S01.E02: Lucifer, Stay. Good Devil.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

"Fetch!"  I so loved that moment.  His total and complete indifference to a child's charms and his failure to grasp that the very quickest way to Chloe's heart/trust would be to treat her child like freaking gold, show a wonderful weakness and goes against 99.9% of TV children tropes.  More, please.

 

The best moments for me are when he just decides to F with peeps, like he did the busking preacher and the Pulitzer camera dude.  SO much fun.

 

The thing I most have to overcome is the convenient disruptions in the space/time continuum and all known earthly physics, contrasted with many moments when he seemingly can't use any super powers.  Which is it, show?  All powerful most of the time, or totally random super power?  And why?

 

I loved, loved, loved the duel showdown that was set-up.  Totally took me to the Joker and the NYC ferries scene in Batman.  Down and dirty morality at the highest levels.  Awesome. 

[Sonja]

While I can buy that Lauren German has the looks to get into an LA nightclub, I doubt they'd let her in while she's wearing a pantsuit and her arm is in a sling. So either she flashed her badge or the bouncer recognized her. Undercover work is evidently not her specialty.

Also, how can you go undercover when those you are trying to keep an eye on already know you?

 

Right now I'm trying to resist liking this, because it's on FOX and the last time I liked something on FOX it was Sleepy Hollow and they've turned that show to shit...

Amen. I fear for this show as well, but for now I'm enjoying it and keep my fingers crossed it doesn't get FOXed.

 

Plus I HATE British accents and people who have them,

Wow, that's a lot of people to hate who just happen to have been born in a certain place.

 

It's driving me nuts that Trixie has brown eyes when both her parents seem to be blue-eyed. Kevin Alejandro doesn't have too much screen time at the moment, he couldn't have dealt with contacts? They did it with the Adamas in Battlestar Galactica...

 

I was surprised that slo-mo Angel didn't call Lucifer out about plucking the bullet out of the air. Is he really that easily fooled?

[FurryFury]

AFAIK it's quite possible to have eyes of a different color than your parents.

[Sonja]

AFAIK it's quite possible to have eyes of a different color than your parents.

Depends on their eye colours. When both parents are blue-eyed, there is a 99% chance the child is as well, a 1% chance for green eyes and a 0% chance of brown eyes. The only combinations with a probability for brown eyes are brown/brown, brown/green and brown/blue. Sorry, minor nerdout...

[Bruinsfan]

Maybe Chloe wears blue contacts? She used to be an actress, after all.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

The Devil's Finest Trick Is To…Navel-Gaze Over His Own Personal Development
Sure, the Devil solves some more crimes this episode -- but he's a whole lot more interested in the mystery of why he's no longer the same fallen angel who's been behaving badly for millennia.

[kennyab]

The thing I most have to overcome is the convenient disruptions in the space/time continuum and all known earthly physics, contrasted with many moments when he seemingly can't use any super powers.  Which is it, show?  All powerful most of the time, or totally random super power?  And why?

 

Lucifer doesn't have control over time -- it only slows down when his brother shows up, and non-earthly creatures aren't affected by it. As far as his own powers, we've seen his immortality, his charm/desire ability, and whatever he did to Jimmy.

[saber5055]

Wow, that's a lot of people to hate who just happen to have been born in a certain place.

 

Funny how that works though. Sort of like how a person who has been bitten by a dog then hates all dogs.

[Bobbin]

Regarding the street preacher, I think Lucifer's objection was to him using Lucifer as a way to make money.

[gwhh]

Just because you do NOT have a natural chest like Jessica Pare in Hot Tub Time Machine.  Does not means you have a small but very nice set of chest anchors.  Which a lot of woman have.  Plus, a lot of woman after they have children (s) breast size and shape change a lot.  Plus she age 37 years old in the TV show.  Both those factors would affect any woman chest a LOT from the age of 19! 

 

 

Ahhhhh!  This Show is growing on me and it's all because I like Lucifer's interactions with Chloe.  I am amused that Lucifer always told her what he is and she never, ever believes him.  Lucifer never lies to people about who he really is, yet no one believes him truly.  

 

I see Lucifer is starting to show more of his dark side now.  I liked how he scared the phony preacher at the beginning of the Show and how he freaked out the paparazzi idiots.  I'm intrigued by the beautiful angel with the wings.  I think Lucifer's bartender secretly has the hots for him but she is pissed off at Lucifer at the moment because he's changing.

 

Chloe is a little bland when she's not around Lucifer.  I'm still trying to get into her character but I think I like that little girl of hers more than Chloe.  I know that Chloe was a one time starlet in "The Hot Tub Time Machine" movie but I find it hard to believe that all the guys were so excited about her showing off her boobs considering her bosom doesn't look too big to me.  I think Chloe is starting to realize that Lucifer Morningstar, her new "partner", may be demonic after all when the guy she was talking to went nuts and tried to smash his head against the glass pane.

 

The case of this week involving the paparazzi was ok.  I didn't find anything really that exciting about it except that the guy that played the dead young man's actor father is from "Days of our Lives".

 

This Show has a lot of charm and I hope it gets better.  So far I am enjoying the performances more than the criminal cases.

Edited February 3, 2016 by gwhh

[MrPissyPuppy]

Conversely, I am really not thrilled with the effects house's depiction of Lucifer's demonic face when they show flashes of it. People, Fantasy Island managed to make Roddy McDowall's Devil look more impressive with a stage light, some dry ice fog, and horns glued to his forehead back in 1980.

 

 

I really wish they'd left the demonic face to our imagination.  Because it looks like a luchador & isn't scary.   At least his human face/form is hot to make up for it. 

[jhlipton]

[T]he last time I liked something on FOX it was Sleepy Hollow and they've turned that show to shit...

If you're talking about the horrid second season, all that is gone and the current season is much more like the first. Not that it matters, since this show is designed to drive SH out and replace those "horrid black women" with white ones (that's what showrunners seem to think).

 

I'll give it one more try, but I don't think I'll watch this.  Lucifer as a character is totally lame and not devilish in the least

 

 I too too am not seeing the "charm".  Maybe I was just in a bad mood tonight, but I was soooooo bored.

 

For no readily apparent reason the devil is British.

I think it goes well with the "I know better than anybody" shtick he's got going.  But the Devil always has to be a white male.  Always.

[storyskip]

Paddling about in the shallow end for a moment.

 

I laughed at Lucifer's final reaction to Amenadiel's visit to his home.  The look of "I am too sober for this..." after the apple falls was perfect.  But then I'm enjoying all of Luci and Amenadiel's interactions, they both try to be big grown up angels but they snipe like two siblings in the sandbox.

[Bruinsfan]

But the Devil always has to be a white male.  Always.

Bananarama begs to differ:

[henripootel]

As does Liz Hurley.

 

[AshleyLyn]

I loved Liz Hurley as the Devil. The movie was silly but I enjoyed it. 

[Danny Franks]

A fun episode. But they do need to find a way to let Lucifer be more menacing and dark, while still suggesting he can change. I don't want this to be a show where his ultimate goal becomes redemption and readmission into heaven and/or the gift of becoming human. That would suck royally. He should be happy with who he is, but still able to take an interest in humanity and the things they make him feel.

 

He has fun interactions with everyone though, and his enjoyment of needling people at least gives him some edge. His disgust with children is a possible running joke that won't get old. The stuff with the psychiatrist is pretty great as well. A very novel way of doing therapy scenes (yes, Tony Soprano slept with his therapist as well, but that was somehow more seedy). And the last scene, showing how his impulsive anger has condemned an (admittedly guilty of murder) man to a life of insanity was a step in the right direction in terms of the character's more malevolent qualities.

 

Mazikeen is great, but again, they're drawing her too strictly. Her disapproval of Lucifer's trajectory is too clear cut for her inevitable betrayal to be a surprise. She should get off on being around humans too, but just in a crueller way. Like in the scene where she drags Josh out of the car boot then headbutts him.

 

Despite the overwhelming trend on the internet to hate main actresses on nearly all shows, I still think Chloe is fine. She's sparky and and lively enough to play off Lucifer well. Her being suspicious of him, and increasingly wary, will hopefully be a nice change of pace. Other shows usually establish the 'will they, won't they' by about now in their run, and maintain it for several years. This show probably won't last that long, but the question of 'will she believe, and if she does, what will she do?' is more interesting.

[piperkat]

"Bananarama begs to differ" is going to be my new catchphrase. :)

I agreed that this episode was very uneven. I love the parts in the beginning with the street preacher, but then the mystery got kind of boring. At least the psychiatrist is still fun.

I wonder if the season finale is going to have us seeing God, so to speak.

[NorthstarATL]

Regarding the street preacher, I think Lucifer's objection was to him using Lucifer as a way to make money.

Now, I would think that that would be something the devil would approve of. It all depends upon one's own moral code I suspect, and I like the series so far just for the aspect of Lucifer messing with people, because that is somewhat "devilish". I like the angels vs. demons possibilities as well, but have seen them horribly utilized (IMO) in "Supernatural", "Dominion" , and probably other examples that elude me at the moment.

   I am so very bored with police procedurals, so the scenes with Chloe are my least favorite. I don't especially dislike the character, though. As for "Hot Tub High", or whatever the film was, I recall that type from maybe the eighties? Starlets didn't have to have perfect breasts for them to be memorable; it was the wiliingness to bare them before it became "respectable" that was the thing. (That said, Chloe doesn't appear old enough to have done film in that era; maybe that's a sign of her "supernaturalness" along with her resistance to Lucifer?) I like the kid and her interactions with Lucifer as well.

  The three-way is way more tame than I would imagine the devil would get into, but I figure it gave viewers a bone to chew on, whether it was the woman's desire being played out, or whether Lucifer is bi-sexual or not.

[Deputy Deputy CoS]

Despite the overwhelming trend on the internet to hate main actresses on nearly all shows

 

 

I don't get this trend, the stark contrast between the male/female is so predictable I know from the first sentence which reactions to scroll.  Does it earn people a seat at the cool and edgy table? 

 

This show is one of my mindless guilty pleasures. It'll remain that way as long as I stay away from internet discussions.

 

Loved "Fetch" I loved Chloe and Trixie's reactions. As if Lucifer was from other planet or something. Hee!

[xyzzy]

Now, I would think that that would be something the devil would approve of. It all depends upon one's own moral code I suspect, and I like the series so far just for the aspect of Lucifer messing with people, because that is somewhat "devilish". 

They're definitely playing up the "trickster god" mischievousness. He sort of reminds me of Q from Star Trek. Not inherently evil, per se, but likes to throw a wrench in the works and see what happens. I think his objection to the street preacher is that in this universe, his primary role seems to be exacting punishments on those who stray. (Whether he also tempts people to stray when he is actually in residence in Hell remains to be seen.) This is a sort of long-term torture inflicted by his father, right? His whole thing when he fell was that he opposed God and now he's spent millennia doing his dad's dirty work. Joke's on him, though, because even though he's abandoned his kingdom as an act of defiance he's still punishing evildoers in the mortal plane.

 

I'm glad this week's episode was a touch darker. The Father of Lies came across as much more psychologically menacing, which added the edge I was missing from last week. Unfortunately, Chloe's character is a victim of lazy writing. Writers, stop having Lucifer tell us that she's so different. Just show it, let him react. We're not idiots. Let us figure it out. It's a hell of a lot easier for audiences to accept shades of Mary Sue when they aren't being bludgeoned over the head with anvils.

[spaulding]

Lucifer is still naughty but hardly evil.  When is he going to kick puppies?
 

Lucifer doesn't have control over time -- it only slows down when his brother shows up, and non-earthly creatures aren't affected by it. As far as his own powers, we've seen his immortality, his charm/desire ability, and whatever he did to Jimmy.

 

Sounds like Luce isn't the Big Bad.  It's really hard to be fearful of him when he can't even catch the bad guy who drove away. 

 

This show is terrible as a procedural.  It would be much better if Luce and Maze went around and punished people.  I wouldn't mind if this show was about Heaven and Hell.  Constantine was an excellent show that tried it, but it was canceled anyway. 

 

I like Maze and can understand why she's irritated.  She didn't leave hell to be a bartender.  She should start causing trouble on her own. 

 

German is still using the constipated face method of acting.  The little girl is still cute. 

 

I loved Liz Hurley as the Devil. The movie was silly but I enjoyed it.

 

I didn't see the Hurley version, but the original Bedazzled was funny.  The devil was reduced to irritating humans.  He bruised bananas and popped buttons off shirts. 

[Bobbin]

The show's "message" is that Lucifer only puts temptation in people's way, based on what they want the most in life and what they're willing to do to get it. The choices they make, good or bad, are theirs alone. In the episodes, except for the therapist, he doesn't use his talent for getting people to reveal their desires in order to tempt them, but to reveal their hidden motivations -- Psych 101 for viewers who don't realize that people might have hidden motivations.

Believers who call the Devil the Father of Lies are just using "the Devil made me do it" excuse for their own bad behavior. Nowhere in literature does the Devil lie, he only tempts and bargains for souls.

Edited February 8, 2016 by Bobbin

[Bruinsfan]

I'm glad this week's episode was a touch darker. The Father of Lies came across as much more psychologically menacing, which added the edge I was missing from last week.

I sort of cheered his glowy-eyed outburst to Mazikeen, until I realized that it reminded me of this vastly more effective scene that Viggo Mortensen managed without any CGI. Ellis has the devilishly charming aspect down cold, but he's not quite up to snuff with the scary yet.

[Trace]

Oh I liked the beginning with the Dooms Day Preacher. He seriously screwed up that guy's head didn't he? I couldn't quite tell if he was offended or annoyed or what he felt towards him, but when he showed him true features I think he got pissed near the end of that interaction.

 

I was momentarily taken out of the moment when Lucifer said he hated liars.  He is described as a liar and the father of it. Luckily I can suspend disbelief since it is Hollywood after all, and the writers are probably non biblical to say the very least. The main reason I watched the pilot was the main actor - he won me over in his role on Rush. And like the poster upthread, I have a distaste for British accents, but he makes it work (I realize Tom Ellis is British).

[xyzzy]

Viggo Mortensen managed without any CGI

 

Hah hah. Yes, Viggo's Lucifer is one of my favorite portrayals of Satan. Part of it, though, is that the dialogue was delightfully insidious with a touch of humor here and there. He goes from "I will lay you out and fill your mouth with your mother's feces... or, we can talk." to "For while heaven may be closed I am always open.. even on Christmas."

 

This brings up an interesting point. The Stakes with a capital S in The Prophecy are pretty dire. Lucifer arrives on the scene and is pretty much the only angel who tells the truth about those stakes, and his creepy demeanor seems to make people in his presence feel physically nauseated. On this show, we don't know what the stakes are, so there's no context for our reactions to Lucifer. He's just a devilish little trickster in a party hat until an angel shows up. Then everything gets super cereal for moment and they have a mysterious conversation about their Daddy issues coupled with some demands for him to return to Hell. So far, the show has given us zero clues as to what the actual effects of an anarchic hell really are.

 

Thanks for reminding me Viggo. Haven't seen that scene in years, but I remembered almost every word of the dialogue because I found Viggo to be something of a shining star in that generally B-grade movie.

[Bruinsfan]

Not surprising; when someone else manages to be the creepiest thing in a movie where Christopher Walken plays the villain, it's worth noting.

[ParadoxLost]

I kind of want Chloe's resistance to Lucifer's powers to be reasonable but not world-shifting.  Like, she's descended/blessed by/from an angel but not she's Jesus' secret lovechild or somesuch.

 

I think its one of two things

 

1) She is Nephilim and being half angel gives her an immunity to Lucifer

2) or they are using the trope usually applied to vampires in romance genre where the vampires bride/true love has an immunity to the vampires powers and keeps them from going full evil

[sinkwriter]

 

Lucifer is still naughty but hardly evil.  When is he going to kick puppies?

 

He had a really funny line about kicking puppies. I wish I could remember it now, because it had me laughing pretty hard, it had a good twist to it that I wasn't expecting. He really does have the best lines - sometimes funny or snarky, and sometimes he makes my jaw drop for a second before I start laughing at how wicked he is. Which is highly entertaining.

[Gigi43]

He had a really funny line about kicking puppies. I wish I could remember it now, because it had me laughing pretty hard, it had a good twist to it that I wasn't expecting. He really does have the best lines - sometimes funny or snarky, and sometimes he makes my jaw drop for a second before I start laughing at how wicked he is. Which is highly entertaining.

Think he said he'd kick a puppy if it waltzed by, but then added, he actually couldn't because puppies can't waltz.

[sinkwriter]

LOL. Yes, I think that was it. Thank you, Gigi43.

 

On paper, it seems like an "eh, I guess it's funny" kind of line, but the way he said it just made me laugh really hard. Especially because I thought he was going to backtrack, all, "Well, I won't actually kick a puppy unless he makes me mad" or some other cheesy line, but instead he went with the message of "puppies can't waltz, otherwise I would kick a puppy..." and it just tickled me in the moment. Heh.

 

I think that's what I like about a lot of his lines. I'll think he's going to say something, and he goes in a completely different direction. Or, he'll say something outrageous that I wasn't expecting, and my jaw drops for a moment until my brain absorbs ("Did he really just say that?") and then I start laughing. Like his comment about taking the therapist to "Pound Town," and asking if Chloe minded waiting outside because it would only take a few minutes. LOL. I was all, "Did he seriously say Pound Town? Pound Town? That is so wrong... LOL." 

 

The little things in life that he delights in just amuse me so much.

Edited February 23, 2016 by sinkwriter

[Helena Dax]

 

 

He has fun interactions with everyone though, and his enjoyment of needling people at least gives him some edge. His disgust with children is a possible running joke that won't get old. The stuff with the psychiatrist is pretty great as well. A very novel way of doing therapy scenes (yes, Tony Soprano slept with his therapist as well, but that was somehow more seedy). And the last scene, showing how his impulsive anger has condemned an (admittedly guilty of murder) man to a life of insanity was a step in the right direction in terms of the character's more malevolent qualities.

 

No, he didn't. He wanted to, for a while, but nothing happened.

 

I'm enjoying this show more than I thought. Tom Ellis is doing a great job and the humour, especially in his scenes with the kid, is brilliant. The "Fetch" moment had me rolling. 

[Miles]

I'm disappointed that only women have that animalistic attraction towards Lucifer. It would be one thing if it was only straight/bi women and gay/bi men, but how he talked about it in episode one and how it was shown in this episode, it seems to be all women (except the detective), but no men.

I think they should have made it so everybody falls for him (except the detective). I mean he's the devil, what's a bit of same sex attraction?

 

On 2.2.2016 at 4:51 AM, johntfs said:

I kind of want Chloe's resistance to Lucifer's powers to be reasonable but not world-shifting.  Like, she's descended/blessed by/from an angel but not she's Jesus' secret lovechild or somesuch.

I think being a descendant of Jesus would be one of the more reasonable explainations. Guy walked the earth for quite a while and was a celebrity. He probably had a few kids. I'd buy that more than her being the lovechild of an angel.

 

On 2.2.2016 at 7:35 AM, dwmarch said:

Did my eyes deceive me or did we discover the devil is omnisexual in this episode? And British. For no readily apparent reason the devil is British.

Sadly not really. He called it a devils threesome in which usually the two guys are just into the gal. Guess we'll see.

 

On 4.2.2016 at 11:11 PM, Danny Franks said:

Despite the overwhelming trend on the internet to hate main actresses on nearly all shows,

There are just so many bad ones. They seem to be casted more by looks than actual acting abilities. If you want to see good actresses on TV, watch some british shows.

Lauren German is fine. Not great, not bad, just fine.

Edited January 15, 2018 by Miles

[bigseach]

On 2/3/2016 at 8:08 AM, Sonja said:

Depends on their eye colours. When both parents are blue-eyed, there is a 99% chance the child is as well, a 1% chance for green eyes and a 0% chance of brown eyes. The only combinations with a probability for brown eyes are brown/brown, brown/green and brown/blue. Sorry, minor nerdout...

On 2/3/2016 at 4:57 AM, Sonja said:

Also, how can you go undercover when those you are trying to keep an eye on already know you?

 

Amen. I fear for this show as well, but for now I'm enjoying it and keep my fingers crossed it doesn't get FOXed.

 

Wow, that's a lot of people to hate who just happen to have been born in a certain place.

 

It's driving me nuts that Trixie has brown eyes when both her parents seem to be blue-eyed. Kevin Alejandro doesn't have too much screen time at the moment, he couldn't have dealt with contacts? They did it with the Adamas in Battlestar Galactica...

 

I was surprised that slo-mo Angel didn't call Lucifer out about plucking the bullet out of the air. Is he really that easily fooled?

this bugged me as well (drove me up the wall on downton abbey).  it turns out that a different actor was cast originally. he looked more like beatrice. i'm glad they did not recast the little girl, she is a delight.