While the demons and the angels are engaging in their age-old rivalries and revels, the humans on LUCIFER are just going about their daily lives, none-the-wiser about the supernatural elements around them. But all of their lives will interact soon enough when Chloe investigates a murder outside of Lucifer’s club and he decides to pair up with her to help her solve crimes. That, in turn, introduces Dan — Chloe’s estranged husband — to Lucifer. And Dr. Linda enters the picture when she’s visited by Chloe and Lucifer during the course of their investigation. But she’s not a one-off character, because when Lucifer decides to return to her for some therapy (and a little bit of hanky panky), Linda becomes one of his confidantes.
During a visit to the LUCIFER set in Vancouver, Lauren German (Detective Chloe Dancer), Rachael Harris (Dr. Linda Martin) and Kevin Alejandro (Dan) spoke to journalists about their characters and their complicated personal connections to each other, as well as to Lucifer.
Chloe’s Reaction to Lucifer’s “Powers”. Lucifer isn’t one to mince words and he’ll flat out tell people that he’s immortal or he’ll “compel” them to reveal their secrets. He keeps doing this in front of Chloe and it assists them in their investigations, but he’s perplexed when this compulsion doesn’t work on Chloe herself. What’s Chloe’s reaction to this strange behavior? “I haven’t really clocked it,” German explained. “All I know is that Lucifer has told me ‘why don’t I affect you?’ And I’m just like ‘I don’t know, really, what you’re talking about’. I mean, I see Lucifer do his thing, but it’s almost like watching that show LONG ISLAND MEDIUM. I’ve seen psychics and it sort of looks like that.”
Chloe’s Relationship With Her Mother. When Chloe separates from her husband, she moves into her mother’s Malibu cottage (see a photo tour), along with her daughter. While Chloe used to be an actress for a little while, her mother was in the profession for a long time and reached a respectable level of notoriety. Chloe’s mother won’t be seen in any early episodes, but her presence is definitely felt. “[Chloe] reveals to some guy [in an upcoming episode] ‘it was really annoying. I grew up with paparazzi always around. My mom always took the attention,” German said. “So I think there’s probably some really cool issues to explore there. We just haven’t happened to go there yet.”
Chloe’s on Thin Ice at Her Job. In the pilot episode, we get the sense that Chloe is not very respected by her peers as a result of a case she worked on. German explained that “there’s a case called the Palmetto case and it’s a case where Chloe had a gut instinct that something wasn’t right, something didn’t look right on the paperwork. Everyone said ‘This isn’t your case. Go focus on [something else], not this.’ She went and followed through with it anyway and she saw something that didn’t add up. Basically she saw something that smells dirty. And everyone in the department completely ostracizes her. ‘You ruined this, you screwed up, you made us look bad, you’re causing problems for everyone. Everyone thinks we’re a joke.’ I’m being a little hyperbolic, but in a nutshell that’s what happens. That’s where we pick up in the pilot. I’ve just been almost fired for trying to get the right answers to what I feel happened.” Don’t forget about this important case, LUCIFER fans, because it’s something that continues to unfold as the series does.
The State of Chloe and Dan’s Marriage. As Alejandro explains, Dan is “Chloe’s husband — but they’re currently separated. He’s a real honest, good cop. He’s good at what he does but unfortunately that was the problem in the relationship. It was more about work and sort of forgot about the family a little bit. Now that she’s laid it on him and said ‘Hey, this is what’s happening, we’re getting separated,” he’s struggling really hard to get [their relationship] back.”
Dan and Lucifer. The devil doesn’t think much of Dan when he first meets him. And Alejandro explains that “you’ll absolutely see [more of that tension] going forward. As Dan tries to let Chloe know he’s the right guy. There’s this other man in the picture that he’s a little jealous of and doesn’t quite see what she sees in him….Just the presence of Lucifer threatens everything about Dan and everything he really wants. He wants his family back, he wants to be the alpha male and provide, and have a balanced relationship and Lucifer comes in and throws everything off for him.” While Dan is clearly frustrated by Lucifer, the devil doesn’t necessarily feel the same way about the human. “Lucifer doesn’t really give Dan the time of day. So he’s a complete mystery to my character,” Alejandro said. “Honestly, all Dan sees is a really handsome guy in a suit, a charming guy [and not a supernatural being].” Dan won’t be very immersed in the world of the supernatural, but he “he takes a few really funny trips to Lux. He’s definitely a duck out of water. You can see his awkwardness and how he deals with all these pretty people around him.”
Dan’s Backstory. “I think he just wants to be the best,” Alejandro said. “He’s a little bit egotistical, he wants to be the best at everything. He leads with that bravado and I think he just demands respect. He comes from a lot of challenges that he’s overcome. You get to figure out more about who he is, later in the season. I can’t really reveal [it now], but he’s definitely gone through a lot to get to where he is and he doesn’t want to do anything to destroy his reputation.
What Does Linda Think of Lucifer? Lucifer is attending therapy because he’s feeling resentful about his eternal job (courtesy of dear old dad) but what does Linda think of him, particularly since he’s brutally honest with her? Harris said that “it’s an intriguing case where Linda believes he’s delusional. He says he’s the devil. He’s completely honest with her, but she’s like ‘Wow, he’s really speaking in archetypes.’ So I think he has serious father-son issues and, in fact, he does. It’s like the epitome of father-son issues.” And how is their personal relationship complicating their professional one? “She’s faced with her own feelings and her own ethics as to what she’s doing because [she’s thinking] ‘I’m not crazy. I’m not a crazy person. I’m an ethical doctor that knows exactly [what I should be doing but] I don’t know why I can’t stop with him. He’s like a drug. But I also know I’m intrigued by his story, and I want to help him….I think the great conflict in the whole show is he’s trying to figure out who he is, and my role in the show is to help him and, at the same time, I’m finding out my own identity.”
Is Linda Stuck in Her Office? No, according to Harris, who said that her character will branch out a bit more. “Yes, in the beginning, I am focusing on helping him. And I’m also interested in getting it on with him. Which I like. It’s fun. But then there are opportunities. I do get outside of the office. So there’s other places it’s gonna go, which is really fun.”
Future Guest Stars. There’s a few well-known guest stars coming up on LUCIFER, including Jim Rash (COMMUNITY) and Tom Sizemore.
Don’t miss the series premiere of LUCIFER on Monday, January 25 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.
