Lightbringers: Illuminating the Deeper Meaning of the Crime-solving Devil TV Show (Tracie Guy-Decker & Emily Guy Birken)
Explore every episode of Lightbringers: Illuminating the Deeper Meaning of the Crime-solving Devil TV Show
| Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03 Jul 2023 | Teaser: How We Fell for the Fallen1 | 00:11:07 | |
Lucifer is more than just an escapist TV show. Join sisters Tracie and Emily, as we unmask the unique allure of this series. Based on Neil Gaiman's comic book, Lucifer offers captivating storytelling, a blend of humor and gravitas, and an intriguing mix of celestial beings and everyday humans. In this teaser episode, learn how each of us fell head-over-heels for this show, from the irresistible charm of Tom Ellis to the irreverent and fascinating interpretations of biblical characters and stories. We'll also dissect how mental health issues are subtly and sensitively portrayed in the series. We're going to dive deep the whole series, two episodes at a time. Join us in a rewatch. Lightbringers is more than fan-girling; we're on a deep exploration of storytelling, symbolism, societal norms, and television as a medium. Whether you're a die-hard Lucifer fan or simply a TV buff who appreciates great storytelling, join our geek-out.
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| 27 Jul 2023 | Lucifer Pilot | 00:37:29 | |
In this very first episode, Tracie & Emily discuss their rewatch of the Lucifer pilot. Originally aired in 2016, the pilot is how the world was introduced to the handsome devil, Lucifer (Tom Ellis), and his hard-boiled, reluctant love-interest, Chloe Decker (Lauren German). With attention to details small (Tom Ellis' chest hair) and large (the nature of Lucifer's power with/over women), and with the benefit of knowing how this all ends, the Guy sisters overthink our favorite fallen angel's introduction to the tv-viewing public. We also aren't afraid to follow resonances and resemblances where they lead, including the gender dynamics in 'The X-Files' and the magic of Labyrinth with David Bowie. Warning: this podcast will contain spoilers! Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 03 Aug 2023 | Lucifer 102 & 103: "Lucifer, Stay, Good Devil" & "The Would-Be Prince of Darkness" | 00:36:56 | |
This week, Tracie and Emily take a look at the second and third episode of season 1. In Lucifer Stay, Good Devil, we learn more about the tragic coda to Chloe’s Hot Tub High School film debut, and in The Would-Be Prince of Darkness, we get some of the very first glimpses of Lucifer’s self-loathing. We also begin to peel back the layers of the show, asking “What if the devil wasn't just a character, but a reflection of deeper societal issues?” The Guy sisters watch these two episodes with a critical eye, dissecting the social implications of the pop culture we're consuming. From the objectification of women, particularly those dancing at Lucifer's club, to the underlying themes of self-punishment prevalent in the series, we examine it all. Warning: this podcast will contain spoilers! Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 10 Aug 2023 | Lucifer 104 & 105 "Manly Whatnots" & "Sweet Kicks" | 00:30:11 | |
This week Tracie and Emily discuss episodes 4 and 5 of season 1. In "Manly Whatnots," we see the first instance of Lucifer's physical vulnerability in Chloe’s presence–which happens to follow his first instance of emotional vulnerability with her–while in "Sweet Kicks," we enjoy the unexpected alliance between Amenadiel and Maze. From big thoughts on long-form storytelling on television and hell as the place where souls torture themselves to pet peeves about the TV trope of tasting stuff at crime scenes, come overthink these two episodes with the Guy sisters. Warning: this podcast will contain spoilers! Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 17 Aug 2023 | Lucifer 106 & 107 "Favorite Son" & "Wingman" | 00:38:27 | |
In this conversation about episodes 6 and 7, we talk about the subversion of expectations in making the angel, Amenadiel (DB Woodside) an untrustworthy character. The sisters dig deep into details revealed in these episodes, investigating the meaning of the Hebrew names, and the dos and don’ts when meeting someone who doesn’t resemble their family members. Tracie geeks out over the believability of the size of the apostle Paul’s shackles and Emily makes her sister chortle with references to inside jokes from their childhood. Warning: this podcast will contain spoilers! Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 24 Aug 2023 | Lucifer 108 + 109 "Et Tu Doctor?" and "A Priest Walks Into A Bar" | 00:33:49 | |
There's a lot to unpack in two of the most beloved episodes of the Lucifer canon. Lucifer grapples with unfamiliar feelings of jealousy and we posit that his emotional immaturity makes sense from someone who's lived the existence he has. We also appreciate the seemingly authentic connection between Lucifer and Father Frank, and music as the anchor of that connection. This leads us to overthink the use of music in the show in general and in these episodes in particular. Significantly, we explore how music--even pop music--can serve as a vehicle for connecting with other people and the divine. And those connections have been being made, and being judged by some, since at least the time of King David. Warning: this podcast will contain spoilers! Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 31 Aug 2023 | Lucifer 110 + 111 "Pops" and "St. Lucifer" | 00:29:30 | |
In episodes 110 + 111, the devil’s ‘daddy issues’ are made much more human, and we get titillating glimpses of naked Lucifer. We commiserate about our shared vulnerability for untrustworthy narrators, especially when they happen to make us say “hominah hominah,” and follow a side thread into the depths of Gehenna (a sort of not-Hell afterlife). These episodes provide several beautiful (and one hot 🔥) examples of visual storytelling and non-verbal communication. We also name the fundamentally human traits of the character of Dan: someone who is both deeply flawed and trying to do his best. Bonus: stay to the end for a musical tribute to Tom Jones! Warning: this podcast will contain spoilers! Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 07 Sep 2023 | Lucifer 112 + 113 “#TeamLucifer” & “Take Me Back to Hell” | 00:34:19 | |
In these beautifully paired episodes, we get to relish in the villainy of Malcolm (Kevin Rankin), aka “Detective ‘Stache,” giggle at the caricature of Lucifer the Satanists present (there’s a lot of goat imagery!) even as we feel for the bereaved in the case-of-the-week procedural story-arc. Betrayal is a key theme in these two episodes, with many of the central cast experiencing a sense that their friends have let them down or outright hurt them through treachery or deceit. We take the time to overthink and appreciate the big things (the writing! the acting! the cinematography!) and the little details (Lucifer is often seen holding or lighting but never *smoking* a cigarette). In a moment of overthinking exuberance, we speculate that in “Take Me Back to Hell” God serves as Lucifer’s enforcer, and wish our showrunners had allowed the characters to say so explicitly! Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 14 Sep 2023 | Lucifer 201 + 202 "Everything's Coming Up Lucifer" & "Liar, Liar, Slutty Dress on Fire" | 00:33:48 | |
The first two episodes of season two we meet new, key characters: the Goddess of Creation (in Charlotte Richards’ body) (Tricia Helfer) and Ella Lopez (Aimee Garcia). We also get the first appearance of Lee Garner, a.ka. Mr. Said-Out-Bitch (Jeremiah Birkett). As we dig into these two episodes we go deep into the source material for the notion of a Goddess as consort or wife to the creator God. We admire the writers’ ability to fold exposition about Ella into the dialogue more-or-less naturally, and celebrate the story beat that has Lucifer dealing with naive (and naked!) behavior from his mom/the Goddess that he pulled on Chloe several episodes ago. The cinematography and decor of the penthouse show up beautifully in these episodes, including the funky tree chandelier and the balcony as a place to talk to (or smirk at) God. And of course, as a Wisconsin resident, Emily could not allow the preponderance of cheese in these episodes to go unmentioned. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 21 Sep 2023 | Lucifer 203 + 204 "Sin-Eater" & "Lady Parts" | 00:37:12 | |
These two episodes of Lucifer prove to be the jumping-off point for intense conversations. Recorded not long after Kyle Rittenhouse (the white teenager who crossed state lines and killed Black Lives Matter protesters) was acquitted, Tracie and Emily are thinking about punishment, justice, and the ways in which inherited paradigms can sometimes obscure other ways of thinking. We think hard about what we owe one another and how we as individuals and societies do and do not hold ourselves accountable for our complicity in repeated injustice. (Don’t worry, we also spend some time giggling over the abundant crotch jokes in these episodes.) Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 28 Sep 2023 | Lucifer 205 + 206 "Weaponizer" & “Monster” | 00:31:44 | |
In really good television this season, we meet some new folks and new relationships. The Weaponizer/Body Bag franchises become a pillar of background ideas and images–and the initial basis of Lucifer and Dan enjoying one another’s company. The short arc of Uriel the angel/villain leads to a reflection on what makes a “good” villain, what a fantastic super-power pattern recognition (and prediction) would be, and the advisability of having a character say “I didn’t see that coming.” We speculate that Ryan Goldburg (Phil LaMarr) is supposed to be a Black Jew (mishpocha/family!), and though it’s too bad he turns out to be a killer (and a coward), we appreciate the representation! These episodes also provide the exceedingly validating realization that even the Goddess of All Creation is overwhelmed by all of the tasks a working mother is expected to perform daily. Not to mention some unashamed Tricia Helfer thirst from both sisters. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 05 Oct 2023 | Lucifer 207 + 208 "My Little Monkey" and "Trip to Stabby Town" | 00:31:50 | |
“My LIttle Monkey” and “Welcome to Stabby Town” offer both humor and pathos, and have the sisters deep in our feelings. Lucifer continues to flail in these episodes after Dr. Linda’s reaction to his devil face in the last episode. Her reaction, which he reads as rejection, is confirmation of his own self-loathing, which Lucifer himself articulates when he tells the villain in the bath house that he hates Lucifer Morningstar. Within the same pair of episodes, though, there is the deeply funny scene of the suggestive pantomime Lucifer and Ella perform in figuring out how all of the participants at a yoga class ended up dead. Amidst some really strong guyliner game in these episodes, we notice some echoing of language between what Maze says to Linda and what Chloe says to Lucifer in trying to (re)establish connections. This dialogue construction leads us on a tangent to include Boomer text messaging behavior and Biblical language. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 12 Oct 2023 | Lucifer 209 + 210 "Homewrecker" & “Quid Pro Ho” | 00:26:16 | |
“Homewrecker” and “Quid Pro Ho” have us thinking about the inherent chaos of the goddess of creation and destruction, and the nature of chaos. How much of chaos is simple messiness, and how much of it is destruction? Or is it something else altogether? We’re also struck by how refreshing it is to see a competent woman on screen just being her badass competent self, and how Tom Ellis is the only actor who could follow up a Nietzsche joke with an anal sex joke. (Also, we once again talk about Lucifer's guyliner, which we would like to rename Guy-Decker liner). Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 19 Oct 2023 | Lucifer 211 + 212 "Stewardess Interruptus" & "Love Handles" | 00:30:12 | |
Sometimes, Tracie and Emily have so much overthinking to impart, they make lists so as not to miss anything. This is one of those times. “Stewardess Interruptus” and “Love Handles” have one of Lucifer and Chloe’s sweetest moments and one of their sexiest. These episodes force characters and audience rearranging mental furniture around Lucifer’s sexuality, and they have Tracie and Emily rearranging their ideas of which character they most resemble (turns out it’s Luficer’s admirer/stalker, Suki Price (Diana Bang)). As is often the case, the sisters’ discussion leads them down rabbit holes of memory (that time Emily hand fed Tracie mac & cheese because Tracie was driving a stick shift and the cheesy noodles were fresh and delicious) as well as meta abstractions about human behavior and thought patterns (is binary thinking universal, or is it cultural?). And, lest you think this episode is overly intellectual, let us remind you, “self-worth comes from within, b!tches.” Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 26 Oct 2023 | Lucifer 213 + 214 "A Good Day to Die" & "Candy Morningstar" | 00:35:00 | |
In discussing these two deeply satisfying episodes Tracie and Emily have deep resonance with some plot points as well as moments of downright confusion. The delightfully complicated and not-who-she-seems Candy Morningstar (Lindsey Gort) makes it clear we should never underestimate women just because they fit into a stereotype. This makes the moment when Chloe (Lauren German) pretends to be Candy even more entertaining. When looking at the parenting choices from the Goddess (Tricia Helfer), Emily realizes we should get together and go bowling with whichever person in the writer's room experienced their parents' contentious divorce, because man can we relate (even though the contention for us was mainly not from our parents themselves!). It also becomes clear, again, that Lucifer (Tom Ellis) is a REALLY old adolescent. And in the end, the sisters have a good laugh when realizing Emily COMPLETELY MISSED a plot point misdirection because she is a sweet summer child who has never purchased diamonds. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 02 Nov 2023 | Lucifer 215 + 216 "Deceptive Little Parasite" & “God Johnson” | 00:34:51 | |
An episode featuring a murder set in an exclusive private school sets off some OPINIONS from Emily about what really matters in education and the inherent classism built into mom-shaming. She also shares the surprising theory that children are really just three puppies in a trench coat. Meanwhile, an episode in which an emanation of the Divine inhabits a bearded guy with intensely blue eyes has us overthinking names (again), and the relationship between Lucifer and Amenadiel has us thinking about what it means to both be at each other’s throats and have each other’s backs. And as two Gen Xers, we wonder (through our nostalgia) if Spandau Ballet is really the best way to parent trap God and the Divine Goddess. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 09 Nov 2023 | Lucifer 217 + 218 "Sympathy for the Goddess" & "The Good, the Bad and the Crispy | 00:38:09 | |
These final two episodes of Season 2 have Tracie and Emily taking long walks tangential from the episodes themselves. These include Tracie geeking out over the nature of divinity in the Hebrew scriptures, Emily waxing poetic about the fashion of the 1990s, and both sisters drooling a little over the Morningstar boys. | |||
| 16 Nov 2023 | Lucifer 301 + 302 "They're Back, Aren't They?" & "The One with the Baby Carrot" | 00:40:47 | |
The first two episodes of many fans’ least favorite season have the Guy Girls meandering on a wide range of topics. We move from some straightforward continuity questions (How is Lucifer able to be sunburned? And how did he not lose Amenadiel’s necklace when he was kidnapped?) to observations about the treatment of faith and hope (Ella humansplains faith to an angel!). In more abstract overthinking, we use comedy as an entree to think about “theft” (not plagiarism!) as essential to creativity, muse on how penis-size jokes are fundamentally trans-phobic, and commiserate around the sex appeal of emotional brokenness and/or unavailability. We also spend a good amount of time bemoaning just how silly “Sinner Man” sounds when you say it out loud: instead of striking fear in our hearts, the moniker makes us crave sticky buns… Emily’s book is Stacked: Your Super-Serious Guide to Modern Money Management Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 23 Nov 2023 | Lucifer 303 + 304 "Mr. and Mrs. Mazikeen Smith" & "What Would Lucifer Do?" | 00:28:38 | |
These two episodes serve as a pattern-interrupt and then re-establishment of Lucifer’s dickishness in Season 3. Turns out there were very practical reasons for the pattern interrupt (they were filmed out of sequence) and also some storytelling beats that affected their reception (some of the choices and dialogue in 304 make sense only when looking back from later in the season). This leads to thoughts about how the indefinite lifespan of American television can make for some significant trade-offs and the real possibility of characters ending up as caricatures of their initial iterations. It wouldn’t be Emily and Tracie if there weren’t some discussion about the absolutely unfair level of attractiveness out of this cast and some strong opinions about peculiar things (Emily has FEELINGS about the appropriate rhyming consequences for snitches). NOTE: Major Season 3 spoilers in this episode. Referenced in this episode: How to Be Perfect by Michael Schurr Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 30 Nov 2023 | Lucifer 305 + 306: "Welcome Back, Charlotte Richards" & "Vegas with Some Radish" | 00:37:27 | |
“Welcome Back, Charlotte Richards” and “Vegas with Some Radish” give us some interesting back story on pre-Goddess Charlotte and card-counting Ella. We also get a nice blend of physical humor and satisfying writing. In the episode 305, We see our writers having their cake and eating it too as they critique the over-sexualization of consumer advertising while lingering lovingly on scantily-clad women (and a few men) trying to sell pudding. Tom Ellis really convinces us of Lucifer’s discomfort with Charlotte’s (Tricia Helfer) advances with a scramble up the piano’s keys, melodic tinkling and all. And Charlotte epitomizes the literary definition of cuckoo-bananapants with her attempts to restore the balance of good and bad deeds. In 306, there is some really effective fill-in writing about Lucifer’s not-quite-ex-wife, Candy Morningstar, and a really fun musical number with Lucifer on vocals and Ella (Aimee Garcia) in a showgirl’s costume. (Lucifer’s vocals remind Tracie of Michael, the archangel twin we won’t meet until season 4). We also get a not-quite-believable private party for a few of Lucifer’s friends at the penthouse, because hey, a high quality sound system, top shelf liquor, and the best views of the city are hard to pass up. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 07 Dec 2023 | Lucifer 307 + 308 "Off the Record" & "Chloe Does Lucifer" | 00:45:29 | |
“Off the Record” and “Chloe Does Lucifer” provide a pattern interrupt, but keep things moving forward in season 3. Emily and Tracie find that “Off the Record” hits some satisfying storytelling notes, including big reveals, dramatic irony, and some meta-commentary about hell loops from within a hell loop. And while “Chloe Does Lucifer” gives us some touchstones of the titular characters’ relationship, it also makes Emily’s insides all twisty with second-hand embarrassment when Chloe tries to follow the advice of Luficer’s female alter-ego, Lucinda. As so often happens in the sisters’ conversations, the path is circuitous and winding. In thinking about the Chloe’s characterization as the hardboiled, no-nonsense detective saddled with the wily and wild unorthodox partner, we realize the type is a regular–and regularly Guy-Girl-appreciated–version of copaganda, from Castle to Zootopia to X-Files. And that realization brings us to think about a similarly gritty but remarkably emotionally hard-working female character of our youth: Princess Leia. The sisters laugh their way out of this week’s conversation as they reveal that while Avenue Q taught us the internet is for porn, for Tracie, Twitter is for Tom Ellis. CW: this episode was recorded just one week after the Uvalde school shooting in which 19 children and 2 adults were murdered, and that backdrop colors the conversation about the culture’s attitude toward police and the cognitive dissonance that leads to conspiracy theories like Sandy Hook denial. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 14 Dec 2023 | Lucifer 309 + 310 "The Sinnerman" & "The Sin Bin" | 00:38:38 | |
Tracie and Emily agree that though there is some satisfying humor in “The Sinnerman” and “The Sin Bin,” these are not two episodes that either like to revisit. Not only does the plot in both episodes fail to hang together, but Tracie has a visceral reaction to eye-related injuries, and the sisters struggle with the lack of accountability for Chloe, Lucifer, and Pierce breaking a hardened criminal out of jail. The grim reality of Lucifer being responsible for the torture of a living soul also makes it difficult to root for him, and it’s completely unclear why the “Sinnerman” went to all that trouble (and eye-gouging) for suicide-by-cop. The sisters do find plenty to laugh about, including how they are both too old for roller derby (and no one appreciated Emily’s roller derby name of Shayna Punish), why it took six doctors to remove a carpet fuzzy from their father’s eye in the early 70s (and none of that is a euphemism), and the relative effectiveness of Lucifer’s mojo via television screen. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 21 Dec 2023 | Lucifer 311 + 312 "A City of Angels?" & "All About Her" | 00:41:28 | |
“City of Angels?” and “All About Her” have us thinking a lot about tv writers’ short cuts and senses of humor. The first, a pre-season-1 prequel, provides some believable and some less-believable canon origins for show staples. On the plus side, we get some mostly-naked scenes of Amenadiel (DB Woodside), but there is no interaction between Lucifer and Chloe at all. Bonus: Emily recounts that time she made friends with a Playboy playmate. In discussing “All About Her,” Tracie follows a rabbit hole about the nature and historical interpretation of the mark of Cain, and the sisters lament the difficulty of finding good minions these days. We close our conversation with some darn fine overthinking about Lucifer’s power to “turn things on.” Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 28 Dec 2023 | Lucifer 313 + 314 "Til Death Do Us Part" & "My Brother's Keeper" | 00:38:06 | |
“Til Death Do Us Part” and “My Brother’s Keeper” provide some delightful storytelling and some missed opportunities around the world’s first murderer and his relationship with the devil. In “My Brother’s Keeper” Tracie reflects on the simple-yet-effective forensic analysis Ella provides at the crime scene, which Emily points out is the To Kill A Mockingbird defense (i.e. the killer was left-handed and the suspect is not). The sisters have each other laughing hard about the uncomfortable attraction between Maze and Charlotte (though not so uncomfortable that Tracie doesn’t invite Lesley-Ann Brandt to recreate the scene), and the likelihood that Hell smells, at least a little, like Axe body spray. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 04 Jan 2024 | Lucifer 315 + 316 "High School Poppycock" & "Infernal Guinea Pig | 00:42:54 | |
“High School Poppycock” and “Infernal Guinea Pig” are fun episodes with some serious overthinking potential. In conversation about “High School Poppycock,” Emily relates her experience unhinging her jaw and swallowing the Twilight series whole. In fact, that brief conversation on Emily’s thoughts about Twilight became the pilot for the Guy Girls’ other project, Deep Thoughts about Stupid Sh*t. Also in this episode: Chekhov’s photo booth and Chloe’s understandable fangirling on the subjects of the high school drama of the viral novels at the heart of the case-of-the-week. About “Infernal Guinea Pig,” the sisters have deep appreciation for the hilarity of Bree/Abel (Lauren Lapkus) and ponder over the likelihood that Chloe would recognize a “blasting cap.” Tracie deeply overthinks the pronunciation of Cain’s name (when said by his brother in a moment of panic) and the sisters laugh about the ways in which Tom Welling is a wild turkey. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 11 Jan 2024 | Lucifer 318 + 319 "Let Pinhead Sing" & "The Last Heartbreak" | 00:39:08 | |
“Let Pinhead Sing” & “The Last Heartbreak” make for some satisfying overthinking. Tracie and Emily delve deep into literal and figurative mirroring in the show, the sociological and evolutionary benefit of Tom Ellis’s devastated face, and the need for another character to alert the audience to the so-called romantic chemistry between Pierce (Tom Welling) and Chloe (Lauren German). We question the likelihood of a thousands-of-years-old man lugging a rock collection around the world, and acknowledge the fact that if the showrunners were more historically accurate with language usage, it wouldn’t be a particularly enjoyable show. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 16 Jan 2024 | Lucifer 319 + 320 "Orange Is the New Maze" & "The Angel of San Bernardino" | 00:41:30 | |
“Orange is the New Maze” and the “Angel of San Bernadino” provide some interesting character development for Maze and some reminders that Lucifer is, in fact, the devil. Emily explores the ADHD-esque behavior of both Lucifer and Maze (hyper-fixation, missing social cues, etc) while Tracie appreciates Lauren German’s acting (for once). In true Guy Girl form, the sisters crack one another up talking about Pierce’s TERRIBLE pick-up lines and speculate on whether Chloe and Pierce are never-nudes. On a more serious note, Tracie and Emily question the effect of having two immortal beings fall in love with Chloe Decker. Does that make her more special, or less special because she is quite simply a trophy and not a person? We also unpack the rare use of split screen and the tendency of Maze and Lucifer to literally and psychologically pummel one another. But lest you worry we’re too serious, you should know there’s also considerable time spent discussing the realistic response to having one’s sandwich rudely snatched. Have a listen and overthink with us! Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 25 Jan 2024 | Lucifer 321 + 322 "Anything Pierce Can Do I Can Do Better" & "All Hands on Decker" | 00:44:35 | |
When you aren’t binging, “Anything Pierce Can Do I Can Do Better” & “All Hands On Decker,” are painful episodes to watch. Lucifer’s obliviousness is torture to Chloe Decker, who simply wants to be seen and loved. Tracie gets her Toms mixed up, Emily cannot abide the notion of a 20-min delay in Los Angeles, and the incongruous hair texture of actor and character are once again noticed. We think about #MeToo vis a vis the male water polo team who show up at Chloe’s bachelorette party and agree that undergraduates are basically toddlers. As always, the sisters spend some time appreciating the beauty of Tom Ellis, especially as he portrays devastated Lucifer, and as always, they find ridiculousness to make one another laugh (the Pierce/Chloe Decker ship will forever be known as Pecker). There’s also no small amount of brain space devoted to the exploration of what mortality provides humanity and why art so often imagines immortals losing it when faced with the truth of death. Mentioned in this episode: Scythe series by Neal Schusterman Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 01 Feb 2024 | Lucifer 323 + 324 "Quintessential Deckerstar" & "A Devil of My Word" | 00:37:30 | |
“Quintessential Deckerstar” & “Devil of My Word” are so packed full of goodness to unpack we had to make notes for our conversation to make sure we didn’t miss anything. When it comes to storytelling, these episodes provide some deeply satisfying (and tear-jerking) character development, especially for Dan (Kevin Alejandro), Charlotte (Tricia Helfer), and Maze (Lesley-Ann Brandt). When it comes to performance, they absolutely convince us that Tom Ellis actually has wings which can stop bullets, but only with great pain to their owner. And when it comes to female characters’ badassery, these two episodes deliver over and over again with Charlotte, Chloe (Lauren German), Maze, and Ella (Aimee Garcia). In keeping with our own fascinations, we spend some time talking about mental health and cosmological implications of the storytelling. For the former, we note the comfort these episodes can provide when Lucifer’s devilishness is seen as an allegory for mental illness, truama, or other circumstances one might want to hide or be ashamed of. For the cosmology, we question the veracity of even hardened criminals opening fire on a literal angel and double down on our own shared head cannon that there are ways for Hell to hold on to souls that caused harm and acted badly even when those individuals do not feel guilt about their actions. Tracie was recovering from a chest cold, and never did remember the final thought she mentioned. CW: discussion of gendered violence (compliant with that depicted in the show), including a serial abuser holding a knife to his girlfriend’s throat. Mentioned in this episode Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 08 Feb 2024 | Lucifer 325 + 326 "Boo Normal" & "Once Upon a Time" | 00:43:59 | |
“Boo Normal” & “Once Upon a Time” interrupt the flow of the Deckerstar storyline. These two episodes, though both boasting solid storytelling, tend to get skipped, fast-forwarded, or otherwise maligned by fans who cannot wait to find out what happens after Chloe unequivocally learns the truth in “A Devil of My Word.” Tracie and Emily take some time to investigate and overthink these two “bonus” episodes. The sisters spend time overthinking in what proto-Semitic language the Angel Azrael might have first coined the phrase “Smell you later” and unpacking the need for both Death of the Endless (who removes the soul from the body) and the angel of death (who escorts the soul to its final destination). They lament the adolescent behavior of a Lucifer who uses the forensics camera to take dick pics, but appreciate the hero worship that Ella displays toward Chloe. In Once Upon a Time, both sisters swoon over Neil Gaiman as the voice of God, laugh at the idea of Amenadiel circling Los Angeles waiting for Lucifer’s prayer, and blush about the scene in which Lucifer is overheard with a witness, “pumping her for information.” In a deep overthinking of celestial biology and physics, the sisters decide that bullets must crumple against Lucifer’s skin and then fall into the waistband of his trousers. Heads-up, Emily had the wrong mic selected when we recorded, so her voice is a bit under water. The content remains insightful and hilarious. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 15 Feb 2024 | Lucifer 401 + 402 "Everything's Okay" & "Somebody's Been Reading Dante's Inferno" | 00:42:53 | |
“Everything’s Okay” and “Somebody’s Been Reading Dante’s Inferno” contain one of the sexiest scenes in the whole series, some really comprehensible character behavior, and some mediocre delivery of that behavior. The sisters spend a disproportionate amount of time gushing over the first several minutes of “Everything’s Okay,” only to ease into an almost grudging appreciation for the task the writers set themselves by requiring the details of the cases in the procedural to map to the drama of the central characters. Because of Chloe’s (Lauren German) instance to Father Kinley (Graham Mctavish) that “you just don’t know him like I do,” Tracie has the painful realization that Lucifer (Tom Ellis) has been (arguably?) emotionally abusive to Chloe. In a series of duck-related tangents, the sisters reference the Marx Brothers (Why a duck?), a song about a duck who wants a grape, Duck Tales, and Darkwing Duck (the latter of which may show up on a future episode of Deep Thoughts about Stupid Sh*t). CW: Abstract discussion of abusive, co-dependent relationships. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 22 Feb 2024 | Lucifer 403 + 404 "O, Ye of Little Faith, Father" & "All About Eve" | 00:44:23 | |
“O, Ye of Little Faith, Father” and “All About Eve” bring some of Emily’s favorite moments of the whole series. The first provides deeply satisfying dramatic irony through Father Kinley’s (Graham McTavish) web of deception, the whole of which, only we the viewers see. The second gives delicious comfort to a devastated Lucifer (Tom Ellis) who fears he is unlovable but is embraced–in his devil face–by the biblical Eve (Inbar Lavi). There are also significant opportunities for overthinking, from Eve’s name (with a correction and apology from Tracie at the beginning of the episode) to just how much the murderer knew of the whole plot to reveal Lucifer’s face, to how and when Linda acquired her house. As always the storytelling, including visual storytelling, gets the sisters’ attention. In what might be called a theme, Tracie spends a little time complaining that Lauren German’s delivery as Chloe somehow doesn’t sell the dialogue, and both sisters get a chuckle over Maze’s condolences over the sex of the baby. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 29 Feb 2024 | Lucifer 405 + 406 "Expire Erect" & "Orgy Pants to Work" | 00:50:05 | |
“Expire Erect” (Die Hard, get it?) and “Orgy Pants to Work” turn out to be fantastic fodder for the Guy Girls’ particular brand of overthinking, and we did not hold back. Tracie had some THINGS to say about the mythology of Lilith (Maze’s mom), which led to some questions about who (and how) Lilith even is, and whether or not Lucifer could have been Eve’s “first time.” To answer those questions, we actually got a copy of the Bible off the shelf to check the chronology of what happened in and after the garden of Eden. Also in this episode, we dig into what’s going on with the writers’ manipulation of our feelings by making the bad guy super reprehensible. We unpack the use of female archetypes of maiden, mother, crone, whore, and witch (and why Eve can’t be maternal because Chloe’s got the lock on that one), which leads to Emily reassuring her sister, “oh honey, you can still be a whore if you want to. There’s also some speculation as to whether or not “punchable face” is an acting choice and the stamina-inducing powers of acai. If you only ever listen to one episode of LIghtbringers, this should be the one. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 07 Mar 2024 | Lucifer 407 + 408 "Devil Is as Devil Does" & "Super Bad Boyfriend" | 00:47:46 | |
“Devil is as Devil Does” and “Super Bad Boyfriend” give some hints that the writers were wrestling with their copagandistic vehicle. However, there were also moments in these two episodes, especially in Chloe’s voice, that oversimplify the “rightness” of human justice. That they made these explorations around the death of a Black teenager is all the more topical (and will be returned to in season 6). These two episodes also tackle the experience of self-hatred that both sisters find heart-breakingly relatable. From Lucifer’s bat-like wings, to Dan’s attempts to externalize his self-loathing in a beating from Maze, to Maze reacting to a would-be date who is remarkably like she is, our writers invite us to think about self-perception again and again. As always, the sisters investigate the story structure and writing, lingering over the ways the dialogue and the acting communicate the story, and teasing out the meaning of specific glances and blocking. Mentioned in this episode: Helen Rosen “ How Apples Go Bad” https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/how-apples-go-bad Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 14 Mar 2024 | Lucifer 409 + 410 "Save Lucifer" & "Who's da New King of Hell?" | 00:45:09 | |
“Save Lucifer” and “Who’s da New King of Hell?” allow the Guy Girls to overthink everything from acting vs. directorial choices, to the nature of sin and guilt, to the possibility of a “happy ending” for an immortal being in love with an all-too-human one. Tracie couldn’t wait to start the episode with her frustrations with Lauren German’s delivery of the emotional range required for Chloe’s (good, not great) dialogue, and we also spend significant time pondering the in-universe veracity of souls going to Hell immediately post-confession. We wonder over the seeming paucity of therapists in Los Angeles (is Linda really the only one?), and Emily is really into Kevin Alejandro’s beatboxing. These two episodes were meant to be the final of the series when they were produced. Have a listen to the Guy Girls’ overthinking of whether or not they stuck the landing. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 19 Mar 2024 | Lucifer 501 + 502 "Really Sad Devil Guy" & "Lucifer! Lucifer! Lucifer!" | 00:42:12 | |
In our conversation about “Really Sad Devil Guy” & “Lucifer! Lucifer! Lucifer!” we think a lot about the tropes and short cuts that come from soap opera storytelling. And we don’t hate it. Both sisters are impressed with Tom Ellis’s ability to make us believe he is, in fact, his own twin (even down to his butt cheeks!). Tracie picks apart a key plot point in the case of the week, and Emily uses some very graphic metaphors to describe her reaction to Ellis’ American accent as Michael. It is exceedingly clear that this episode was recorded more than a year ago, because though the angel-is-not-good and devil-is-not-bad twinning comparison to Good Omens is clear and obvious, we do not make it, raising Satanic Verses instead. We also spend some time appreciating Lee, aka Mr. Said-Out-Bitch (Jeremiah Birkett), and his charm and emotional intelligence, even if he never fully lived up to his potential in life. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 28 Mar 2024 | Lucifer 503 + 504 "¡Diablo!" & "It Never Ends Well for the Chicken" | 00:50:01 | |
The layers of meta-commentary in the episode about a TV show where the actual devil is a consultant with the LAPD is lots of fun, and has the sisters wondering if Lucifer would have been more offended on Chloe’s behalf by turning her character into a stripper-turned-detective who doesn’t seem to be particularly bright. And the return of Lilith in a 1946 black-and-white mystery episode invites some exploration of the mythology of Lilith, the first human woman who became a monster. The Egyptomania and Orientalism in the same episode lead to a long tangent about the ways in which humans tend to ascribe literal magic to anything they don’t fully understand (e.g. Ancient Egyptian mummies in the early 20th century, computers in the 1990s, or bitcoin in the last 10 years). As always there’s some breathless appreciation of the beauty of this cast (Tracie admits Tom Ellis is her sexual orientation) and the evidence of their skill when the same actor plays different characters. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 04 Apr 2024 | Lucifer 505 + 506 “Detective Amenadiel” & “Blue Ballz” | 00:41:28 | |
“Detective Amenadiel” and “Blue Ballz” are the only two episodes in this whole experiment that the sisters watched while in the same room, and they contain some of their most beloved and most reviled of the whole series. In their meanderings, the Guy girls think about the metaphor of reflection as used both visually and rhetorically in “Detective Amenadiel.” They ruminate on the badassery of Maze bounty hunting the object of Linda’s angst and thereby come up with the premise for a new book series featuring Emily’s best friend Erika as a bounty-hunting priest. Tracie is also deeply bothered by the reverse engineering of the storytelling required to get Lucifer’s phone into Michael’s hands. The sisters try to find universe-complilant justificaiton for how some people see proof of divinity and are driven to distraction by it while the villain in one of these episodes is repulsed. At the same time, Emily loses her ability to word when thinking about the sexiness of the final five minutes of “Bule Ballz” and also the inadequacy of Jed’s nose (it’s simply too small). Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 11 Apr 2024 | Lucifer 507 + 508 “Our Mojo” & “Spoiler Alert” | 00:38:59 | |
On rewatch, the Guy girls were reminded just how much they compartmentalize their memories about these two episodes. “Our Mojo” and “Spoiler Alert” provide delightfully fun and funny moments intermixed with grim details of the serial-killer-right-under-our-noses storyline. The sisters spend time teasing out the phenomenological and metaphorical mechanisms behind the supernatural elements of “Our Mojo,” including Lucifer’s emotional immaturity and the consequences of having the drawer-of-desires finally achieving his own desire. Comparing and contrasting the three angelic siblings (as well as the two villains, Pete and Michael) captures their attention, and they agree that Pete is the most chilling of the killers in the procedural portion of the show. In the end, Emily longs for an encouraging gif of DB Woodside believing in her and Tracie refuses to believe that a hardboiled detective like Chloe Decker would drink a frou-frou coffee order. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 18 Apr 2024 | Lucifer 509 + 510 "Family Dinner" & "Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam" | 00:50:25 | |
“Family Dinner” and “Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam” deliver both some of the funniest and some of the most poignant moments of the whole series. With a general appreciation for the relatableness of so much of what happens between characters in these two episodes and a very specific appreciation for Tom Ellis’ collarbones, the Guy sisters overthink these two season five episodes. The sisters spend significant air time enjoying the Gen-X-appealing music, the commentary on parent-child relationships, and the elegance of metaphors made manifest in these two episodes. They also dig deep into the nature of shame and internalized oppression and the significance of Chloe having “faith” that Lucifer is capable of love. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 25 Apr 2024 | Lucifer 511 + 512 "Resting Devil Face" & "Daniel Espinoza: Naked and Afraid" | 00:47:52 | |
“Resting Devil Face” is a delightful romp the sisters want to revisit more often. “Daniel Espinoza: Naked and Afraid” may be both of their least favorite. In “Resting Devil Face,” the celestial siblings’ relationship digs in to the very human experience of realizing one’s parent is vulnerable. In a satisfying dovetailing of the case-of-the-week and the celestial story line, we see the unintended consequences of parenting choices and also receive the Hollywood trope that so many of us still need to hear: you already have what you need to be happy and/or worthy. “Daniel Espinoza: Naked and Afraid” provides quite a bit of fan service and clues to what is going on through campiness and subtext which neither Emily nor Tracie are particularly skilled at seeing on first-watch. The sisters agree that it takes a certain degree of cruelty to execute such an elaborate and emotionally taxing prank, and neither of them like to think of Lucifer as cruel. We realize that “a theological aside” could have been the subtitle of this podcast and take a moment to plug our other project, Deep Thoughts About Stupid Sh*t. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects (including Deep Thoughts about Stupid Sh*t), to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 02 May 2024 | Lucifer 513 + 514 “A LIttle Harmless Stalking” & “Nothing Lasts Forever” | 00:51:59 | |
“A Little Harmless Stalking” & “Nothing Lasts Forever” are ripe for overthinking, and the Guy girls do. These two stories invite meditations on the reconciliation of adult children and their parents, a scene that has become common in contemporary pop fiction, and which Tracie & Emily dub psychological or family dynamic fiction: art that creates an aspiration that isn’t true, yet, but could be because of the art. As is often the case in Lucifer, upon deeper reflection, the overlapping lines of connection between the characters is a bit unsettling as we realize that Eve and Maze together means the latter is dating her ex-husband’s ex-wife’s daughter. Emily analyzes Ella’s “darkness” and names it intrusive thoughts, which she wishes the show itself had done. Tracie is disappointed in the off-brand nature of the joke of Handjobiel’s name, and both sisters linger over what it even means for God to retire from a universe that was made by God but also is God. Originally published as a YouTube show with different theme music. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 09 May 2024 | Lucifer 515 + 516 “Is This Really How It’s Going to End” & “We Could Have Had a Happy Ending” | 00:52:31 | |
These two final episodes of season five pack and emotional wallup. With more than one major character death (though 2 don’t stay dead), the Guy girls both admit to shedding some tears, even in rewatch. The views we get of both Heaven and Hell have Emily and Tracie thinking deeply about the nature of punishment, the compatibility of justice with pain, and whether or not free will is worth the huge risk we face to have it. We help each other with head canon around why Michael behaves the way he does, how Lee managed to get out of Hell, and what’s going on for Chloe when she confesses to no longer feeling guilty on her death bed. As we often do, we speculate a bit around alternative storytelling paths the showrunners might have taken, and unlike our sometime-dissatisfaction with Lauren German, both sisters agree the actress rose to the occasion in this season. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 16 May 2024 | Lucifer 601 + 602 “Nothing Ever Changes Around Here” & “Buckets of Baggage” | 00:50:35 | |
And so begins the Guy sisters’ rewatch of Season 6: Nobody’s favorite season. With these two episodes, the sisters spend considerable time lamenting the fact that there are no media role models for people who are childless by choice, including, it seems, Lucifer. We also are perplexed and perturbed by multiple details of these two episodes, from Lucifer’s assertion that he is a “wonder-seeker” to what the heck is sexy about all the broken furniture to how Ella Lopez could be at all attracted to vanilla, milquetoast, Carrol. On the other hand, there is a unanimous appreciation for the drag performers in the second episode and the writing that had one of those performers sharing she always aims to make people laugh to avoid having them laugh at her in the wrong way. We get a little bit ahead of ourselves in thinking about the storybeat that is Rory, and whether or not hers is the ending the show deserved, and puzzle over the inclusion of Michael in Hell, whose face we never see (because they couldn’t get the actor back? J/k Michael is Tom Ellis, too!), and close out the episode by sharing our own drag names. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 23 May 2024 | Lucifer 603 + 604 “Yabba Dabba Do Me” & “Pin the Tail on the Daddy” | 00:50:13 | |
As season 6 progresses, the Guy sisters have some moments of joy and appreciation and quite a few quibbles for the writers. Though the cartoonified episode is in some ways delightful (Tracie wanted to be an animator when she was a kid), there are moments in the writing that feel either ableist or rushed (or both). The sisters note that it feels particularly hypocritical that the episode seems to judge Jimmy Barnes for being less-than rational/typical when the whole show is a daydream from a comic book. In the second of the two episodes, Lucifer’s one-time lover, Esther, who is now a rabbi provides fodder for musings on the kinds of theological and cosmological God-wrestling the character of Lucifer Morningstar engenders. We also spend more than a little time (and intentional and unintentional double entendres) wondering about the seemingly misplaced erection jokes that pop up in the episode (see what we did there?). In the end, though there remains some good things to recommend even these season 6 episodes, the sisters are left with the sense that the whole enterprise would have benefited from a bit more time for reflection, review, and revision. To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon | |||
| 30 May 2024 | Lucifer 605 + 606 “The Murder of Lucifer Morningstar” & “A Lot Dirtier Than That” | 00:50:50 | |
With these two episodes we get some subtext about addiction and some supertext about racist policing. In “The Murder of Lucifer Morningstar,” the sisters realize on rewatch (especially in the context of our analysis of so many moments of mental health metaphors) that Chloe’s obsession with the super-strength the necklace provides is a stand-in for addiction. “A Lot Dirtier Than That” provides a big chunk of the story arc that serves as penance for the five seasons of copaganda that came before it. Though the storytelling is heavy-handed in both its visuals and dialogue, our conversation argues the heavy-handedness was necessary in the face of the power of the trope that cops are unequivocally good guys. Taken together these two episodes provide deeply meaningful moments around grief, loneliness, and regret, powerful social commentary around racism in policing, and seriously cringe-worthy second-hand embarrassment as Lucifer tries (too hard) to connect with the daughter he doesn’t yet have. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 06 Jun 2024 | Lucifer 607 + 608 'My Best Fiend's Wedding' & 'Save the Devil, Save the World' | 00:49:19 | |
In this penultimate episode of Lightbringers, the Guy sisters continue to notice the moments and threads of season 6 that seem to point to a rushed (and self-amusing) writers’ room. From the unprofessional move of Linda’s book (why didn’t they just make it fiction?) to the disappointingly milquetoast Carroll, there are story and character beats that felt forced. At the same time, we deeply appreciate Chloe-as-audience-proxy in the conversation about how some people don’t have the choice to walk away from the fight against racism. We spend considerable time thinking through the casting and writing choices surrounding Adam. What are the implications about the human species if the first man is guilty of toxic masculinity? Why cast a white dude as the first man? In the end, we realized regardless of our analysis, the choices the show made about Adam will have pissed of the right people (probably the same ones who boycotted Netflix because of Good Omens, even though the latter streams on Amazon Prime). Regular listeners will be comforted to know that our appreciation for Tom Ellis’ looks has not faded over these many seasons, and in fact, Emily is adamant that Tom in a tuxedo shirt with suspenders is all she needs on her tv screen. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||
| 13 Jun 2024 | Lucifer 609 + 610 “Goodbye, Lucifer” & “Partners ‘Til the End” | 01:13:18 | |
In the final episode of Lightbringers, the Guy girls still manage some significant overthinking. The storytelling leads them to some questions about how people who don’t feel remorse might be tortured in the Lucifer universe (in other words, what was the magic behind Lucifer’s whispered words to Lemec?). Additionally, the confines of telling a story with actors on a small screen lead to musings about the role our age plays in our identity (and a detour into Star Trek the Next Generation and the Matrix). We enjoy the acting of Rob Benedict as he portrays Vincent Le Mec and then Dan Espinoza inhabiting Vincent Le Mec’s body. We also have some deep appreciation for the visual storytelling used to portray the silver city and the tight writing that gave us the series of events leading to the appearance of Mr. Meowgi the lion and Le Mec’s escape from prison. At the same time, we both were a bit less than satisfied with the writing that would characterize (or at least not significantly distinguish) righteous anger as monstrous, allowed saviorism to flavor the attempt at anti-racism in Chloe’s role as Lieutenant, and left us with the impression Trixie wasn’t present for her. We wrap up the journey with a few thoughts about recommendations for binge-worthy shows that might scratch the Lucifer itch. Our theme song is "Feral Angel Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) To learn more about Tracie and Emily and our other projects, to support us, and join the Guy Girls' family, visit us on Patreon. | |||