Decker’s boss officially teams the two together. If Lucifer started to write mystery novels and looked more like Nathan Fillion, the circle would be complete.
However Det. Decker has some sort of effect on Lucifer that he finds fascinating but that his fellow eternal beings — demons Mazikeen (Lesley-Ann Brandt) and Amenadiel (D. B. Woodside) — find alarming. Around her, he’s positively mortal, and the immortals, for their own individual reasons, just want him to go to Hell where he belongs.
The show is actually loosely based on one of DC’s Vertigo comics. It lacks some of the depth that the comic had, but I found Jeremy Lott at The Federalist does a better job of explaining that lack than I ever could.
For me, I find this fun and amusing, but it does little to stretch the limits of the medium. Perhaps this is a nature of network and cable television. Netflix has gone further with Daredevil and Jessica Jones, its two great Marvel offerings. Most of the DC shows (with a notable exception), are engaging and entertaining, but don’t offer too much depth beyond what’s required.
There’s some disappointment here. Vertigo was a darker side of DC for some time. Constantine was the first show in recent years under that line, and it maintained that dark side and had a bit more depth than others. John Constantine fought the dark with darkness, the result was he sacrificed and alienated those around him. He is a tragic figure thrust into a hero’s role, and he can’t bring himself to turn from his ways.
And as much as I enjoy Lucifer — never thought I’d say something like that — it comes off as a lighthearted romp rather than a darker exploration of the nature of mankind and, in this case, eternity. However, do note that I enjoy the show: it’s entertaining, it makes us laugh, and Ellis plays the cheerful amoral hedonistic narcissist well. If you want to relax and not think, it’s a good and fun show to watch. If you want more depth or just disapprove of the blasphemy of it all, it’s not the show for you.
Published in Culture, Entertainment
I can’t bring myself to watch a show that presents Lucifer in a good light.
Understandable. It puts him in an entertaining light, that is being bad is hilarious, which has the same pitfalls.
I love this show! Lighten up, people.
I didn’t say it shouldn’t have been allowed to be made. Just that I won’t watch it.
See, I’m of two minds on this. I enjoy the show a lot. Ellis makes for a great Lucifer. His charming hedonist is done so well. His complete inability to deal with children is just an extra bit of flavor that makes the character. There’s a lot to like.
And yet it seems that there’s a lot of depth that could be explored here and isn’t. Again, I bring up the other Vertigo title that saw television time: Constantine, based on Vertigo title Hellblazer. They didn’t shy from Constantine’s character. He’s skilled, clever, and resourceful, but it has brought him to his own destruction and now he finds himself destroying those around him or alienating himself. Aware of this, he separates himself until apparently God calls him.
It’s not the same depth we see in Jessica Jones, but there’s potential there that could reach Daredevil levels. Lucifer just feels untapped in that regard. We have kooky lead, serious detective/potential love interest, and homicide investigations. It’s done with enough polish to be quite entertaining. So yeah … two minds.
Ellis certainly nails the “charming devil” thing in the trailer.
BTW, what the one DC show you’re not into?
DC Legends of Tomorrow. I’m watching, but it’s just not working. Writing on that one too, but hesitated and opted for this.
Television is such garbage, and this proves it. Yuck. If I wanted to get a positive view of Satan I’d rather listen to the Rolling Stones.
I’m way behind on Lucifer because my wife wants to watch it too, but I dropped Legends of Tomorrow after 4 episodes. The writing, directing and acting were just so flat in comparison to Flash, Supergirl and Arrow.
I should probably post that review, too. Bonus!
I’ve only seen the first two episodes, but I’m not sure I’d say it is a “positive” view of Lucifer. I don’t need to tell you the angel of light is supposed to be alluring and seductive, but I wouldn’t say that makes him “positive.”
Do it next week! Fridays are perfect for this.
That’ll give me time to edit. And more time to watch Daredevil season 2.
Unless I beat you to the latter. Though I need to finish Occupied, first.
Well, from what I saw in the trailer, Lucifer was a handsome bad-boy guy with some sort of conscience. In today’s culture, that is a positive view. But I’m only basing it on that two minute clip. You have a better understanding of it than I do.
The groom in the clip is the brother of Jimmy Pankow of the band Chicago. I grew up with them and played with their sister! When I watch TV or a movie, I turn off my brain’s literary analysis capacity. I don’t overanalyze, I want to be entertained. I want my brain to be able to relax and be off duty. (Of course, my pesky brain will still detect bad writing or acting and affect the entertainment value, so I won’t like that show) This is a fun, entertaining show.
The show is entertaining, and I think a lot of that is down to Ellis. He’s good. However, I don’t mind the charming part as the devil is suppose to be charming. I don’t think you see the evil/rage side enough.
Of course, what the show is really pointing toward is having Lucifer redeemed by the female lead. He is becoming more human over time and its transparently due to his exposure to her. Not sure how this pans out, but it could be interesting to explore, though I suspect that would require depth that the show isn’t willing to do, as it is clearly modeled as a Castle clone.
Exactly!
The humanizing effect of Chloe on Lucifer could and should be explored. It can be a discussion on a man’s nature and how a woman can affect that nature and humanize the man’s more animal self. But to do that, they’d have to admit that there’s differences between men and women, that women have such a positive effect on men, and that it can be good to pursue such a thing. Not a lot of people would have the courage to explore that aspect.
Agree completely. Multiple interesting story lines here. Especially if you posit Chloe as an either witting or unwitting agent of G_d trying to provide Lucifer a chance at redemption. It would be an interesting premise that not even the devil is irredeemable, and that G-d would reach out even to him.
Exactly, there’s a lot of angles to explore.
Interestingly, iZombie has something of a similar format: It’s a quirky crime-drama-comedy (which I now call “Cramady”) where the main character is a zombie hiding her undead status from the world, etc. It’s got all the cramady elements.
However, they explore how one’s choices make one a monster, the idea of sacrifice, hard choices. It’s not terribly deep, but there’s more there.
Lucifer could have been anything from swimming the English Channel to a day at the Water Slide Park. They chose the latter. Fun, but not challenging.
Interesting. But why have Lucifer as the central character if you want to develop that theme? It wouldn’t make sense. You would have a human character with the possibility of going either to the bad side or the good side. Lucifer is a fixed character with theological implications. If that’s the theme they’re after, then it’s flawed. Frankly I don’t think television thinks deeply about themes very much. The just want a catchy situation.
I suspect the last two lines are correct. As to your question, well the idea that Lucifer has abandoned Hell to hang out on Earth full time already stirs the pot of the theological implications. The entire premise is based on that idea: that he is a fixed character with theological implications but he’s not acting as his fixed character demands.
Nicely done.
Ummm, yeah. He’s in hell.
LOL, it could have been worse. It could have been Detroit.
Further interesting twist is that Lucifer is played by a white actor and his wings were white and the “good angel” is played by a black actor who is depicted with black wings. Not exactly sure what they are doing there.
I will admit this is a guilty pleasure. With the set up, how could it not be?
But try not to over think it. First, it’s a TV show, not Western Union. Second, the interesting part is that he continually tells everyone his job is to see people get the punishment they’ve earned. Of course there has to be the boy girl tension thing, that’s as old as the hills. I doubt most women would watch if there wasn’t an element of will they or won’t they. I hope the writers have enough fortitude to leave that unresolved, Lucifer, for all his charm and wit, and with the implication that he’s becoming somewhat mortal, can’t be redeemed.