LUCIFER’s Cast & Crew Look Ahead to Season 3

By Pauline Perenack

The fact that the line to get into the Lucifer panel grows longer every year at Comic Con is testament to how popular this show is becoming. The legion of #Lucifans is growing, and it looks like the cast and crew couldn’t be more appreciative. Not only do they create one of the more entertaining panels at Comic Con, but the executive producers of the show, Joe Henderson and Ildy Modrovich join in on the fun as well, proving how invested they are in the show and the fans that support it. Not only do they interact with fans online, but they genuinely listen to what character developments fans enjoy, and try to inject more of those scenes into the show.

During the first two seasons of the show, they’ve explored the theme of family, and this season is going to be about exploring identity. After last season’s finale, which showed Mom (Tricia Helfer) stepping into a different dimension, leaving the body of Charlotte behind, and Lucifer (Tom Ellis) in a desert, sunburnt and with his wings back, it’s obvious that Lucifer and Charlotte have a lot of soul searching to do this season.

Tom Ellis at Comic Con 2017. Photo Credit Pauline Perenack/ScreenSpy Magazine

However, the other characters in the show will have to do the same. Chloe (Lauren German) has lost Lucifer once again, Dan (Kevin Alejandro) suddenly has lost the woman he’s been in love with, Dr. Linda (Rachael Harris) will be recovering from a near-death experience, Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside) is questioning his place in the world, and Maze (Lesley-Ann Brandt) needs to regroup after the emotional experience of almost losing her friend.

While fans were reeling at the end of the season –a season that was famously cut short, with the promise of the remaining episodes to be shown in season 3 – Modrovich and Henderson are clearly working hard to create new storylines for season 3, including the newest antagonist, since Lucifer’s battle against God appears to have been wrapped up. As such, during the panel at Comic Con, the audience was surprised by the newest addition to the cast – Smallville’s Tom Welling – as Lt. Marcus Pierce, who will be stepping in as the head of the police department, and will be vying for the romantic attention of Chloe, which undoubtedly will not go over too well with Lucifer. Or Dan.

Immediately following the Comic Con panel, ScreenSpy had the opportunity to sit down with the cast of Lucifer, including Tom Ellis, Rachel Harris, Tricia Helfer, Kevin Alejandro, and Aimee Garcia, as well as Modrovich and Henderson, and armed with questions from fans, and the questions of this reporter, we talked about both all that has happened, and what’s to come.

“We’re going to see lots of devilishness from Lucifer as he deals with who he wants to be, and him reembracing who he thinks he was,” said Henderson. Adds Modrovich, “What is Lucifer? Is he an angel? A devil? Good? Bad? Which one does he really want to be? Lucifer is the eternal teenager. He doesn’t like to be told what he is.”

Indy Modrovich (L) and Joe Henderson (R). Photo Credit Pauline Perenack/ScreenSpy Magazine

Now armed with his angelic wings again, Lucifer is really going to have to figure out who he is, and who he wants to be. Added to that, is his complicated relationship with Chloe, which is a huge draw for fans who want to know what’s in store for the pair.

Both Henderson and Modrovich initially teased that Deckerstar fans would be waiting a long time for any additional development, but then discussed one of the major reasons for bringing in Welling’s character was to fan the flames of the Lucifer and Chloe dynamic. “What’s nice is, bringing in Tom Welling’s character is going to be a great way to reignite the relationship between those two characters,” Henderson said. Modrovich agreed, and added in that “it’s going to be an up and down, volatile love triangle,” so it seems as though Lucifer and Chloe will see some more bumps in the path of their relationship.

Lucifer isn’t the only character searching for identity this season. Tricia Helfer’s character of Mom is gone, leaving the original Charlotte to figure out what’s happened these past few months. While Helfer says that a lot of what Charlotte has to come to terms with happens off screen, she teases that there’s even more than what Mom did that Charlotte will have to deal with.

“The one thing I can kind of tease is that there are kind of two places that she could have gone [while Mom was in her body], and considering she was a criminal defense attorney that wasn’t necessarily the best mom, she wasn’t there for her children, she was always gone…she might have a little to work through herself and come to terms with.”

Tricia Helfer at Comic Con 2017. Photo Credit Pauline Perenack/ScreenSpy Magazine

“Does she still want to be the same person that she was? There will also be some love triangles and issues and things. She’s not going to know that Lucifer and Amenadiel were her sons – they’re not her sons – and Dan, she has no idea who he even is. All of these people to her are new, but there are going to be snippets of memory.”

Speaking of Dan, Kevin Alejandro also talked about that dynamic with the “new” Charlotte. “I do know that we’ll explore the possibility of maybe a relationship, and trying to figure out how a relationship could work with Charlotte.” Dan will be thrown by Charlotte not remembering any of their relationship, and it’s something he’ll have to work through, and it sounds like a lot more of his Improv classes will help with that. Additionally, Alejandro is looking forward to the new dynamic that Welling will bring to the show as various characters vie for Pierce’s approval, which leads to some pretty funny situations. However, Dan will definitely be affected by the love triangle that Welling’s character creates, but as Alejandro says, “It’s an opportunity for Lucifer and Dan to have a different level of connection” which can only mean great things.

Kevin Alejandro at Comic Con 2017. Photo Credit Pauline Perenack/ScreenSpy Magazine

Dr. Linda will have her own issues to deal with after her near death experience at the end of the season two. Rachel Harris discussed how much she actually looked forward to that particular storyline, because, admits the star, ever since the show started, she wanted to make sure that Dr. Linda was more than someone who just thought that Lucifer was hot. However, being pulled into the world of Lucifer and Maze has shaken her beliefs, and as Harris says, “I think she’s in a bit of denial as we go into season three because that’s a lot to swallow that she’s one of the only humans to know about Lucifer, let alone Mom, and then almost dies at the hands of that. It’s a lot to process. She has a lot of post-traumatic stress.” That stress will continue to build throughout the season, forcing some reveals of who Dr. Linda is as a character as the wheels start to come off a bit. Fortunately however, she has her friendship with Maze to help her through, which Harris describes as “one of the best female relationships on TV right now.” 

Rachael Harris at Comic Con 2017. Photo Credit Pauline Perenack/ ScreenSpy Magazine

Another great female character on the show is Ella. Throughout season two, fans were dying to know more about this character, as she starts off being this bubbly persona, who has a strong sense of faith, but as the season wore on, it was discovered that not only could Ella pick a lock, but she used to steal cars. Aimee Garcia teases that we’ll learn more about how Ella went from growing up in Detroit with four brothers and having her grandma show her how to pick a lock and steal cars with her brothers, to being a woman of faith and science. Additionally, in season three, we’re going to learn a huge secret of Ella’s. 

“There’s an episode where her and Lucifer go on a road trip. When she’s on this road trip with Lucifer, she says something, and he’s like, ‘wait, what?’ And she’s like, ‘pretend I didn’t say that. Ignore.’ That little nugget is dropped and then explored further this season. She has a lot of secrets.” It seems as though fans will see more scenes of Ella and Lucifer as Ella gets to interact more with the celestial beings, and learn more about Lucifer’s side of the world. Their “brother/sister” relationship will also deepen as Lucifer tries to wrangle her passion as an older brother trying to keep his little sister from going too far.

Aimee Garcia at Comic Con 2017. Photo Credit Pauline Perenack/ScreenSpy Magazine

And then there’s the devil himself. When asked about the upcoming season, series star Tom Ellis admits he was shocked to read the part about waking up in the desert with his wings, but says it sets up the whole season.

“What do the wings mean to Lucifer? Why did he care so much when someone stole them? What do they represent to him? I think he doesn’t want to be defined by anyone else, and especially by his dad, so having these things back on him, what’s he going to do? How’s he going to react to that?” Added to this identity crisis, is the new adversary in Welling’s character, who Ellis is thrilled to have on set. “I used to watch Smallville, so I had my little geek moment. Bringing Tom in, and the character he’s going to play, and the dynamic that’s going to bring to the show. I can only imagine how that’s going to play out. It’ll be a lot of fun.”

Ellis also discussed the intense family issues that will continue to play out this season. “There’s always going to be a back and forth with Lucifer and Amenadiel. Back on the identity front, Amenadiel is trying to work out what his purpose is now. Being called the favorite son is just a name tag, but what does that really mean?” There will be more family issues for sure, but one thing that Ellis is crossing his fingers for is more time with Trixie. When asked if they would have more scenes together this season, he grinned and nodded. “I hope so.”

And while the characters are searching for their identities, there’s still the possibility for famous guest stars to appear. When asked who they would love to see this season, Modrovich immediately answered, “I’m going to steal Rachel Harris’ because she would love John Cleese as God. I would love Oprah as God.” Henderson nodded, and replied, “Willie Garson, just because Willie Garson has been asking me to say that.”

Lucifer returns to Fox this fall on Oct. 2.