I have written at length about my love of Lucfier before. It was one of those shows that surprised me, delighted me, and I quickly fell in love with it. Today the show’s adoring public, myself included, got some miserable news: FOX has decided to cancel Lucifer. ‘Tis the season for cancellations, but this one surprised me the most (with Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s demise in an easy second).
Joining with fans, showrunners, and starts of Lucifer here are the main reasons why the show deserves to live on and someone, somewhere, needs to #SaveLucifer.
The writing is out of this world.
Lucifer is a show about the devil. No, not that devil, not really anyway. He is probably not the devil you heard about in Sunday school so much as he is the piano-bar-owning Bowie-esque figure from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series. Of course he snagged a comic series of his own, too. But being a show about the devil means a couple things: the show could be wildly cheesy, or really dark.
Somehow the writing team behind the television show found a happy medium, which doesn’t happen often. Given my line of work as a social worker I try to keep my television watching light, meaning I cannot handle a lot of the gritty, dark, hardcore dramas that critics are raving about. What I can handle is the heavenly blend of comedic moments and dramatic relationships that make Lucifer the show it is.
Whenever it goes dark, it provides a little light to remind us that it’ll be okay. The show demonstrates the importance of humor even when we are dealing with situations that seem outside of our capabilities, and does so without over blowing it. There are no cheap shots in Lucifer, which means that the humor does not take away from the drama and the dramatic notes do not negate the humor.
It takes a lot to find this kind of balance and losing this kind of story telling in prime time is heartbreaking to think about.
Lucfier celebrates relationships.
Anyone who has read anything I have written before knows I’m obsessed with one particular thing when it comes to television: how they portray relationships. I think I am drawn to this particular aspect of television because stories should be about people and the journeys they go through. Relationships come into play here because no one goes through their journey alone.
Whether we are dealing with romantic relationships, one-sided love, friendships, work relationships, or whatever relationship category “finding out your patient is Actually The Devil” falls under, Lucifer celebrates one of the most important aspects of the human experience: relationships.
What makes the relationships on Lucifer particularly compelling are how authentic and true to life they are. It is perfect science fiction writing. The writers have taken real relationship dynamics, tweaked them enough to separate them slightly from the reality of experience, and then given them back to the audience through the wonderful cast members who bring the characters and their relationships to life in vivid action.
Good science fiction takes the truth and puts it in an easily digestible package, and the Lucifer team nail this week after week.
There is not a single wasted character.
The final point I’ll make is this: Lucifer is an ensemble show. Sure, there’s a titular character but he is not the only interesting character on the show. It is not solely about Lucifer and Chloe. It is about Lucifer and Chloe and Dan and Amenadiel, and Maze, and Linda, and Ella. The list goes on and on, because every character gets not only their fifteen minutes of fame but seasons-worth of it.
And the writers do it without getting bogged down in any one story line, or any one thread. Everything works for the good of the greater narrative, but Lucifer is layered and its success is dependent on the whole ensemble getting through their trials and tribulations. It is not the title character’s job to solve everything like it is in many of the procedural shows.
Quite frankly, without the whole ensemble, Lucifer would probably be unbearable. Most of the show’s charm rests in its uncanny ability to explore the devil’s life through those around him. I mean, Tricia Helfer’s character Charlotte got not one, but two arcs for her character(s). One as Lucifer’s goddess-mother and another as real-Charlotte, an unethical lawyer seeking redemption through her second chance at life.
I think above all else what makes the show especially compelling is the cast, crew, and showrunner’s love for each other and the show. There’s nothing more interesting to watch than a bunch of people who genuinely like each other have a ton of fun week after week, playing pretending and making audiences laugh and cry.
Lucifer deserves another season, for all of the above reasons and more. So FOX, if you’re listening, please #SaveLucifer. If any other network is out there listening, you’ve got a dedicated audience base ready to flock to you if you just say the word.
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