Bosch has transformed television mystery. For the first time, viewers can experience the closest approximation to a mystery novel as is possible on screen. The pacing, development of the characters, complexity of the plot, simultaneous themes, and detailed touches make Bosch the template for 21st-century mystery television. One of the shortcomings of police procedural shows…
We’ve finally gone (back) to hell! The last time was at the end of Season 1 where Lucifer discovers Mum has escaped. Now, more exciting, we get to see Lucifer brave hell in order to save Chloe. We get to see how Lucifer’s version of hell is different from classical interpretations. The very first foray…
Ah, the dream tease. Lucifer’s writers are clearly having fun teasing us with Lucifer’s and Chloe’s dream, but it also serves to kick off the underlying struggle of the entire episode—that of choice. Chloe is caught, wondering whether she should act on her feelings and what the results of that would look like. When wrestling…
The Lucifer hiatus has ended, and we can finally get back to our favorite devil. This episode is pretty low-key when it comes to the mythology, but we still have an opportunity to explore the episode’s theme of worthiness. Specifically, we’ll look at where humanity fits in with angels, demons, and the divine. For a…
Well, it’s nice to see Amenadiel swoop in and convince Mum not to detonate the bomb, thus saving Chloe. He did so by laying hard truths on her, which is the central theme of the entire episode. We’ve known all along that Lucifer doesn’t lie in this series, but this seems fundamentally at odds with…
Last week, Lucifer dropped the bomb that Earth was his home all along—a revelation that Mum eagerly wanted to exploit—and this week, we see Lucifer struggling to hold onto that home in the face of eviction. However, while Lucifer may not see heaven as his home, he was still tossed out on his ear—although what…
The sword of Azrael returns this week, but angelic weaponry is nothing new to the Bible. In fact, the first appearance of such is at the end of the Garden of Eden story when God “placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen 3:24…
In many ways, last night’s Lucifer was a continuation of the previous episode where Lucifer revealed his true identity. Now, he’s realized, “Being me seems to be a problem, doesn’t it? Everywhere I go, someone gets hurt.” His answer, then, is simplicity. “I need to be not me, instead, someone better, more helpful, more ……
In Inferno, we once again have Dr. Robert Langdon using obscure knowledge about literature, history, and art to solve puzzles. And with this go around, we focus on the works of Dante Alighieri, who wrote the Divine Comedy—the highlight of which is Inferno. Langdon is correct about the modern conceptualization of Hell. Dante literally wrote…
Angels are quickly and visibly present in Angels & Demons through the use of statues, but the demons are much more subtle. The first clue is not in the film, but is present on the cover of the book. The font used is an ambigram—like that of Illuminati in the film—so that the title reads…
