Finding Lucifer at SDCC 2016: The Supernatural Connection

There are certain expectations when one receives a press pass for San Diego Comic-Con. The most obvious expectation is that you actually provide press for the movies, television series and stars that are being showcased to their fans. This is unbelievably exciting when the interviews are with the stars of your favorite shows. It’s rather intimidating, though, when you are asked to interview the cast of a show you’ve never seen. That was the case for several of my SDCC 2016 interview assignments, including the show Lucifer. Having just finished its first season on Fox, it was renewed for a celebrated second season so its stars were appearing at Comic-Con for only the second time.

Not only had I had never seen Lucifer when I was asked to cover this press room, in fact I had made a conscious decision to not watch it as I felt a very strong allegiance to a devil by the name of Mark Pellegrino. I had also determined that there were enough angels, demons, depictions of Hell, and apocalyptic battles in my life given my devotion to a much older show called Supernatural! On a deeper level,  I objected on moral grounds to a show that epitomized Satan as a good guy.

 Still, I wanted to sound intelligent in my interviews with Lucifer’s stars, and they deserved the respect of me doing my homework before talking to them, so I did what any self-respecting genre fan would do – I binge watched as many episodes of Lucifer as I could find online!

Guess what? Despite my curmudgeon, biased attitude going into it, Lucifer won me over.  I so wanted the show to be inferior to my obviously discerning, years-old relationship with Supernatural’s satan mythology, but I couldn’t stop myself from being taken in by Tom Ellis’ humorous, why-doesn’t-anyone-like-me depiction of Lucifer Morningstar.  I found him to be a sympathetic character, with depth, heart and mystery. I was surprised when the executive producers and cast all emphasized that the show is first and foremost a comedy, because I would have catalogued it as a procedural police detective drama. Think Castle,  substituting Lucifer himself, fallen angel and presumed enemy of humanity, for Rick Castle, and Chloe Decker (played by Lauren German of Chicago Fire and Hawaii Five-O) for Kate Beckett.  Add an adversary in a ‘brother’ angel Amenadiel; a dubious ally, demon Mazikeen (“Maze”); an on-again, off-again love triangle with Dan, Chloe’s ex (played by Kevin Alejandro of True Blood, Southland, Arrow and The Returned); and comedic interludes with helpful psychologist Linda ( played by Rachael Harris of Suits, Surviving Jack), and the gang’s ready to solve crimes and chase down Lucifer’s identity crisis each week.

The first season ended (spoiler ahead) with the new myth arc being introduced in a ta-da revelation of – wait for it – Lucifer’s mom being released from her eternal cage in Hell (Insert here Crowley’s incredulous statement when he learned about God’s sister, “He has relatives?”). I didn’t know whether to laugh, be annoyed or be honored by the parallels between Supernatural’s plots and Lucifer’s presumed direction. Two handsome leading men (angels in this case) will spend the year exploring their relationship with their long-lost mother. Sound familiar? Then I heard that the part of Lucifer’s mom had been given to Tricia Helfer of Battlestar Gallactica, and I was intrigued. Tricia is a veteran actor, very talented and an awesome choice for a female “celestial being” (as she terms it)!

 Tricia is also SPNFamily from season 2, when she played Molly McNamara in “Roadkill” (2.16).

                                                                                   

There are other parallels with Supernatural as well:

Supernatural even tipped its hat to the arrival of the new show’s Lucifer storyline when in “The Devil in the Details” (11.10), Sam asked Lucifer what he would do after he defeats the Darkness and Lucifer replied, “I move to LA… solve crimes”.

Since I was now curious about the show, interviewing Lucifer’s cast was fun (the viewpoint of the camera gives you an idea of my placement at the press table). Listen in as they proudly talk about their fledgling series! (Trixie, Chloe’s young daughter, is mentioned in a few of the interviews. Trixie is played by Scarlett Estevez.)

 

(I asked the first question!) 
Joe Henderson, Executive Producer, made (half) a cameo appearance in that interview.

 

(Mine was the last question!)

(Interviews start at 1:30)

Most surprising quote: “The biggest challenge in our show is we have to hire people who can be funny, who do humor” – Joe Henderson

The next interview introduced us to Aimee Garcia who will play a new character Ella Lopez, a smart, inquisitive forensic scientist. Her addition strengthens the ties to Supernatural even further. She was Nancy Fitzgerald in one of Supernatural‘s classic episodes, “Jus in Bello” (3.12)!

 

(Sorry about the camera refocusing. It was on automatic and I couldn’t adjust it mid-interview)

Lucifer has a strong cast that portrays a balance of both strong male and female characters. It is witty and light yet has enough emotion to make it enjoyable. I still object to a show that depicts Satan as a sympathetic hero, but there is a hint of a redemption arc that might be interesting if it is developed properly. We could all use a world where Lucifer is reformed and joins the battle against evil.

Season 2 premieres Monday, September 19 at 9/8c on Fox. If you watched it in season 1, please share your reactions to it. I’m curious what other #SPNFamily members think of it given our history with Supernatural.

Lucifer information confirmed with IMDB.com

Supernatural quote confirmed with Supernaturalwiki.com