Logline
He's the misunderstood King of Hell. She's a former actress turned police detective. Together, they fight crime!
Dramatis Personae
From left to right:
- Amenadiel, angel of the lord. He starts out being a guard, but Lucifer's his brother
- Mazikeen AKA Maze, actually a demon and Lucifer's right hand and best buddy
- Lucifer Morningstar, fallen angel who resents being hated because he has a job, c'mon, so he runs away from Hell and heads to LA
- Chloe Decker, police detective and former B-movie actress, may or may not be in love with Lucifer
- Dan Espinoza, police detective and Chloe's ex-husband, starts out as a dirty cop but is actually a complete dork
- Linda Martin, licensed therapist who did not think her handsome and delusional patient was actually the Devil, but here we are
- Trixie Espinoza, daughter of Chloe and Dan, she is precocious and her best friend is a demon
- Ella Lopez, forensic scientist, relentlessly cheerful, biggest Deckerstar fangirl
Wherefore Art Thou
The first three seasons were on Fox, the final three seasons on Netflix. There's a distinct change--in the first half, Chloe is 100% the love interest. In the Netflix seasons, she's a co-lead. It's pretty interesting.
In season four, Chloe deals with discovering, finally, that Lucifer, her partner (who let this guy into the precinct?) and informant, who has maintained consistently and sincerely that he is the actual Devil, that yes, he is the actual Devil. She has trouble dealing with this, but they're in love, etc. Eve (yes, that Eve) is around for a while. Amenadiel and Linda have a baby. When demons start trying to kidnap the baby, Lucifer decides to go back to Hell and keep things in order.
And now season five!
Episode Rundown
- "Really Sad Devil Guy"
Lucifer hangs out with a dude named Lee in his Hell loop, while the rest of the gang tries to solve the murder on Earth. Then Lucifer finds out Lee was murdered in California and he's like, YAY I will visit my friends! Except Chloe and Maze are pissed that Lucifer left for Hell. Do I want some Chloe/Maze fic immediately? Yes. (They kiss. They 100% kiss in this episode.)
Amenadiel and Linda are in overdrive protective parent mode, what with their half-angel newborn baby Charlie. Dan swoops in with advice about the only thing he's actually good at: Being a father.
Lucifer's time with Lee in the Hell loop is a sledgehammer of feelings. A couple of seasons ago, Lucifer revealed that the doors in Hell aren't locked--the people there are torturing themselves. He's just, y'know, management. As he spends time with Lee, they get to the root of Lee's guilt--the reason he's compelled to stay in Hell. And as per usual, it turns Lucifer was torturing himself all along.
EXCEPT IT WASN'T LUCIFER THAT SAVED CHLOE.
- "Lucifer! Lucifer! Lucifer!"
Murder at a Mars colony training center! An unreal setting worthy of Bones! And then Tom Ellis is naked! What is happening!
The dude posing as Lucifer is actually his twin, Michael. And he is very, very bad at being Lucifer. (I've mentioned how much I love good actors pretending to be bad actors, right?) He takes his work seriously, he misses every opportunity for innuendo, and he asks people about their fears instead of their desires. And he lies! The Devil never lies!
Then Chloe supposedly decides that boning down is the best way to get Lucifer back to being himself and things get REAL weird, REAL fast.
- ¡Diablo!
At one point, Lucifer says to Amenadiel, "Don't you remember growing up?" Were these heavenly weirdos once children? Also, why aren't there any heavenly sisters flying around?
And now we've got the time-honored plot of Our Heroes being confronted with a show based on their lives. Anything you're imagining about this encounter actually happened. I can almost guarantee it.
But what's actually delightful about this is Maze and Linda getting way, way into watching the show. I don't know why it's always hilarious when TV characters get hooked on TV, but it works for me every time.
And there's some stuff about free will, I guess. And some light maiming.
- "It Never Ends Well for the Chicken"
In what feels like a drastic veer in the narrative thread, we get a black-and-white noir version of one of Lucifer's earlier adventures. Of course, we've got all our regulars playing different characters in fun costumes--and in a fun twist both Chloe and Ella get gender-flipped.
Maze plays Lilith, mother of demons and, thus, her mother and she gets a killer musical number to boot. (The case: Finding a lost ring, which contains a fragment of the Garden of Eden--and supposedly the key to immortality.)
And then Chloe and Charlotte (playing the detective's wife here) make out. Thanks, script!
And everybody else, y'all. What a visual feast this episode is!
Also, Lilith is still alive. Maze is not pleased. Maze has a lot of abandonment issues.
- "Detective Amenadiel"
As much as I agree with Chloe that she just needs time and space away from Lucifer, I am AGHAST that she turned down the opportunity to set something on fire (safely). It's immensely satisfying. But also, more and more I realize how much I care nothing about these two being in a romantic relationship. My heart is a stone. (They actually finally are on the same page, feelings-wise by the end of the episode, and I'm more interested in the cinematography.)
Meanwhile, having Maze find out Linda once gave up a baby for adoption right after she gets roundly rejected by Lilith is an intensely crunchy bit of development. And bonus: Linda gets some stuff to deal with, too! Instead of just rolling her eyes and giving everybody else free therapy. Also, Maze needs some hugs. Lots of 'em.
Lucifer calls on the unbreakable bond of Bracelet Bros and discovers that most detectiving is looking through files. And poor Dan, always willing to give Lucifer one more chance to not be a dick about anything, and always being wrong.
Chloe calling Amenadiel to mojo a bunch of nuns is pretty funny, because he reflects God's love, but everyone assumes it's because of his intense handsomeness. Even sans baby! But I bet the baby would have sped things up.
Amenadiel straight-up taking five bullets from the atheist murderer, growling, "What if it wasn't fake?" I'm just, like, Oh right, angels are terrifying. I love Amenadiel. I legit rewound and rewatched those five seconds a dozen times, for real.
- "BlueBallz"
I feel like the title of this episode is trying to signal something, but what could it possibly be?
A DJ gets electrocuted via the titular headphones. The murder interrupts Chloe and Lucifer's plans to, y'know. Punz abound. Fold in an ex of Chloe's and Lucifer goes into emotionally-stunted overdrive. (Though it's fun to see Lucifer and Dan bond over something aside from Dan being, y'know. A dork.)
Ella gets a journalist love interest, but everything about this dude screams future serial killer. Meanwhile, Maze is trying to avoid being alone for the rest of her life and decides that emulating Ella might be the way to go.
Since this is a DJ-oriented case, we are blessed with the four ladies going undercover at a rave. Why wasn't this the whole episode? This should have been the whole episode.
In other news, half-angel baby Charlie is doing what babies do. While it's kind of trite and tropey, it does beautifully set up the scene where Dan has been helping Amenadiel out with baby stuff and happens to see Lucifer in his devilface OMFG. (Only the devilface makes Charlie stop crying, which is HILARIOUS.)
Oh and then Lucifer and Chloe have sex. The lighting design for this scene is great.
- "Our Mojo"
So apparently Lucifer's ability to get people to confess their desires is sexually transmitted? Because Chloe seems to be able to do it now! WHAT. (Still don't care about them as a couple, but it is pretty startling to see Chloe without any neuroses or anything at all. She's like a different human.) And Lucifer can't mojo anyone!
Cue Lucifer losing his goddamn (heh) mind. It's a metaphor. About relationships and control. Or something. And for a brief time, neither of them have mojo and this is a really strained metaphor now, guys.
Meanwhile, Amenadiel is feeling a little lost and Maze thinks maybe an echo of their previous relationship might be a cure for her loneliness AND his ennui. It is, in fact, not. (Are Amenadiel and Linda not a thing? Like, he tells Linda about it and everything. I'm confused about everything happening here.) The follow-up scene is really sweet, though: Amenadiel encouraging Maze as she laments she'll never have a soul of her own.
And poor, poor Dan is trying to cope with that whole thing about Lucifer being the devil by talking to his dead girlfriend and it's really sad.
There is a scene partially in Tagalog and it's pronounced correctly, as far as I can tell? BLESS YOU, SHOW.
Ella and Pete go to a Star Trek convention. They are adorable. They talk to each other in Klingon. Pete is 100% a serial killer.
And then Dan shoots Lucifer, so.
- "Spoiler Alert"
Chloe and Dan having an intense discussion about Lucifer and being interrupted by Lucifer giddily shooting himself to prove his invulnerability is inappropriately hilarious. Then cue Lucifer spending most of the episode trying to determine the most fitting way to wreak vengeance on Dan.
Then Chloe gets kidnapped and Lucifer takes over the investigation? With Ella? Because apparently there are only two ACTUAL detectives in this precinct? WTF? Like, the rest of the police are working on it, but who's in charge?
Ella freaking out about her too perfect relationship with Pete is spot-on, given he's obviously a serial killer. We're all zero percent surprised when she finds the secret serial killer room, right?
Tom Ellis's voice is so different as Michael that it actually freaks me out.
And then Amenadiel stops time because he figures out the baby is fully mortal. That seems...like...pretty terrifyingly powerful. Lucifer and Michael can make individual humans confess their secrets, but Amenadiel can control the fifth dimension?
The shattered glass when Maze fights Lucifer is so cool, guys.
And a celestial fight! As fun as it is to see immortals figure out feelings and all, a straight-up clash of the titans is pretty wonderful.
And then God shows up. ROLL CREDITS.
Bottom Line
The earlier seasons of Lucifer were so painfully LOOK AT THIS METAPHOR that it would have been easy to write it off. But after a few years, the world-building got complex enough that it started feeling like a full cosmology. (About the time God's wife showed up, I think?) And as you may have noticed from my post about Supernatural, I love me a cosmology.
Anyway, a couple of years ago, the Arrowverse shows on the CW did Crisis on Infinite Earths, and though they had a million awesome cameos, this one was the most surprising and, thus, delightful.
TOMORROW. SEASON SIX. Or, as Netflix is claiming "Season 5 Part 2," like, way to split hairs, guys. And if Ella doesn't find out about the celestial gang, I will LOSE IT, guaranteed.
No comments:
Post a Comment