The Devil takes a vacation in the “Pilot†of Fox’s new drama, Lucifer. I have to be honest. I was not expecting to really like this show. With the TV slate bloated with so many comic book shows, I was worried that Lucifer would just get lost in the shuffle. I sure hope that I’m wrong because the Pilot episode of Lucifer was a wonderful hour of television.
Tom Ellis plays Lucifer Morningstar, the devil himself. Lucifer has decided to retire as lord of Hell and take up residence in Los Angeles among the humans. In his opening scene, we see Lucifer get pulled over by a cop. The cop is appalled that Lucifer would try to bribe him to get out of a ticket. Then Lucifer uses his unique charms on the cop to get him to confess his deepest desires. The cop is clearly confused and ends up taking the bribe. He even tells Lucifer to have a good evening.
Not everyone is okay with Lucifer’s retirement from Hell. His brother angel, Amenadiel played by DB Woodside, comes down to Earth to remind him of his responsibilities. Amenadiel says that Lucifer’s return to the Underworld is requested. He asks Lucifer if he knows what happens when he’s not in Hell; where do the tortured souls go? Lucifer doesn’t seem to care, but Amenadiel reminds him that their father’s mercy will not last forever.
To balance out Lucifer we have Detective Chloe Dancer, portrayed by Lauren German. Chloe first comes into Lucifer’s life when a celebrity singer, Delilah is killed. Lucifer helped to build Delilah’s career, so he has a soft spot for her when she is gunned down outside of his nightclub. Chloe’s ex-husband Dan, played by Kevin Alejandro, is convinced that the case is open and shut. Dan even tries to talk her into closing it right away. Chloe isn’t convinced and keeps digging, which draws Lucifer right to her.
Lucifer decides that he’s going to solve this case on his own and gets to work. He visits Delilah ex fiancé, Jimmy, at his wedding where Jimmy tells Lucifer to look into Delilah’s new rapper boyfriend. I won’t spoil it, but Lucifer gets the seemingly happy couple to reveal some funny tidbits before their wedding. Nothing like a visit from the devil before saying I do.
Delilah’s rapper boyfriend led Lucifer to her therapist and an affair with a wealthy married man. Lucifer is about to find the therapist when Chloe catches up with him. He tries to work his charms on her, but they just don’t work. He’s so confused, but he still finds a way to convince her to let him help. They go to the therapist together. Dr. Linda Martin is completely smitten with Lucifer. The look in her eyes is a dead giveaway, and she has no problem spilling her secrets. Chloe got to see first hand the powers Lucifer holds over humans, but of course, she doesn’t really believe in his skills.
Flash forward through their first case together, and it looks like Chloe and Lucifer will continue to work together. It’s unclear right now whether or not Lucifer will play out like a traditional cop procedural. I don’t think that will be a nail in its coffin even if the cop procedural has been done plenty of times. I will say that Lucifer is extremely charming and witty. His one liners will have you appreciate great writers.
I can’t wait to see more from Lucifer. The show has a lot of potential. I’m especially interested in seeing more angels. Amenadiel visits Lucifer after they closed the case, and he’s concerned. It seems that Lucifer is getting comfortable with the humans, so comfortable in fact that he’s starting to show mercy. It seems that Amenadiel does not like that Lucifer is having trouble playing his role. Hopefully the coming weeks will explore more about Lucifer and why he left Hell in the first place.
