Lucifer 2016-2021
Lucifer has a really strange concept. It’s basically about the Devil, the root of all evil proving that it’s not so at all. Every episode, at least in the earlier seasons started with the text that the Devil – Lucifer Morningstar, was tired of ruling in Hell and therefore had taken some vacation in Los Angeles. Where else you might ask? At first, he’s only there to party, have lots of sex and drugs, and run his nightclub Lux. I find that particularly funny as Lux in Latin means light. The dark one has a nightclub called Light… hilarious!
We soon realize that Lucifer is not the person most people associate him with. He is very honest and never lies. Therefore he never claims to be any other than the general fallen one and refers to God as “dad”. Makes sense really. Things really start to change once he meets this detective working for the LAPD – Chloe. This happens already in the first episode and after that, we get to follow their connection to each other. It’s a lot to take in and if you think you know the original bible that the angel-lore is based on, forget it. You will probably not recognize much of it. The basics are there. Lucifer led a rebellion against his father and was therefore sent to Hell to rule. So far so good.
Evil
But the series never portrays him as an evil person as I would think that most people associate him with. He’s an angel, a fallen angel perhaps, but still an angel. He is banished from heaven and can’t enter but as those believing in the whole concept of religion use to say, God works in mysterious ways. That is something that’s mentioned a few times during the six seasons too. And that is good, because at the end we are still not sure if the was a plan set in motion even back when Lucifer was sent to Hell to begin with. It’s one of those mysteries that’s never answered. And I guess that is good. It’s good that it’s open for interpretation just like the religion itself. It gives you a little more to think about than the general run-of-the-mill series.
Apart from The Detective, as Lucifer keeps calling Chloe there are some other characters that are pretty central to the story. It’s not unusual in any series that you have a core ensemble that is all-important for the concept. Some come and go a bit and some have smaller parts as in any other series. Important is the therapist Linda Martin though. Oh boy, she’s got her work set out for her. I think I would go completely mad if I were to have all the celestial beings she has on her shrink sofa. Think of it, she has to be the one giving advice to the Devil himself, his angel brothers, a demon, and even God himself. I would go insane.
Celestial
As you might understand there’s a lot of celestial being in the show, but not exclusively at all. They’re important for the big storyline, the one that spans from the beginning until the end. The storyline that follows Lucifer Morningstar as a person. The storyline where we watch him grow as a man. Where he goes from being a narcissistic prick to a loving family man really. Bare with it, we will get there eventually. Maybe not in the most conventional way though.
There’s also the other storyline, where he partners up with The Detective and solves murders together with her as a civilian consultant. As I said before, he never lies and never really denies that he is the actual Devil. But people simply think he talks in metaphors and don’t really believe him. I don’t blame them, would you believe it if some dud told you he was the actual Devil?
Biblical canon
Spread out in the series are several angels, whose names I don’t remember, and don’t have a clue if they are established angels either. There should be some biblical canon, right? Other names from the bible that pop up in person are Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and probably a few more that I forgot about right now. But the main morality of the series is clear It’s not about who others think you are, it’s who you feel that you are deep down that matters. Every family has problems and the angelic family fathered by God seems to be the most dysfunctional of them all.
I think you will have a blast with this one if you have some previous knowledge of the religious texts. Not too much, just enough to get the references. If you have too much or if you’re a very religious person you might find it blasphemous. It’s a great cast and lots of very interesting characters.
