Lucifer 1.04 “Manly Whatnots”

The Sandman: 5 Stars Read this first, it’s really good. I’m going to just keep putting this here until you do.

Lucifer – The Comic: 5 Stars, read it, but not before The Sandman: Seasons of Mist because it connects and stuff. Will also keep putting this here, because it needs to be said.

The Rundown: 1 star, coming on up Lucifer! So the Lord of Hell, Lucifer, continues to bonk his psychiatrist and is still pining after lady-cop. This time, he has a plan! The plan is to sleep with lady-cop so that he won’t think about her any more. Oh, and a girl’s gone missing. So it’s time for Lucifer to be on the case again.

So if you’re not tired of hearing this by now, 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 is nothing like the book. Go figure.  So in the show this week, Lucifer’s obsession with lady-cop is ramping up. She’s strangely immune to his powers of persuasion, and he needs to find out why. With the help of his sexy psychologist he comes to the conclusion that having sex with her is the only answer! Convenient. The crime that lets him spend time with her is that of a missing girl. The girl was last seen with a notorious womanizer and ‘Player’ who has a speaking engagement in the city. Lucifer is on the exclusive guest-list and once again helps the detective in the pursuit of justice.

So in the previous episodes, they set up a narrative arc that suggests Lucifer is changing as a result of his time on Earth. The change this episode focuses on is that he is not merely seeking to punish the guilty, but seek some real justice for their victims. This only highlights the problem I noticed more when I tried to examine the show separated from its source material. That problem is that the writers can’t seem to decide what kind of Devil character they want Lucifer to be. He waffles from being a confident, in control, powerful and angelic being to being a simpering moron the next. When he exerts his charm on the women at the ‘seminar,’ impressing all the would-be players, we get to see a Lucifer confident and in-control. That is eliminated in the next scene when he asks for dating advice from the seminars leader in a very public display that turns him once again into a bumbling fool.

One of the cool things about this week’s episode is, in fact, a scene that doesn’t feature Lucifer at all. Amandiel pays a visit to Mazikeen in an effort to get her to give up some important information that he can use as leverage against Lucifer. Mazikeen, in her first display as the badass I know her to be, proceeds to try and kick his ass. It’s a cool fight scene, and Amandiel actually uses her full name, so at least we know Lucifer’s affectation is just something the writers decided he was going to do. It actually made me hopeful for a Mazikeen that is as self-sufficient and badass as she is represented in the comics.

Speaking of set-up, that brings me to my friends who are watching the show without knowing anything at all about the source material. I found that, while they agreed with my assessments of Lucifer’s wishy-washy character, they found that the occasional one-liner, and well-timed joke kept their interest in the show form wavering. They also talked about how the premise intrigued them, and that as long as it kept them engaged they would like to see where it went. This episode delivers in a unique way that it definitely feels like they’re ramping up towards something.

There is a moment of tenderness between Lucifer and lady-cop focused on his chopped-off wings. Lucifer is revealed to be more vulnerable than he has believed, and the scene between Amandiel and Mazikeen definitely feels like a ramp up. Perhaps if the show doesn’t get to its point within a couple episodes, even they might decide to give up on it, but there’s enough meat for them there that it keeps them glued to their screens, waiting for it to get there.

So while this episode doesn’t do very much to change my basic opinion about the show, these new insights have definitely made me look at it a second time. Perhaps it will be a show that grows in dramatic tension and intelligence as it goes on. I don’t think it likely, but I thought the same thing about Season 1 of Supernatural, and ended up becoming a big fan of the show as a whole. Though I hope it doesn’t take as much time to get there, I do truly hope Lucifer grows into serious bit of television that can get close to the quality of its source material.