REVIEW: Lucifer: The Complete Series
Prime Time Television all too often reduces great ideas to easily digestible concepts, often resulting in police procedurals of one sort or another. As a result, when the Vertigo Comics interpretation of Lucifer Morningstar was optioned by Fox in 2014, they quickly announced that the devil would be running a piano bar, like in the comics, but also partner with a policeman. I was initially turned off to the notion and was slow to sample Lucifer when it finally debuted in 2016.
A funny thing happened: the buzz was surprisingly good. The ratings were solid, and it kept getting renewed. Thanks to the miracle of On Demand, my wife and I were able to go back to the beginning and play catch-up.
For those who missed out on the initial run, can now find the entire 93 episodes spread across six seasons collected from Warner Archive as Lucifer: The Complete Series. Essentially, the individual seasons have been packaged together, unfortunately, with no new Special Features. So, if you already possess these, you can skip them. To the uninitiated, this is for you.
Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg created Lucifer Morningstar as supporting players in the acclaimed Sandman comic, and then Vertigo gave him his own series (2000-2006), written by novelist Mike Carey. The fallen angel was cast from Heaven to rule over Hell and was accompanied by one of Lilith’s offspring, Mazikeen, whose first act as his companion was to cut off his wings.
On the Fox version, Lucifer (Tom Ellis) has left ruling Hell out of boredom (you’d be bored too after 10 billion years) and now runs Lux, a piano bar in Los Angeles. Throughout the series, the tension between acting on one’s desires and fate versus free will is a recurring theme explored through the regular cast and the story du jour. As devils, demons, and angels spend more time on this mortal coil and interact with mankind, those interactions force them to reexamine their core beliefs.
Fascinated after an encounter with police detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German), Lucifer pulls strings to get named a consultant and becomes Decker’s partner. The slow-burning romance between the two carries us pretty much through the first five seasons until they finally become the couple we knew they would be, but unlike many such couplings, this one burns brighter when they’re together, resulting in a very satisfying conclusion. Mazikeen (Leslie-Ann Brandt) initially objects strenuously to this diversion until she leaves Lux and becomes a bounty hunter and ultimately shares Decker’s home, leading to some enchanting exchanges between the demon and Decker’s daughter Trixie (Scarlet Estevez).
With every passing season, the cast grows and becomes more varied, enriching the interactions, especially as Lucifer seeks out Dr. Linda Martin (Rachel Harris) to process his evolving emotions and as his brother angel Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside) spends more time among mortals. Add in the eternal optimist police scientist Ella Lopez (Aimee Garcia), other angles, cops, exes, and more, and the ensemble became richer. One after the other learned Lucifer’s secret, spoiling some of the mystique, but it seemed inevitable.
Ellis is just wonderful as the title character, deliciously reveling in being the devil while letting himself become vulnerable and even fall in love. The remainder of the cast is solid, with nice chemistry among them. Their work made the series tremendous fun to watch.
The series struggled in the ratings, despite positive reviews, so Fox canceled it, and the fans were loud enough to attract Netflix’s attention. They acquired it and ordered its final three seasons, which managed consistency despite the production pause during the pandemic. After meeting the angels’ mother, Charlotte (Tricia Helfer), we finally got around to meeting dad (Dennis Haysbert in the thankless role of God). This set up the final storyline as Mother and Father decided it was time to move on, and the fight for the Silvery City’s throne was on.
The discs come neatly packed in a plastic shell case and a cardboard slipcase. They are the original Blu-ray presses, with varying degrees of quality, ranging from good to very good. The 1080p, AVC-encoded BD-50s nicely reproduce the rich colors and preserve the shadows required for many of the storylines. The lossless DTS-HD MA is more consistent season to season and up to the task for comfortable home viewing.
Each season includes deleted scenes and gag reels. The first season includes four brief character profiles and the cast appearing at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. Season two’s discs have the 2016 Comic-Con panel and a look at the show’s move from Vancouver to Los Angeles in Reinventing Lucifer in the City of Angels (14:42).
