The Sandman: 5 Stars Read this first, it’s really good. Neil Gaiman wrote it. You know you want to.
The Comic: 5 Stars, read it, but not before The Sandman: Seasons of Mist because it connects and stuff.
The Rundown: No Stars… just… no. So the Lord of Hell, Lucifer, continues to bonk his psychiatrist while pining after lady-cop. He’s still solving crimes of random humans, and he’s still getting the shakedown from Heaven’s go-to man for threats, Amandiel.
So if you didn’t already know, Lucifer is a show about Lucifer Morningstar, former Lord of Hell, and his extended vacation/early retirement on Earth. Based on a Vertigo comic of the same name, the show strays from the original premise quite a lot. This week, Lucifer is trying to prove the innocence of a star quarterback accused of murder. This is done in a further attempt to win his ways into the good graces of the lady-cop who vexes him by not being susceptible to his powers of persuasion.
I don’t think I really need to continue on how bad I think this show is. It’s pretty bad. This week I tried extra hard to separate my love of the original source material from the travesty I’m watching, trying to see it less as an adaptation, and more as a supernatural drama with a unique premise. This way maybe I could tap into why this show was made the way it was and maybe find a kernel of goodness inside.
Even with this perspective I find that much of my original assumptions about the show still ring true. Lucifer as a character is still irksome to watch, but for different reasons. While I do rail against the neutering of such a strong personality, I find that even within the given premise the writers can’t quite decide what kind of devil they want Lucifer to be. Do they want him to be a devil, masquerading as human to see what it’s like? Is he just in it for a good time? Is he sowing some new evil in the world that is hidden behind a mask of booze, women, and wisecracks?
This episode actually has a great start, showcasing a bit of Lucifer as tempter, while contrasting it with his current party-boy lifestyle. Still, that’s mostly wasted by the sub-arc of Lucifer finding out that someone has stolen his identity. In an episode full of Lucifer’s insistence that his job is to make sure the guilty are punished, he takes very little actual action against the person posing as him. He mostly yells and bangs his fists on hard surfaces to make sure we know how angry this makes him. Even when confronted with the perpetrator of the ‘dilution of the Lucifer brand’ (which is just… why does the Devil care so much what all these humans think?), he goes through phases that go from the cusp of real violence, to almost forgiveness without any clear catalyst.
Still, trying to see the show from this new perspective does make Lucifer slightly more understandable. It’s kind of a true-crime drama with a taste of the supernatural thrown in. By the effects they use, it definitely doesn’t have the best budget, and they really do try to work around this. They blow what effects they do use on the crazy angel, and the occasional flash of Lucifer’s ‘true nature’. This does somewhat satisfy if the point is to tease those unfamiliar, or not quite on board with the premise. I do wish they would get to the supernatural threats sooner, as I’ve seen plenty of crime shows already, but that’s a personal preference. They do start to go into the detective’s search into Lucifer’s past, and his supernatural origins.
Well, as I’ve asserted, there really is no particular reason to watch this show. It’s unimpressive on almost every level so far. There is a little interest to be found in the premise, but if you already love every CSI, and are looking for a similar experience with a bit of supernatural spice to it Lucifer just might deliver. Tune in next week when I’ll have some thoughts to share from people who are watching the show without any context, and seem to love it.