3x24 Spoilers - Tumblr Posts
Lucifer and acting
Often, it’s easy to forget (or at least temporarily put aside) that Lucifer isn’t human. Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, etc. We see human because we know human and expect human.
Which is why the scene with Pierce at the precinct is so masterful. Yes, the text is gorgeous and menacing, but I actually want to talk about the acting choices (which may or may not have been influenced by directing choices; it’s hard to know) here.
In the scene, Lucifer knows he’s invulnerable. He says it. He walks into that conversation occupying a place of power and superiority. And, more importantly, pride regarding that place of power. He walks into Pierce’s office without knocking, defaults to a nickname (Piercey)–which we have often seen him do when he feels someone is beneath him–he paces slowly like an apex predator with prey in his sights.
Lucifer rarely moves quickly. Everything he does is controlled, unhurried. Even when he’s chasing a suspect, he may walk quickly but he doesn’t run. We never see him bolt. And why should he run? He’s the Devil; all villains come to him in the end. When Pierce first moves to the door, Lucifer steps in front of him quickly. It comes across as almost preternatural; he never once loses his grace or looks out of control but that sudden swiftness makes us, the audience, and Pierce, the prey, realize Lucifer could catch us any time he wanted. He just chooses not to.
“Sit. Down. Or I’ll make you,” is also pride. But Pierce sits, a naughty child about to get a scolding. We’ve seen Pierce get away with so much over the season but suddenly we’re thinking yes, yes, no more Mr. Nice Devil. “For every lie, I will break a body part,” is doubly menacing—one, because Lucifer never lies (so now we’re expecting real violence) and two, because of the specific gesture he makes with his hand. Lucifer has used this gesture before, usually when he is at the very end of his tether (with Mum manipulating him, for example); the audience knows Lucifer should not be crossed but we’re not sure what Pierce is going to do.
We also see the use of height as intimidation, here. Then, Lucifer doesn’t need that crutch anymore; he sits opposite Pierce, as if they are conversing about the weather and not matters of life and death, murder and punishment. He’s still oozing power and menace; we are seeing not Lucifer whom we love, but the Prince of Hell.
Just when we think Lucifer’s got all this in the bag, though, we see the first crack in his predatory demeanor. When he says, “Everyone hated me for it. Myself included, I’ve come to realize,” he glances briefly down and he blinks.
Crack.
Well, yeah, so? People blink. But here’s the thing: Lucifer blinks twice in this entire scene, which is several minutes long. To me, that seems a deliberate choice. A predator doesn’t take his eyes off his prey before he strikes. Even a proud predator playing with his prey watches to make sure their prey isn’t going away. Humans blink. Pierce blinks a lot more than Lucifer does. And even though this is a tiny, tiny specific choice, the audience feels unsettled without knowing why. The why is because Lucifer, whose power is so often connected with his eyes, isn’t human and he can hold his prey immobile indefinitely if he never needs to break eye contact. That’s scary, even if we don’t know why we’re scared.
“Myself included” is the first moment in this scene we really see the Lucifer he’s grown into over his years of working with Chloe. In a few moments, Pierce is going to use this tiny, tiny hint of weakness against him. He says, “You do have a weakness,” and here, Lucifer blinks again.
Because he knows he is not without weakness. And for the first time, I think the predator shows just a tiny flash of fear because his prey isn’t rolling over like it should. And because he is afraid—just for an instant—that Pierce will use his weakness (Chloe being the greatest one) against him. I genuinely don’t think Lucifer was expecting, “You want to be good.” It’s true; Pierce isn’t lying, and Lucifer is, momentarily, so shocked that Pierce is able to make his escape.
That this scene is followed by Lucifer immediately admitting his pride “I overestimated my abilities and underestimated his” is enormous, by the way; Lucifer is pride. Everyone knows that. It essentially encapsulates the recurring theme and conflict of the entire season while showing how much he’s grown. And here, Lucifer admits his pride and, more importantly regrets his actions; we wouldn’t have gotten that before, from him. Note, also, that his entire demeanor changes in the penthouse scene. His fingers tap nervously against the piano, his shoulders are hunched, he blinks, he ducks his head because he is sorry he has disappointed them, disappointed Chloe, let them down and, as we’ve seen so often, he immediately heads for the crutch of a glass of whiskey.
The Devil who faced Pierce is gone, or at least minimized; in his place, we have the Lucifer who loves Chloe and cares about things he never would have cared about as the Devil.
So. Masterful. Slow, appreciative clap. Seriously. Please give the man an Emmy.