Lucifer: Devilishly Addictive

Lucifer And Why It's Must-See TV

I don't have a top 5 of TV shows (I have a top three, and from third to first that would be Castle, ER, and Person of Interest, not that you're interested), but without a top 5 I'm gonna slot Lucifer in there at position 4. And much like how I didn't figure out just how important Person of Interest had become to me until it was given a shortened episode order and cancelled, I'm only just catching on to the notion that Lucifer is also one of my favourite TV shows.

   So what I'm going to do is have a (spoiler-free) look at the essence of the show and explain why, for a network drama in a time when Netflix and binge-watching is stealing TV's thunder, Lucifer is simply unmissable.

PREMISE - What is Lucifer all about?

At its base, Lucifer is a show about the Devil who has become bored with his role overseeing Hell and decides to move to LA, where he begins working with the LAPD solving crimes and punishing criminals. But it's underlined with some serious and intriguing plot strands: namely Lucifer's refusal to return to Hell against God's wishes, and the mystery of why the LAPD detective he works with, Chloe Decker, makes him vulnerable.

CASTING

Given that casting your characters correctly is crucial, there's nowhere more logical to start than here.

• Lucifer (played by Tom Ellis - Rush, Miranda)
• Detective Chloe Decker (played by Lauren German - Hawaii Five-0, Chicago Fire)
• Detective Daniel Espinosa (played by Kevin Alejandro - Southland, True Blood)
• Mazikeen/"Maze" (played by Lesley-Ann Brandt - The Librarians, Spartacus)
• Dr. Linda Martin (played by Rachael Harris - Suits, Surviving Jack)
• Amenadiel (played by D.B. Woodside - 24)
• Beatrice "Trixie" Decker (played by Scarlett Estevez - Daddy's Home film)
• Charlotte Richards (played by Tricia Helfer - Battlestar Galactica)
• Added in season 2
• Ella Lopez (played by Aimee Garcia - Dexter)
• Added in season 2

The Lucifer season 2 cast L-R:
Ella, Dan, Chloe, Lucifer, Charlotte, Maze, Amenadiel, Linda

I can't see that there's any one character here who was miscast. I could run through them all saying why each actor is suited to the role, but I fear I'd just be repeating myself: whatever it is that the character demands of the actor, those booked into the role were the right actors to meet those requirements (thank Dad [pardon the pun] Kevin Alejandro was brought in as the new Dan after the pilot, although no disrespect of course to Nicholas Gonzalez. Alejandro just plays Dan better).

   It's perfect casting from top to bottom.

   (Word to Tom Ellis and his role of Lucifer: should you pick up this show following my roundup, look at the sexist, self-absorbed, sex-obsessed Devil and tell me Tom Ellis is right - that his British accent makes the Devil's facets charming, whereas had he used an American accent it would make him come off an absolute arse.)

It's hard not to fall in love with the characters - and that's probably because of the cast. If you know any of the cast from other shows, you'll love them here. Their chemistry is amazing, they land all the punchlines and reaction faces (Kevin Alejandro does a wicked reaction face), and the show is just great fun. There are plenty of light-hearted drama shows out there, but even in season 2 when the stakes are huge Lucifer still doesn't feel bogged down by its dramatic stuff - it's still as light and fluffy as it ever was. Finding and hitting that sweet spot, something most network dramas fail to do, is to the credit of the entire cast and crew.

"I'm like walking heroin. Very habit-forming." - Lucifer

But I'll tell you.

   Take a perfectly cast show, give it ceaselessly funny scripts (and I mean ceaselessly; the humour in Lucifer is so plentiful this could be a 40-minute comedy), raise the stakes with intense plot arcs, (some of which thread through multiple seasons), then sit back and enjoy.

   The initial criticism of the show was that it was another simple twist on the cop procedural format, and to an extent it is another simple twist on the cop procedural format - but to generalise Lucifer that way is actually ignorant and insulting. The cases of the week are nothing more than a setting for the show: while Lucifer relies on the episodic murder cases to base its characters, they're in no way as huge a focus as other cop procedurals - in fact they're often very simplistic.

   They also tend not to take up the vast majority of the episodes: in the midst of solving murders, there's usually some emotional crisis that Lucifer will have to puzzle out with Dr. Linda Martin (and he will inevitably misinterpret her meaning), all the complicated relationships that will twist and turn as the arcs evolve, and then whatever arcs need advancing at that time. Not to mention the fact that these plot strands do on many occasions intertwine with the murders of the week or have relevance to one of the characters. And that all takes up a lot of room in an episode.

   This happens in both seasons. While the early episodes of season 1 set the scene and the theme for the show, they are probably the most procedural the show ever is. The back end of season 1 becomes heavily arc-ridden, reaching a pulsing climax. Then season 2, with the introduction of two new characters and compelling new storylines, ups the stakes considerably.

I've watched a lot of American cop dramas (NCIS, NCIS LA, Blue Bloods, Elementary, Hawaii Five-0, Conviction, Castle among others - I'm running down the entire CBS lineup here) and of them only Castle, in its infinite uniqueness, could outstrip Lucifer. So go and watch it. It's worth every second.

   Here's the trailer.

Future of the show

Lucifer has currently aired 26 episodes: 13 in season 1 and 13 in season 2 - only season 2 got a 9-episode back order, meaning we have another 9 episodes in the second season, which returns on May 1st (plenty of time for you to catch up before then). Better than that, Lucifer has also been renewed for a 22-episode third season, which means there's a grand total of 31 ordered episodes yet to come; 57 will air at least. And if Lucifer continues its strong pairing with Gotham, the series could stretch even further than that.

And, while I'm not sure who I should be praying to anymore, pray for that I will.

Sam