I met the devil on a red-eye to London. Flipping through the options on my personal 5X8 screen led me to the first three episodes of Fox’s Lucifer, a show whose description, “The devil, tired of his life in hell, moves to Los Angeles to fight crime,” promised an escape. By the end of the pilot’s teaser, Tom Ellis’s piano-playing devil had me hooked. Lucifer is that little gem of a show that’s too offbeat and clever for network television. Fox proved as much recently when it cancelled Lucifer and prematurely sent the devil back to hell. Fans, however, will not let Lucifer Morningstar go quietly into the abyss. As his all-powerful father knows, Lucifer deserves to be saved.

The casting gods blessed Lucifer (based on DC’s comic books series The Sandman and Lucifer) with Tom Ellis, the perfect physical incarnation of the devil. This fetching Brit swaggers through every frame exuding the kind of searing sex appeal one expects from the Prince of Darkness. Ellis’s Lucifer embodies the original anti-hero – the smart, hot, and damaged son thrown out of heaven by a father impossible to please. He takes up residence in the City of Angels to consort with humans and soon undertakes a process of introspection to deal with some serious daddy issues. Tom Ellis, whose one look in my direction would cause me to confess all that I desire, brings God’s wayward son to life with devilish charm and undeniable thrall.

Lucifer works as an ensemble piece richly populated with actors who measure up to Ellis and characters who challenge Lucifer to be best better. His angelic brother Amenadiel, D.B. Woodside of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame, stretches his wings in an effort to save his beloved Luci. Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer completes the family tree as Lucifer and Amenadiel’s mother Charlotte, former paramour to God himself. The delightfully demonic Mazikeen (Lesley-Ann Brandt) unapologetically tortures mortals and aches for love though such human emotion repels her. Unsurprisingly, these otherworldly visitors carry burdens that require psychiatric intervention which Rachael Harris’s Dr. Linda generously provides.

Lucifer spends his days solving murders with miracle baby turned actress turned police detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German). As one might expect, he fills his nights with amorous sexual encounters, copious alcohol, and all manner of earthly pleasure. Lucifer’s love for “the Detective” challenges this deliciously sinful existence. Chloe’s impish young daughter Trixie (Scarlett Estevez) befuddles Lucifer with her innocence. The Detective’s ex-husband, “Douchey Dan” (Kevin Alejandro), resembles Miranda and Ellis’s own Gary Preston, the kind of all-around-good-guy who fills Lucifer with pity and amused contempt.

Lucifer is refreshingly smart television about divine entities with human frailties and desires akin to the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology. Reveling in his power, Lucifer transfixes humans and causes them to confess their deepest desires while taking halting steps to identify and admit his own. The series pushes the audience to consider who deserves redemption and who belongs in hell. It masks these questions behind a devil-face of clever blink-and-you’ll-miss-it humor.

For these reasons and more, Lucifer deserves a new home and a second chance. Its faithful fans desire answers to burning questions such as whether or not Lucifer and Chloe find love, if Dan and Lopez ever realize they are perfect for each other, or if Lucifer can make peace with dear old dad.

May Lucifer find a celestial resting place with Hulu, Netflix, or The CW, because there is a special place in heaven for whoever saves this series, and a room in hell with Mazikeen for those who do not.

We beseech thee, network gods, hear our prayers. #SaveLucifer