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TV Media Weekly | November 5 - 11, 2016 By Cassie Dresch TV Media T he devil, a cop and a law- yer walk into a bar ... As much as that may sound like the start of a groan- inducing joke, it could very well happen in Fox's cop dramedy "Lucifer," which follows the lord of hell himself as he works with an LAPD officer and, in season 2, a demon-controlled lawyer. A new episode of "Lucifer" airs Monday, Nov. 7, on Fox. Tom Ellis ("Miranda") stars as the titular devil in the flesh, who got bored of ruling over the Underworld and resigned his throne so he could head to Los Angeles. There he met Det. Chloe Decker (Lauren German, "A Walk to Remember," 2002), who is apparently immune to his supernatural abilities (Luci- fer is, among other things, super fast, super strong and super in- vincible). In the season 2 premiere, which aired in September, sci-fi goddess Tricia Helfer ("Battle- star Galactica") made her "Luci- fer" debut as Mum, God's ex- wife and mother to both Lucifer and his brother, Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside, "24"). Mum's soul inhabits the body of a murder victim, Charlotte, who was a managing partner at a law firm and is resurrected by Mum's oc- cupation. For Helfer, part of the draw of joining as the devil's mother was the show's tone, as well as its leading actor. "I thought the first season was a lot of fun. The tone of the show is a hard one to get right as it is part procedural, part my- thology. It's based off of a comic and it's its own thing as well," she said in an interview with Ya- hoo. "A lot has to be said for ev- erybody involved, but Tom Ellis ... brought such a charm to the character, to the devil, who you're supposed to dislike. It was just a really fun show to watch. They really found their stride in the second half of the season. And the way that [Mum] was set up, obviously, intrigued me right off the get-go." Ellis himself gets a laugh out of having to call Helfer "mum," not only because she's only four years older than he is, but also because he was a bit of a Helfer fan before she signed on to the series. "I'm used to [calling Helfer 'Mum'] now, but when she first came on board, I mean, I was a massive 'Battlestar Galactica' fan as well, and I used to have quite a crush on Tricia back in the day," Ellis said in an inter- view with Empire. He added that family was a major theme for "Lucifer's" sec- ond season: "One of the reasons that our audience has bonded with the show is that there are themes and relationships that people recognize within, but they're just represented by slightly larger-than-life charac- ters. Everyone's got a mom, ev- eryone's got a dad. It's an inter- esting dynamic that that throws up — certainly the presence of Mum in the show; everyone is different around their mom. You know, behave differently and want to perhaps be perceived differently, and Lucifer's no dif- ferent." The family dynamic seems to be paying off so far this season, with critics leaving glowing re- views — at least compared to last season — for the first few episodes. And while the season 2 premiere didn't fetch nearly as many viewers as its first-season counterpart, it still drew in more than seven million pairs of eye- balls and a 2.2/4 share in Live+DVR ratings. Through the first half of season 2, viewership numbers have remained re- spectable, staying on par with season 1's numbers. Thankfully for fans, there hasn't been too much of a shakeup in the cast between seasons 1 and 2. Aside from Kevin Rankin's ("Dallas Buyers Club," 2013) arc as Det. Mal- colm Graham coming to an end in the first season's finale, ev- eryone else is back. Kevin Alejandro ("True Blood") returns as Det. Dan Es- pinoza, a homicide detective and Chloe's ex-husband, with whom he has a daughter, Trixie (Scarlett Estevez, "Daddy's Home," 2015), who likes Lucifer — much to the hellraiser's dis- may, as he's not a fan of chil- dren. Lesley-Ann Brandt ("Sin- gle Ladies") stars as Lucifer's ally and confidante, Maze, who is a demon herself and tries to protect Lucifer. Rachael Harris ("Suits") rounds out the return- ing cast as Lucifer's therapist, Dr. Linda Martin, and doesn't ac- tually believe that he is the dev- il, despite him admitting as much. Helfer isn't the only new face this year. "Dexter" star Aimee Garcia jumps aboard the series as a forensic scientist, Ella Lopez, who works with both Chloe and Lucifer. Garcia is fresh off a stint with CBS's television reboot of "Rush Hour," and has some ex- perience in the procedural dra- ma realm, having starred in NBC's "Trauma," which was canceled after one season. Halfway through its second season, "Lucifer" is showing no signs of slowing down — and for good reason. From some new faces and a solid returning cast to some dysfunctional fami- ly drama, the series has viewers hooked. Catch a new episode of "Lucifer," airing Monday, Nov. 7, on Fox. Tricia Helfer stars in "Lucifer" 'Lucifer' continues a strong sophomore campaign 2 | Cover story Harvey Hinklemeyers Martino's 3 x 5" A/Grindstone Charlie's B/Norris Insurance 1 x 4"

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