While unpacking my books after a recent move, I came upon all my old comic books, including issue after issue after issue of Lucifer, the spin-off series of Neil Gaiman's remarkable Sandman series. I was thumbing through them, reflecting on how much I'd enjoyed reading them and how perturbed I was when the series ended. I remember that there were bi characters, and then I remembered that there was also a show. I promptly sat my husband down and we binged away. Now I'm eagerly awaiting the May 8th launch of season 4 on Netflix and decided it was finally time to talk about Lucifer, the bi anti-hero.

At its core, this show is a snarky, occasionally hilarious police procedural. The straight-laced detective is teamed up with a wacky companion who is somehow able to solve crimes, and they catch bad guys together. In this case, the by-the-books cop is Chloe Decker and the quirky main character is Lucifer, a fallen angel with some daddy issues. Lucifer is hedonistic and selfish, but ultimately does the right thing most of the time (even if it's occasionally for the wrong reasons).

As with all Unicorn Scales, this one will contain spoilers, mostly about season 2, but also some season 3. Proceed at your own peril. If you want to know more about how the scale works, check out the original Unicorn Scale.

What I Liked:

There is a male lead who is absolutely, unapologetically bi. He doesn't come out, and he doesn't make a big deal about it. Lucifer has so much angst about his celestial family that he doesn't have the time to be angsty about sex.

His bisexuality is revealed in season 2. A series of dead women are appearing, and Lucifer realizes that they are women he has slept with. Chloe refuses to believe that this series of murders is all about her narcissistic partner. When the next body shows up, she happily tells him that his theory must be wrong. There's no way he slept with this victim, and the shot reveals the dead body of a man.

Lucifer gleefully informs her that yes, this man had also been a sexual partner and that the entire case is clearly all about him. Chloe is surprised, but not especially concerned. Later when she is obliged to interview his many recent partners, the entire station gets to see a parade of his former lovers. There are no snide comments or raised brows.

Chloe's ex-husband and fellow cop, Dan, watches the interviews with Lucifer. He too is unconcerned as a man describes a sex act involving Vaseline and a car battery, a move Lucifer gleefully calls "Gentleman, start your engines." Dan seems shocked by the number of people being interviewed and the hilarious sexual scenarios that are alluded to ("He did this thing with my Tibetan singing pot and some artisan honey") but doesn't care that one of the interviewees is a man.

Mazikeen, or Maze, is Lucifer's ally, bodyguard, and lover. She is repeatedly shown with bevies of beautiful women as well as being lovers with Lucifer and the angel Amenadiel. Maze came with Lucifer from hell and her sexuality is probably the least interesting part about her. Throughout the seasons she goes from being Lucifer's sidekick and general to leading her own independent life. He continuously takes advantage of her emotional labor and takes her protection for granted at the beginning of the show. As she becomes more human, she realizes that friendship is a two-way street, and Lucifer has not been a true friend to her. Instead, she forges an amazing friendship with another woman who helps her to forge her own path.

I also really appreciate the general sex-positivity of the show.

What I Didn't Like:

It's been pointed out that the two bi characters are also literally from hell. Does this mean that bi people are the devil and his cronies? I really wish that there was more bi representation in the show, this would be such an easy fix. Have one or two other bi characters who are human and bam! It's no big deal. As it is, the lack of more representation does make it feel like being bi is something that only happens among immortals from hell.

That being said, I do feel like this is a little bit of an oversimplification. Yes, hell and Lucifer are generally considered bad in our society. However, the main arc of the show is actually about Lucifer's very complicated relationship with his father, God. Throughout the show, Lucifer is a victim of his father's wrath. He never asked to be the lord of hell, and in fact, he did everything he could to escape that fate.

Yes, it is a problem that the two bi characters literally came from hell, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are bad. I always imagined that Lucifer and Maze had had to do a lot of soul-searching before they ended up running a nightclub in LA. In my head, there are plenty of other bi people in this universe, they just haven't had to spend so much time pondering the nature of their humanity and so are less likely to be out.

The Rating:

There are so few out bi male characters on television and even fewer of them are so nonchalant about their sexuality. It is really great to see one who is charming, charismatic, not super evil, and absolutely comfortable with his sexual attractions. The thing that would make this a 4 unicorn show for me, would be to see more bi characters beyond those who literally come from hell.