Lucifer is a crime drama about the devil tiring of life in Hell and materializing in the City of Angels, where he aids the LAPD in punishing evildoers. In the opener, he befriends a troubled pop diva and witnesses her murder, which triggers him to seek revenge.

Lucifer is the latest television show to spin out of a comic book, with the character bouncing around in various comics from DC Comics’ imprint Vertigo, with his latest launching just a few months ago. Going in to watching the pilot, I was worried the series was going to be another Constantine, full of potential but not quite panning out.

While the pilot isn’t perfect, it is a hell of a lot of fun, and much of that is due to actor Tom Ellis in the title roll. Ellis’ depiction is beyond entertaining and no matter how much of an ass he is at times, he’s still so charming it’s kind of hard to not to be glued watching his performance. His embodiment of the character is the draw of this first episode, and really the series’ success may rest on his shoulders.

The story itself is ok, basically involving a murder and doesn’t veer too far from the many police procedural shows on television. Instead of pseudo science being spouted, Ellis’ Lucifer leads the charge hopping from suspect to suspect grilling them as to their involvement in the killing. It’s Ellis’ delivery of his lines and how he presents himself that makes it all work.

There’s a bunch of side characters including a detective, folks working in his bar, an angel that keeps showing up. And there’s a greater story going on, but all of that gets in the way that is the fun of Ellis’ performance.

The episode isn’t perfect, it’s a bit unoriginal in the use of a murder and having Lucifer help the police. But, there’s still something that’s a lot of fun about it all. It’s not quite bad, but Lucifer is so bad in what he does and how acts, it makes the show good.

Overall Rating: 8.1