Adapted from the Vertigo comic book title of the same name, Lucifer sees the Devil himself brought to life in modern-day Los Angeles. Bored of life as the Lord of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) seeks a change of scenery and so ends up in the City of Angels. Before he knows it, he finds himself working with the LAPD, particularly Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German), as he uses his unique abilities and devilish charms to find criminals and punish them. With the power to have any and everybody tell him their deepest secrets and honest truths, what started off as Lucifer merely looking to enjoy punishing the guilty begins to open the door to his long-faded compassion, as we see the series’ titular character even eyeing up the chance at some sort of redemption.
What we have with Lucifer is a show that’s part cop drama, part supernatural chicanery. On the one hand, there’s Detective Decker and Kevin Alejandro’s wary Detective Espinoza, and then on the other hand there’s the likes of Maze (Lesely-Ann Brandt), a demon who has followed Lucifer from Hell to stay by his side, and Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside), a dark-winged angel who just so happens to be Lucifer’s unhappy brother. And with these two elements of the series, both have varying levels of success in how they help the show thrive… or not.
Sadly, where the LAPD-based cop work is concerned, Lucifer falls down and feels a little ‘been there, done that’ in what viewers are given. Lauren German as Chloe Decker does fine, and Kevin Alejandro is great as the untrusting ex-husband of Chloe who sees Lucifer growing closer to his former beau, but the environment, setting and stories often associated with this side of the show just ultimately fall flat and feel like the generic cop show fodder that we’ve seen over and over again throughout the years. Luckily though, in the show’s star and in the darker aspects of the series, Lucifer does enough to make it an enjoyable ride.
As the lead, Tom Ellis is the perfect balance of charming, mischievous, vindictive, and daring, and he comes off as a truly all-powerful presence who is completely confident in the knowledge that he’s more than just another mere mortal. And it’s with Ellis that Lucifer shines brightest, with his cocksure Lord of Hell bringing a dose of humour and light-heartedness to proceedings, which is certainly much-needed given the material here. And as the first season progresses, we’re given an ever-growing glimpse into the mindset and life story of Lucifer Morningstar, with the character maturing before our eyes, all whilst Tom Ellis wows the audience and holds their attention masterfully.
In a nutshell, Lucifer’s debut season is largely a mixed bag, but there’s enough sleek, sultry charm involved, mainly from the series’ fantastic anchor, to make this an enjoyable romp for the most part.
Special Features: Two featurettes / 2015 Comic-Con panel / Four character profiles / Unaired scenes / Gag reel
LUCIFER: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON / CERT: 15 / CREATOR: TOM KAPINOS / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: TOM ELLIS, LAUREN GERMAN, KEVIN ALEJANDRO, D.B. WOODSIDE, LESLEY-ANN BRANDT / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
