Fox’s hit series Lucifer, which is set to return for a second season on September 19, 2016, will introduce a new character to shake up the Devil’s world: Lucifer’s mom. Tricia Helfer joins the cast as Lucifer’s mom and during the 2016 San Diego Comic Con, writer/executive producer Joe Henderson discussed the introduction of Helfer, the changing dynamic between brothers Lucifer (Tom Ellis) and Amenadiel (D.B.Woodside), and what else fans of the series can expect from the much-anticipated season two.
Joe Henderson Interview:
What’s in store for the second season?
Joe Henderson: “Season two? Mom. If you want to go from one word to two words, Tricia Helfer. She is awesome. She just came in and owned the role in a way you rarely see but when you hire Tricia Helfer, you know is going to happen. So, season one was all about Lucifer dealing with his father issues to a certain extent, dealing with God – both rebelling against him and also maybe subconsciously seeking his approval. He is that distant figure you never talk to, and now you’ve got mom in the flesh on Earth, a very different figure in Lucifer’s history. That’s just going to be the meat of season two is playing with that and how she affects Amenadiel, Maze, Chloe, and everyone else in the cast.”
Is it still going to be a procedural where we’ll see them investigate crimes?
Joe Henderson: “The way we’re approaching it is I feel, in particular, the back half of season one we really found a nice rhythm of the cases being the spine but really you’ve got all of the mythology, the serialization, so there will be a case almost every week. But the case is just the engine that lets our characters explore whatever issues they’re dealing with. It’s the hybrid that I personally fell in love with writing because I like having a case where Lucifer can reflect on himself and of course selfishly make it about himself.”
Is there going to be more singing involved?
Joe Henderson: “Oh, this is good. We will have him singing in the premiere. Right?! So good!”
You should end every episode with a song.
Joe Henderson: “Right. I know. We have to hold ourselves back. We’re like, ‘I mean, what could he sing in this episode?’ ‘No, no, no, we can’t do it every episode!’ It’s awesome. To me, it’s one of the things that makes the show unique and it’s one of the things that I think wonderfully just comes from the comics. This idea that he has a piano bar – it feels so arbitrary on its face but to me it speaks to the classic nature of the Devil and his love of every era of humanity. That sense of music is a desire amongst all the other desires, and him being able to embrace that in that way is just so much fun. And Tom’s not a bad singer.”
Can Lucifer compel someone to do something by tapping into their darkest desires?
Joe Henderson: “It’s only something that they would already do.”
So, he just triggers it.
Joe Henderson: “Yes. It’s sort of like if you have a desire, it’s coming up. Triggering it – I’m just going to steal that. He’s triggering a desire that they either knew they had but had been fighting… What I love about the character is he speaks to hypocrisy. Like, a lot of people have these buried desires, these desires they don’t want to embrace like the cop from the pilot who really likes to speed, really likes to drive fast. You can’t ever say that or you can’t ever embrace it until the Devil gives him permission. He’s like, ‘You know what? It’s kind of fun to speed. It’s kind of fun to do those things.’ ‘Well, go ahead and do it. Why not? Have some fun!’ That idea that we as humanity hold so much back and that it’s not necessarily bad to let go a little bit, it’s not bad to embrace your desires, that I think is a resonant thing because some people bury it too long and it’s unhealthy.”
So the next season is going to see the brothers working together?
Joe Henderson: “Yes.”
Has that been a real fun dynamic to write?
Joe Henderson: “Yeah. All of season one on that dynamic was building to them getting on the same side. Because we had a good sense of what the chemistry of them was and then in the seventh episode where they teamed up, you could see it. It was so much fun! The minute we knew that that worked we knew we were on the right path, and so season two you’re seeing them working together but at the same time there’s always going to be a conflict. Perfect example was in the finale, Amenadiel’s like, ‘Wait, father spoke to you? Because, again, oh sure, you’re the rebellious son who always screws up but wait, he hasn’t talked to me.’ So what’s fun is they’re on the same side but I think that will always be a thing. There will always be a rift because they’re brothers. There’s always a rift between brothers.”
Can you talk about romance and what we’ll see this year?
Joe Henderson: “That’s a very good question. Let me see… We will be building to some inter-character romances. For the beginning of the arc it’s mostly dealing with mom here and what that does to us. But we’re definitely laying some seeds in the further half of the season that we build to.”
Is there a supporting character in this that you wish you could include more but you haven’t been able to quite yet?
Joe Henderson: “I mean, Dr. Linda is the easy one because Rachael Harris is fantastic. Believe me, we tried to figure out ways to make her a police captain. (Laughing) But, sadly we just could not jump over those hurdles. And, you know, as we realized it’s actually great that she’s sort of in her own world. She’s almost like his sanctuary. So, as much as want to bring her in more and we’ll have episodes where she blends in more – we’ve got episode four where she’s meeting a whole bunch of the characters including Ella, our new character played by Aimee Garcia who’s awesome. This season is all about blending our characters together. Even though she’s not involved in the cases, she’ll still be involved in the personal lives of people and that’s been the fun, finding those unexpected friendships, finding the unexpected dynamics.”
We love Trixie. Scarlett Estevez steals every scene. What can we expect from her this season?
Joe Henderson: “You know, we’ll be tracking her through. The fun of it is she’s like one of the few people that Lucifer’s uncomfortable around. He doesn’t know what to do with her and we’ll keep threading that. To me, she’s also weirdly the moral center of the show and so basically that’s where she really comes to a head where it’s like when Chloe’s dealing with moral questions or questions about the danger of her job, these are the things that Trixie can speak to in the most adorably wonderful way. And then of course we’ll get all those moments of Lucifer trying to figure out what on earth to do with this child.”
Watch the full Joe Henderson interview:
