Tell-Tale TV Series Premiere Panels: Lucifer

When you think crime solver, do you automatically think of Lucifer? No? Well, maybe you should.

On Lucifer, the devil ends up joining forces with Chloe after one of his friends dies. While Chloe wants to play by the rules, Lucifer has other ideas. He does whatever it takes to get answers from someone. You can’t really tell the king of hell what to do.

Our panelists are:

• Jessica Kreamer, contributing writer for Tell-Tale TV
• Caralynn Lippo, contributing writer for Tell-Tale TV
• Allison Nichols, contributing writer for Tell-Tale TV
• Carissa Pavlica from TV Fanatic
• Taylah Gonzalez from Taylah Talks TV

Give it to me straight, did you like the premiere?

Carissa: I LOVED it. It’s one of the most enjoyable pilots in a very long time. The characters are genuine, the writing is quick and witty, and the story really very interesting. I started smiling the moment it started and couldn’t stop.

Taylah: I did! It certainly shows a lot of promise. There is a lot of humor to it and both leads are charming and have chemistry. I wasn’t too interested in the murder of the week, but I knew what I was signing up for. I’ve been a fan of Tom Ellis for years and seeing him get his big American break on network TV is great, not to mention this is the perfect character for him to play.

Jessica: I did. It was one of the best pilots I’ve seen in years.  It was exciting, funny, and Lucifer reminded me of a supernatural Harvey Specter. I can’t wait to see more of this character!

Allison: I enjoyed it. Tom Ellis is perfectly cast, and he oozes charm and sex appeal as Lucifer. I immediately fell in love with him, and I’m intrigued as to why his gifts don’t work on Chloe. I wasn’t blown away by the premiere, but I did like it. Right now I’m not sure if this will be a show I watch regularly every week or if I just watch a couple episodes at a time.

Caralynn: I liked it a lot! Tom Ellis is charming as hell (ha!) and I liked his chemistry with Chloe Dancer quite a bit. The dialogue didn’t seem cheesy or overly-expository, which is a HUGE pet peeve of mine but tends to be an issue in most first episodes. This didn’t have any issue whatsoever with that.

What’s the show’s biggest problem?

Carissa: The audience’s expectations. Going into it there have been issues with the concept of a show about Lucifer, and it might be the downfall of the series — people not willing to give it a go. That’d be a real shame. Even Lucifer had more to his story before ruling hell, and in its own weird way, this gives a fictional look at who he might have been if that turn hadn’t been taken.

Taylah: I see a few potential ones: as I said before, the leads do have chemistry, but of course Chloe is “special” somehow and that attracts Lucifer. She cannot be just a mystery for him to solve and I’m hoping that they do not push the romantic angle too soon. There is also the danger of it turning into a run-of-the-mill procedural and abandoning its supernatural elements. Many shows of this kind end up being indistinguishable from each other, specially on FOX. I also hope they keep Lucifer the cheeky bastard that he is. Humanizing him a little is fine, but he is the devil. And lastly, instead of having all women fall to his feet, could we get some men, too? Fair chances for everyone, Lucifer!

Jessica: The murder of the week premise is something a lot of shows use. I hope that they can find a fresh way of presenting the crimes because they could very easily remind the audience of other shows. I also hope the audience doesn’t expect too much out of potential “ships” because while it’s nice to have chemistry between actors and characters, it’s a completely different ball game when it comes to if they are actually going to be put into a relationship or not. It would be a shame to see a show with such promise fall prey to fandom discord and low ratings.

Allison: The procedural aspect. As someone who watches a lot of procedurals, there needs to be something special for me to keep watching. The thing that’s different about Lucifer can’t just be that he does some morally questionable things from time to time. I’m going to need more in order to set aside an hour of my week to watch this.

Caralynn: I’m 100% not a fan of procedurals, so I feel like that will get old very fast. I’m far more interested in the character of Lucifer, his backstory, the larger supernatural mythology at play here. I don’t really care about one-off cases in the scheme of things, so they’re going to have to come up with some really cool twists on cases to impress me.

Who or what do you want to see more of?

Carissa: Let’s be honest, the more Tom Ellis as Lucifer, the better. The concept that he melts women’s hearts couldn’t be more appropriate. But lacking in the premiere were his brother, Amenadiel, and the bartender, Mazikeen, to the point I really had no idea of who or what they were, and they’re going to be really important to the story. We need to more of them.

Taylah: I’d love to hear and know more about Chloe. We got a little bit of insight into her life and her past and her daughter was adorable, but she is as much the star of this show as Lucifer is, so I hope we get a lot of her this season.

Jessica: Tom Ellis. Duh! No, in all seriousness I’d love to see more of Rachel Harris.

Allison: I really loved Maze (Mazikeen). I’m really interested in how/why/when Lucifer brought her up to Earth. She’s an interesting character because she wants Lucifer to, well, be the devil and make some kind of splash. I’m curious as to whether or not she has any powers.

Caralynn: More Tom Ellis. More! And specifically more of Tom Ellis interacting with Chloe’s daughter; that scene was just adorable. I’d also like to see more of his relationship with Rachael Harris develop. Not in a romantic sense (I’m sure Chloe and Lucifer are “endgame”), but in terms of the psychologist becoming his confidant.

Favorite quote/moment from the premiere?

Carissa: It’s not a cop out, but every word out of Lucifer’s mouth seemed quoteworthy. The dude is dripping with charisma. It’s going to be hard not to want to write down every single word he says. Sex on a stick, that one.

Taylah: “So you’re a psychic, or something?” “No, I can’t read people’s minds. I’m not Jedi!”

Jessica: “I mean, children, hideous little creatures. Terrible taxing burdens.”

Allison: I loved how many times he flat out said he was the devil, and no one seemed to notice or really understand what he was saying. I didn’t know what to expect going into this show, but I was surprised that he isn’t really hiding who he is.

Caralynn: I really loved it when Chloe shot Jimmy in order to save Lucifer and Lucifer flipped out at her, yelling that Jimmy needed to suffer for what he’d done. That really gave us a glimpse into the darker side of Lucifer’s personality, because up until then the guy was not really devilish (in the traditional sense) in the slightest. I also loved it when Chloe was shot by Jimmy (did NOT see that bit coming) and Lucifer jumped into action, showing his “true self” to Jimmy in the reflection. Pretty much that entire scene was flawless.

What did you think of Lucifer? Will you be tuning in every week? Leave your thoughts in a comment below.

Lucifer airs Monday nights at 9/8c on FOX.