JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

Tom Ellis as Lucifer Morningstar.

WE KNOW that evil is at large in the world — you only have to read the news to be reminded of this. This year, the spirit of evil, a.k.a. the devil is the headliner of two new television shows. How does he measure up? Can traditional biblical evil compete with the more recent representatives, such as Lorne Malvo in season 1 of Fargo, The Purple Man in Marvel’s Jessica Jones, or Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones?

I must report that in its current TV incarnations, Fox’s Lucifer and A&E’s Damien, evil is a pathetic underachiever. This is good news if you expect the worst parts of Revelations to come to pass any minute, and bad news if you demand smart, well-made television. Lucifer and Damien are evidence that the devil does not exist, because if she did she would smite their producers, or at least send them a plague of boils. (No, wait, those are the good guys.)

Read our TV column The Binge at BusinessWorld.

Bradley James as Damien Thorne.