This is an episode about friendship and coming to grips with the cards one has been dealt. Each character is forced to deal with new and unexpected people being dropped into their lives. For Chloe it’s the return of her mom but for the other characters they encounter people who have profound impacts on them. While many of the encounters of this episode end in a positive way things don’t exactly work out well for Dan. This is an episode full of revelations and surprises.
I must admit that I was unsure of how the show was going to infuse Chloe’s mom, Penelope (Rebecca De Mornay), into the storyline. I expected her to be the typical larger than life mom of the lead who causes trouble for her daughter then moves on with no real closure. Yes, she caused Chloe some grief, but the episode did a good job of giving this particular encounter some closure while still leaving the door wide open for her return next season. I really like the dynamic between Lauren German and De Mornay and hope that Penelope will be featured more in Season 2 (hopefully). I’d love for Penelope to move back home and be there for her daughter and granddaughter in her own quirky kind of way. I also think that Penelope being around more would allow for more details regarding Chloe’s mysterious dad who is barely ever mentioned. I still believe Chloe is special in some way and I have a strong feeling it has something to do with her father. Finding out more about him falls in line as a very close second to my desire for Chloe to learn and accept the truth about Lucifer.
While Chloe is dealing with her mom and trying to track down her wayward daughter Lucifer is busy trying to understand more about the case they landed on. Lucifer is very drawn to Junior (Manny Montana) because of their shared daddy issues. At first the appeal was him thinking that Junior had killed his father to escape his massive shadow. He wanted to know how it felt to be free and pursued Junior for that very reason. Lucifer was projecting his own daddy issues on the case completely ignoring Chloe’s warning to not do so. It turned out that Junior’s desire to reconcile with his father and earn back his respect hit very close to home for Lucifer. No matter how big of a game Lucifer talks I believe his greatest desire is to one day stand before his own Father and reconcile with him. I felt like everything Junior was saying is what is hiding behind all of Lucifer’s larger than life bravado. It was very appropriate for this story to fall in line directly after the last episode. Father Frank tried to teach Lucifer that his Father has a grand plan and even if he’s not privy to the bigger picture he is very much a part of his Father’s plan and he matters to his Father. This week Junior taught Lucifer that it is possible to go home again and receive love and acceptance after a long rift. Junior was able to reconcile with his father and earned a place back in his grace even if that time was cut woefully short it was still enough to impact Junior and give him purpose again. I feel like the immediate lesson was lost on Lucifer but the show is certainly setting Lucifer up for a reconciliation or at the very least a confrontation with his own Father. I enjoy watching Tom Ellis scream at the sky but I would love for the show to take the bold step to cast God and provide a much needed direct confrontation between father and son.
For most of the episode I thought Dan had learned nothing other than how to ruin his own life with devastating secrets. He knows how much Lucifer means to both Chloe and Trixie and it is quite obvious that makes him jealous. That’s why when Malcolm revealed Lucifer as his target Dan didn’t seem all that bothered by it. Sure, he states at the failed dinner that he was looking for a reason to stick up for Lucifer, but I really thought he was actually looking for reasons to support Malcolm’s ridiculous plan. That was until his confrontation with Malcolm occurred and changed my opinion of Dan. Here I thought Dan was going to hand Lucifer over on a silver platter and in the end he actually tries to protect him. On the list of things I thought Dan would ever do that wasn’t anywhere on the list. He may not be a good guy but he’s also not completely bad. He lives in this gray area where it’s hard to figure out what the endgame is with him. Depending on what Malcolm plans to do with him we may have just witnessedthe beginning of the end to his story, but I hope not. One last sacrifice in an attempt to do good? For a character whose storyline just got interesting that would be an awful way to go out especially since I now think Dan has something to offer to the series. I don’t know how Dan will get himself out of this particular situation but I’m hoping he does.
If this whole situation puts Chloe and Trixie in any danger at least they can count on Lucifer and now Maze to look after them. I’m confident Maze will protect Trixie and Lucifer would protect Chloe without hesitation and perhaps even try to help Detective Douche. I just hope his recent habit of risking himself for Chloe, such as during the fire, doesn’t backfire on him. I still have this uneasy feeling that before this season is over Chloe will find herself in mortal danger and Lucifer will find himself in an uneasy position of having to turn to his Father to help her. Considering this whole situation with Malcolm is being orchestrated by Amenadiel I do hope He would be inclined to help Lucifer without a price. Though, I suspect there will be a price and that price will be a trip home in exchange for Chloe’s life. I’ve made many predictions that haven’t come true, so I’m probably very wrong but I would really like to see some resolution to Lucifer’s daddy issues and Chloe’s inability to believe before this season concludes.
Maze has surprised me in the way she has handled Lucifer’s shunning of her. My prediction was that she would go off the rails and try to get back to Hell or team up with Amenadiel. Those things could still happen though they seem slightly less likely after this episode. Instead she is seeking to embrace a normal human like life. After almost a full season of watching Dr. Linda counsel Lucifer I loved the dynamic change with Maze now coming to Dr. Linda. Maze is such a fascinating character because she doesn’t act the way one would expect her too. I wanted her to end up on Dr. Linda’s couch but I never actually expected it to happen. It came as no surprise that Maze tried to seduce Dr. Linda as I’ve gotten the distinct vibe that Maze prefers human female companionship to that of human males. She does however like to mess with human men and angels alike given how she’s treated both Dan and Amenadiel in the past. Brandt and D.B Woodside have amazing chemistry so I do think a Maze and Amenadiel partnership would be fascinating but I’d really like to see Maze wind up with a human. I think it would be extremely fascinating to see Maze in some sort of relationship. I can’t even begin to predict how she would react to being in a relationship with a human should the right one come along to grab her attention. I believe that a relationship would help her better understand Lucifer and his fascination with Chloe. I doubt it’ll happen anytime soon but I look forward to watching it when and if it does.
For now the show has settled on two new friends for Maze and both give great potential for Maze’s overall story. I kind of expected Maze to seek out Dr. Linda at some point so their friendship, while amazing, wasn’t that big of a surprise. What was a surprise was the near instantaneous bond of friendship that formed between Maze and Trixie. This interaction was unexpected and I never thought these two would share a scene let alone one like this. Even when Maze tried to be her normal sarcastic bitchy self Trixie wasn’t bothered. She sees the good in beings like Lucifer and Maze and knows when someone can be trusted. For that reason alone this episode left me with few if any reservations of Maze’s loyalty. I trust Trixie to be a good gauge of character and if she trusts Maze then so do I because she has proven herself to be spot on with seeing Lucifer as the good being he truly is. She also loves her father but tends to shy away from him a bit which to me is an indication that somewhere subconsciously she knows something is up with him.
I can’t talk about this new and unique friendship without praising Lesley-Ann Brandt and Scarlett Estevez for this incredible scene. Both actresses on their own are scene stealers and can easily take control of a scene with their acting brilliance. Once Trixie walked into the bar and encountered Maze I had no idea what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to see how fantastic Brandt was with Estevez. She was incredibly gracious to her young co-star and Estevez gave Brandt plenty to play off of. Brandt didn’t try and commandeer the scene but instead shared every moment with Estevez. They played off of each other with ease and brought an innocent tone to this scene. I applaud both actresses for doing such incredible work together and making this one of my favorite scenes of the entire episode. These two must share scenes together again. I think Maze would be an awesome babysitter pending she and Chloe can one day work past their issues. Oh and giving an eight-year-old alcohol might not be Maze’s best idea ever but I guess it is the thought that counts.
While we’re talking about unique friendships I have to talk about that intriguing ending. When Chloe stumbled into Lucifer’s place I fully expected him to take advantage of the situation since he’s spent all season trying to sleep with her. Then he has her and instead of being a jerk he cares for her and tries to support her. This was a beautiful example of how Lucifer is evolving with each human encounter he has. German is brilliant at using her body to convey situations or conditions so it was no surprise she so perfectly conveyed how drunk Chloe was. Ellis is a brilliant actor and has made some outstanding acting choice regarding Lucifer and the way he acts around others versus the way he acts around Chloe. He allows Lucifer to be a softer slightly gentler version of himself when around Chloe and that makes scenes like this one speak volumes to the bond these two have. I loved it when Lucifer looked to the Heavens for guidance on what to do when Chloe passed out on him. He was torn and uncertain but in the end his respect for Chloe and the protective nature he’s developed regarding her prevented him from doing wrong by her. It went against everything he thought he was to not act on his desires and for that Lucifer earned a massive amount of respect from me. He can be a jerk sometimes and he never thinks before he talks but under the perception of the Devil hides a good heart with ultimately good intentions.
Lucifer being put into a position where he felt he needed to seek out Heavenly guidance made me wonder if this, and every case he and Chloe get assigned to, could be a part of his Father’s grand plan to win his son back. It is entirely possible that He is sending these cases towards Lucifer to deliver a message to His son. Like any strained relationship it’s hard to make that first step to fix things and sometimes it’s just easier to work through others to start the line of communication again. God tried to work through Amenadiel and hopefully by this point he’s realized how horrible of a plan that was. So instead He has ensured His son will encounter these people and situations to convey His true feelings. I believe He is trying to tell His son that He’s ready for them to reconcile things. Lucifer is stubborn so many of these messages seem lost on him, but maybe one day he’ll put everything together and realize this is his Father’s way of extending an olive branch.
I feel like this episode was a very strong outing for the series. It provided some great insight into all the characters and provided some surprising character moments. I feel like the show has only been getting better and better each week and the ongoing storylines continue to intrigue me. One of the big things about this series that I love is my inability to predict some of the twists and turns. I like to be surprised and that’s hard to do when so many shows use the same plot twists that we’ve all seen used over and over. Like with Maze, any other show would have had her go psycho crazy while this show took the opportunity to have her embrace the idea of humanity. Or when Chloe stumbled in drunk most shows would have had their leads sleep together yet here they had Lucifer take the high road. The surprises keep coming and while I have theories about what could happen in these last three episodes of the season I fully expect to be proven wrong and full on surprised by what this show does.
Be sure to tune in to
FOX on Monday, April 11th at 9/8C to see how everyone deals with the fallout from this episode.
Hit the comments with your thoughts about this episode. Did you like the Trixie and Maze friendship? Are you excited to see Dr. Linda and Maze become friends? What do you think will happen with Dan? Were you surprised by how Lucifer handled drunk Chloe?
About the Author - Aimee Hicks
Aimee works for a newspaper in North Carolina and has a BA in Broadcasting and Cinema. She has been a TV lover since before she really understood what TV was. She has a long list of shows that she loves to watch and can be found on twitter (@ahicks83) live tweeting about each new episode whenever she can. If the show is sci-fi, fantasy, comic book based, drama, or action the odds are good she watches it or has at least watched a few episodes of it. She also has a love for comedies 2 Broke Girls and Mom. She was the original creator and co-founder of LOST Video Island (lostvideo.net) which is still operating under the management of the very capable and skilled group she turned it over to.
You can email her at aimee@spoilertv.com.
