lucifer

In the beginning…
The angel Lucifer was cast out of Heaven and condemned to rule Hell for all of eternity.
Until he decided to take a vacation…

And with that simple lead-in, topped with Cage the Elephant’s “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” blasting from the stereo, Lucifer has entered the building and quickly steals the scene. After being pulled over for speeding, he demonstrates his ability to pull a person’s deepest, darkest desires out before they even know what they’ve said. The patrol cop is the first victim, admitting to his own law-breaking actions and, soon after, taking a bribe. Situation in hand, Lucifer rides off and we catch a glimpse of his license plate: Fallin1.

Say hello to the original bad boy
Say hello to the original bad boy

Before continuing on, let’s backtrack a bit. For those not in the know—including, up until a few months ago, yours truly—Lucifer is an adaptation of the great Neil Gaiman’s comic series of the same name. As the lead-in states, Lucifer has decided to take a bit of a hiatus from Hell, abdicating his throne and, as one would imagine, this doesn’t sit too well with Amenadiel, Heaven’s representative. He tracks Lucifer down at the Lux, the latter’s night club and tells him, in no uncertain terms to get his ass back to Hell. Lucifer plays the part of the rebellious child—kind of his nature, really—refusing to return to his charge. “You know,” Amenadiel murmurs, “he will not be merciful for much longer.”

We never get how long Lucifer has been living it up in LA but when former mega-star Delilah stops by to see him, it’s a hint that he’s been walking the streets for some time and is responsible for Delilah’s initial success. With his protégé, Lucifer shows a sensitivity and concern for her well-being, going so far as making Delilah promise to clean herself up. She never gets the chance, gunned down on the sidewalk by a smalltime drug dealer who, in his dying breath, tells Lucifer, “I just pulled the trigger.”

Enter Detective Chloe Dancer. The lead  on  the Delilah murder, she interviews Lucifer regarding the murder and, despite his frank honesty about himself, Detective Chloe takes an instant dislike to him. Taking a queue from Danny, a fellow detective, she’s ready to write this off as a drug deal gone bad but Lucifer’s not quite ready to let it go so easily. He starts off by interrupting Jimmy Barnes’ wedding. Barnes is Delilah’s ex and points the finger at 2 Vile, a hip hop artist who was Delilah’s most recent beau. Using his powers of persuasion, Lucifer gets the truth from the rapper: Delilah was cheating on him with some big name star. He tells the fallen angel that, if anyone would know the other man’s identity, it’d ben Dr. Linda, Delilah’s therapist.

Taking Lucifer’s earlier advice, Detective Chloe shows up and, though she initially puts the cuffs on Lucifer, he convinces her they’d be better off working together. Though reluctant, she agrees and they make their way to the therapist but have to make a detour when the detective has to pick her daughter up from school for fighting. Lucifer finds himself chatting up with Beatrice, aka Trixie and, though he abhors children (his words), he puts the fear of the devil in the bully. It’s also here where we find out Chloe and Detective Danny are exes, with Trixie as their child, something that will make for an interesting dynamic as things move forward.

On the moving forward front, the two unlikely allies interview Dr. Linda Martin who, after looking at Lucifer with “carnal fascination”, gives them the name Gray Cooper. A big-time movie star, a few minutes with Luc and he spills the beans on his tryst with Delilah but neither he nor his wife (Amanda something, another movie star) are implicated. Commiserating over a few drinks where Lucifer gives Chloe a bit of a pep talk after she opens up about how she’s become a pariah, she eventually realizes the one thing tying the murder together: the watch. Delilah had given one as a gift to Gray as her co-star on Time Will Tell, the same movie that Jimmy Barnes just happened to be a producer on. She realizes he paid the shooter with his own watch, gifted to him by Delilah. Her murder was nothing more than a money-grab, with Barnes betting Delilah’s records would blow up after her death. Barnes refuses to go quickly and shoots Chloe. Lucifer saves her and puts his own brand of justice on Jimmy, one we can only imagine.

In the aftermath, Chloe wakes up in the hospital, not too worse for wear and, after Trixie gives him a warm hug,

The untold history between Lucifer and Amenadiel will be a primary driver going forward.
The untold history between Lucifer and Amenadiel will be a primary driver going forward.

Lucifer returns to his club…only to be greeted once more by Amenadiel. The two posture, showcasing their mutual disdain for one another and Amenadiel admitting he “would love a war.” But it’s not over for Lucifer as Maze, one of his trusted lieutenants, tells him “stop caring: you’re the devil.” Lucifer realizes he needs someone to talk to and who better than Dr. Linda. He promises her a fascinating ride for the occasional bending of her ear…

And as the song says, it does appear there ain’t no rest for the wicked.

Hell’s Grace

  • There’s an adage that, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. A slight twist would be that it’s better to be fun than to be good. Lucifer falls into that latter phrase. As a procedural, Lucifer is by the book. Nothing outstanding or special—but that goes for all procedural shows. Where this really shines is the main character, played brilliantly by Tom Ellis.  His charisma is a force of nature and his enjoyment with the character is tangible. I can’t recall the last show I watched where a smile or laugh bubbled up the entire hour. There are some kick-ass shows out there I look forward to every week but none can touch the anticipation I have for another hour of Lucifer. 
  • We see more and more shows incorporating popular music as an integral part of storytelling. In the first episode alone, Lucifer used Cage the Elephant, David Bowie, Beck, the Black Keys, and Yogi & Skrillex. It was one of the best one-episode soundtracks in recent memory and, if they keep it up, like Supernatural, the music could become another character.
  • Let’s not forget the easy chemistry between Chloe and Luc. The relationship between the two is what can make or break this show and, based on the pilot, the two fit together like two puzzle pieces, seamless and adding to the bigger picture.
  • We didn’t get much background on Maze or Amenadiel but I have to assume that was purposefully done. They did just enough to tease us as we move forward because something tells me Lucifer abdicated his throne just because he was bored. There’s more to the story—we’ll just have to wait and see what that “more” happens to be.