Lucifer’s back on Supernatural with an all-new vessel. “Mamma Mia” saw Supernatural introduce the latest meat puppet for Lucifer to wear, Vince Vincente. Despite what his alliterative (and stupid) name would tell you, Vince (and actor Rick Springfield) is surprisingly fantastic as the embodiment of all evil. Vince is a more than adequate replacement for the many vessels for Lucifer we’ve seen over the seasons of Supernatural. Here are four ways that latest iteration of Lucifer is an improvement.
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Vince’s Sense of Style
With so many iterations over the seasons, every Supernatural fan has their favorite version of Lucifer. Some people prefer Misha Collins‘ recent turn. Others were properly creeped out by the few times that Jared Padalecki has portrayed the fallen angel. Everyone has a right to their opinion but Mark Pellegrino is arguably the best version of Lucifer who has ever graced Supernatural and the reigning king of playing the former King of Hell.
For all Pellegrino’s sparkling personality, his Lucifer always looked a little bland, even when the vessel’s body was decaying in season 5. Vince being a (washed-up) rockstar finally means that Lucifer has an outside appearance that matches his swaggering bravado. There is something to be said for the dichotomy of Lucifer’s words and actions coming out of a body that doesn’t fit, like almost every other previous vessel. Yet on Supernatural, having a character that looks like he could be the devil actually be the devil is a fresh take.
Vince’s Calm New Attitude
All of Lucifer’s previous vessels have shared one common characteristic. Taking the cue from Pellegrino’s original performance, Lucifer tends to be a smart-aleck chatterbox. While the new Lucifer definitely has the same arrogance he always did, the Vince iteration appears to be a little less in everyone’s face about his evil-ness. Previous versions of Lucifer would have been constantly chatting during the confrontation with Crowley and Rowena in “Mamma Mia.” The new vessel was calm, quiet and incredibly eerie. The special effects when Crowley burned off part of Vince’s face were amazing. The thing that took the scene to next-level nightmare territory is how composed Lucifer was in fixing the issue.
Vince’s Tragic Backstory
When Lucifer possesses a vessel he always tends to pick the saddest souls. Nick was a depressed widower who was also mourning the loss of his child. Sam accepted Lucifer in a last ditch effort to save the world and the same is true for Castiel. Perhaps it has just been too long since season 4 and 5, but Vince’s tragic backstory hit hard.
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Vince’s story is not that much different from the original vessel Nick’s story. Vince is also mourning the love of his life. But unlike Nick, Vince’s love expired years ago and he still can’t seem to cope. While there was always the hope that someone like Nick could have pulled himself out of his depressive spiral before he encountered Lucifer, Vince appears to be at the end of his rope. His love life is over, his career is in the gutter and he appears to have nothing of substance in his life. It’s been awhile since Supernatural has made us care about and feel sorry for the vessel of Lucifer.
Lucifer’s New Plans for Rowena
Maybe it is his tortuous encounter with Amara last season, Maybe it’s because he finally had a face-to-face confrontation with his dad. Or maybe Lucifer is just learning that his old methods have not helped him so far. Whatever the reason, the Lucifer we get re-introduced to in “Mamma Mia” is very different from the one we last saw in Castiel’s body.
This Lucifer doesn’t seem quite so drawn to long monologues about his big plans or bragging about himself. This is a more cautious and therefore more dangerous Lucifer. The Lucifer of old would have snapped Rowena’s neck or otherwise left her alone. In “Mamma Mia” that did not happen. Now Lucifer has some nefarious plan for Rowena that not only the Winchesters remain ignorant of but also the audience. It’s a very welcome change for Lucifer to be just as mysterious now as he was in his first few appearances on Supernatural.
But what do you think? Do you enjoy the new vessel of Lucifer? Are you looking forward to more scenes with him? What do you think he is planning with Rowena? How long do you think this vessel will stick around?
Supernatural season 12 airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW. Want more news? Like our Facebook page for the latest updates!
(Image courtesy of The CW)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
