You know, I started watching this show because I was curious. Then I discovered that it’s, quote, “based on characters by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg”. In case you’re new around here: Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite writers. So now I’m invested.
It’s been a hot minute since I watched a TV show that wasn’t… you know, anime. So, I figured, what the hell? This Lucifer show looks interesting. Let’s give it a go.
Then I binged the entire first season in a day. Thanks, Netflix.
Lucifer stars… well, Lucifer, Prince of Darkness, fallen angel, Satan, all that good stuff. He’s quit being overlord of Hell and taking up running a club in Los Angeles. One day, while escorting a client home, he gets caught in a drive-by shooting which ends in her death. To punish those responsible, Lucifer launches an investigation along with Chloe Decker of the LAPD. Together, much to the detective’s dismay, they become a crime-solving duo. All the while, Lucifer’s angelic brother pressures him to return to Hell and Chloe pursues the ghosts of cases unsolved.
As a hardcore mystery fan, I was looking forward to that aspect of the show the most. I love a good sleuthing story. Unfortunately, this is the aspect of the show that I found to be the weakest.
The big reveals of the mysteries are never these big “Aha!” moments. You’ll never say “Oh, of course it was them! I should’ve seen it the whole time!” Rather, you’ll be saying: “Oh yeah, that character exists. They’re the culprit? Okay, I guess.” It’s super disappointing.
Luckily, the characters more than make up for this.
Lucifer is an absolute delight to watch. He gives zero fucks and I love it! His introductory scene is him speeding, getting pulled over, and bribing a cop like he was just ordering breakfast! It is certainly helped by Tom Ellis; his performance as the Prince of Darkness is *chef’s kiss* perfection!
His chemistry with the rest of the cast is absolute perfection. Chloe Decker is the perfect straight-man to his cocky comedy act (you can tell that Lauren German, her actress, had a ton of fun acting off of Tom Ellis). Amenadiel, Lucy’s brother, is his perfect foil; their dynamic, equal parts antagonistic and friendly, is a great aspect of the story. He, and every other character in the main cast, play off of each other incredibly well!
Not to say that the acting or writing is always flawless. Certain one-off characters feature some stiff dialogue with equally stiff delivery. Thankfully, they’re few and far between. But that only makes them stand out more whenever they occur.
The opposite could be said for the presentation. Because I’ll be honest: it’s not always a nice show to look at. It’s never ugly. Just… unimpressive.
There are a few strong shots here and there. But overall, it’s very flat and uninteresting. Mostly just a lot of shot-reverse-shot. The same goes for the music; aside from a few insert songs, I genuinely can’t remember any of the show’s music.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed my time with the first season of Lucifer. It was a consistently fun and engaging season from start to end. If you need a decent bit of TV drama to consume, I’d highly recommend it.
Now, let’s see how the train keeps rolling in season two, shall we?
Jonah's Daily Rants 